Interview: Jinkx Monsoon & BenDeLaCreme Are Bringing Holiday Magic to a City Near You

Eight years into redefining what a holiday show can be, drag powerhouses Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme are once again decking the halls, and the patriarchy, with a brand-new production of THE JINKX & DELA HOLIDAY SHOW. The award-winning duo’s latest seasonal spectacular kicks off November 12 in Charlotte, North Carolina and will travel through 30 North American cities. This year's tour promises equal parts absurdity, heart, and hope.

Fans can expect something entirely new this year. For the first time, the show takes the form of a genre-bending anthology, fusing the holiday spirit with the duo’s shared love of sci-fi and horror. "Jinkx and I have been big horror and sci-fi fans for a long time," says DeLa, who serves as the show’s director, producer, and wears a new hat as head writer this year. "Every year, we come up with a lot of ideas together. Sometimes there are those chestnuts that don’t quite fit, but we put them in the vault for later. This year, it was time to unlock the vault."

Opening that proverbial vault wide, the pair are ready to reveal a wild mix of holiday chaos, cosmic comedy, and the occasional apocalypse. "I pitched, what if we do our Treehouse of Horror episode, where it’s like we take all of these bits and pieces, we make them into a full evening, and we get to really go hard in these wild, different directions," DeLa explains. "It just opened up a lot of really exciting options. Things can come to catastrophic ends and then reset. It’s a lot of fun to play with."

Jinkx adds that the pair has given themselves "full permission to end the world as many times as we need to tell our story," pointing out that horror has long been an integral part of queer storytelling.

"There is also a long-standing queer attachment to horror," DeLa emphasizes. "It’s how we put all these feelings of terror that we have into something we can enjoy. And drag is the same thing. It’s how we create joy in dark times."

That ability to turn darkness into laughter is central to what THE JINKX & DELA HOLIDAY SHOW represents. Since debuting in 2017, the tour has become a beloved annual tradition for queer audiences and allies alike, serving as a glittering reminder that joy itself can be an act of resistance.

When Jinkx hasn’t been touring, she’s been conquering Broadway and Off-Broadway. Between starring roles in CHICAGO, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, PIRATES! THE PENZANCE MUSICAL, and fresh from OH, MARY!, she’s found herself at the forefront of a mainstream embrace of drag artistry. Still, she says the holiday show remains her most personal and grounding project. "The reason I make that comparison between both productions [OH, MARY! and THE JINKX & DELA HOLIDAY SHOW] is because a small, mighty team created both things, believed in it enough to push it forward, and be the people to make it happen," Jinkx explains. "They [the small teams behind each show] had to teach themselves how to become producers and to produce something without letting other people come in and mess with it."

That DIY authenticity has paid off. What began as a self-produced experiment now rivals major touring productions in scope and sophistication. "Seeing different queer artists really dominate in a beautiful way in the entertainment industry lately, I do believe it’s because of those who have stayed true to themselves through the years, even when it wasn’t lucrative to be the outsider, are now just getting to experience the fruits of their long, enduring labors," Jinkx continues. "People are really responding to authenticity because we’re being lied to from every other direction."

In this year’s production, the duo even embraces a "Freaky Friday"-inspired twist, literally stepping into each other’s heels. It’s been a long-brewing idea that is finally being brought to life. "At this point, Jinkx and I have been working together for so long that we know each other’s characters inside and out. This was the time to do it," says DeLa. "Half the time, we don’t even remember who created what because we just know how to do it."

But beyond the camp and costume changes, there’s an emotional throughline that ties the chaos together. "The central metaphor this year is about two people trying to make it through a series of surreal horrors—like we all are—and figuring out how to do that through joy, connection, and community," DeLa says. "The audience is there making it happen. It’s grown because the audience has continued to need it and feed it, and we get to give them something, and then they get to give it back to us."

Of course, not every laugh comes easy. Both performers acknowledge that crafting sharp, heartfelt comedy year after year requires care, craft, and vulnerability. "The hardest part is finding that balance between leaning into what you find funny and what people can actually access," Jinkx reveals. "It’s really about finding what’s unique to our style of comedy, but what is also universal. We're talking about what we’re all thinking about, but finding the stupidest way to talk about it, not being afraid of it being stupid, and treating that stupidity like serious business."

For DeLa, the work is about inviting audiences to let their guard down. "Earnestness has not been in vogue for a long time, but it’s important," she notes. "We connect through letting those walls down. Comedy is the best way to let your walls down and to get other people to as well. When people start laughing, they become open and receptive, and you can start really talking about genuine ideas and connecting in a real way."

That connection feels especially vital in today’s political climate. With queer and trans communities once again under attack, both queens see their work as part of a lineage of resilience. "I think often these days about the line from HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH: 'I laugh because if I don’t, I’ll cry,'" Jinkx says. "It’s like, what else do you do? What else have we ever done? We’ve always been the ones looking out for each other in a world that will easily sacrifice us." She points to the AIDS epidemic and current slate of anti-trans legislation as painful reminders of this cycle. "You sacrifice one community, and that’s just the beginning of it," she poignantly adds.

DeLa agrees, reflecting on the enduring tradition of joy as protest. "We carry the tradition of all the folks that Jinkx is talking about who fought through those times and made life better for us. Are we taking a dip right now culturally? Absolutely. But that history—carried through traditions of drag—is what lets us know that it can be done because it has been done." She pauses, then quotes a saying that has clearly stayed with her: "'We bury our dead in the morning, we fight in the afternoon, and we dance at night.' And that is how we do it. We have to do all three."

Both performers see THE JINKX & DELA HOLIDAY SHOW as more than seasonal entertainment. It’s a way of giving back to the queer community that shaped them. "We really concentrate on paying it forward because it was drag artists at the times when we were kids who, in the darkest moments, came up with the stupid, funniest stuff that made us laugh and get through those moments," Jinkx reflects. "Now that we realize we’re doing that for the younger generation, we take that responsibility very seriously. It’s our job to talk about the serious stuff in stupid ways so that we can get through it."

As the show embarks on its latest tour, the message is clear: laughter isn’t just medicine, it’s survival. "The more I put my focus on the way in which I serve my community and the less I’ve put the focus on my ego, I think both DeLa and I can say we’re better artists," Jinkx says. "Sometimes we need to look a little dumb so we can all feel better about feeling a little dumb. You know what I mean?"

2025 Tour Dates:

• November 12 - PREVIEW - Charlotte, NC (Booth Playhouse) 
• November 13 - PREVIEW - Charlotte, NC (Booth Playhouse)
• November 16 - Atlanta, GA (The Eastern)
• November 17 - Durham, NC (Carolina Theatre)
• November 19 - Louisville, KY (Brown Theatre)
• November 20 - Columbus, OH (Southern Theatre)
• November 21 - Buffalo, NY (Buffalo State Performing Arts Center)
• November 22 - Boston, MA (Wang Theatre)
• November 23 - Montreal, QC (L’Olympia)
• November 25 - Ottawa, ON (Algonquin Commons Theatre)
• November 26 - Toronto, ON (Meridian Hall)
• November 28 - Pittsburgh, PA (Byham Theater)
• November 29 - Philadelphia, PA (Miller Theater)
• November 30 - Kingston NY (Ulster Performing Arts Center)
• December 1 - Tysons, VA (Capital One Hall)
• December 4 - Brooklyn, NY (Kings Theatre)
• December 5 - Cleveland, OH (Playhouse Square)
• December 6 - Detroit, MI (Masonic Cathedral Theatre)
• December 7 - Chicago, IL (Chicago Theatre)
• December 8 - Minneapolis, MN (Pantages Theatre)
• December 9 - Omaha, NE (The Astro) 
• December 11 - Kansas City, MO (Uptown Theater)
• December 12 - Denver, CO (Paramount Theatre)
• December 14 - Los Angeles, CA (Dolby Theatre)
• December 17 - Phoenix, AZ (Orpheum Theatre)
• December 18 - San Diego, CA (Balboa Theatre)
• December 19 - San Francisco, CA (Golden Gate Theatre)
• December 20 - Medford, OR (Holly Theatre)
• December 22 - Portland, OR (Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall)
• December 23 - Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
• December 24 - Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
• December 26 - Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
• December 27 - Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
• December 28 - MATINEE - Seattle, WA (Moore Theatre)
• December 30 - Vancouver, BC (Queen Elizabeth Theatre