Interview: Drag Race All Stars 5 queen Miz Cracker talks conquering her demons and looking to the future

The narrative surrounding Miz Cracker has always been about self-sabotage. She’s too heady, she’s too critical of herself, she’s too paranoid to get out of her own way.

When this season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars“ kicked off, it looked like the Season 10 veteran might just psychoanalyze herself to an early exit. But, as she tells it, she was able to take some advice (thanks, Nicole Byer!) and right the ship, powering her way to the top three.

Ahead of the finale, Cracker spoke with Daniel Trainor and Sam Stone about that redemptive arc, her comedic influences and what was exactly supposed to happen with that cone boob stunt in the final lip sync. 

Daniel Trainor: Miz Cracker! Hello! Thanks for taking some time with us.

Miz Cracker: Hello, gentlemen. If I may gender you.

Sam Stone: Gender us straight to hell, girlfriend. 

DT: How are you doing, if we may ask?

MC: Just, uh…excited! 

DT: About what?

MC: I’m excited for a chapter of my life that’s been over a year long to be closed. 

DT: Wait, hold on. This is getting off to a morose start. It feels like you’re ready to leave “Drag Race” behind. What’s going on?

MC: Oh no, I’m really excited to see how everything turns out. I haven’t seen how the final episodegoes, like how I look dancing and what I sound like yapping to my girlfriends. So, I’m just excited to find all that out, you know what I mean?

SS: I think you looked great dancing and yapping. Yapping and dancing.

MC: Oh good, thank you!

SS: It’s been a strong season for you overall.

MC: She did well.

SS: She did super well! You’ve always been one of my favorites and it was great to see you popping off on All Stars, if I can be so bold. 

MC: Thank you, I appreciate that! Because sometimes you get so tied up in the work of it, you forget that it’s fun. And it is a lot of fun. 

SS: You always get told that you’re too much in your own head. Do you feel like all this talk about you being in your head has put you in your head?

MC: [laughs] It’s put me out of my head! Do you know what I mean? I finally listened to Nicole Byer’s advice when she said “fuck these other girls, fuck everything, fuck everyone else, and just do yourself.” That’s nothing against anybody. It’s not against other people. It’s pro-you.

DT: When all of the girls came back for the finale and were hashing everything out in the work room, was that distracting as you were attemptingto get ready for the biggest challenge of your “Drag Race” career?

MC: Well, I’m a child of divorce so I thrive on drama.

SS: Same, girl!

MC: Nothing like other people arguing in the room to get my creative juices flowing. 

DT: During the final lip sync, you attempted some big moment with your cone bra that didn’t seem to go according to plan. What happened there?

MC: Well, I have no idea. Apparently it didn’t. 

DT: Listen, I don’t know!

SS: It worked well enough for us to have seen it. But ideally, what was the situation?

MC: It was supposed to be a glitter cannon with glitter coming out of the boobs. I guess it didn’t work. 

SS: How do you feel like your drag will progress after a successful All Stars run?

MC: Well, I’m going to take my comedy around the world and show people that comedy can make change. 

DT: You talk about how much comedy means to you all the time. Who are your biggest comedic influences and, during quarantine, have you watched anything that’s inspired you?

MC: Yeah, I watched [Hannah Gadsby’s] “Nanette.” That’s a huge inspiration for me. I love anyone who makes their audience uncomfortable. 

SS: Are you thinking of touring with your comedy? What’s the plan? 

MC: Between you and me…I may have an announcement coming up about my touring future.

SS: Oh, very exciting!

DT: How have you managed to find creative relief during this unprecedented time? 

MC: Every time I get in drag, I’m happy. I’ve just been getting in drag and doing normal stuff and that keeps me going. I’ve been doing digital shows. I’ve also been building tiny houses out of popsicle sticks. 

DT: You’re taking me back to middle school science class. I still have PTSD from those bridges. 

MC: Oh, it’s very that!

SS: Thank you so much for chatting with us. I’m so excited to hear your announcement and we’ll be catching you digitally until then. 

MC: Yay, thank you boys! 

Daniel Trainor is writer, podcaster, son and friend from Los Angeles, California. Originally from Michigan, his love for all things pop culture started early, once using pancakes to bribe his way onto the Oscars red carpet bleachers with his mother. In addition to writing for AwardsWatch, he is an huge sports fan and hosts the LGBTQ sports podcast “Same Team.” One day, he hopes Jane Krakowski will win an Emmy.

Sam Stone is a writer and actor based in Brooklyn, New York. He writes humor, culture, and travel among other things, and spends his free time reading about all those things. You can find him on twitter @sam_the_stone or on Instagram @samstone000.

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