The New York Times interviewed some fabulous wowlebrities including Jinkx Monsoon, Alaska, Courtney Act, and Jackie Beat about their holiday shows at Laurie Beechman Theater in New York! Click over to read the article from the New York Times! 

(Photo by Monica Almeida/The New York Times)

It must be Christmas if a drag queen is singing about S.T.D.s.

“What am I going to do, a show about how wonderful Christmas is?” This was Jackie Beat, who is known for parodies of Christmas carols including “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Syphilis.”

“It’s annoying.”

That’s right, for New Yorkers who would rather stab their eyes out with candy canes than celebrate the holidays, Christmas-themed drag shows provide an anti-Santa antidote. (Hanukkah haters have Jackie Hoffman.) Depression, adultery, divorce: Little is off limits when a drag queen puts St. Nick in her bull’s-eye.

“Christmas used to be my favorite time of year,” said Jinkx Monsoon, a winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” “But as an adult, it’s a time of year where it’s like, do I have to go through this again?”

Still, I suspect that underneath the kind of holiday shows that would make the Grinchiest of Scrooges blush, drag queens secretly love Christmas. All those dismissive tales of drunken blackouts and frisky Santas mask a real softy’s love for the spirit of the season. I asked four drag performers with Yuletide-themed shows this month at the Laurie Beechman Theater (407 West 42nd Street, Clinton) to reflect on their love-hate relationships with the holidays.

Click over to read the interviews with Jinkx Monsoon, Alaska, Courtney Act, and Jackie Beat!

Also, just a side note… since we’re on the subject of Drag Queen’s Christmas shows… if you’re in the Seattle area, you MUST check out BenDeLaCreme‘s annual holiday show Homo For The Holidays! (I spy a pink-haired gingerbread man!)

The post The New York Times Talk Drag Queen Holiday Shows appeared first on World of Wonder.

As previously mentioned, Ryan Serhant joined the cast of While We’re Young! The film is about a middle-aged Brooklyn couple (played by Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) who are forced to re-evaluate their lives and choices when they befriend a hipster pair of twenty-somethings (played by Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried). Million Dollar Listing’s Ryan Serhant plays a hedge fund manager. His role  has already received amazing reviews for his sheilarious performance. Click over and watch a sneak peek at one of his scenes with Ben Stiller!

Spot Ryan at the 2:02 mark below!

The post FIRST LOOK: Ryan Serhant in While We’re Young with Ben Stiller! WATCH NOW! appeared first on World of Wonder.

Alaska and Cory talk about their dramatic family vacations. Trips to Sea World consist of Mom getting sick, Cats on skis, and Cory being a brat! Watch this all-new episode of BroLaska now! New episodes every Friday on WOWPresents!

Previous Episodes:

World of Wonder announces a fun new web series starring RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 5 fan favorite Alaska Thunderfuck and her SMOKIN’ HOT STRAIGHT BROTHER Cory Binney. Did we mention he’s straight? Presenting: Bro’laska!

Despite having the same mother, Alaska and Cory couldn’t be less similar. In fact they may as well be from different PLANETS! Just watch and fall in love with this hilarious pair of polar opposite siblings.

“My brother Cory and I grew up modestly in a small house with our family in Erie Pennsylvania,” said Alaska. “I, a nerdy introvert and he a rebellious troublemaker. I’m not sure what is more surprising: that I’m now a beautiful singer-songwriter star of stage and screen, or that he is now known as my hot brother, all the girls want to date.”

You will DIE hearing about their sordid adolescence, family vacations, first dates and genealogy.  Other episodes include tales about Cory’s military training, opinions on pick-up lines, a call to mom, and the annual DRAG cruise!

“Growing up with Alaska (Justin) was far from anything normal, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Cory. “The things I’ve learned about life from my brother are priceless.”

Watch the first episode where they explain their botched attempt at living together, when Cory moved in and realized he was living with two personalities; his brother Justin, and Alaska the queen! Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, hunty!

The post BroLaska with Alaska Thunderfuck & Cory Binney – Family Vacations appeared first on World of Wonder.

I don’t you guys. It’s all happening so fast. I’m not ready! I JUST NOW rearranged my life to accommodate last year’s Radiant Orchid. I have Radiant Orchid sheets and linens and lipsticks and nail polishes…. I don’t know that I can let it go. It was so fun… so high-spirited. And to go from that to MARSALA is quite a shock to the old system. Marsala is just so MANLY. It’s so BASIC. Says Pantone:

Much like the fortified wine that gives Marsala its name, this tasteful hue embodies the satisfying richness of a fulfilling meal while its grounding red-brown roots emanate a sophisticated, natural earthiness. This hearty, yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings and interiors.

The Versatility of Marsala

• Equally appealing to men and women, Marsala is a stirring and flavorful shade for apparel and accessories, one that encourages color creativity and experimentation
• Flattering against many skin tones, sultry and subtle Marsala is a great “go-to” color for beauty, providing enormous highlight for the cheek, and a captivating pop of color for nails, shadows lips and hair.
• Dramatic and at the same time grounding, the rich and full-bodied red-brown Marsala brings color warmth into home interiors
• An earthy shade with a bit of sophistication, texture is the story in print and packaging. A matte finish highlights Marsala’s organic nature while adding a sheen conveys a completely different message of glamour and luxury.

Yuck yuck yuck. Bring back HONEYSUCKLE, I say.

“This hearty, yet stylish tone is universally appealing and translates easily to fashion, beauty, industrial design, home furnishings and interiors.”
– Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director, Pantone Color Institute

The post The Pantone 2015 Color of the Year: Marsala appeared first on World of Wonder.

Our absolute favorite photoboming, voguing diva, (and nominee for Most Viral Moment of 2014 at the 2014 WOWie Awards) Brendan Jordan shines bright in the American Apparel add campaign. Click over and “Meet Brendan!” 

Watch his American Apparel haul on his over night successful YouTube channel!

Brendan came to World of Wonder a few weeks ago and was totally fun, hilarious, and downright fabulous!

The post Brendan Jordan Dazzles in American Apparel Campaign appeared first on World of Wonder.

Two of dance music’s finest in MYNC (Mark Brown) and Brazilian Mario Fischetti have collaborated on what is sure to be one of the biggest tunes of the year and sets the backdrop perfectly for the 10^thanniversary celebrations at Cr2 Records. Set to be released on Dec 1^st

“Everywhere” features the world-class vocals of Deborah Cox (12 #1 Billboard club records, vocalist on Swedish House Mafia – Leave the World Behind), and the release will consist of  remixes by Wasteland, Panda, Electronic Youth, and Jam Express and Tom Stephan mix.

MYNC

Mario Fischetti

Deborah Cox

The post “Everywhere” by MYNC & Mario Fischetti featuring Deborah Cox appeared first on World of Wonder.

Voting for the 2nd Annual WOWie Awards has begun! Each year we reward the best of the best of social media (Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Vine, and Blogs) with a coveted Golden Soup Can. It’s up to YOU, the reader, to decide who is worthy of the honor. Check out the nominees below – follow the links – think long and hard – and tell us who YOU think deserves to win. Winner will be given their soup cans on the red carpet at the first annual World of Wonder Holiday Drag Ball NEXT THURSDAY! We’ll be streaming the red carpet LIVE from the party starting at 8PM, with E!s Baker Machado chatting with the wowlebrities and social media superstars as they make their way into the party. Voting ends Wednesday, December 10th at 6PM!

The post Vote, Baby, Vote! It’s the 2014 WOWie Awards! appeared first on World of Wonder.

Police are looking for a pickpocket who robbed a convenience store in London…. with MAGIC!

In this video, from BBC’s Crimewatch, the suspect walks into the store and taps the man on the shoulder before he falls into a trance. He then simply reaches into his pocket and and takes what he wants.

The victim doesn’t wake up until the thief is already gone, and by then it’s too late. (via The DW)

HOW COOL IS THAT?

The post Superpowered Supervillain Hypnotizes Victim, Then Robs Him appeared first on World of Wonder.

San Francisco legends Peaches Christ and Lady Bear compete for some cash on this episode of Be$tie$ For Ca$h! Click over, watch, and see how well they know each other! New episodes of Bestie$ For Ca$h very Friday on WOWPresents!

Previous Episodes:

Couple$ for Ca$h! It’s kindof like The Newlywed Game, only better because it features your favorite wowlebrities and they make cash money! In the first episode, we have Catch-of-the-Day Vivienne Pinay and her boo Devin.

The post Watch This Video Now: Bestie$ For Ca$h – Peaches Christ and Lady Bear appeared first on World of Wonder.

A Great Horned Owl was forced down into Lake Michigan by two Peregrine Falcons and decided to swim to safety. And just like that, THE OWLS EVOLVED. 

I, for one, look forward to serving our owl overlords etc etc

In related news: Get your World of Wonder WOWL now! Just $20! It makes the perfect holiday stocking stuffer! (And did you know it’s actually a hairspray can cover from the ’60s? IT’S TRUE!) 

The post Yes, That’s an Owl Doing the Butterfly Stroke appeared first on World of Wonder.

Fund this film!!! Scumbag’s the latest project from Mars Roberge- that director who did the Patricia Field docu The Little House That Could- about the stylist and the colorful world she fosters. “Scumbag is a movie for anyone who has ever hated their job and would do anything to not be there”, says Roberge. Click HERE for more info, donating and a list of super cool perks you’ll get for your efforts.

Scumbag is about a young hipster wannabe-superstar dj, Phil, who takes on a day job at a telemarketing company, working with mental patients, ex-prisoners, drug addicts and murderers.  The time on his life begins to tick as he battles addiction, fights the law and society while trying to maintain the only sane thing left in his life, his girlfriend.  This is an existential coming-of-age, dramatic dark comedy which satirizes teen angst and questions the universe ‘why am I here?’  Wolf of Wall Street meets Gummo makes a Breakfast Club that today’s youth can relate to with yet a nod to the 90’s.  It is loosely based on an office from Toronto that was eventually shut down by the Feds for fraud.

The post Patricia Field Documentarian Has A New Film “ScumBag” appeared first on World of Wonder.

Ashley Madekwe
Colleen Haskell
Debbie Rowe
James Naughton
Janine Turner
JoBeth Williams
Judd Apatow
Lindsay Price
Nick Park
Ryan Carnes
Shekhar Kapur
Stephenie LaGrossa
Tom Hulce
Ulf Ekberg

The post It’s Birthday, Bitch appeared first on World of Wonder.

Last night as parties, dinners and art fairs were happening all over Miami, protesters gathered in Wynwood to demand justice for Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Israel Hernandez. Hundreds of protesters shut down part of I-95 as they moved toward Art Miami. As we all know, twice in the past ten days grand juries have decided not to indict white police officers for killing unarmed black men. Last Monday, a grand jury decided not to charge cop Darren Wilson for shooting teenager Mike Brown in Ferguson and Wednesday, another grand jury in NYC decided against indicting the white cop who put Eric Garner in a fatal chokehold this summer. This seems like an indictment against callous art dealers and party-goers who were blissfully unaware of world event but in fact, I was alerted to this event with info on Facebook a week ago by artist Kenneth Pietrobono and MANY artists, local and otherwise I know were there. For logistical reasons, I couldn’t get there. (Getting anywhere in Miami during Basel in a chore, without any move to purposefully block traffic.)

But I think you could safely say that a great many people, white or black, rich or not, wouldn’t alter their plans for a protest to block traffic during Art Basel. But that doesn’t mean their isn’t solidarity in the art community for civil disobedience. With astronomical prices at auction and a Kim Kardashian/ Miley Cryus appearance, the perception might be that the art world is indifferent to what is going on the “real” world. For me, I beg to differ. Art at it’s core comes from outsiders, and politics and human rights are always on the menu. What specifically to do about change is the issue and that has to be personal. I am inspired by the protests but often resent the comparison, as though there is a direct correlation between two unrelated events. But human rights are the responsibility of all humans, in my book. There’s another protest tomorrow, just as everyone leaves Miami, but the momentum is building across the country and it’s sad this is necessary, but as they, but POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

The post #ArtBaselMiami: “Don’t Shoot” Protestors Shut Down I-95 appeared first on World of Wonder.

James posted Kate Pierson’s new music video “Mister Sister” with some faint praise and rather harsh criticism. I respect his opinion and he made some good points, but I have a different take. Full disclosure, Kate is a dear friend ( + my pal Kachin is in the video, along with her son) and I’d defend her to the moon, regardless… but here’s my honest take. Had I not seen James post first, none of his objections would have occurred to me. As a general rule, when an artist makes a statement or takes position, intention is paramount, in my book. If you look at it from that point of view, you can’t fault Kate’s message of empowerment here. And I always take issue with the word police. We saw what happened with RuPaul’s Drag Race and the term “She Mail” but God forbid, we dredge that up again. I think sensitivity to words is always worth considering but here, I think we’re picking nits. (And, btw, why trash your allies? See: Alec Baldwin) And come on –that voice and what Kate has championed for years, THAT counts for something. I say, if you don’t like this anthem, write your own.

The post #AnotherOpinion: Kate Pierson’s Mister Sister Nontroversy appeared first on World of Wonder.

Aaron Carter
Angel Carter
C. Thomas Howell
Damien Rice
Edd Hall
Eli Wallach
Ellen Burstyn
Emily Browning
Jasmine Villegas
Jeffrey Wright
Jennifer Carpenter
Larry Bird
Nicholas Hoult
Nicole Appleton
Priscilla Barnes
Sara Bareilles
Shiri Appleton
Terrell Owens
Tom Waits

The post It’s Birthday, Bitch appeared first on World of Wonder.

San Francisco legend, filmmaker, and spooky drag queen, Peaches Christ takes calls on this episode of Ring My Bell!

The post Watch Now: Peaches Christ on Ring My Bell appeared first on World of Wonder.

To get New Yorkers to break the “I’m on a mission/ Don’t make eye-contact” facade takes a lot and this girl’s got it all. She gets the L train platform (the line that runs back and forth from lower Manhattan to Brooklyn) to loosen up and have some fun. Might be the music… it is Coyote & Crow playing “Me & My Uncle” (a Grateful dead cover) Watch.

The post Watch Now: Adorable Little Girl Gets the L Train Platform Rockin’ appeared first on World of Wonder.

Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey were honored with the Pioneer Award at the 30th annual International Documentary Association on Friday, December 30th. Click over to watch the reel played at the ceremony highlighting all of the amazing work the founding father’s of World of Wonder have created. Also read their acceptance speech. 

Acceptance speech:

FENTON: Pharell Williams – who just last week got his star on Hollywood’s walk of fame outside our office – recently said of his success that its like a kite. And that when you fly a kite, the kite doesn’t fly itself; it’s the wind that lifts the kite off the ground. Thank you to everyone at World of Wonder, you truly are the wind beneath our wings.

RANDY: Thank-you Monica. Your strength is an inspiration. Many of our subjects have been shamed, bullied, misunderstood, or are just plain outsiders. And when you think about it we’re all outsiders. We’re all just a little bit weird, a little bit gay in our own special way. That’s what makes it a world of wonder.

FENTON: As Tammy Faye said, “We’re all made out of the same old dirt and God doesnt make any junk”. One of the highpoints of our career was when the The Eyes Of Tammy Faye premiered at Sundance. And sitting in the audience was the late great film critic Roger Ebert. Years later he wrote something that pretty much sums it all up: “I believe if, at the end of it all, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. We must try to contribute joy to the world.” Thank-you Sundance film festival for supporting our work over the years and making us a little – a lot – happier.

RANDY: And thank you to our amazing network partners – Bravo, E!, Fuse, Logo, VH1, and especially HBO. from Tammy Faye and Party Monster to Inside Deep Throat and The Strange History of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Sheila Nevins has supported us – and berated us – through thick and thin. She has made us laugh until we cried, and made us cry until we laugh.

FENTON: The Scientologists have no idea who they are up against.

RANDY: When Sheila first commissioned us we were living in the East Village. Although we had no money we were part of something far more valuable; a vibrant downtown scene of artists and drag queens who inspire us to this day. It was there that we met our long time collaborator and dear friend of 30 years RuPaul. The very first time we saw him it was clear to us he was already a star. The world just needed to catch up.

FENTON – And the world has caught up… the art of drag is especially relevant today not only because it makes us happier and brings us joy, but also because it helps us not to take ourselves too seriously. The ability to laugh in the face of the tragedy and horror humanity inflicts on itself every day is the only sanity there is in a world gone crazy.

RANDY: When Michael Lumpkin Executive Director of IDA first told us we were getting this Pioneer award we thought it was a joke. Yes, we direct and produce feature documentaries, but we also produce – and love producing – television. We call it unscripted. Others call it reality. Some call it trash.

FENTON; But we believe stories are our shared universal language however they are told: scripted, unscripted… documentary, reality… short form, long form, any form! And not just however they are told, wherever they are seen: movie screens, TV screens, laptops cellphones. You can shoot, edit, distribute for next to nothing. Truly this is a golden age of storytelling.

RANDY: We can’t take credit for any of that. But the most pioneering thing we have done is stick around. We just refused to go away. That’s it. Here we are. Thank-you IDA for this inspiring award; we hope can stick around a few more years and truly earn it.

The post World of Wonder: IDA Documentary Reel 2014! WATCH NOW appeared first on World of Wonder.

What does it mean to ‘sound’ gay? I guess you’d have to ask all the bullies you grew up with, or your uncles and male figures who forced you into sports to “make you into a man”, or maybe those guys who post on gay social sites that aren’t into “fems”. Slate.com just put out their latest Lexicon Valley podcast about what it means to sound gay. In fact, you might think (just like I did…and all those aforementioned “male maker” alpha males…lol) that the lisp associated with gays or the high-pitched intonations are a direct correlation to some gender inversion…i.e. wanting to sound female. But, actually, some theories suggest that it could be a form of arrested development, gay men relating more to their childlike-selves…hence the high tone voice. Anyway, it’s all super interesting. Hear the whole podcast below. (Pic: Scott Thompson as Buddy Cole from The Kids In The Hall)

The post You “Sound” Sooo Gay!!! appeared first on World of Wonder.

Click over now to meet the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race season seven! And watch the first official trailer for the new season! RuPaul’s Drag Race season seven premieres in 2015!

RuPaul tells EW:

“This year we have some of the youngest and oldest contestants in RuPaul’s Drag Raceherstory,” Ru said in a statement. “Study each queen closely. Do not underestimate anyone. The girls that make it to the top this season will shock you.”

Watch the trailer below!

The post WATCH NOW: Meet the Queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season Seven appeared first on World of Wonder.