Interview: Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme Are Rewriting Christmas Again

Christmas has survived a great deal over the centuries, but few have put the holiday through quite as much as Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme. For nine years, the drag superstars have dismantled and reconstructed the season’s most cherished traditions, transforming familiar stories into outrageous musical spectacles filled with irreverent humor, elaborate costumes, and an unexpected amount of heart.

For the 2026 holiday season, THE JINKX & DELA HOLIDAY SHOW returns with an entirely new production, bringing the queens’ particular brand of Christmas chaos to audiences across the country. This year’s festivities also include the release of How the Queens Made Christmas: A Raunchy Holiday Romp for Festive Adults!, a new illustrated book written by DeLa.

Despite nearly a decade of holiday mayhem, finding fresh material remains an annual challenge. “Well, the thing is we have started to feel like we’re scraping the barrel when it comes to Christmas topics,” Jinkx admits with a laugh. “How many different times can we tell Rudolph’s story set to how many different songs?”

Fortunately, contemporary culture provides an inexhaustible supply of material. Last year’s production tackled artificial intelligence, while the 2026 edition turns its attention toward corporate power and wealth. “This year we’re going much more into the corporate billionaire class,” DeLa reveals. “There’s actually a big corporation that takes over THE JINKX & DELA HOLIDAY SHOW this year. But it’s always fun to figure out how to filter that through a holiday lens. And, thusly, the CEO is Ebenezer Scrooge.”

For Jinkx, current events also provide opportunities to reconsider familiar holiday narratives. “The beauty of writing a brand new show every year means that we’re always pulling current events in, and that is constantly influencing the way we see the Christmas material that is, for all intents and purposes, the same every year.”

Beneath the satire, however, lies something considerably more personal. DeLa’s new book, published October 20 by Chronicle Books, follows the queens as they become trapped inside a Christmas storybook and must work together to escape. Its colorful illustrations and rhyming narrative disguise a deeper meditation on belonging, chosen family, and reclaiming childhood experiences.

DeLa dedicates the book to four boys she knew growing up who died by suicide amid struggles surrounding their queerness. In its author’s note, she explains that the story, much like their theatrical productions, exists for the children they never fully got to be.

“It’s one of my pre-show rituals to check in with kid me,” DeLa responds when asked what their younger selves might think of the Christmas world they've created. “‘Hey, like, that time was so tough,’” DeLa says to their younger self. And, “‘Look what you got to do.’”

That childhood perspective continues to shape their storytelling. Having experienced the isolation that can accompany growing up queer, DeLa approaches the holiday spectacular as an opportunity to create the sense of belonging that was once missing. “We really do wanna focus on community and on building morale and hope for the future,” DeLa adds.

Over nine years, their performances have evolved from seasonal entertainment into an established queer holiday tradition. For Jinkx, that evolution feels particularly meaningful because their friendship predates the production itself. “We created this holiday show because we needed it. We put it out there. It got this great response because other people needed it,” she reflects. “Even before we took it on tour, before either of us were on Drag Race, DeLa and I have been spending the winter holidays together.”

Their creative partnership has similarly evolved into something almost instinctive. Although DeLa serves as head writer, with additional writing from Jinkx, the distinction between their individual contributions has become increasingly difficult to identify. “Sometimes it's hard to remember who generated the idea first because we've gotten so collaborative and we also write for each other so often,” Jinkx explains.

“I have written some of Jinkx’s filthiest material. She has written some of DeLa’s most starry-eyed ding-dong material,” DeLa adds.

That collaboration occasionally requires convincing. Jinkx recalls initially doubting a Patti LaBelle-inspired number involving cue cards, while DeLa remembers resisting several of Jinkx’s more outrageous proposals. “One was her wanting to do a number with Sexy Krampus that I was like, ‘Uhhh,’ another was her wanting to do a Freaky Friday skit, and the third was her wanting to be pregnant with the Antichrist.”

All three eventually reached the stage. One idea, however, remains stubbornly unrealized. “The only idea that I’ve pitched repeatedly that has yet to make it into a show is Jinkx gets bit by a Grinch and starts turning into a were-Grinch,” Jinkx reveals.

“And that one I have vetoed because I have a lot of weird made-up rules for this show, and one of them is that the Grinch is too contemporary,” DeLa explains, “and I know that actually really dates me.”

“That’s the reason why,” Jinkx counters, “not the fact that I’d have to figure out how to turn green halfway through the show.”

Yet the absurdity serves a serious artistic purpose. At a time when queer and transgender communities face renewed political hostility, the queens recognize that laughter can accomplish something direct political commentary cannot.

“I think that part of why I love camp so much as a genre is that it functions really effectively as the spoonful of sugar,” DeLa states. "We can get in that space and use drag as a way to let people open up and feel a little bit more. Laughter opens your heart, and then we can say meaningful things.”

For DeLa, the ultimate reward is helping audiences recognize that they belong to something larger than themselves. “I hope that they come away with not just a theoretical spirit of community, but with an actual solid understanding that they are surrounded by more people who share their values and their needs than maybe they think.”

Jinkx sees another lesson in their success, which is the importance of believing that ambitious, unconventional ideas deserve to exist. “I feel like THE JINKX & DELA HOLIDAY SHOW is our version of that,” Jinkx points out. “It represents betting on ourselves a long time ago and then continually seeing what was possible and not limiting ourselves just because we’re a couple of drag queens with big ideas.”

What began as two friends creating their own holiday tradition has become an invitation for audiences to create communities of their own. After nine years of reinventing Christmas, perhaps that is the greatest gift Jinkx and DeLa have to offer.

2026 Tour Dates:

• November 6 - Charlotte, NC - Booth Playhouse @ Blumenthal Arts Center - PREVIEW
• November 7 - Charlotte, NC - Booth Playhouse @ Blumenthal Arts Center - PREVIEW
• November 8 - Charlotte, NC - Booth Playhouse @ Blumenthal Arts Center
• November 11 - Atlanta, GA - The Eastern
• November 12 - Cincinnati, OH - Taft Theatre
• November 13 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theatre
• November 14 - Columbus, OH - Southern Theatre
• November 15 - Ithaca, NY - State Theatre
• November 18 - Montreal, QC - L'Olympia
• November 19 - Toronto, ON - Meridian Hall
• November 20 - Ottawa, ON - Hard Rock
• November 21 - Philadelphia, PA - Miller Theater
• November 22 - Philadelphia, PA - Miller Theater
• November 25 - New York, NY - New York City Center
• November 27 - New York, NY - New York City Center
• November 28 - Boston, MA - Wang Theatre
• November 29 - Kingston, NY - Ulster Performing Arts Center
• December 1 - Pittsburgh, PA - Byham Theater
• December 3 - Tysons, VA - Capital One Hall
• December 4 - Cleveland, OH - Connor Palace
• December 5 - Detroit, MI - Masonic Jack White Theatre
• December 6 - Chicago, IL - Auditorium
• December 8 - Minneapolis, MN - Pantages Theatre
• December 9 - Omaha, NE - The Astro
• December 11 - Denver, CO - Paramount Theatre
• December 12 - Albuquerque, NM - Popejoy Hall
• December 14 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
• December 16 - Medford, OR - Holly Theatre
• December 17 - Portland, OR - Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
• December 18 - Tacoma, WA - Pantages Theater
• December 21 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre 
• December 22 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre
• December 23 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre
• December 24 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre
• December 27 - San Francisco, CA - Golden Gate Theatre
• December 28 - San Francisco, CA - Golden Gate Theatre
• December 29 - San Diego, CA - Balboa Theatre
• December 30 - Los Angeles, CA - Dolby Theatre