We lost Dolly Parton and Tim Curry on the same day, both at 80. The hits keep coming and the wrong people keep dying (I can think of someone else who’s 80!). It’s gotten me thinking a lot about death, and legacy, and the collective grief we’re all experiencing.

The Gospel

What is death? No one really knows. Some would have you believe it’s heaven or hell, and some would have you believe it’s nothing. I won’t have the answer till I take my last breath, but what I do know is that there’s always something left behind.

Dolly Parton and Tim Curry left behind enormous legacies, because their work was so visible, but the unsung heroes leave behind legacies too. The everyday people who never get famous, who never get a statue, still leave something behind.

I keep my grandparents with me on a daily basis. Not in a locket, but in my behavior. They were florists, teachers, and pastors who made a tangible impact on their church communities and everyone around them. No matter how small you think your footprint is, you have made an impact on this world, and when you leave it, you will leave behind a legacy of some sort.

Even though Dolly, Tim, and so many others are not here with us physically, we keep them alive by honoring that legacy. We can tell the stories and repeat the quotes, but the most important way is to embody those lessons. Instead of just preaching what Dolly or Tim said, we can live by their example.

First though, grieve. Feel your feelings fully and unabashedly, take all the time you need, and let it be whatever it needs to be. Watch the old movies. Play the old records. Skip a day of work if you have to. Cry, shout, put on Jolene and lose your whole mind. Nobody gets to grade your grief or decide that just because we didn’t know these people personally that we don’t get to feel big feelings because of their loss.

In New Orleans, we bury our people with a brass band, and the walk home from the cemetery is a party. Right now there are hundreds of drag queens fluffing up their blonde wigs, getting ready to show up and show out for Dolly and Dr. Frank-N-Furter, and I promise you that is the highest honor we know how to give.

Dolly was an angel on this earth. The loudest thing about her was never the hair or the boobs. It was her kindness. She put a couple hundred million books into the hands of babies and helped bankroll a vaccine that saved just as many lives. She did all of it without ever betraying who she was. People called her cheap, called her a whore, even called her a drag queen like it was supposed to be an insult.

She built an empire out of every single thing they mocked her for and never backed down from a fight. She’s the one who said it costs a lot of money to look this cheap and I’ve been quoting that woman my entire drag career. We loved her for her unabashed authenticity and she loved us back. She once entered a Dolly Parton look-alike contest against a room full of drag queens, as herself, and lost. She told that story for the rest of her life, absolutely delighted. If anyone ever tells you that country and camp and church and drag can’t live in the same body, Dolly Parton is the counter-argument.

Now, Tim Curry. I knew him best as Dr. Frank-N-Furter, and instead of melting into a puddle of grief, I’m always interested in what I can learn, so I wanted to dig a little deeper into his story to see what it would look like to properly honor this legend, and what did he leave behind for us to carry forward?

Plenty, it turns out. He put on the corset in 1975, when doing so was actually dangerous, and played a freaky taboo role with total conviction. No wink, no apology.
That performance told a lot of weird kids that the thing “wrong” with them might be the best thing about them.

He was Wadsworth in Clue, Pennywise in IT, Long John Silver next to a bunch of Muppets, and half the cartoon villains of your childhood. He made the freaks and the villains the most magnetic people in the room. A stroke took his ability to walk in 2012, and he kept performing with the instrument he had left, his voice. He rolled back into Rocky Horror as the Narrator in 2016, in a wheelchair, and later wrote it all down in a memoir. The show went on because he decided it would… and the show is still going. Rocky Horror has been playing at midnight somewhere in the world for fifty years, shadow casts in fishnets, with whole generations of people finding each other in the dark. He built a place where the outcasts get to be the main event, and that place outlives him.

So what we can learn from these icons is to carry kindness and authenticity with a refusal to shrink. Take the things that make you different and make them your calling card. Go all in, and when life takes something from you, take inventory of what’s left and keep performing.

That is how you keep someone alive. You build them into your behavior. Turn the grief into something you do, because grief that becomes action feels a whole lot better than grief that just sits there. Lead with kindness so hard that somebody eventually asks you why, especially when the other person didn’t deserve it. And when they ask, tell them the truth: that’s what Dolly would want. I learned it from her.
Now I’m passing it on to you.

Who do you carry with you? Your grandma? A teacher?
Somebody famous you never met a day in your life?
Tell me below.

The Lab

The universe clearly has a sense of humor, because this Saturday I am producing a literal drag séance. Laveau Contraire’s Crystal Balls: A Gayéance, Saturday, September 5th at the Foundation Room inside the House of Blues. We were already going to be conjuring legends that night, but now I feel like honoring these legends only makes sense.

I’ll be sharing a bit more of the behind the scenes process, and my personal pressure cooker in the paid version (special discount here!), so that’s all I’ll say for now, but I hope to see you “in the flesh” so you can see the fruits of my labor… CUE THE SCHEDULE!

In the Flesh

Decadence is HERE, honey!
The weekend will be full of tricks and treats, so buckle up and take notes:

Thursday, Sep 3rd: The New Orleans Queers of Comedy at Oz New Orleans!
We’re here every Thursday at 8:30, but this time a little bit earlier at 8pm.
Come start your Southern Decadence off with a laugh at the #1 Gay Bar in New Orleans.

Friday, Sep 4: Whiskey & Rhinestones at The Original Nite Cap, show at 8.
One of my favorite shows in one of my favorite venues. It’s owned by one of the legends of burlesque in New Orleans, Bella Blue, and it feels like you’re in someone’s living room that just so happens to have a fancy bar and 3 stripper poles in the ceiling.

Saturday, Sep 5: I’m starting the day with Another Drag Brunch with Daya Betty from Rupaul’s Drag Race (which is already sold out), Bingo at Brennan’s, and then making my way over to the foundation room for…

Laveau Contraire’s Crystal Balls! It’s an intimate space where i’ll be telling jokes, singing songs, pulling cards, and telling you what your frisky future holds…

Sunday, Sep 6: Saint John Drag Brunch with Mandy Mango from Rupaul’s Drag Race, then THROAT: A Showcase of What That Mouth Do at the AllWays Lounge that same day. There are 2 brunch seatings at 11am and 1:30 and the second seating is almost sold out so make those reservations ASAP!

Monday, Sep 7: Southern Decadence Cool Down Pool Party for NOLA Pridefest.
A poolside drag show on Labor Day? I just might jump in the pool!

For the full calendar, check out laveaucontraire.com/calendar <3

Life is short! I’ll see you IN REAL LIFE!

LC<3

I’ve always been the woo woo witchy girl. Magic, mystery, anything past the edge of reason. But there’s one idea that stopped being an interest and became the cornerstone of my whole practice. It’s the reason I always know when I’m not myself and how I course correct to get back on track. Home Frequency.

The Gospel

I believe that the universe is a random bullshit generator.

I don’t mean that as an insult. I mean it just keeps popping out fractals. New variations on what it means to be a person, over and over, forever. If you can imagine it, somebody out there is doing it. Somebody out there feels that way. This belief is genuinely why almost nothing shocks me anymore. When I meet somebody with a wild belief or hear about something unfathomable, I think, “Oh, right…”, the universe is just running every possible variation on the theme….and the theme is you.

Every single one of us is unique. I don’t care how boring or basic you think you are. You are still uniquely boring and basic. Imagine us all as a cosmic choir, singing a chord. That cosmic choir needs your particular voice, and you don’t get to decide it’s not needed just because you can’t hear yourself over everybody else. The chord is made up of everyone’s unique voice. Your unique frequency. That frequency is what’s left when you strip away everything that isn’t you.

I learned this concept from Maryam Hasnaa, who teaches it through her New Earth Mystery School and Resonance Apothecary. It changed how I move through the world, so she gets the credit for the language.

From the second you were born you’ve been getting programmed. Everything your parents taught you and everything they didn’t. Whatever your third grade teacher said that day that you never forgot... Every relationship, every room you had to read. All of that shaped you into who you are, and some of it is genuinely, gorgeously yours.

Some of it is not though...
Some of it is somebody else’s frequency running on your equipment.

The work is figuring out which is which. You don’t need a retreat for this. Open a voice note and talk about it (that’s what I do), which is a completely legitimate accommodation if sitting with a journal makes you want to peel your skin off. Ask yourself the small stuff, because the small stuff is where you’re least likely to be performing:

What’s your favorite color. What are your values. What’s your favorite sweet treat on a sunny day. What’s your favorite weather. What will you not do under any circumstances. What’s a food you are never eating again as long as you live.

I’m not talking about a personality quiz (though, hey, that might help too).
It’s about getting to know your frequency. That’s your uniqueness.

And once you know what it feels like, it follows you everywhere.
That’s the whole point. It becomes a homing beacon.

When I say “I’m in a funk,” what I’m really saying is that I’m off of my home frequency. But when you know your own signal, you can diagnose it in about four seconds. Oh, I’m not in my energy because I’m tired. I’m not in my energy because I’m sad. I’m not in my energy because that bitch got on my nerves and took me all the way out of my good feeling energy.

And then, because you know where you’re going, you can actually go there.

If you don’t know your own frequency you’re not finding your way back, you’re just wandering toward something you think you’re supposed to feel or that you think will make you feel better. Somebody tells you to just be grateful, and gratitude isn’t even where you need to be right now. You might need to get to your baseline first. You’re trying to find happiness when what you needed was to be fed and left alone for an hour to reset.

Ask yourself where you feel the most you. Where you feel the most free. Then ask yourself why, because it shouldn’t be dependent on a place or a person. There’s something about those places and situations that allows you to be more of yourself.

If it is dependent on a person, that’s worth a second look. You might just be standing in their energy. They might be so solidly in their own signal that being near them feels like being in yours. That’s lovely, and it’s not the same thing, and you can’t take it home with you.

When do you feel the most you, on your own?

I know you don’t want to hear it, but I’d say meditate on it.
Maybe I need to pull out the microphone and walk you through one myself.

Because if you don’t know your own energy, you are wide open. People will put their energy on you, siphon yours, hand you a funk that was never yours to carry. And that just won’t do. We can’t have that, can we?

The Lab

I’ve been on a rollercoaster. My emotions have been all over the place as I settle into weeks 2 & 3 of Artist Recovery. I’ve been reminding myself that my body is literally detoxing and that I am undergoing massive changes internally, so I’ve been purposefully taking it easy on myself and allowing myself to be a sack of goo inside of my transformation cocoon. I’m happy to report that I have opened the project files for new music and that I am slowly, but surely getting ready to feed the children.

That’s all I’ll say right now, but if you want to know more, you can scale the paywall and get the unfiltered tea there…

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

In the Flesh

Here’s a few shows I’m super excited about!
For the full calendar, check out laveaucontraire.com/calendar <3

Ladies of Oz — Sunday August 16, 9:45pm, Oz New Orleans (800 Bourbon St).
I’ll be filling in for Ivy Dripp as Hostess. What a dream come true! and it’s FREEE!

Hard Candy New Orleans with Jasmine Kennedie — Thursday August 20, meet and greet 7pm, showtime 8pm, Foundation Room (225 Decatur St). All Stars 11’s own, hosted by Crystal Edge, and I’ll be there! Ticket Link

Her Haus Brunch — Saturday August 29, 12-4pm, Sidecar Patio & Oyster Bar (1114 Constance St). Brunch in the Warehouse District. Four whole hours. Pace yourself, I certainly won’t. Ticket Link

Crystal Balls: A Gayéance! — Saturday September 5, 8pm, Foundation Room at House of Blues (225 Decatur St). I’m hosting this special event at the Foundation Room and I’m so excited to whip out my crystal balls, sing some songs, and conjure up some special guests for Southern Decadence.

And then Decadence weekend detonates: Kandy Muse’s drag brunch earlier that same Saturday, then Saint John and THROAT on Sunday, then the Railyard pool party on Monday. It’s a lot. It’s all on the calendar.

Come to a show!
You’ll get to see me IN REAL LIFE!
You lucky dog, you!

LC<3

I am fed up with my own bullsh!t so I’m putting myself in boot camp recovery…
no, not that kind…

It did start with a 2-day hangover…but you paid for the details,
so let’s do this properly….

Read more

Last transmission I told you to fact-check your narrator… But what does that actually mean? There’s a process called Metacognition that translates in normal people speak to “Thinking about Thinking” Turns out there’s a whole field of research behind it, and one of my own drag babies is scared of it… let’s dive in!

The Gospel

It got introduced in the 1970s by a developmental psychologist named John Flavell, who wrote the paper that put it on the map (Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring, American Psychologist, 1979). I honestly don’t know when it first came across my desk (it certainly wasn’t this paper) because I’m constantly consuming anything that helps me understand myself and other people, so at some point it just became part of my daily life.

So I brought this up in the Haus Contraire mental dojo, and one of my drag babies told me they don’t like metacognition. Said it feels like they’re policing their thoughts.

And my first response was, well, why would you want the police in your head?
Which is a great line, and also a bit of a simplification, so let me actually do the work.

They’re not wrong that it can go sideways. I went looking for the opposite opinion on purpose, because when you research something you should never only look for the thing that agrees with you. That’s how you build yourself a yes chamber.

I found a whole paper called “Why Metacognition Is Not Always Helpful” (Elisabeth Norman, Frontiers in Psychology, 2020) that lays out three ways it can backfire.

One, it can interfere with the actual task. You can think about thinking about thinking about thinking and never do the thing. BEEN. THERE.

Two, the effort can cost more than it’s worth.

Three, and this is the one my kiddo was pointing at, if the thinking turns into judging, it can eat your well-being alive. I totally get that. Especially since, as children, we are fed a lot of ideas about what is good to do and think and what is not.

But here’s what I believe: you are having thousands of thoughts a day and most of them are garbage. Not bad. Just garbage. Throwaways. Some of them are genuinely insane. If you’re anything like me you have absolutely pictured yourself running into the street and screaming your head off or maybe even ripping someone’s head off… 😅

None of that should determine your character… (unless you go out and do it)

Some of those thoughts aren’t even yours. They’re opinions handed down from parents, teachers, old friends, old relationships,etc. and they never got updated.
You can throw those out! Retire them. But you might want to sit with them for a second to see why they’re there first… and give yourself some grace.
Having an electric meatball for a brain, is a harrowing experience.

When I notice myself having a thought that feels… insane out of alignment with my values… I notice it and then I get curious. That’s just information telling me to shift my thinking. I stay away from anything that smells like shame about what I think, because shame doesn’t change the thought, it just makes you hide it from yourself.

And that’s the actual danger of skipping this entirely. It’s not that you’ll have a weird thought. It’s that you’ll have a thousand of them, never look at them, and then find yourself in the middle of the street screaming with no clothes on.

New tool for the magical backpack unlocked! Metacognition: Notice, but don’t police.

There are lots of ways to do it, too. Pen and paper slows me down and forces everything into sentences instead of a flurry. Voice notes work for me too, because sometimes I just need to yap it all out and then play it back and go, wow.
Maybe I am insane. Let’s unpack that…
(for clarity, i’m joking, because even that’s a bit too judgemental for my taste)

Either way, it’s something to think about thinking about lol

What’s a thought you’ve been carrying around that you never actually checked the receipts on? And whose voice was it in? Ya moms? Your evil ex?
Do you think about thinking? Let me know below.

The Lab

I have put myself back into artist recovery.
Which means I have restarted The Artist's Way, which is a 12 week artist recovery program that involves 3 simple things: 3 pages of journaling every morning, taking yourself on an artist date once a week and, of course, reading the book.

But if you know me, you know I don't do anything simply or easily. So, I've decided to make things a little bit more difficult on myself and have turned artist recovery into a full blown boot camp. If you want to know the full details, you can become a paid subscriber and get twice as many updates and support my dreams of being able to pay my bills :)

The reason I'm putting myself in boot camp is because I am going to be in 2 musicals this fall. (s)Hadestown, a burlesque parody musical, and I Wrote A Song (which I am also assistant directing). I really want to be in tip top shape and of sound mind and body for this run so that I can feel super confident in my ability to deliver on stage.

I also keep talking about music, but still haven't made the time to sit in the studio and actually open the project files. So I've gotten fed up enough to actually do something about it. Wish me luck… and pray for me because this is not for the weak!

In The Flesh

Here’s a few shows I’m super excited about!
For the full calendar, check out laveaucontraire.com/calendar <3

The Fame Monster (Lady Gaga tribute) — Friday August 14, 11pm, The Twilight Room at The AllWays Lounge (2240 St Claude Ave). SAILEM’s theatrical run of the whole album straight through. I’m doing TELEPHONE with Debbie with a D and you’re not gonna wanna miss it.

Titties and Pitties — Saturday August 15, 7pm, The Dog House (2736 Banks St). Adults only drag and burlesque where the dogs are also invited!
Donations to Animal Rescue New Orleans in lieu of cover. FREE!

Hard Candy New Orleans with Jasmine Kennedie — Thursday August 20, meet and greet 7pm, showtime 8pm, Foundation Room (225 Decatur St). All Stars 11’s own, hosted by Crystal Edge, and I’ll be there!

Kandy Muse: Southern Decadence Drag Brunch — Saturday September 5, doors 11am, show 12pm, Bourbon Orleans Hotel (717 Orleans St). Decadence weekend, a Season 13 and All Stars 8 legend, and me, Crystal Edge, Debbie with a D and Vory Qua holding it down on the local front.

The Vixen Presents Black Girl Magic ft. Onya Nurve — Saturday September 19, 7pm, Cafe Istanbul (2372 St Claude Ave). The Vixen brings Black Girl Magic to New Orleans with the Season 17 winner! I’m still pinching myself about this one.

Come to a show!
You’ll get to see me IN REAL LIFE!

LC<3

The Gospel

Logical fallacies have been my obsession since I first learned about them in elementary school. The idea that there were ways of thinking that were inherently flawed hooked me, because suddenly I could spot them in the wild. Adults would make an argument and I could recognize they were not using logic, or not telling the truth, or both!

So imagine my delight when I looked up the unreliable narrator, a literary device formally coined by Wayne C. Booth in his 1961 book The Rhetoric of Fiction. To spot one, the literature says, look for internal contradictions, a deteriorating mental state, or events that simply don’t align with the other clues the author has planted.

Here is what I’ve learned in my time on this earth:
Humans are unreliable narrators too….
Some of y’all more than others…

Everybody is having a different experience. Everyone is the main character of their own life, and the hero, or maybe the villain, …or maybe the victim. Two people can go through the exact same thing and come out with two completely different stories, based on their childhood, their hopes, their fears, and everything else that makes them uniquely who they are. It’s why we have friends to soundboard with, therapists that can help us process clearly, and mediators so both sides of the story can be heard and a common truth can be found between them.

Which brings me back to those three literary tells, because they work scarily well in real life.

Internal contradictions.

This is where knowing your fallacies comes in handy.
When somebody throws a red herring, you can clock that they’re just trying to deceive you. When they slide down a slippery slope, you can clock that they’re being dramatic. When the sunk cost fallacy is telling you that you have to stay because you already gave it twenty years, you can tell it no. Naming these is how I keep them from having power over me. If you don’t know them, people can get over on you, or worse you can do it to yourself.

A deteriorating mental state. Before you point that one at anybody else, turn it around. How is your mental health right now? Are you in a state that might change your perception of reality? Is this situation heightened by what you’re carrying today? (And yes, keep a gentle eye on the state of whoever is telling you the wildly outlandish thing…)

Events that don’t align with the other clues. Pattern recognition, baby!
Listen to people when they talk, especially when you’re getting to know someone, and especially in dating. Make sure A plus B actually equals C.
If every single one of their exes is to blame for the relationship failing, hmm….
If everyone else is always the problem, you might have an unreliable narrator.

I never want to be a victim to my own flawed thinking, so I am constantly checking my own inner narrator. I try to have people I can go to that will tell me if I’m bugging, because I don’t ever want to filter a situation through my emotions so much that the story I’m telling is farther from the truth than it needs to be. So here’s a new tool for your magical backpack: fact-check the narrator, especially when the narrator is you.

Whose story are you taking at face value right now? Is one of them yours?

The Lab

The road ahead is looking interesting! I’m going to be doing a lot more theatre in the coming months. I’ve been asked to perform and assistant direct Trey Ming’s “I Wrote a Song,” returning to The Allways Lounge at the end of September, and I’ll be playing the role of Hermes in Musicals in Burlesque’s production of Hadestown on Halloween.

I’m still itching to get in the studio and work on music, but Choke Hole is filming this week and I had to remake my entire outfit for it so i’ve been busy to say the least. I did post a clip of a new song I’m working on that I performed on the fourth of July called “American Dream" or “Hey America”… actually I don’t know what I’m going to call it yet, but I’m excited about it. Let me know what you think!

The Contraire Chronicles is going weekly. Free posts will keep arriving every other week like they always have. On the in-between weeks there will be a post for paid subscribers, where I share my discoveries as I’m discovering them. So now is your chance to get on the VIP list before I start telling all my business over there lol

In the Flesh

This is a five-show week, so pick your poison.

Queers of Comedy — Thursdays, 8:30pm, Oz New Orleans (800 Bourbon St).
New Orleans’ weekly queer comedy and drag show. It’s Freeeeeee!

That’s Drag! —Fridays, 10pm, The Golden Lantern (1239 Royal St).
A weekly deep dive into the wild side of New Orleans drag.
Show at 10pm and it’s also freeeeee!

Titties and Pitties — Saturday 7/18, 7pm, The Dog House (2736 Banks St).
Adults-only drag and burlesque where the dogs are invited too.
Donations to Animal Rescue New Orleans in lieu of cover. FREE!

WigSnatchers — Saturday 7/18, 9pm, The Maison (508 Frenchmen St). I’m going straight from the Dog House to Frenchmen St., so yes, you can catch me TWICE on Saturday. No cover. FREEEEEEEEEE!

Playgirlz — Sunday 7/19, 5pm, The Golden Lantern.
At this point in the weekend, i’ll likely be sore, so I’m singing live on this one.
Oh, and guess what? It’s FREE!

I’ll see you IN REAL LIFE! What a treat!

LC<3

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Pride Month is over. So is the first half of 2026, if you can believe it.
This week the Haus sat down for our quarterly check-in, and I left thinking about one thing: I just made it through one of the busiest seasons of the year without vanishing into the work. That’s new. Let me tell you what it taught me.

THE GOSPEL

If you don’t know, Pride is one of the busiest stretches of the year for a drag queen. In seasons past I just put my head down, worked myself into the ground, and looked up in July wondering where the time went. This year was different. I have been working on being more of a human and less of a cyborg. I werked my ass off, yes, but I also went to brunch (out of drag!), hung out with friends, and picked up the phone to talk to my relatives. Sometimes I even did things that had nothing to do with drag at all!

I love my job(s) so much that, if you left me to my own devices, I would probably work nonstop. But I keep learning the same lesson in new outfits: none of the work matters if I’m not in community while I do it. No paycheck or career milestone can buy back the time we spend with the people we love. Especially now, in this capitalist hellscape, when the world feels like it has about thirty minutes left before it goes up in flames. Time is the only thing we can’t get back, so I’m working on being a human and not just a workhorse.

Here’s the part I’m proudest of (and it’s boring): I stayed the course. I have been tuning my habits and my mindset so that I can sustain, and it’s working. I don’t have it all figured out (I am wily, and my favorite person to outsmart is myself). But I feel good about where I am, and my ability to get where I want to go. The second half of the year is about expanding slowly and gently. Pushing my own edges without knocking over everything I built to get here. Growing at a pace I can actually keep.

And the secret to a pace you can keep is smaller than you think. I’m learning the power of incremental gains. A few dollars set aside here and there quietly becomes real savings. Showing up for a thirty-minute run, even when you don’t feel like it, is often enough to keep you coming back. You do not have to take the giant leap today. A baby step counts, because momentum is the actual prize. It is so much easier to keep something moving than to start from zero and try to go straight to sixty.

So if you want to run your own mid-year check-in,
here are the five questions we sat with in that Haus meeting:

1. What happened in the last six months that you’re proud of?

2. What did you learn from the last six months?

3. Where do you want to be in the next three months?

4. Where do you want to be in a year?

5. What is one small thing you could do tomorrow that would make you feel like you’re moving toward those goals?

Answer all five, but the last one is the key to starting your momentum.

Pick your one small thing, and go do it tomorrow.

Time won’t wait. Neither should you.

THE LAB

Now that Pride is behind me, I am itching to get back to my music.
The album has been waiting patiently and I cannot wait to disappear into it again.

I’m also in rehearsals to film something very exciting with Choke Hole. We’re looking for a few good extras, so if you want to be a part of history in the making, reply and let me know!

And at the end of the month I’m teaming up with NOLA Craft Culture to bring back my Makeup Sip & Paint! This round we’re painting a summery eye look. As always, you can bring your own kit or buy everything you need included with your ticket. Class is about to be in session. You can reserve your spot below.

IN THE FLESH

Queers of Comedy — Thursdays, 8:30pm, Oz NOLA (800 Bourbon St)
The city’s queer comedy and drag night, and I’m your host every week.
Come heckle responsibly.

That’s Drag! — Fridays, 10pm, The Golden Lantern (1239 Royal St)
New Themes Every Week! I’m excited to be back at the Lantern,
and the clown car of New Orleans’ finest is coming with me. Free to get in.

Anti Fourth of July Party — Saturday, July 4, 2–8pm, Music Box Village
Fight the power or fight for your right to party, either way come fight with us. Burlesque, drag, food, and I’m performing. Every dollar goes toward reparations. Ticket link

Saint John Drag Brunch — Sunday, July 12, 11am
Bottomless everything and your favorite queens over eggs.
Reservations on Resy.

Drag Queen Makeup Sip & Paint, Summer Edition — Friday, July 24, 5–7pm, NOLA Craft Culture
The canvas is your face. Come sharpen up your skills or learn some new tricks.
Spots are limited, grab yours. [Registration Link] [Without Kit]

See you on the other side!

xo, Laveau <3

Somebody stole my bike this week…and here is the part that surprised even me: I am not upset. For about three seconds I was gagged, standing on the sidewalk blinking at the spot where my bike used to be. And then I reached into my backpack.

The Gospel

Let me set the scene. I had biked to brunch to talk about an assistant directing gig this fall (more on that when it’s real). I locked my bike up, did my due diligence like I always do, and went in to have a lovely time. About an hour later I came back out, and my bike was gone. Vanished. Poof!

So naturally, I started walking down the street. I am not entirely sure where I thought I was walking to. My bike was not going to be three blocks away waiting for me with a latte. After a few steps I caught myself, turned around, and there was the friend I had just eaten with, walking to her car. Serendipity! So I asked for a ride home.

And somewhere in that car ride is where I got really proud of myself, because by the time we pulled up to my house, I had already fully processed the whole thing.

Here is what I mean by that. I keep a magical backpack. Not a literal one (well, I keep one of those too), but a collection of tools I have picked up in my travels. Rules, reminders, little reframes that keep me grounded, level headed, and smiling even when the world is burning down around me. You have one of these backpacks, whether you know it or not.

So in the car, I reached in and pulled out one of my favorites. It is a little slip of paper that says: I am not allowed to panic until I have used all of my resources. Most of us panic first and figure it out second. But a lot of the time, the panic is not even necessary. If you phone a friend, ask the room, work some magic, and use every resource you have available to you, you usually find the emergency was smaller than the feelings surrounding it. And if you get all the way to the end of your list of resources and there is genuinely nothing left to try? Fine. Freak out. But I will warn you, the freaking out usually doesn’t help the situation. It certainly wouldn’t bring my bike back.

So I used my resources. I filed a police report. I put it up on Stolen Bikes NOLA in case somebody spots it and then I was done, because that was everything in my control, and no amount of beating myself up over whether I locked it up properly or could have parked it somewhere else was going to roll that bike back up to my door.

Here is the part I cannot stop smiling about. The amount I paid my friend for that bike when I bought it was the exact same amount I was being offered at the brunch where it got stolen. Same number, in one hand and out the other. To me, that is a clean energetic exchange. I consider myself a money magnet and an abundance generator, so the way I see it: either my bike comes back to me, or I simply buy another one. So why would I spend the rest of my day grieving a bicycle? I am safe.
I am taken care of, and things come and go.

So this week, go through your own backpack. Take everything out and really look at it. Some of those tools are gold. Some of them are junk, old rules and ideas you picked up somewhere that do not serve you anymore. You are allowed to throw those out. You are allowed to pack literally whatever you want instead, from “don’t worry, be happy” to “everything always works out for me.” Because the next time life throws you a curveball, remember that you have so many tools available to you. Don’t forget to use them.

The Lab

^{Photos by Leone Julitte (@leonejuice)}

I just got back from galavanting as an Alien at Bonnaroo with IGRAC, and let me tell you, the backpack got a workout. We rolled up ready for the weekend and our RV was not there. It never arrived. Plans rewritten on the spot. It was stressful in the moment, but I have trained my brain to go hunting for the bright side and the benefit, because staring at the problem has never once walked me to the solution. We shifted, we figured it out, and still ended up having a good time. Life is going to keep throwing curveballs. All I try to do is catch them with a little grace.

Makeup Time Lapse on Tik Tok | Highlight Reel on Instagram

I love IGRAC because it gave me the opportunity to create a new character. Her name is ÆXHŒ (pronounced like “Echo” on your planet) and she uses her æxhœlocator to study human emotions and see into the future. I used my alien talents at Bonnaroo to give Misfortune Tellings and ended up helping a lot of people prepare for bad hair days, impending pet poops, new jobs and bad relationships. I’m still trying to figure out why it’s so wet here on earth though. It’s like everything is made of water! Even the humans!

On the music front, I will be honest, I still have not had a real minute to sit with my own songs. BUT, on the way to Bonnaroo, Tarah Cards and I wrote a parody we are sharing joint custody of, and it is coming soon. I am always hunting for a hole in my schedule big enough to crawl back into the lab, where I belong, so I can make more magic for you so stay tuned!

In The Flesh

If you want to see the doll in person,
the calendar is STACKED right now.
Here is where I’ll be:

Queers of Comedy — Thursdays, 8pm, Oz NOLA
Part stand up, part drag show, fully unhinged, and the lineup is never the same twice. Free to get in, but bring cash to tip!

Bodice Rippers — Thursday, June 18, 10pm, The Allways Lounge
A burlesque book club serving disco witches of Fire Island, hosted by Ember Alert.

Juneteenth at Mother’s — Friday, June 19, Mother’s Lounge, Baton Rouge
I am taking it back to my hometown for a Night of Black Excellence. If you are in Baton Rouge, come see me hosting in my hometown!

Drag Me to Elks — Saturday, June 20, 7pm, Elks Lodge #2496, Gretna
Drag across the river. Yes, the Elks Lodge. Yes, it is going to be a time lol

One Night Only with Dinah DeVille — Saturday, June 20, 11pm, The AllWays Lounge
A brand new late night show, with the iconic Dinah DeVille. The kind of anything goes night that turns into a good story. Come let us dazzle you.

Saint John Drag Brunch — Every Sunday in June at 11am, Saint John on St. Charles
Bottomless brunch, full faces, and me before noon, which is its own kind of miracle. Bring your hangover, we will make ya feel better.

Drag Queen Story Hour — Saturday, June 27, 10:30am, Main Library
Story time, but make it fabulous. Books, kids, and a queen who used to teach for a living. This one is the work I am proudest of.

NCC Makeup Sip & Paint — Friday, July 3, 5 to 7pm, Nola Craft Culture
Want to learn to paint? I am teaching. Bring your face and your questions, leave knowing how to beat it. You can bring your own kit or purchase one when you reserve your seat.

Ok, Mommy has to get back to werk.
Go check your backpack and do your homework.

See you on the other side!
Love, Laveau (and ÆXHŒ) <3

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Later that night, I had to take a long look in the mirror… here’s what I found:

The Gospel

I just closed a four night run of a show that asked everything of me. A cast that could genuinely eat, a script that made me work, four nights of holding my voice together and showing up. And when it was over, when people came up to me glowing and generous and kind, I caught myself doing the thing I always do. She’s just being nice. She doesn’t really mean it. She’s being polite because I look like I need it.

I have been discounting compliments my whole life and calling it humility. It is not humility. It is a flinch.

Because here is what I finally understand. The version of me that people clap for, the one they voted for, the one they drove across town and paid a cover to see, she is real. She is not a lie I am getting away with. And every time I wave off a kind word, I am voting against her. I am telling the new me to sit back down so the old me can stay comfortable. And the old me LOVES that, because flinching is safe. Becoming is not.

Transformation is not gentle. The old you has to die so the new one can be born, and the old you will fight dirty to survive. One of her favorite tricks is convincing you that the proof of your becoming is a fluke. Do not fall for it.

So, this is the tool I’m adding to my magical backpack this week, and it’s almost stupid how simple it is: “Take The Compliment” That’s it! That’s the whole tool.

I remember hearing somewhere that when you negate someone’s compliment that you’re essentially telling them that their opinion is wrong. I know better than to do that out loud anymore, but I was still secretly discrediting compliments in my head.

When someone hands you a kind word, do not inspect it for motive, do not translate it into something smaller, do not hand it back. Just say thank you and let it be true. You can keep working. You can still want to be better (I always will). But you are allowed to be good now, today, in the unfinished version.

It is Pride month, which means a whole lot of us are about to be seen on purpose. Being seen is the easy part. Letting it land is the work. So the next time somebody tells you that you are doing the thing, that you look incredible, that you moved them, try not arguing. Try believing them.

The Lab

Between rehearsals, and trying to stay rested, hydrated, and sane…I honestly feel like I haven’t been cookin’ like I want to. I am dedicating some time this week to get back to my mad scientist ways and into the studio. I did take some time to edit this photo for Pride Month, wearing the siquening 90s flip bob that I dyed rainbow.

Can you be creatively backed up?
Because if so, I can’t wait to see what I push out next :P

In The Flesh

There’s a lot going on for Pride.

• Drag Queen Story Hour is returning to the New Orleans Public Library

• Saint John Drag Brunch is happening every Sunday in June

• I’ll be visiting “Mother’s” in my hometown of Baton Rouge for Juneteenth

• I’m even going to be galavanting as an Alien at Bonnaroo with IGRAC!

Stay tuned for the full schedule dropping on my Instagram very soon!

I hope you have a fabulous pride month.
See you on the other side! <3

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THE GOSPEL

Becoming a drag queen taught me that I can wear whatever the hell I want, say whatever the hell I want, and be whoever I want to be. Once you crack that open,
you start to notice all the other rules around you that don’t actually have teeth.

That’s the real superpower of drag. Not the wigs. Not the lashes. The costume is just the delivery mechanism. The actual gift is the permission slip it hands you. Every rule we live by, all the things we think we have to do, the way we think we have to look, the boxes we keep stuffing ourselves into to survive this capitalistic nightmare hellscape, those are all just commonly agreed-upon rules. Somebody made them up. We agreed. Rinse. Repeat. End o’ story.

But that means we can disagree.

You’re already doing this, by the way. You just usually do it unconsciously.
“I don’t fuck with Capricorns because of that one ex.” That’s a rule. You made it up based on your experiences. Nobody handed it to you in a binder. So if you’re already in the rule-making business, you might as well make rules that actually serve you, instead of ones that keep you on guard and your nervous system on edge.

So I want to add a tool to your magical makeup kit, or spiritual backpack today.
It’s one of my favorite rules I’ve made for myself, and I use it any time life throws me a curve ball:

I am not allowed to panic until I have used all of my resources.

Nine times out of ten when I look back at the sticky situations I’ve found myself in (and trust, there have been many), I realize there were more resources available to me than I thought of in the moment. I panicked first, then thought about it second. But if I sit down and actually Rolodex through what I have, who I know, what I can ask for, what I can move around, the situation usually solves itself without me actually needing to dive into dramatics.

And if you genuinely think you’ve used everything? Phone a friend. The second you start explaining the situation out loud to someone who actually cares about you, two things happen: resources you forgot about resurface, and the spiral loses its grip.
Just the act of talking it out can sometimes slow you down enough to break the panic loop.

Panicking, in my experience, has never once helped a situation.
It has only ever made me make worse decisions faster.
Ask me how I know…

So here’s your invitation this week.
Catch one rule you’re following that you didn’t actually agree to.
Question it. See if it serves you. And the next time something goes sideways,
before you panic, exhaust your resources. Phone a friend.
See what you forgot you had.

THE LAB

Life has been a whirlwind. I’ve been going non-stop with multiple gigs a day for the past 2 weeks. In my down-time, I’ve been sharpening my knife and getting back in fighting shape for The Night Fiona Flawless Went Mad, an original music by Trey Ming. I’ll be reprising my role as Fiona in an all new setting (Le Cabaret) and if you saw the show last year, prepare to see it in an entirely new light (no spoilers tho).

I have a few new parody ideas, and desperately want to get back into the studio, but I am actively fighting my desire to do everything by remembering the consequences of not pacing myself (nobody likes burnout). I’ve got to remember that a little bit of work here and there, can snowball into an avalanche and keep stacking snowflakes.

IN THE FLESH

That’s Drag! — Fridays, 10pm, Golden Lantern (French Quarter)
Every Friday, Haus Contraire brings a new theme to the That’s Drag!
Upcoming Themes include: Movie Night, Bob Squad,
and a whole lotta gay stuff for pride.
It’s completely free, come early.

Queers of Comedy — Thursdays, 8:30pm, Oz NOLA (Bourbon Street)
50% Stand Up, 50% Drag Show, 100% Unhinged. Join us every Thursday for New Orleans’ funniest Queers (and the occasional ally…)

Fiona Flawless — Opens Friday-Monday, May 29-June 1, 7:00 pm at Le Cabaret
An Over-the-Top Dark Comedy Drag Musical! Come see Me, Prince Octavian, Sebastian E'toile, and Jeez Loueez star in an original musical by Trey Bien, directed by Gregory Theiss. If you missed it last time, this is your chance!

For all other show updates,
check out my calendar and keep an eye on my IG stories for live updates <3

See you on the other side!
Love, Laveau <3

For the people in the back who didn’t press play… (no judgment, I scroll too!)

I made this because I have too many thoughts to keep posting them into the social media void and hoping the algorithm likes me that day. The Contraire Chronicles is a place for the stuff that doesn’t fit on a flyer. Show updates, yes. But also behind-the-curtain glimpses, the tools I’m collecting in my ever-expanding magical backpack, and the occasional pep talk from someone who has fought hard to keep twirling in this sick, sad, dark, twisted world.

What you’ll get

• Bi-weekly emails. Next one in two weeks. After that, every other week like clockwork…or like a drag queen’s version of clockwork… depending on how chaotic my life is that week.

• A mix. Inspirational notes and messages when I have them. Behind-the-scenes of what I’m working on. Show announcements so you can catch me in person. Archive posts looking back at the gigs and lessons from yester-year, and perhaps even special performances just for you.

• Cute and concise. As concise as a yapper can be.
  I promise it’ll always be entertaining and worth your time.

What’s cooking right now

• Fiona Flawless is BACK! Last year, I had the honor of playing the titular role in a crazy good original musical written by Trey Bien. We’re bringing her back at the end of the month with a new director and a wildly different vision. I’m excited to dust off my knife and slay again. Keep an eye out for ticket updates.

• Weekly Shows! I host The New Orleans Queers of Comedy at Oz New Orleans every Thursday at 8:30pm, and That’s Drag! A weekly themed show at The Golden Lantern every Friday at 10pm. Come see me!

• The Archives. A look back at gigs, lessons, and looks I’ve been sitting on for a while. My goal is to add something new every day or two, so check it out every now and then if you wanna walk with me down memory lane.

• The Album? More on that when it’s closer…
  Just know that class is about to be in session.

For my early adopters <3

If you signed up on my website months ago waiting on this, thank you for believing in me and my journey. When I take over the world, and become a famous drag/pop/movie star/influencer/motivational speaker, you’ll be able to say you got in on the ground floor. The Chronicles are free, and it’s gonna stay free for now. I’m not asking for money until I’ve shown up for both of us and can prove to myself that this isn’t like my old podcast 😅. If you wanna throw something my way before then, you can pledge below and show me how much you believe in ya girl <3

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If you’ve got a friend who needs a delightful lil drag queen in their inbox, forward them this. The bigger the room, the better the show.

See you on the other side!

Love,
Laveau <3