Unpaid Spokeswomen #18

Welcome to Unpaid Spokeswomen, a column where we log what we’ve been into this week. Behind the wigs, makeup, costumes, and several layers of irony, we are two humans who genuinely enjoy doing things. Here is a weekly roundup of our unfiltered expert recommendations.

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Trixie:

Very Gay Paint @verygaypaint

I follow these two fabulous people that I have to tell you about. These two gentleman Nick and Jensen are comedians who happen to be gay lovers. They also happen to be amazing painters who have combined their love for colorful murals and comedy to build a very cool social media presence that I implore you to dip your big toe into.

Given that comedians are notoriously dayjob employed, Jensen and Nick started painting together as a way to make a little cash. They told me it was a good way to make money and be available to mount their own comedy shows (of which I have participated in several.) They combined their unhinged brands of humor with some awe-inspiring paint jobs on TikTok and Instagram and have found themselves successful as viral celebrities. Imagine two boy-next-door energies but they are very gay and wielding colorful paints. The results of these efforts are stunning and sprawling transformations of spaces that are very inspiring to look at. Throw in a little rubber chicken here and there and you, the follower on socials, are treated to a newsfeed of laughs and “wow” the likes of which the world has never seen.

CAUTION: Following this account might convince you to buy a few cans of Sherwin-WIlliams and try your hand at bossing up your space through a mural. While I commend your can-do attitude, I have learned from shooting The Trixie Motel (coming to Discovery+ in 2022) that painting murals freehand is a lot harder than you’d imagine. And you will absolutely ruin your clothes. HOWEVER Nick and Jensen told me that they are self-taught so who knows!

verygaypaint

A post shared by Very Gay Paint (@verygaypaint)

The Jinkx And Dela Holiday Spectacular 

If you didn’t know, Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme are two of the most talented drag queens in the world. Brilliant comedians, fabulous singers, and truly stunning to behold. When these two independently flawless entertainers come together, the result is the best drag show I have ever seen live or on television.

The Jinkx and Dela Holiday Spectacular is so next level I can’t even begin to tell you. Immaculate production, music that really jumps off the stage/screen into your heart, and a perfect balance of comedy/heart without ever feeling heavy handed or pandering. Dela plays sort of the “straight man” in the show who is earnestly trying to put on a wholesome Christmas program. Jinkx functions as the unenthused and off-the-rails energy that creates a controlled chaos onstage. I have seen the show live twice and the made-for-TV version is equally magical. 

As a drag queen who is jealous and threatened by talent, I have left Dela/Jinkx shows completely deflated by the flagrant and almost taunting display of potent talent. This Christmas special is so good that I would even watch it outside of the Holiday season. See the show live if you can but the TV version is just as magical but in a different way. Congrats, hookers.

Katya:

Rose Bowl Flea Market in LA

Having recently moved from a shitty apartment into a nice one, it was my mission to deck out the new place in beautiful pieces of furniture. Unfortunately, preliminary research found that nice antique furniture is so fucking expensive. Jesus Christ! It was love at first sight when I first laid eyes upon a gorgeous 9x12 Persian area rug, only to find that she was way out of my league at a whopping $45,000! There are a ton of apps if you’re looking for furniture, and I’ve been told that when it comes to finding nice cool shit at reasonable prices, sites like Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and OfferUp are great. But I love to see the items in real life, and when my friend told me about the giant once-a-month flea market that fills up the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, I couldn’t wait to see what was in store. Here’s the thing though, you have to go early, and I mean really fucking early. We left at 5:30am to arrive by 6am, and there were already plenty of people walking around, with more than half of the vendors having set up and laid out all their wares. By 6:45am, a few pieces that I inquired about had already been sold, and by 10:30am the place was absolutely packed. It’s an all day affair, but by 11am I had secured a gorgeous medieval looking dining room table with four chairs, a black walnut coffee table, another large cool statement chair, a new stand for my TV, a 9x12 Persian rug, a curved bench for my lovely bay window, an antique fireplace blower and a knight’s helmet. All of this for roughly the same fucking price I paid for my large (and very cool and lovely) area rug for my living room when I ordered it online (shipping alone was $400!!!)  I’m not a fan of it, but at the Rose Bowl I made it a point to indulge in some light haggling. If an item was listed at $50, I’d offer $45. It was nice. And, since my large U-Haul truck is in the shop, most of the vendors offered delivery services later that day for a shockingly cheap fee. It’s a huge flea market with tons of items ranging from stunning to garbage and I didn’t even bother looking at the clothing stalls! It was so much fun, entry fees are cheap (we paid $20 to get in early) and I can’t wait to go back next month. 

I mean!!!!

The Power of the Dog

My friend Andrew and I sat down the other night  to watch the latest from acclaimed director Jane Campion, a beautifully-shot western featuring the complex multi-talents of Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst (who, fun fact, was born just hours before me), Jesse Plemons and a fantastic performance by Kodi Smit-McPhee. The film follows Phil and George Burbank, two brothers from a wealthy family working as ranchers in Montana in the 1920’s. Cumberbatch is excruciatingly good as Phil, a domineering douchey alpha tough guy who terrorizes and alienates everyone around him, while Plemons’ George plods along meekly. They soon meet Rose (Dunst) the widowed owner of an inn and her lanky and sensitive (read: gay) son Peter, whom Phil cruelly mocks for his effeminate nature. George apologizes to Rose for his brother’s behavior, and eventually falls for her and soon they marry. I’m not going to give away anymore of the plot, because while this film is an extremely slow burn, if you make it through to the end without missing any details, the payoff is pretty damn satisfying. Both Andrew and I felt a gripping sort of frustration at the film’s sometimes agonizingly slow and suspenseful pace. I described it as watching a candle burn all the way down to the end, and just as the flame dies you realize there is no melted wax anywhere. The scenes are packed with symbolism and imagery that ranges from a subtle whisper to a greasy bitch-slap. It’s a fascinating character study that throughly explores masculinity, repression, and homosexuality, all from an expert director’s (female) point of view.