Trixie and Katya

Last updated
Trixie & Katya
Trixie and Katya's High School Reunion 2.jpg
Katya (left) and Trixie (right) performing in 2017
Born
Brian Michael Firkus

(1989-08-23) August 23, 1989 (age 35)
Occupations
  • Drag queens
  • comedians
  • actors
  • musicians
YouTube information
Website trixieandkatya.com
Channels
Years active2015–present
Genre Comedy

Trixie and Katya is a comedy duo consisting of drag queens Trixie Mattel (Brian Firkus) and Katya Zamolodchikova (Brian McCook). The two have been known for their individual careers as entertainers and often as a popular double act. They first met as contestants on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race and quickly became audience favourites, developing an even larger audience as they began to appear together in December 2015 on YouTube.

Contents

Style and performance

The comedic style of Trixie and Katya developed through the filming of their webseries UNHhhh and is often based around drag and improvisational comedy. The pair have also acted together on live stage productions and feature as a double act in a variety of drag performances including a stage production drag remake of cult film Romy and Michele's High School Reunion titled Trixie and Katya's High School Reunion [1] as well as a live show in Las Vegas in 2019. [2] Their comedy often plays on the contrast between the two drag queens, with Trixie being a self-described workaholic and entrepreneur, and Katya having a much more chaotic and carefree personality which is often the catalyst for the absurdist humor that many of their conversations develop into. [3] The two often make fun of LGBT stereotypes as well as popular culture. In their live shows they often incorporate music from their own individual careers as well as a variety of sketches, improvisation and dance choreographed by Laganja Estranja. [4] [5]

Trixie and Katya often credit their editors Christopher Smith and Ron Hill for much of the success of UNHhhh, citing that their style of editing is an important part of the comedy style of the show. [6]

Web series and TV

The two first appeared together on the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race first aired on March 2, 2015, although not as a duo but as individual contestants on the show. They first appeared as a double act on World of Wonder's YouTube channel on December 31, 2015 as guest hosts of the web series Fashion Photo RuView , [7] usually hosted by fellow drag queens Raja and Raven. The positive reception for that episode resulted in World of Wonder launching UNHhhh , a comedy web series featuring the duo. The series became one of the most successful shows on the WOW Presents YouTube channel and earned them their first Streamy Award nomination for Show of the Year at the 7th Streamy Awards. [8]

In November 2017, Trixie and Katya's web series was suspended after its second season and the two started The Trixie & Katya Show on the TV network Viceland. The show was similar to UNHhhh but its format was adapted for a television audience. [9] The Trixie & Katya Show was cancelled after one season and the series returned to YouTube for its third season in October 2018. [10] On 21 April 2021, UNHhhh debuted its sixth season. [11]

In November 2019, Trixie and Katya began starring in I Like to Watch , a comedy web series produced and streamed by Netflix on its YouTube channel. [12]

On December 12, 2020 Trixie and Katya hosted the 10th Streamy Awards. To adhere to social distancing restrictions, the duo presented the awards by driving a party bus around Los Angeles. [13]

On May 27, 2021, the two announced the launch of their own YouTube channel [14] which also features a video version of their podcast.

Books, podcast and newsletter

On July 14, 2020 Trixie and Katya released their book Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood , [15] which is also available as an audiobook read by the authors. The book is a mixture of self-help and comedy. On April 8, 2022 Penguin announced that Trixie and Katya's second book in a similar vein to the first, Working Girls: Trixie & Katya's Guide to Professional Womanhood, would be released on October 25, 2022. [16]

On October 6, 2020 the duo premiered a new podcast called The Bald and the Beautiful. The show features various guests who often join Trixie and Katya in their conversations. [17] As of June 2021 it became available as a video podcast as well as audio.

On August 18, 2021 Trixie and Katya released Gooped, a humorous lifestyle newsletter and blog on the online platform Substack. [18]

Tours and live shows

On July 7, 2021 the duo announced their first US tour together called Trixie and Katya LIVE. [19] On May 27, 2022 they released tickets for a European leg of the tour scheduled for November and December 2022. [20] The two were accompanied in their tour performances by fellow drag queen Kelly Mantle. [21]

Awards and nominations

YearAward-giving bodyCategoryWorkResultsRef
2017 Streamy Awards Show of the Year UNHhhh Nominated [22]
2019Unscripted SeriesNominated [23]
2020Show of the YearNominated [24]
Unscripted SeriesWon [24]
2021 Queerty Awards Podcast The Bald and the Beautiful Won [25]
Canadian Podcast AwardsOutstanding Foreign SeriesWon [26]
Streamy AwardsShow of the YearUNHhhhNominated [27]
Unscripted SeriesNominated
2022Queerty AwardsPodcastThe Bald and the BeautifulRunner-up [28]
Webby Awards Best Podcast AdWon [29] [30]
Best Podcast Ad (People's Voice)Won
Arts & Entertainment Social Video I Like to Watch Nominated [31] [32]
Arts & Entertainment Social Video (People's Voice)Won
Streamy AwardsShow of the YearUNHhhhNominated [33]
Unscripted SeriesNominated
EditingNominated
2023Signal AwardsBest Video PodcastThe Bald and the BeautifulBronze [34] [35]
Best Co-Host TeamGold
Best "Stan" PodcastSilver
Best LGBTQ+ PodcastSilver
Queerty AwardsBest ReadWorking Girls: Trixie and Katya's Guide to Professional WomanhoodWon [36]
GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding PodcastThe Bald and the BeautifulNominated [37]
Shorty Awards Comedy PodcastAudience Honor [38] [39]
Streamy AwardsShow of the YearUNHhhhNominated [40]
2024Queerty AwardsWeb SeriesRunner-up [41] [42]
Webby AwardsPodcasts (Comedy)The Bald and the BeautifulWon [43]

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I Like to Watch is a 2019 American web series hosted by drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova. The series was created by Netflix, and streams on the company's YouTube channel. I Like to Watch films its hosts as they view and react to various Netflix Original Programming and licensed films streaming on Netflix. The first season aired from November 21, 2019, to March 21, 2020. A second season, recorded in the duo's homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, premiered on May 23, 2020. The third season, still recorded from home but with the hosts together in person before moving to a new set, premiered on February 20, 2021. The series won a People's Voice Webby Award in 2022. In 2023 the series won a Bronze Anthem Award in the Awareness & Media categories for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streamy Awards</span> Excellence in online video production

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Brian Michael Firkus, better known by the stage name Trixie Mattel, is an American drag queen, television personality, and singer-songwriter originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is known for her exaggerated, high-camp, 1960s-influenced style, distinctive eye makeup, and her blend of comedy, acoustic pop, and folk-country music; Mattel sings and plays guitar and the autoharp. In 2015, she competed in the seventh season of the drag reality television competition series RuPaul's Drag Race, placing sixth. In 2018, she went on to win the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. She also made guest appearances in various iterations of the Drag Race franchise.

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Brian Joseph McCook, known by his drag persona Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova, or mononymously as Katya, is an American drag queen, actor, author, recording artist, and comedian. Katya is best known for placing fifth on the seventh season of RuPaul’s Drag Race and placing as a runner-up on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, as well as for appearing in the World of Wonder web series UNHhhh and the Viceland series The Trixie & Katya Show with co-host and fellow season 7 alum Trixie Mattel. Trixie and Katya often appear together as a popular comedy duo.

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References

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