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Love Connie<\/strong><\/a>, the alter ego of actor John Cantrell<\/strong>, is a drag icon. From her shows paying tribute to cult films like Halloween and Showgirls to her hilarious appearances on RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race. She has had two web series on WOW Presents Plus: Connie-wood<\/em> and Manhattan Cable<\/em> and she\u2019s out to take the podcast world by storm with a new series that is as unpredictable and funny as she is.<\/p>\n On I Feel Love Connie<\/strong><\/em> (available on Spotify<\/a> or wherever you get your podcasts), Connie and co-host \u00a0Blake Jacobs talk about everything from pop culture to Chipotle with a lot of southern sass to spare. We had a chance to chat with Connie about the new show, as well as working on Drag Race<\/em>, her dream guests and her new Christmas song all in our exclusive interview.<\/p>\n What inspired you to start your own podcast?<\/strong> So, I thought, well, maybe I should just do my own. I\u2019m still affiliated with World of Wonder and all the Drag Race<\/em> stuff. I like to equate World of Wonder for all of us, you know, gay, trans, drag, whoever, artists, LGBTQ, they are kind of like the old MGM. It\u2019s kind of this little studio system over there where they have. a little bit of everything, you know, the pay network, which I\u2019ve done stuff for and now this podcast thing. So, I\u2019m just trying everything out.\u00a0<\/p>\n What kind of topics are you planning on discussing on the show or are you just going to talk?<\/strong><\/p>\n I had a framework, I wrote down a list, you know, because they were like, well, what do you want to talk about? I wrote down a list of different films and music artists and whatever and I thought, well, okay, let\u2019s discuss things that I feel shaped me into becoming Love Connie, or where I am now as an artist with how I perform and tell stories and do things like that. It\u2019s everything from The Poseidon Adventure<\/em> to Jackie Brown<\/em> to Bigfoot, slasher films, the church.<\/p>\n I\u2019m also joined by another fellow Southerner. I\u2019m from Northeast Louisiana, and I\u2019m joined by a guy by the name of Blake Jacobs, and he\u2019s from Arkansas. So, as you can kind of tell, every episode we have an intention to discuss something, but then we start talking about Chipotle and Jennifer Coolidge and who was here or there or remember that, oh, that reminds me of, well, wait, you know, and then it\u2019s 30 minutes and it\u2019s like, okay, that\u2019s it.<\/p>\n Why 30 minutes?<\/strong> I do tend to get off on tangents and I\u2019m probably undiagnosed with ADHD or something like that. There are plenty of problems, but I\u2019m from Louisiana and we\u2019re not going to rehab. We\u2019re not going to see the doctor and we\u2019re not going to therapy.\u00a0So, just crazy, but Blake is there as kind of a representative of the millennial Gen Z crowd to keep Mamaw on track. Don\u2019t let her go off into too many Gen Z black holes or torrents. And, when we kind of wrap it up I like to do a little thing with him where I go, is there anything that I taught you today? And he will generally pick out some very random names that I\u2019ve dropped and be like, who are you talking about?<\/p>\n So, it\u2019s just cuckoo and, and I don\u2019t know what to expect and I don\u2019t know what people are going to think about it. You know, maybe I\u2019ve broken every rule of podcasts and that I don\u2019t have a theme, but I think people will listen, it\u2019s just like old stories. I love old Southern stories about crazy people down South. I just think it\u2019s funny. It\u2019s just kind of rural and small-town humor. And again, we\u2019re two big gay guys. So, there\u2019s all of that and religion and parent drama. It\u2019s very Steel Magnolias<\/em>. Steel Magnolias<\/em> meets Quentin Tarantino meets RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race<\/em> probably, you know, something like that.<\/p>\n Now, you had mentioned that Blake learned something on every episode. Did you learn anything while you were putting this podcast together?<\/strong><\/p>\n That I need therapy, I need rehab, I need everything. You know, it\u2019s weird because artists like me who aren\u2019t really that well known, but we\u2019re still artists and actors and we still create stuff. and we still have journeys that could be as interesting as Nicole Kidman\u2019s journey or Tom Cruise, or maybe not someone that famous because we know a lot about them.<\/p>\n Just starting, knowing that I started off in sketch comedy in New York, where everything was written for me by two really brilliant Ivy Leaguers and then I took a character from that group the Nellie Olsens, where I started Connie. And then I had Connie not speak at all because I didn\u2019t want to. I didn\u2019t really feel confident writing dialogue or seeing Connie in that way. That was hard to get on RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race<\/em>, but anytime I performed live, I would create full, you know, 45-to-75-minute shows where there\u2019s no dialogue. Everything is told through dance and through mime and through me reacting to stuff on screen that is usually pulled from a famous movie or something, and you want to kind of put a little satirical spin on that.<\/p>\n What was your experience like on your second appearance of Drag Race (in season 15)?<\/strong> It\u2019s kind of one of those things where, again, I\u2019m playing without any rules, or whatever rules are for podcasts, like you, you know, ask me about topics. I don\u2019t really know what they are, so I\u2019m all for breaking them. Well, also I\u2019m old and my knees are getting bad, so the dancing for 70 minutes, it\u2019s just like, I\u2019ve got to slow down, I\u2019ve got to start talking, you know, coming up with some other ways.<\/p>\n So it\u2019s also reinvention in yet another form, too. But I also watched how, especially with that last season of Drag Rac<\/em>e where it was an interview thing, I tend to steamroll, and I can\u2019t help myself. A lot of that I think is because of isolation. I do tend to isolate and I\u2019m kind of a loner so I think that when I do get around people or if there\u2019s a microphone or a camera, the floodgates just kind of come out, which I could probably hone that in a little better, but it is that, oh my god, I\u2019ve been locked away in solitary confinement for all these years, and now I have a lot to say.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve always been a big talker. I mean, I was kind of the loudmouth. I was always the kid that was getting sent out in the hall because I wouldn\u2019t stop talking. I\u2019ve had to just slowly introduce new things. So now that I\u2019m on the other side of 50,\u00a0I\u2019ll start talking.<\/p>\n I know it\u2019s just you and Blake on the podcast but If you did have guests, who would you like to have on the show?<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh, well, I love people that love cinema because I feel like there is a part of our culture as far as gay men. Just strictly speaking about\u2026 gay men, you know, men that we lost to AIDS. There was that love of cinema. And even though I wasn\u2019t a big Judy Garland or\u00a0Barbra Streisand fan, I do love Joan Crawford. I love Bette Davis. I love Ann-Margret. I love Farrah Fawcett. I love Deborah Harry. And I feel like when we lost that chunk of guys that really celebrated that \u2013 because there was no social media back then, so you know what I mean, it\u2019s like we were emulating cinema and I do that in every Connie show.<\/p>\n I always find that I\u2019m emulating the masculine woman, or someone like Jamie Lee Curtis or Daryl Hannah or Laura Dern, they\u2019re very feminine, beautiful women, but they\u2019re also they have this kind of they\u2019re either tall or like one of the Hemingway girls or something. But these kinds of formidable women. I also love that went on when I would get into drag and people would look at me and they\u2019re like, she is a formidable woman.<\/p>\n As opposed to being a cartoon like a lot of the young queens, now they\u2019re almost cartoonish in their drag, they\u2019ve got the crazy costumes and everything. When I\u2019m in drag, I just look like maybe close to a Vegas performer, some sequins, but I\u2019m pretty stripped down. I\u2019m more like a Terri Nunn or a Dale Bozzio, or Deborah Harry because my background is in music, so that\u2019s how I visually see myself. I have totally gotten\u2026see, this is my podcast\u2026you asked me something that I can\u2019t\u2026oh, guests.\u00a0 So, anyone that has a love of cinema because I miss being able to quote lines from movies and people now, they just look at me and they\u2019re like what?<\/p>\n And then someone over here will go, Connie, they have no idea what you\u2019re talking about. And I\u2019m like, well, I\u2019m trying to teach them, you know, but I feel like it\u2019s a lost art. I miss that kind of camp and I do talk about that a lot on my podcast, cinema icons, because I was as much as I\u2019m an extrovert, I\u2019m also an introvert and I would hole away in my bedroom. My dad was a furniture and electronics salesman, so there was a television in every room growing up. And we all just kind of, it was like, you know, social media before, but we were all in our own\u00a0tubes, you know, with the television and yeah, that kind of permeates. I would love to talk to Quentin Tarantino. I would love to talk to Deborah Harry, Grace Jones. I mean, just I love those people, but we don\u2019t have guests on my show.<\/p>\n I feel like the other thing about this podcast is when we started playing it back, because the conversation between me and Blake is so natural and so kind of southern, I started thinking about the Howard Stern show. Trust me, I\u2019ve had to listen to the episodes several times and it I think it\u2019s enjoyable because a lot of people film podcasts but it\u2019s stagnant. You know what I mean? It\u2019s like a Zoom call. It\u2019s nice to see people. I do love nostalgia, and there\u2019s something about just listening to it with earbuds like you\u2019re listening to the radio, which no one seems to do anymore. So it is, does kind of have a radio show vibe to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Do you listen to podcasts? Like, what kind of podcasts do you listen to?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Um, I don\u2019t. I watch a lot of TCM and when Ben Mankiewicz starts doing the Jackie, the Pam Grier pod, I sit there and I go, Oh, God. Oh, I bet this is so good. And then there was the one with Melanie Griffith about the making of the Bonfire of Vanities<\/em>, that Tom Hanks movie that was a huge flop by Brian De Palma, like that stuff. But then, you know, I\u2019ve also already read those books and I was kind of naive, like, people would go, hey, listen to my podcast, and I would see that little icon on the iTunes and I\u2019m like, is that it? And then I would kind of click and\u2026I\u2019m really bad. I\u2019m telling you, I\u2019m like a 90-year-old when it comes to learning anything new about social media, like the link tree. It\u2019s just a little too much.<\/p>\n So,\u00a0I haven\u2019t really listened to any podcasts.\u00a0Except I\u2019ve done a lot.\u00a0I know that World of Wonder, in addition to me, they\u2019re also doing Daniel Franzese\u2019s \u201cYass, Jesus!\u201d<\/a> podcast, which is kind of about his faith. And I was on that, they asked me to pray, which totally threw me off. I haven\u2019t prayed since I was in Southern Baptist College. There are tons of them that I follow on Instagram. So even if I don\u2019t listen to the podcast because I\u2019m following and like I say, even if I certain movies that I don\u2019t see, I\u2019m informed on them because I still read a lot and I would much rather, you know, let me read about your podcast and what you\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n I also love, which I hope I can do with mine is, I like to then go on to their pages and in the comments ask further questions. And I think that\u2019s something that I hope people do because like I say, we\u2019re talking about so much random shit and loose ends that I\u2019m hoping people come back and go, you had mentioned something and I\u2019m like, Oh, yes. And then I\u2019ll get to expand on it on Instagram or something like that. So, I guess I\u2019m looking for friends and people to talk to. So hopefully this will be a good thing because I don\u2019t talk to anybody in LA anymore. Drag is a gift because\u2026 you know,\u00a0I can get into drag and then when you go out in drag, you know, people can\u2019t help but notice you and I feel like I get all of that human interaction there and then the drag comes off and it\u2019s like, you know, I have to get out of bed.<\/p>\n I watched Connie-wood<\/em>, which I loved, and I loved Manhattan Cable<\/em>. Are you planning on doing any more streaming shows?<\/strong> Even though I did pitch a second season of Connie-wood. <\/em>Connie is looking for a roommate and she finds like a another one of those signs and it turns out to be Joan Crawford, and Connie is then kept captive in this kind of Mommie Dearest<\/em> type situation where she\u2019s writing notes and trying to throw them out a crack in the window.\u00a0I have a friend of mine that does a really funny Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest<\/em>, but you only use lines from that film and we used to do that back in the day and that just always, again, that type of camp where you just speak in lines from movies is something that I tend to do and it causes people to really look at me sideways. And I just get the biggest kick out of it because they don\u2019t know the reference. So therefore, they think it\u2019s just me. And I\u2019m like, no, I\u2019m doing Bette Davis.\u00a0It\u2019s stupid, but I get a kick out of baffling the kids. I may have baffled them a little too much with Connie-wood.<\/em> I did not know what I was doing at all. And it wasn\u2019t until toward the end where I\u2019m like, oh, I think I can do this. And then they\u2019re like, we\u2019re not doing this anymore.<\/p>\n What\u2019s next for you?<\/strong> https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Cz4Z77fye6A\/<\/a>Check out I Feel Love Connie on your favorite platform. Watch Connie-wood and Manhattan Cable on <\/em><\/strong>WOW Presents Plus<\/em><\/strong><\/a> and get the latest on all things Love Connie on <\/em><\/strong>Instagram<\/em><\/strong><\/a> or <\/em><\/strong>via this link<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
You know, I don\u2019t even I never remember how these things get started. I\u2019ve done a lot of podcasts, because podcasts do seem like that thing of where everyone and their mother and their first, second, and third cousins has a podcast, and sometimes I\u2019ll be surfing on YouTube, and it just seems like everybody\u2019s got a podcast.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not a fan of long podcasts. I did want to keep them 30 to 40 minutes, just something that\u2019s just like an amuse bouche compared to some other podcasts that literally go on forever. I think that\u2019s all because it feels like a 90-minute episode in about 30 minutes because I\u2019m telling you we are bouncing. Do you remember that game that video game Frogger? That\u2019s how I look at the podcast.<\/p>\n
Working on RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race<\/em>, there is no script and you kind of come in and it\u2019s just like, all right, here\u2019s the interview\u2026go. They didn\u2019t tell me what we\u2019re going to talk about. So, it\u2019s literally you trust the editors over there that they\u2019re going to make something and not make you look bad or stupid, make you look funny, and they tend to. I find that they tend to not edit me at all. I watched the last season of Drag Race<\/em> and I went, oh my god, it\u2019s like, I don\u2019t feel like they\u2019re cutting anything that I\u2019m saying, and I was just going on and on, but I find that that\u2019s kind of like the podcast.<\/p>\n
I mean, I get more requests about Manhattan Cabl<\/em>e and World of Wonder must have tons of footage.\u00a0So, I\u2019m there. I keep asking them and I ask them all the time.\u00a0It seems like they have so much going on. It seems like there are a lot more original shows coming on the streaming network. So, fingers crossed we\u2019ll have more from Connie on WOW Presents Plus. Definitely Manhattan Cable<\/em>. I think I scared them a little too much with Connie-wood<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Well, you know, I\u2019m doing a Christmas show and I\u2019ve been procrastinating. It\u2019s coming up in a couple of weeks and \u2013 speaking of pop culture \u2013 there has been a song that I\u2019m wondering if you\u2019ve heard of that I have been wanting to put in a Christmas show, and I finally sent it out to this really good looking dancer, and I was like, so there\u2019s this song from the TV show Knight Rider<\/em> called \u201cThe Night That Kitt Saved Christmas\u201d<\/a>, and it\u2019s David Hasselhoff, and it\u2019s about the car saving Christmas \u00a0And I\u2019m like, would you do it? It could be a rap or a lip sync or a dance or a strip or all of the above. And he goes, I\u2019m in. This song, you\u2019ve got to hear it. It\u2019s very Miami Vice<\/em> and it\u2019s David Hasselhoff. \u201cThe Night That Kitt Saved Christmas\u201d. Look, I\u2019m getting chills as if I\u2019ve seen Beyonc\u00e9, but it\u2019s not, it\u2019s David Hasselhoff.<\/p>\n
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