“Nighttalk With Jane Whitney.” Ralph Lauren reward units with buy. Ladies smoking whereas studying gossip magazines underneath salon hairdryers. Avon gross sales women. Acrylic nails and day-to-night dangle earrings …
“It all seemed so elegant!” Delta Work remembers of the bygone period of Nineteen Eighties and ’90s vogue and fantasy in Los Angeles that served as her earliest inspiration. She spent childhood summers sweeping up hair at Complete Look, her aunt’s salon, numerous hours poring over magazines, watching the golden period of discuss TV like “The Marsha Warfield Show” in her Norwalk dwelling. She describes the picturesque salon vividly, from the Jafra merchandise to Patrick Nagel prints on the wall and the armrest ashtrays. It’s no shock that the drag queen turned Emmy-winning hairstylist and luxurious public entry podcast host is obsessive about particulars. That is a part of her love language.
“Very Delta” is Delta Work’s weekly YouTube discuss present the place she “looks gorgeous, speaks extemporaneously, and invites fascinating guests to sit on her couch” and chat about issues which can be “Very Delta.” This normally consists of snack rankings, retail drama and queer histories. On Thursday, Delta is celebrating her birthday and her podcast’s 2025 kickoff with an installment of “Very Delta Live” at Hamburger Mary’s in Lengthy Seaside.
“Very Delta” has constructed a loyal fan base. Final month Artforum named it the most effective TV present of 2024 — rating alongside established community exhibits from HBO and ABC. “We decided that it’s a luxury talk show, because it is if I say it is. Just because it’s on YouTube doesn’t mean it’s not a talk show,” declares Delta.
To convey that luxurious to life, Delta reworked the general public access-style hodgepodge of set leftovers at Eternally Canine’s Moguls of Media studio in North Hollywood into an atmosphere that felt extra like a ‘90s talk show desk, combined with the glamorous department store makeup counters she spent so much time working behind, complete with featured items from Delta’s assortment and fake flowers. Each fall she decorates her desk like a suburban home awaiting trick-or-treaters, with a rotation of over-the-top, dollar-store seasonal decor.
Earlier than competing on “Drag Race,” doing superstar hair and touchdown VMA performances with Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, Delta was a performer and producer at Dream Ladies Revue and frequented the native contest circuit at golf equipment like Drag-A-Licious at Ripples in Lengthy Seaside and Drag-O-Rama at Extremely Suede in WeHo, with one wig and a variety of spirit.
Nightclub drag exhibits will all the time maintain a particular place in Delta’s coronary heart. Whereas she bought a “Natalie Merchant”-looking gown at Ross in 1994 to put on to a Halloween rave after encouragement from her Cerritos School cosmetology and journalism schoolmate, her actual drag debut was at Buena Park’s legendary homosexual bar Ozz, when drag, make-up and vogue celebrity Raja Gemini provided her a fill-in spot after months of attending Sunday night time exhibits. Delta grabbed a CD from her automotive, Katalina’s “DJ Girl,” and took the stage in a hand-crafted black tube gown, heels with the again strap minimize off, butterfly clips and a pink feather boa from Claire’s.
Performing on-line felt like a pure development. “I realized, this is where I can connect with people,” Delta says. “I’m not a dancer, I’m a high-quality romancer. Maybe they don’t need to see 10 tapping toes. I can do something else.”
Delta’s early company have been shut buddies like Natasha Estrada, a stripper and a mother, and Eddie DeBarr, a Halloween Horror Nights decorator. As she pivoted to incorporate queens, she didn’t need to ask the identical questions as different shops, pondering it might be extra enjoyable to convey them into her world. “I realized we were branding the show to be, ‘What’s your favorite chips? Why? If you have to drink diet soda, which one are you going to drink?’ Everybody has their silliness.”
“Frying the small fish” is a time period Delta makes use of to acknowledge the campy frivolity of a few of the subjects on her present. “I can’t solve the world’s problems. I’m trying! But what do I have control over? The silly things that we do every day.” Serving the group is extra than simply an adage. She loves making uplifting and private Cameo movies, not simply as a supply of earnings however to interact with followers who can’t entry nightclubs. Final week she donated her Cameo revenues to fireplace aid.
Her “Go Off Delta” rants are relatable monologues that sort out on a regular basis subjects like falling out of affection with Goal for its complicated lack of cilantro in “predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods,” taking down company Pleasure, soup disappearing from L.A. eating places, Zillow scams and airport drama. Her interviews comply with swimsuit. Final season she received Countess Luann de Lesseps of “Real Housewives of New York” fame to make fart noises, discovered about TikTok influencers Sugar and Spice’s favourite public loos, and analyzed why black licorice is tough to swallow with drag queen turned Broadway performer Jinkx Monsoon. Delta additionally will get to the core of who persons are and creates an atmosphere the place queer histories unfold one broken-down automotive, backstage dream and rhinestone at a time.
Delta Work’s YouTube present focuses on “the silly things that we do every day.”
(Shaun Vadella)
When requested about her ardour for together with queer historical past on her podcast, Delta can’t assist however share significant tales about buddies and function fashions passing by the identical locations on totally different timelines. She remembers Madam Pamita taking part in punk gigs at Peanuts on Santa Monica Blvd on off nights between drag exhibits. Lesbians like her buddy Lori hanging out at Little Frida’s Espresso Home in WeHo, supporting folks with HIV. She nonetheless will get wistful and emotional, remembering an L.A. that lives on in music and the legacies of individuals she loves. “When you drive and hear a song and you’re in that space, you think to yourself, ‘What if I could go back there one more time?’ Would Lori have been there? Maybe she was at Denny’s when I was there. Would Pam have been there? Maybe she was doing a gig. I think about that when people come on the show.”
“Very Delta” traverses time, bringing recollections collectively, creating overlying queer maps that assist each other’s experiences and add new items to an infinite puzzle of connections. Her podcast looks like being in an old-school homosexual bar the place intergenerational teams study from each other, sharing outrageous tales, scorching gossip and suggestions for survival, all the time punctuated by laughter and searching ahead to what’s subsequent.
When requested what’s subsequent for herself, Delta has massive goals. “I would love ‘Very Delta’ to continue to travel and to be televised. I could be a QVC salesperson, Let’s sell! Let’s talk about perfume. Maybe ‘Very Delta,’ the movie. What would it be? Who would play me? Probably Rosie O’Donnell!”
Particulars usually are not tedious for Delta; they’re a method of acknowledging extremely thought-about parts that many overlook within the hustle of contemporary life, towards the push towards sterile business narratives.
“Every single moment, every breath, what she smelled like, what he said, what shoes they wore, what color were the laces?” These questions are protecting armor towards threats of the erasure of queer life underneath current anti-drag pushes and a second Trump presidency. “I don’t want what we wore in 2024 to be not remembered, because nobody wrote it down or no interviewer asked: What did you really think? What happened? Now more than ever, I mean this very moment, we have to document everything.”
