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Jaxa Froot & JoeMyGosh as the Grady twins in "The Shining".

Come Slay With Us

Jaxa Froot and JoeMyGosh are spreading bad drag and laughs all over Pittsburgh as Mr. & Miss Blue Moon 2024.

Jaxa Froot and JoeMyGosh are spreading bad drag and laughs all over Pittsburgh as Mr. & Miss Blue Moon 2024.

Jaxa Froot and JoeMyGosh will do anything for their craft. On the photo shoot for the QBurgh cover, the comedic drag duo prepared a variety of hot looks in a studio behind a camera shop in the North Hills. They dressed as Chucky and Tiffany from the “Child’s Play” horror franchise, the iconic Frankenstein’s monster and the Bride of Frankenstein, and the Grady Twins from Stephen King’s classic, “The Shining.”

The comedy drag duo was all in and ready for their close-ups. They showed up with suitcases worth of costumes, accessories, and drag diva Joey Young in tow.

Jaxa said, “We asked Joey Young to help us get ready, and they dropped everything to help us prepare.”

While the duo donned their Grady Twin dresses, Joey Young grabbed a hand steamer and said, “I’m going to steam out the wrinkles.” 

They decided to steam the wrinkles out while Jaxa and Joe were already wearing their little blue dresses. They accidentally burned Jaxa on his right pectoral. Though Jaxa winced in pain, he immediately turned the incident into a joke, crying out, “I’ve been steamed!”

JoeMyGosh, nonplussed, quipped, “Drag queens are used to pain. That’s drag!”

“That’s drag!” became their rallying cry throughout the hours-long shoot. Whenever something went wrong, such as a strap falling or makeup getting smudged, they’d shout their anthem. The duo is naturally funny, on stage and off.

Jaxa Froot and JoeMyGosh have worked tirelessly since they were crowned Mr. and Miss Blue Moon 2024 in January. They are the first duo to hold the titles together.

Andrew Henderson, manager at the Blue Moon, said, “This year, the moment they performed, we knew they were going to win the competition. They had everyone in the bar laughing. They were so polished. We had to run out and buy a second crown.”

JoeMyGosh said, “This is what we love to do. We’re entertainers through and through. Sometimes, we do six shows in a weekend. We are creatives, artists.”

The queer drag artists are a sketch comedy duo who are initially from West Virginia. They have been performing drag in Pittsburgh for the last five years.

Becoming Mr. and Miss Blue Moon is just one of the many accolades the duo has received since their comedy career began. The duo won “Best Comedy Troupe” in Pittsburgh City Paper’s Best of Pittsburgh 2022. Jaxa said, “We are grateful. We love Pittsburgh. We are so proud. Getting to build our queer Pittsburgh family has been very important to us.”

Jaxa and Joe met in high school in a small town in West Virginia.

Jaxa flashed his winning smile, accentuated by a dyed-red mustache for his debut as Chucky, and deadpanned, “We met on the second day of high school. To be clear, it was MY second day and Joe’s first. Joe skipped the first day of high school.”

While preparing for the photo shoot, Joe said, “We had mutual friends. I think we met in science class. We were in the theater together.” Joe looked down at the mirror, made a minor adjustment to the loose mop of hair on the top of their head, and added, “We’re theater gays.”

When asked if they gravitated toward one another because they suspected the other to be gay, Joe added, “I came out in eighth grade.” Once again, nonplussed, as if coming out at a young age wasn’t a big deal.

The duo have been best friends for fifteen years, but it’s the Blue Moon where they blossomed.

Jaxa produced one of their signature smiles and said, “The Blue Moon is our home bar. We came here as patrons, and it was so welcoming. We saw ourselves as fitting in at the Blue Moon.”

Blue Moon’s bartender, Izzy Miller, covered her mouth and said, “I shouldn’t say this.” She looked around the bar and added quietly, “I’m not a big drag fan, but I love their shows. You get a comedy show, and they make the space feel very homey. I think they’re incredible.”

They have performed songs and sketches for five years as Jaxa Froot and JoeMyGosh before winning their crowns.

JoeMyGosh said, “Winning the pageant was an aspiration for us. We were not ready the first time we competed.”

They have an auspicious origin story as drag artists.

JoeMyGosh called up their old friend Jaxa Froot and said, “I want to do a drag sketch, and I want you to be part of it.”

Jaxa hesitated, then reluctantly agreed. Jaxa was not interested in becoming a drag diva but relented and joined their friend on stage. The duo performed their first sketch, a skit about sexual harassment. After the show, Jaxa Froot turned to Joe MyGosh and said, “What do you want to do next week?”

The rest is “herstory,” as they say. The Blue Moon became the perfect venue for their comedy.

Joe said, “We love the punk/queer aspect of the drag space at the Blue Moon. There’s a Pop/Punk vibe, perfect for drag and Burlesque.”

The duo has brought a variety of entertainment to the Blue Moon and other queer spaces throughout Pittsburgh. If punk wasn’t at the Blue Moon when they arrived, it is now. JoeMyGosh hosts the “Thwarped Tour” there, a punk drag night.

Their path to victory took hard work and effort. Jaxa Froot and JoeMyGosh competed in the Blue Moon’s signature pageant three years in a row. The third time proved to be the charm, winning the title in January 2024.

Joey Young said, “They represent the best of Pittsburgh drag. They are campy, smart, thoughtful, conceptual, and unique.” Young paused momentarily to reflect, adding, “And funny!”

As Mr. and Miss Blue Moon 2024, the duo is on a mission: They want to protect Bad Drag (the campy, irreverent style of drag that is both fun and funny).

Drag artist Andi Whorehol said, “Joe and Jaxa winning the Blue Moon pageant was a win for bad drag artists everywhere, but they work so hard to keep drag “bad”[i.e., campy and fun]. As a performer with a single brain cell, I have a safe space for my stupidest ideas. They’re some of my best friends and are a solid pillar of the Pittsburgh Drag and LGBTQIA+ community. I also think they’re taking the ‘traditional’ idea of drag artists and spinning it on its head.”

Jaxa said, “We treat drag shows like community events. We want everyone to feel welcomed and included. That’s why we love working in LGBTQ spaces. We’re at P-Town a couple of times a week and Blue Moon a few times a week. Spaces where people can feel loved, safe, and seen.”

Retired drag diva Scarlet Fairweather, who was there when glitter was invented, said, “Getting to know Joe and Jaxa over the last few years and watching them become stalwart role models for the Pittsburgh queer scene has been a joy. They work hard to feature performers from all over the arts spectrum, have created more equity in the scene, and hold fast to the nature of our city.”

Scarlet Fairweather added, “I adore Joe and Jaxa. They are a beacon of good fun in Pittsburgh and a great addition to the long line of Blue Moon Icons!”

Joe said, “We did a show around Christmas, and the audience seemed tense. Sure enough, some audience members had just returned from their transphobic, homophobic families. I got on the microphone and said, ‘You’re allowed to be trans here. You’re allowed to be gay here. You’re allowed to be queer here.’ Actively checking in with the audience. It freed them up to enjoy themselves. To let loose.”

From behind the bar, Izzy Miller said, “They’re very caring. They take the time to check in on everyone.”

Allowing people to be queer, letting loose, and finding joy should be prerequisites of the title Mr. and Miss Blue Moon.

JoeMyGosh and Jaxa Froot are ready to go national.

JoeMyGosh said, “Winning Mr. & Mrs. Blue Moon gave us the confidence. We’re ready to compete at national competitions.”

If the judges have a sense of humor, they will win everything.

Thank you for being a supporter of QBurgh. Now more than ever, we need queer media that amplifies our voices, celebrates our victories, and holds space for our stories in a world that often tries to erase them. QBurgh is committed to keeping queer voices heard with in-depth reporting, event coverage, and features that uplift and celebrate our vibrant community.

As we prepare to move into 2025 and an era that may be increasingly hostile to our voices, we are making plans to increase our reach not only to more people locally but also further beyond the urban core of Pittsburgh. New projects will launch in January including a new email newsletter celebrating our community and a new video podcast with three episodes a month amplifying our community voices.

Let’s make sure our stories continue to be told, our voices remain unmuted, and our community feels seen, safe, and celebrated.
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Inside the @thebluemoonbar on Election Night: “I see Kitty looking up at the television. There’s a shine in her eyes. I ask her if I can take a picture. She lets me. I just say keep looking at the TV. She says her eyes hurt, but it’s not that. Tears are welling in her eyes.” Full article link in bio. ...

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Michael Buzzelli is a stand-up comedian and sit-down author. As a comedian, he has performed all around the country, most notably, the Ice House, the Comedy Store and the Improv in Los Angeles. As a writer, Michael Buzzelli has been published in a variety of websites, magazines and newspapers. He is a theater and arts critic for 'Burgh Vivant,’ Pittsburgh's online cultural talk magazine. He is also a Moth Grand Slam storyteller and actor. His books, "Below Average Genius," a collection of essays culled from his weekly humor column in the Observer-Reporter, and his romantic comedy,  “All I Want for Christmas," are on sale at Amazon.com. He is working on a LGBTQ romantic comedy called, “Why I Hate My Friends.” You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter. (He / Him / His)