Ginger Minj to Serve Disney and Glamour Toad Realness at Digital Drag Fest

Are you ready for more comedy, drama, and lip sync extravaganzas? Hope so. The second weekend of PEG Presents: Digital Drag Fest 2021 is about to begin.

With virtual events and shows now becoming a permanent fixture in the entertainment industry, many of the biggest names in drag came back in 2021 for a brand-new digital drag concert festival. Last weekend, we saw legendary “Ru Girls” including Manila Luzon, Utica, Nicky Doll, Cheryl Hole, and Jinkx Monsoon perform sickening sets for fans from the comfort of their own homes.

This weekend, we can expect the likes of Latrice Royale, Jackie Cox, Jujubee, Miz Cracker, Ginger Minj, and several more.

Scheduled to go live at 4 p.m. PDT on Saturday, May 29, Ginger initially made it as a finalist on RuPaul’s Drag Race season seven, competed on All Stars 2, and will now return for All Stars 6. Long before becoming a drag superstar, Ginger has long reigned as “The Comedy Queen of the South” from her home base in Orlando, FL. The self-professed “nicest bitch you’ll ever meet” cites classic funny ladies Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball as her idols and coined the term “Glamour Toad” to describe her unique persona. It is no surprise that millions of people have fallen in love with her.

OFM had the opportunity to connect with Ginger to talk more about the digital drag fest, her time on Drag Race, and other projects.

What can we expect from your set for the PEG Presents: Digital Drag Fest 2021?
Last year, when the pandemic hit, my best friend Gidget and I started doing digital drag fest. We got together and would turn out a couple shows a week. One that stuck out in particular and got a lot of good responses was our Disney show. We are Orlando girls, and Disney is right in our backyard. It really hit us in the gut whenever everything shut down and we could not go ride roller coasters.

So, we get to recreate the Magic Kingdom in the comfort and safety of the garage. It got a great response, we did a couple different additions on it, and this year, we said since we are only doing one, and we’ve got a better grasp on technology, let’s do one big Disney themed blowout. So, that is what we are doing. Our Disney show from last year pumped up on steroids.

Although the world is slowly reopening, do you think livestream events will continue or slowly die out?
I think they will continue because what we’ve learned is that it is such a great way to connect with people from around the world. Even though we get to go out and travel whenever we are not in the middle of a pandemic, we still cannot get everywhere and meet everyone. This gives everybody an equal opportunity to enjoy what we do.

How have you been holding up during these difficult times?
Honestly, great, even though the money has not been there, and I do miss getting out there and hugging people. The best part of the job, to me, are the meet and greets. I know most of the girls hate them, but I love people. I love that connection. I love to hug. I am such a hugger; I grew up on Full House. It has been very difficult to not have that aspect, but on the flip side, it has really kind of forced me to go back to my roots of drag and be creative with whatever is laying around the house. We do a tribute to The Lion King and perform “Hakuna Matata,” and we created all these animals out of old Christmas antlers, dusters, googly eyes, and all this stuff. The pandemic has really forced us to make something out of nothing.

Being with the audience and people is what you missed the most about live performing?
Absolutely. Especially for someone like me. I tend to go more comedic with everything I do, and it is hard to land a punchline when there is nobody there to laugh whenever you are delivering jokes. Maybe it was funny, maybe it wasn’t. You don’t have that instant gratification.

It was heartbreaking to see so many Pride events canceled last year due to the pandemic. Will you be performing any live, in-person shows this season, or will you still be doing everything virtually?
I am. They are starting to roll in. A lot of things that got postponed last year are starting to reschedule. So, I have a couple of Pride things on the books, and I am looking to finally go out of the country later in the year. It’s getting there, but it’s just not quite there yet.

I have been so busy these last few were here in Orlando because I do a TV Land live series. We take old sitcoms and put our own spin on them. We did The Golden Gals Live the other week and sold out our whole run. We had 1,100 people. Socially distanced, of course. After that closed, I opened a brand-new musical at the Orlando Fringe Festival, which is currently running. So, it has been busy, but like I said, I am not mad at it. I am really happy to be able to have the opportunity to go and work with people.

Pride can mean so many things. What does it personally mean to you?
Pride, to me, is just about accepting yourself and each other for what you are. Not necessarily being proud of it, because I think pride comes with acceptance. Once you are comfortable with who you are, then you can be proud of the things that make you, you. I think pride is so important because it shows the world exactly who we are. We are able to see each other for exactly what makes us, us. I think that is the importance of Pride.

I would like to ask you a couple questions about your time on RuPaul’s Drag Race. How did it feel to be the first self-proclaimed “big girl” in the top three on your initial season?
It felt great, but it felt like a lot of pressure because we are such an underrepresented portion. People think we can only be funny, or we can only be this, and I felt a lot of pressure to try to show the world that we could be everything. It is hard to do that in an hour-long series. So, it is a little daunting, but it was also very joyous to me because I got to show the world what I could do.

I got to learn more about myself. My grandmother always said, ‘You can’t really see yourself until you see yourself in somebody else’s eyes.’ Being on a show like that really gives you that perspective. You can see how other people view you, and it helps you to learn about yourself and change and grow. I do not think I would be as comfortable with myself today as I am if it were not for that opportunity.

Do you stay in touch with Kennedy, Violet, or Peal? You all seemed quite divided at the end.
We do not really talk that much. Well, I talk to Kennedy all the time, but I have known her since before we were on Drag Race together. I do not particularly talk to Violet or Peal, and it’s not a bad thing. Whenever we see each other, it’s a great moment. We hug, we catch up, but our careers are different. We do not run in the same circles, and because we are all so busy, we don’t have the time to just sit and chitchat most of the time.

It was announced this week that you will be returning for All Stars 6, and we are so happy for you! How has Ginger Minj grown and evolved since we last saw her compete on All Stars 2?
Oh my gosh, All Stars 2 was probably the lowest point in my life. Mentally, I was not in a good place. We had just crowned Violet, and less than a month later, I was walking back in. I did not have the time to adjust to the fame or what my regular life had become.

So, I was already in kind of a weird mental space, and then my grandfather who raised me passed away the week of the season seven finale, my 11-year relationship broke up, and it is a good thing that it did, but it was still really hard at the time. I was just not ready to go back in and compete. I didn’t want to do it, it felt like such a drain on my soul to go back and put myself there again. So, it is not my proudest moment, but the way I have grown and changed is that I am adjusted now. I know what my life is, I know who I am, I know what I want, and I think that makes me an all-around better person and queen.

Out of every challenge you took part in, which one was your favorite?
My favorite ever was the “Ru Hollywood Stories” when Kennedy, Katya, and myself got to play Ru, Merle, and Michelle. It was the most fun day. It’s not a challenge that people really remember or think of. It was not the greatest challenge, but we had so much fun. Katya and I got into this food fight for like 45 minutes and there were sprinkles everywhere, whipped cream all over the place. Kennedy was wandering in the background. It was the best time, and it was such a stress reliever. We were already so far into the competition at that point, and we just needed to blow off some steam, and we did. It was so fun.

Do you have any music or acting projects in the works?
I do! I have two albums coming out this year. I have been working on one for the last four years, and it’s comedy, it’s pop, it’s fun, it’s very drag, and it is a love letter to the drag community. That one is called Gummy Bear, and then I am working on a super-secret special project coming later in the year.

Last year, you starred in Drama at Drag Brunch: The Slaying of the Sequin Sisters. What was that experience like?
It was like doing drag fest. It was just me and my husband with our iPhone and a couple people working in the garage trying to make the best of it! It was really fun. I started doing drag at Sleuth Mystery Dinner Theatre here in Orlando, it is the longest running murder mystery theatre in the world, and I started there 13 years ago. So, I got to go back to my roots and do cheesy characters. It was so much fun. I love murder mysteries.

What more do you hope to accomplish with your platform?
I want to be a movie star, honestly. My entire life growing up, I wanted to be a Tina Turner, a Divine, a RuPaul. I want to go out there and do movies and really show the world that I am a dragtress. I can put on the wig, the heels, and makeup, but underneath it, there is some serious talent to back it up.

Stay up-to-date with Ginger by following her on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, or visit her official website. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets for Digital Drag Fest 2021.

Photos Courtesy of Ceejay Russell