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Portland-based performer Asia Consent is the World’s Next Drag Supermonster.
Consent was crowned during the season finale of The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, which aired Monday, Dec. 2. Surviving ten episodes of grueling reality show challenges, including the threat of sadistic Extermination Challenges, Consent quickly established herself as the one to beat with her eye for costuming, her stage presence and the warm charm of her confessional asides.
To celebrate the final episode and victory, Consent herself came to Old Town LGBTQ+ bar Badlands for a viewing party of the episode, with a mid-episode drag show of horror-themed performances in her honor. Viewing party host Shandi Evans, who performed alongside Cody Jamez, Seven, Luci Lavey Volt and Rosie Cakes, predicted Consent’s win before the watch party started.
“If you have eyes or ears, you know what’s going to happen,” Evans said.
The finale episode is light on interpersonal drama. Although the Pi-lliance is exposed and Asia reveals that she conspired against both Auntie Heroine and Grey Matter, there’s no point in getting mad with no hope of vengeance but ultimate victory. The Boulet Brothers give Asia, Auntie and Grey a week to tailor three looks befitting Dragula’s tenants of horror, glamour and filth. It’s not entirely clear what all happened during that week—Consent reposted an eagle-eyed fan’s Instagram video showing her pantomiming while “sewing” a costume—but the looks were positively stunning works of performance art.
Asia, Auntie and Grey make their cases in finalist interview segments. Asia discusses her life as a Black trans woman who loves horror, and her mental health struggles while finding herself. She ultimately aligns herself with trans artists’ crucial but often-overlooked contributions to drag. She acknowledges the strengths of her fellow finalists without dulling her own shine.
For the Filth act, Asia took potty humor to a whole new level. She knows she’s the shit, she reasons, so why not dress like it? From the texture of her costume to her bawdy entrance between two nasty prop buttcheeks to a truly revolting toilet dance climax, Asia’s commitment to the bit must be commended, even if the overall effect is beyond gross. The Horror act saw Asia relive suicidal ideations, fighting against a shadowy demon on her shoulder strangling her. It wasn’t exactly as gross as Grey’s cow-boy milk bath, or Auntie’s maggot-filled pastries and prolapsed anus, but she sold the fear of fighting inner devils all the same. Finally, Asia’s take on spooky Glamour was a breathtaking gown that resembled and moved like reptile or fish vertebrae. Asia’s haunting, affected movements only added to the otherworldly presentation.
Badlands erupted into cheers and applause once Consent’s name was called onscreen, along with an “Asia! Asia!” chant.
“Denny’s is on me,” Consent joked once she got to the microphone, holding a gifted bouquet of white roses.
Wearing her finale dress, a red gown with intestinal accents and spiky red adornments in her hair like sea urchins, Consent addressed the more than five dozen people who cheered her on to victory at Badlands. Along with $100,000 and priceless bragging rights, Consent now boasts a lifetime supply of Ben Nye stage makeup, and is repped by PEG Management, a drag-focused talent agency whose clients include The Boulets, Trixie Mattel and Jinkx Monsoon. She thanked her mother for believing in her strangeness and honoring her trans identity.
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s don’t give up,” she said to applause.