Interview: Sasha Velour Has a 'Big Reveal' and a Debut Novel

"RPDR" winner Sasha Velour is one of the show's most iconic winners. And she's busy – she's published her first novel and she's on tour. EDGE spoke to Velour about drag, her book, and her show.

In 2017 Sasha Velour joined the cast of Season 9 of "RuPaul's Drag Race" and made herstory. She had auditioned the season before, but didn't make the cut. But her show-stopping – or as Ru would put it – iconic lip-synch performance to Whitney Houston's "So Emotional" made history for the competition series. It was hailed as "the performance of the year" by The A.V. Club and named one of "TV's Best Musical Moments on Television" by Entertainment Weekly.

In her lip-synch Velour created an elaborate reveal full of rose petals hidden in her gloves and wig and is now widely regarded as one of the most iconic performances in the show's history, having contributed to a 500% increase in streaming plays of the song that summer. To this day, many "RuPaul's Drag Race" aficionados still rank Velour as an all-time top contestant on the series (now in its 15th season) and queens across the world still flock to Velour for her iconic looks and prized makeup technique.

Velour performed her first solo show "Smoke & Mirrors" in Australia in 2019, which she brought to the United States for a 24-city tour later that year. Her British tour was shortened due to Covid in 2020. She returned there and to Europe for a successful 36-stop tour last year. She is presently on with her "Big Reveal" tour that began last month in San Francisco and ends on June 1 in Washington D.C. Upcoming dates include New York City, as well as the Canadian cities of Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver. She returns to the United States for three additional dates in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and D.C. For dates and locations, visit her website.

Velour has also recently published her first book – "The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag," published by Harper Collins. "Billed as a first-of-its-kind, 'spellbinding' novel, Velour's work thoughtfully weaves memoir, history, and theory into a living portrait of an artist and an art. Throughout the book, Velour illuminates drag as a unique form of expression with a rich history and a revolutionary spirit as she recalls her own journey and uncovers the history of queer life around the world that made it all possible," according to her website.

EDGE spoke to Velour about what she thinks drag is, her iconic looks, and what's next for Sasha Velour.

EDGE: What is drag to you?

Sasha Velour: Drag can be almost anything, but it is the expression of gender beyond all limits and beyond what is realistic even for us. It's a performance art form. It is a community that has created an entire culture and a history a little bit outside of the institutions of art, which allows more people to take part in it. It's a radical art form that stands up for the queer community, for trans people, and for gay people. When the world doesn't allow it, drag creates alternate spaces.

EDGE: Tell us the story behind your name Sasha Velour.

Sasha Velour: Sasha is the name I've always had. My parents gave me a very nonbinary name. Sasha is a Russian name, which is my background. I'm Ukrainian and Jewish. All my life people have said, "You have a girl's name." So, when I became a drag queen, I already have the perfect name. Velour is my chosen name. It comes from a 1991 science fiction drag film called Vegas in Space. It was completely self-produced by a company of drag artists led by the legendary Doris Fish. Babs Velour is a character who is a shoplifter, and I thought that was just the funniest name. I also love that velour is known for being a cheap fabric to its cousin velvet, the more glamorous one. Velour is usually stretchier, and you can throw it in the washing machine. I love that. That is drag to me, a stretchier, washable version of the glamorous original.

EDGE: How great that your parents were so forward-thinking and setting you up for future success.

Sasha Velour: Exactly! My dad actually told me that they chose several versions of Alexanders and Alexandras to name me after. I am very lucky to have parents who have allowed me to be myself. It's something that has helped my life enormously and I hope we get to a place where more parents are like that.

EDGE: There are a lot of queer youths that don't have that support. What did your parents have that you think other parents need to be more supportive?

Sasha Velour: I think it's hard to say exactly. I write about my grandparents in my book. My grandmothers were really smart women who traveled the world and educated themselves well. They still believe that women should have equal rights and that queer people deserve equal rights. I am so glad that my family believed in equality and freedom for all people. My parents were total hippies who believe in informing themselves. If you don't understand something, don't be afraid of it. You research it and you figure out the full story – what it means. That was their attitude towards me. I was born a queer gender nonconforming kid. They both did the work to learn about it. My mom took classes on gay history. My dad has incorporated drag into his research. He's a historian of the Russian Revolution and he's looking at the role of drag during that time.

EDGE: Your looks are iconic. Talk to me about where they come from?

Sasha Velour: I pull references from all over. I love fashion history. We keep cycling through the same ideas when it comes to clothes, so it's easy to investigate the past and find something that feels fresh and make it relevant again. I particularly love clothes that drag artist have gravitated to in the past.

I love the dressing that an extreme celebrity or royal figure would wear but making it out of cheap materials. That's where most of the inspiration for my looks come from. I'm also an illustrator and graphic designer. I write in the book how I was drawing my drag character on paper before I had any resources to build her in real life. Even to this day, every look and makeup begins as a sketch on paper.

EDGE: Your debut book, "The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag" ...

Sasha Velour: I'm really proud of this book. It is the book I've been waiting for my entire life. It tells of the expansive history of drag and how drag is a part of world culture. It is also a radical form that has created space and a voice for queer and trans people. It also mixes in my personal story because I know I learned so much about this art and about myself by doing it, by dressing up, by having misadventures, and great successes.

EDGE: How would you describe your show?

Sasha Velour: It's a dramatization of the book. It is a celebration of the history of drag. With this tour, I want to engage with people's concerns, fears, and help advocate for all of us to have freedom, especially freedom of expression. I also want to make fun of the whole concept of a book tour. We're going to put the chairs and water glasses out there like you would have at a typical book event, and then flip them over and turn it into a big drag reveal. We have special guests in each city who are going join us for in depth and meaningful conversations because I feel like this is a moment where people really need to hear what drag artists and queer leaders around the country are thinking about and advocating for.

EDGE: What's packing like for you when you travel for shows?

Sasha Velour: It's really hard! I've developed a system recently where I made custom cardboard boxes that can fit all of my different costumes and head pieces. It's all fragile, so I pack everything myself. I don't think I could even train someone to follow my system. I have to take care of my props and my costumes, because they are my babies.

EDGE: Why do you want your voice to be heard?

Sasha Velour: As a little kid, I needed to hear about drag. I needed to hear that queer people and that gender nonconforming people could have a bright future and a happy adult life. I want my voice and my story to be an example to the many people out there that need that same message. I've put such an emphasis on informing myself about the past and present of drag that I want to add a different story to the mix that is already out there. My book touches on everything that's happening within drag, past and present. My dad, who is a historian, and my grandmother, who was constantly sharing stories about her past and how she viewed the world. I wanted to continue that family tradition by telling my stories and sharing my voice. I think it's so important because the dynamics we're dealing with now are not new and the artistry that we're celebrating now is also not new. We all need to share our stories to show how natural and normal drag is and how natural and normal queer people are in the world.

EDGE: After the tour what's next for Sasha? What's the dream?

Sasha Velour: I've got so many things in the works. I'm working on a Broadway show that I am writing and potentially a scripted television show. I really would love to make those happen. More immediately, I've long talked about doing a tour of my New York show "Nightgowns," which is a review of different kinds of drag and a celebration of all the different genders, ages, and artistic styles that drag encompasses.

For more information about Sasha Velour and her "Big Reveal" tour, visit her website.