INTERVIEW: Home for the Holidays, Wherever You Are: The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show
11/30 @ Ulster Performing Arts Center, Kingston
“The mission statement was always creating a feeling of family and togetherness for our queer community, with a special emphasis on creating that safe space you might not get at home during the holidays.”
When BenDeLaCreme appears on my screen, she doesn’t waste a second. “I’ll be gentle on you,” she says with a grin. “Jinkx won’t. I apologize in advance.” A moment later, Jinkx Monsoon slips in with the kind of sly smile that makes me believe her.
I thank them both, probably too many times, stumbling through my nerves, but they meet me with patience and warmth. Comedians are always kind about nerves, I realize, even when sitting face to face with two of the sharpest, funniest people alive.
I tell them I saw their award-winning holiday show in Albany last year with my siblings. We left practically in tears, quoting lines we still toss around to this day; it resonated deeply within us. This year, The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show is returning for the eighth time, with a stop at Ulster Performing Arts Center in Kingston, and I ask what’s new.
“There are always surprises,” DeLa says. “Sometimes they surprise us. Every year, we bring the glitter, the original music, the parodies, the comedy, the dance, but we always put a new spin on it.
“This year, Jinkx and DeLa are doing an anthology. Think Tales from the Crypt or Treehouse of Horror. Instead of one storyline, we have four. So it’s four times as many insane journeys we’re going to take the audience on.”
Jinkx leans forward, her voice steady and bright. “The biggest surprise for newcomers is that we write a brand new show every year. That means going back to the same source material over and over and hoping to find something new,” she explains. “But that’s the fun thing about the anthology this year. We get to have a lot of ideas at once without having to fill two hours with one idea. It’s going to be satisfying for longtime fans and for people coming for the first time, like a crash course in what we’ve been doing.”
The longer they speak, the more I realize this show is a heartfelt tradition, one that’s theirs as much as it is ours. They create because they love the process, because they love each other, and because they love sharing that joy with the world.
“The mission statement was always creating a feeling of family and togetherness for our queer community,” Jinkx tells me, “with a special emphasis on creating that safe space you might not get at home during the holidays, even though Hallmark is promising we’re all feeling the same way.
“We’ve always recognized that homecoming is a charged topic. Our mission is to create a place where people feel that togetherness, even if they don’t get it from traditional sources.”
DeLa nods, her tone deliberate. “Comedy and camp and drag deliver that message so well because the strength and togetherness of the queer community has always been defined by our ability to find joy and to celebrate in the darkest times. It’s a reminder for the audience and for us. The song and dance are part of the fight.”
That line lands like no other. The song and dance are part of the fight. It extends far beyond art and performance for them, though those aspects are just as important. When you peel back the layers behind those things, the show, at its core, is about survival and salvation.
I ask how they walk the line between absurdity and tenderness.
“Oh, it’s incredibly intentional,” DeLa says without hesitation. “The reason I fell in love with camp comedy is because it’s such an effective delivery system for harder ideas. Earnestness isn’t en vogue. Vulnerability isn’t rewarded. But comedy breaks down those walls.
“When you can make someone laugh, they’re open to you. It’s intimate. That’s the perfect opportunity to connect some of those bigger ideas. Jinkx often says we take a serious topic and communicate it in the stupidest possible way. That makes it accessible. Hopefully, we strike the balance of making people feel seen, giving them a break, and reminding them we’re all in this world together.”
“There’s something divine about providing escape,” Jinkx adds. “Pretty much all my work this year has been in comedy, and that doesn’t mean it wasn’t sincere. At a bleak time, being able to provide even a couple of hours of laughter feels like I’m not just doing it for me. I see the effect it has on my community. And that keeps me going.”
Photo by Mettie Ostrowski
Their rhythm together is seamless. One expands, the other distills. They orbit the same truths, circling back to each other with such precision that it feels choreographed. They are confident in themselves, in each other, in their mission. To watch their philosophies unfold, layered and intricate, is to be reminded how intentional great comedy really is.
“Drag queens are de facto oral historians,” Jinkx says. “We capture moments in culture and process them with our audiences. Drag is for everyone, but it was born in the queer community. When it hasn’t been accepted in mainstream spaces, it’s always been accepted in ours. So drag carries our history. It’s reverent of what came before, but it’s also about turning it into something new.”
DeLa’s voice softens, but her conviction is clear: “Drag is its own language, like any culture’s performance or music. Jinkx and I process the world together; we grieve, we laugh, we find joy. And we’re honored to be part of that tapestry.”
Even their holiday show exists inside a lineage, seeking inspiration from Judy Garland and Pee-wee Herman. “The Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas special is a masterpiece,” DeLa says. “We always positioned ourselves in that lineage of holiday variety shows. The fact that audiences have made it their own tradition is incredibly special.”
Before we say goodbye, I ask them what single feeling they want people to carry home after the curtain falls.
“I just want to help people feel alive and safe and strong,” Jinkx says. “This show is silly and wacky, but it’s 100% earnest and sincere. If you show up with your mind open, your heart open, and sober enough to follow the plot, we take care of the rest.”
“I want people to leave with the sense that there is a community here, even if they don’t see it every day,” DeLa echoes. “When you’re in that room, everyone, from the audience to the crew to us on stage, believes in your humanity and your right to joy. Those spaces are precious. Hopefully, people can hold onto that feeling and carry it forward.”
They both smile, and I know I’m smiling back. In that moment, it’s obvious: what they’ve built feels like home, for them and for us. A glittering sanctuary people return to every year. Something rare. Something that feels like family. A reminder that joy itself is an act of resistance, and that sometimes the fiercest way to fight is to sing and dance anyway.
You can catch Jinkx and DeLa at the Ulster Performing Arts Center in Kingston, New York, on November 30! Tickets on sale now at ticketmaster.com/event/000062E7C6227E64