008 - How much can I make as a drag queen? An Interview with Juiceboxx
On this episode of the podcast, I interview JuiceBoxx from Season 1 of Canada’s Drag Race about her income, her expenses, and how she became a full time drag queen and entertainer.
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Kicking off the episode, I ask Juice a lightning round of get-to-know-you questions including favorite season, favorite lip sync song, and what performance she would choose for me if I were on Drag Race.
If you missed my intro episode, my interview with Mayhem, or my interview with Bombae, take a pause and go back and watch those.
When Juice started drag, she viewed it as more money for food and alcohol. It wasn't until about four years into it where she realized this could be a real career opportunity for her and she got sober and started putting more into her drag career.
Before drag, Juice worked in film and TV and then worked at MAC as a makeup artist. Her time at MAC helped set the base for her drag makeup skills. Juice was making a fair amount of money with full-time drag and MAC, but also knew he always had his husband, Mr. Boxx, to fall back on if something went wrong.
Juice went into drag full time about three to four years. She was having a difficult time with her manager at MAC and instead of addressing the problem MAC moved her to a store far away and Mr. Boxx came home one day and said they could afford for Juice to quit MAC and do drag full time, a scary move for Juice since drag bookings can be unpredictable.
The drag standard for Toronto is $100 (Canadian Dollars) plus tips, maybe $150 on a Saturday night and could be $750 to $1,000 for brand deals around pride. Unlike in the US, Canada’s paper money starts at $5 so you aren’t grabbing as much in tips but when you are, it’s starting at $5. Drag Race stars tend to get paid more money and get more tips due to name recognition (which is why you should always tip all the queens at your show).
On average, depending on the bar and how many songs you perform, Juice would expect $300 - $1,000 when starting. Juice was booked a minimum one, maximum seven nights a week. The expected monthly income for Juice varied. If you’re in a big city with the luxury of multiple places to perform, it is possible to make $5,000 a month.
As a new drag performer, with the increasingly popularity of drag it is possible to still grow a successful business if you network, hustle and are kind.
In addition to drag, Juice uses streaming platform Twitch to also make income. She’ll play games or just sit on there and talk, sometimes she’ll be sponsored by a brand and sometimes the income will come from subscribers who pay to interact with Juice and play games with her on the platform.
When it comes to Canadian taxes, Juice has a tax account and she gets a check with an invoice from her management which says how much they charged her tax (her HSD number) and then she takes that money and puts it in her tax account and it builds up over the year and then pays her taxes. Last year, Juice would’ve owed $8,000 but because she wrote off her PC and games for Twitch and outfits she had made and her home office/studio so she only had to pay $3,000 in taxes.
In 2020 Juice and her husband bought a house so proof of income for Juice was harder due to COVID and fluctuation of show schedules. If you don’t have a spouse and drag is your full time gig, in the US they’re going to look at your Schedule C that has all your business income to determine if you can get a mortgage or apartment.
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🖥 Website: https://www.dragtax.com
📧 E-mail: [email protected]
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𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗦
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