With every new season of RuPaul’s Drag Race comes the principle problem that some queens have been ready all season for and that others have been dreading — the stand-up comedy routine.
On final week’s episode (aired Friday, March 10), the seven remaining contestants had been tasked with performing in a Simply For Laughs-style comedy pageant. Grouped off into pairs (and one solo act), the women got here up with as many gut-busting bits as they may to wow the panel of judges and stay to slay one other day.
After expressing their respective needs to earn their second problem wins of the season, Loosey LaDuca and Luxx Noir London rose to the event and placed on a dueling comedy act to recollect, taking dwelling the highest honor for this week’s problem. In the meantime, Anetra and Marcia Marcia Marcia discovered themselves flatlining on stage, touchdown them each within the backside.
Performing in one of many most competitive lip syncs of the season, Anetra and Marcia (or “Anarcia” because the followers prefer to name them) pulled out each stunt they’d for this high-octane efficiency to Doja Cat’s “Boss Bitch.” In the long run, although, Anetra lived to stroll that duck one other day, sending Marcia packing.
Billboard caught up with Marcia following her elimination to speak in regards to the queen incomes essentially the most consecutive “protected” placements in a single season, her response to the judges’ critiques about her make-up, and the way she approached this episode’s climactic lip sync battle.
Earlier than we get into all of it, we’ve to speak in regards to the near-constant critiques concerning your make-up — what did you consider the judges’ fixation in your face, which then led to a fixation from the fanbase?
Properly, I’m a theater child — and within the theater business, your whole job is mainly being critiqued. Even once you have the job, you’re getting notes after each efficiency about what you could possibly have accomplished higher. So, on the time, I used to be like, “That is simply one thing for me to work on.” I at all times appreciated that, truthfully, I’m at all times making an attempt to enhance myself. Even since we’ve wrapped, my drag and my make-up has modified a lot. In the long run, it helped me develop a extra significant relationship with make-up. Earlier than, it was at all times one thing the place I used to be like, “Oh, no matter.” However now I see that it will possibly make folks very upset!
I don’t know if you already know this, however you additionally broke a Drag Race record this season with essentially the most consecutive “protected” placements within the present’s historical past. How do you are feeling about having that honor?
It’s like … the funniest award you could possibly ever get for this present [laughs]. I’ll say, once you take a look at my observe report with extra element, whereas I used to be protected the whole time, I excelled in numerous the challenges, which is necessary to acknowledge. In numerous methods, a few of my accomplishments have been kind of eclipsed by my critiques. So whereas I’m the “protected queen” of season 15, I feel I had numerous nice excessive factors. And hey, if I’m protected, I’m not within the backside!
Sure, particularly throughout a season the place there have been numerous on-air arguments about who received “second place” in a problem, it’s price stating that being protected is good.
Particularly out of 16 folks, it’s an exhale that you just get to have. And, our forged is really one of the crucial well-rounded, gifted teams that the present has had in a really very long time.
Moving into this episode, you mentioned in a confessional that this was the problem you had been dreading. What’s it in regards to the stand-up problem that felt intimidating to you?
Properly, I got here into the competitors being a gifted, snug seamstress. I additionally act, sing, dance, write, choreograph, and I’ve been doing that eternally. This was kind of the one factor that I’ve type of by no means accomplished earlier than. You hear comedians speak about their stand-up, otherwise you watch reveals like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and also you be taught that you just normally bomb at the very least a couple of instances earlier than you will get your “tight 10.” I used to be apprehensive, as a result of I used to be like, “I don’t understand how that is going to go.”
Add onto that the truth that this can be a duos problem … during which you had been the one solo performer.
Yeah … in a comedy problem primarily based on well-known comedy pairs, to be alone shouldn’t be the greatest start line.
I like your runways, as a result of I like a them, and also you always deliver out this kind of “damage stylish” vibe with each look. How did that kind of “pretty-but-in-pain” concept develop into the staple of Marcia Marcia Marcia seems?
So, for Drag Race particularly, once I was approaching the seems, I made just about the whole lot myself. I needed to have a transparent story, I needed to do issues that individuals weren’t going to think about and to strategy it otherwise. I don’t know, I’m personally very clumsy, and I feel there’s one thing so humorous a few actually stunning individual with one thing like a forged on their arm. It’s simply hilarious to me when persons are actually concerned of their look after which have one thing go horribly unsuitable the place they’re caught with it for a very long time. I simply assume it’s enjoyable. So sure, I used to be at all times asking myself, “What’s the story? What are folks not going to think about? How do I take one thing that could be easy or boring and twist it to make it slightly weirder and funnier?”
I do know it was controversial, however I used to be obsessed along with your tie-dye look.
Thanks! I believed it was nice — once more, one other factor that individuals merely did not agree with.
We get to this lip-sync — to begin with, after watching all of those wild lip syncs she’s carried out in, what was going by way of your thoughts once you discovered it could be you towards Anetra?
When it was me and Anetra, to begin with, I used to be like, “Nice, one other factor we are able to do collectively, Anarcia to the tip.” I like Anetra, and I knew that she was completely going to offer the whole lot. They name it a “Lip Sync For Your Life,” and within the second, I used to be like, “Oh, I’m going to lip sync for my precise life, as a result of I do know she’s going to do the identical factor.” And I knew on the finish of the day it was going to be an excellent present, so it was largely like, “Work, let’s simply do it and have enjoyable — if I’m going out, I’m gonna do an excellent job and push for the one double save of the season.”
I do know that once you’re lip syncing, you’re fully targeted on your self and are largely unaware of what the opposite lady is doing — however you needed to discover when Anetra actually leapt over your back-bent physique, proper?
I didn’t know that occurred!
You didn’t? How?!
No, somebody advised me afterwards that she did that! I used to be like “What? You’re joking.” Nevertheless it’s such as you mentioned, once you’re in there, it looks like you might have horse blinders on — you’re so targeted on doing what you’ve been ready to think about within the final nevertheless many minutes earlier than really standing on the stage that you just type of block out the opposite individual.
That’s wild, however it goes to point out what a wonderful lip sync this was, you each completely turned it out.
Thanks a lot! It was simply a lot enjoyable, and I actually love Anetra, as you’ve seen me sob about in Untucked earlier than. I like her a lot, and it was a type of issues the place it was like, if I’m going to be within the backside with anybody and get despatched dwelling by anybody, I’m glad it was Anetra.
