Bianca Del Rio is ‘Dead Inside’
It’s Monday morning in Manila and we’re in a Zoom call with Bianca Del Rio.
The drag queen and stand-up comic—she won Season 6 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and is inarguably one of the franchise’s most successful alums—was talking to us from Argentina, one of the stops of the Latin American leg of “Dead Inside,” her new tour which she kicked off in the United States and Canada at the beginning of the year, and will be taking to the Philippines in January.
“I love the fact that I, as an American, can go over there, and there’s an audience that’s interested to hear what I have to say. It’s pretty amazing. That interaction with people, the moments of being onstage with them, and the fact that I can globe trot and have an audience, is just fascinating to me. Despite our differences, we still find humor in all of the same things. I just enjoy that connection,” Bianca said.
It’s going to be her third time in the Philippines. Bianca had been in Manila previously for her successful sold-out comedy shows “It’s Jester Joke” in 2019 and “Unsanitized” in 2022.
Bianca remembered her first time to the Philippines and the press con that kicked off that visit. ”It was wild. It was wild,” she said. “I had just flown in. I was quite jetlagged, and I walked in that room and went, ’This is insane.’ It was intense. I still talk about it.”
I was at that press con in 2019 and she’s not kidding—it was crazy. The room erupted in cheers and screams the second she appeared. It was more than rock star treatment. I’ve been to hundreds, maybe thousands of press conferences in the Philippines and abroad, and I had never seen journalists do that before and have never seen it happen again since.
Her Filipino fans are even more welcoming, buying tickets so fast that LA Comedy Live had to add additional dates for both tours, and giving Bianca a lot of love at her shows.
“Oh my god, I just love the passion … They’re wild, they’re passionate, they’re electric, which is great. And you know, you’ve got to remember, I’m friends with (Filipino American drag queens) Jiggly Caliente and Manila Luzon, and they’re not interesting at all. So I’m grateful that the audiences have proven them wrong and shown how passionate and fun they can be. It’s just amazing energy that I get when I’m there,” Bianca said.
Nothing is off limits
At this drag queen’s show, there is no lip syncing, no dancing, no stunts, no death drops, just Bianca’s pure, fearless, unapologetic, no-holds-barred brand of comedy. Don’t let that dimpled cheek fool you—no one is safe from her sharp tongue and killer wit. When Bianca is onstage, absolutely nothing is off limits.
“Expect the unexpected,” said Bianca about “Dead Inside.” “When I originally started this tour in America and Canada in January of 2024, we were dealing with different topics in the world and different things going on. I’m now in Latin America. So much has happened in the world so everything does get shifted. If anything exciting happens in the world, I promise you there will be jokes made about it. We can only hope that we sail on calm waters between now and when I get to see you guys.”
The show also changes depending on where she is. “Wherever I am in the world, you have to adapt a few things to the audiences that are there, whether it’s mentioning some local celebrity or mentioning something that might happen in that particular town, or something that might be topical. Usually just in my day of traveling to the venue, or me traveling on the airlines, something happens that I can then use later in the show.”
“Why is the tour called ’Dead Inside‘?” a journalist asked.
“Have you seen me, Chuck? I’m dead on the outside so I’m addressing the dead inside,” Bianca replied. “I think it’s just where I am in life. You know, nothing fazes me at this point … the election and the insanity and the news cycles and social media. Truthfully, I am continuously dead inside but somehow still functioning. None of it can affect me on any level, and I try to find my way through all the madness.”
And she does it with humor. “You somehow have to laugh at all of it, even when the worst things are happening. I mean, this election in America, I had to take a minute to just go, this is it. This is what we get. There’s lots of stupid people in the world, but it is what it is. You have to laugh. It’s unfortunate. It’s not what I was expecting. But somehow you have to find the fun in it, you know? And I do that with everything, from something happening in my day to a death in the family. You’ve got to find the good in it. You’ve got to laugh. You have to find the humor in everything.”
Ten years
It’s been ten years since Bianca’s “Drag Race” victory. “It has been an amazing run,” she said. And it truly has. Apart from her six world tours, Bianca has also starred in the “Hurricane Bianca” movies, joined the West End cast of “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie,” became a recurring judge on “Drag Me To Dinner” and hosted the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” online recap show “The Pit Stop.” She’s also the first drag queen to headline Carnegie Hall and Wembley Arena—and of course, those shows were sold out as well.
But how has her comedy evolved over the years?
“Oh, my God, it’s gotten even funnier, because getting old is a joke. I never thought I’d be doing this as long as I’ve been doing it … It is a process, getting older. It does get a little harder each time. Travel and putting on heels at my age, putting my teeth back in my mouth, all of that is quite the challenge now, so I do have to find the humor in it. But it is still rewarding to be with the audience. It just takes a little more work to get me to the audience.”
This tour has been a wild ride so far, Bianca said. “I mean, I’ve been in a snowstorm. I have been in freezing temperatures. I was just in a jungle last night. It’s just never knowing what to expect, you know, going to these venues, and despite all the craziness that’s surrounding it, whether a flight delay or whether losing my luggage somehow, there’s an audience there to lift me up.”
The meet-and-greet sessions with fans are a part of the tour that she cherishes (and yes, meet-and-greet packages for the Manila show are available). “The meet-and-greets that I get to do before the show is really a special part because I get to actually chat with a group of people and feel the energy and find out what’s going on locally and who they’re mad at, who they’re happy with, who they’re in a relationship with. I get all the gossip then, and I find that to be usually the most fun that I have prior to the show.”
From Argentina, Bianca was heading to Chile before going back home to the US. Then, it’s off to the Philippines. “You’ll catch me fresh in the new year. I’m just excited to start out the new year with a bang. I’m looking forward to coming and seeing the magic, the fun, the people, you and the country that I’m going to.”
While there will be jokes about “RuPaul’s Drag Race” (“We have to find the fun in the 9,500 franchises of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’” said Bianca), you really don’t have to be a fan of “Drag Race” or even of drag to enjoy Bianca’s comedy. She’s just damn funny, whether she’s talking about death or COVID or celebrities or politics.
“Keep your mind open and let’s laugh. We have to. There’s no way out of here without laughing.”
We’ve been seeing a lot of drag queens reacting to the US election results, expressing concern about their safety and about drag continuing as an art form. Are you concerned about the same thing?
Listen, I mean, I survived the 1990s so I look at it this way, I keep going on and doing the best that I can. I think that it’s unfortunate that we live in this world where all of this craziness is going on, but I try to find the positive in all of it, I try to find the humor in all of it. I think that we all need to stay strong and keep doing what we choose to do. I think that’s most important. I didn’t think I’d be doing drag for 30 years as I have been. And we’ve had many moments where society has said you can’t do this, you can’t do that, and we’ve always found a way to prevail. So, fingers crossed. I say, keep trucking along. And the only way that I can encourage people with that is to continue to do that myself, lead by example.
What advice would you give to aspiring drag queens?
I often say to anybody that’s starting out drag, don’t do it. It’s a trap. Look what’s happened to me. Don’t do it. Get a real job, stay in school, become a doctor, help the world. No, I often tell people that if they’re interested in drag, just run with it. There is no right or wrong way to do it. I’m the perfect example of that. I think that you need to find where your passion lies, and just run with it and trust your instincts. It’s the best advice people gave me when I started out, and it’s just kind of rung true still to this day.
What are your tour essentials? How do you survive on the road?
Well, this is the crazy thing. I often thought people were extreme when they would ask for specific items [in their rider], but over the years, I have realized if you don’t ask for it, it really is a problem. I have learned the hard way that I need to ask for wine. Wine is just a necessity. I like to have a glass of wine before the show. That’s always good, usually Chardonnay, but I’m not picky. It depends on the night. A mirror. Having a mirror helps, because I’ve been in some dressing rooms where there were no mirrors. I often ask for lights, because that could be questionable, and I’ve learned, especially when visiting the UK, that you have to ask for ice. That’s my list. That’s my list of demands that get me through it. If I have all of that, the show can go on. I mean, I’ve even been able to do a show without my luggage. Recently in Canada, I didn’t have my clothes, so I put on my makeup with hopes that my luggage would arrive. It didn’t. So I just went on stage in a onesie with my face on it. You find a way to make it happen.
The show and the tour are called “Dead Inside.” But what makes you feel alive?
That I wake up each day (laughs). No, knowing that there’s an audience ready to see you, you know? I mean, it is a bit grueling to do it as long as we’ve been doing it. I started in January of this year, and I’ll be continuing into 2025. The audience is what keeps you alive, truthfully. And you know, you find your time to sleep, time zones and all of that craziness, with insomnia and wanting to sleep in the middle of the day, you find your way through it. But I’m telling you, all the pains, all the aches, all the issues I have leading up to the show just all go away when you’re onstage, it’s amazing.
Catch “Dead Inside” at the New Frontier Theater on Jan. 17, 2025, 8 p.m., presented by LA Comedy Live. Tickets available at ticketnet.com.ph.
