Not every season of RuPaul’s Drag Race has a Jewish contestant (we’re looking at you, All-Stars Season 3), but there have been plenty. In fact, two self-identifying Jewish queens have taken the crown— Jinkx Monsoon and last season’s Sasha Velour. So with Season 10 upon us, do we have another Semitic contender in the person of one Miz Cracker?

Miz Cracker is the drag persona of Maxwell Heller, 33, a New York-based performer (she has referred to herself as “Harlem’s Jewish princess”). She’s a self-described comedy queen, and the drag daughter of previous Drag Race winner Bob the Drag Queen— already establishing her as a potentially fierce competitor. Her name, which used to be Brianna Cracker, comes from her favorite snack (brie? crackers? get it?), but it was too long, so now she’s embracing being, well… a cracker.

As for her Jewish identity, she’s far from quiet about it. For example, she was in the Pharrell parody video, “Jappy” (get it?), with other Jewish queens, including season 9 contestant Alexis Michelle. She has embraced the description of her style as “Jewish Barbie on bath salts.” She also hosts a RPDR review show on YouTube called, really, Review with a Jew.

Besides, her catchphrase is “Okay, It’s time for dinner!” She’s like a young, hot, Jewish mom!

While we’re on the subject of Jews and RuPaul, it’s worth mentioning (again) that the show host is aggressively philo-Semitic. He has worn a magen david necklace multiple times onscreen, spoken about how he wishes gay culture could emulate Jewish culture, and even kept an English-to-Yiddish dictionary under his chair while filming.

We don’t tend to endorse reality-show contestants on Jewcy— we leave it to Miz Cracker to prove her own merits as she rises to the top. That said, the new season debuts tonight, and we pray that at this time next week, Miz Cracker will still be on the show. It’s a start.

While you wait, get to know the queen in this intro video.

Image via Facebook

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We here at Jewcy are always excited when a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race is a Member of the Tribe, so when Alexis Michelle (out of drag, Alex Michaels) graced ongoing Season 9 with her presence, we knew we had to speak with her.

She’s been doing pretty well so far— including winning the long-awaited celebrity impersonation episode for her amazing Liza Minnelli— but she’s not resting on her TV laurels; she also has an ongoing cabaret show in New York City at 54Below, the next one of which is this Tuesday, May 16. So we are so excited that Alexis took the time while traveling around the country to answer some questions about her Jewish background, identity, and more:

Jewcy: What is your background and upbringing like? What was your Jewish experience as a kid in New York City?
I was born and raised in SoHo. I went to Shabbat services Friday nights in a little basement in the West Village.  It was extremely intimate and left a very special impression on me.

What is your Jewish identity like now?
I consider myself spiritual if not religious, and certainly very culturally Jewish. My family’s traditions are something I hope to pass on to my children (if I ever have any!!).

What would you say is Jewish about you as a performer, in general, or your drag in particular? (You’ve referred to yourself on RPDR as a “JAP.”)
Well, I’m a storyteller which feels Jewish in the sense that my Romanian Grandma has passed on so many stories to me. I also LIVE for Barbra Streisand and perform her songs all the time.

You’re known as the theatre queen this season on RPDR, and Broadway obviously has very Jewish roots. Tell us about your 54Below Show!
It’s a great mix of show music and pop songs. Drawing upon different moments in my journey to get to this point. I picked songs that are relatable and speak to the mixed up world we’re currently living in.

Beyond that, do you think Jewishness is particularly conducive to queerness, or aspects of queer culture?
This is a rather broad answer, but I think Judaism has always been about being the best person you can be. And for me, as a queen, it’s about being the most authentic me I can be. I think those two things go hand in hand, being your best you, and your most authentic. I think they’re very closely related.

Would you say there’s a Jewish drag community? There are certainly several Jewish drag queens performing now, particularly in New York.
There are a few of us. I actually got to film a great music video parody for Sherry Vine last Chanukah, with Miz Cracker and Lady Sinagaga. It’s not a large chunk of the scene but there’s a few of us.

Anything you’d like to add?
Follow me @AlexisLives ’cause I live and you live and we’re all LIVING! L’Chaim!!!

We’re rooting for you, Alexis! You can see Ms. Michelle live at 54Below this Tuesday, or June 13, or on your TV at 8 PM PT/ET each Friday on VH1 (or, if you’re Shabbat observant, the following Thursday on Logo) as she vies for the crown on the ninth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Image courtesy VH1

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Acid Betty was a contestant this season on RuPaul’s Drag Race, where she made a strong impression constructing dynamic, creative looks (seriously, check her out in this dress made of money, or her green-skinned appearance that might be described as “couture Creature from the Black Lagoon realness”). Betty also grabbed our attention when she told RuPaul that she’s Jewish (which she jokingly brought up again in her goodbye message to the other contestants, which concluded, “See Jew in New York”).

Acid Betty, Jamin Ruhren out of drag, took a moment in her busy life on the road performing post-Drag Race to talk to Jewcy:

Jewcy: What is your background and upbringing like? What was your Jewish experience as a kid?

My grandmother was very traditional and religious, while my mother raised my sister and I Reform. But I did have Sunday school and four years of Hebrew school — That was lot for a kid who thought his school week ended on Fridays! Because of my Jewish upbringing, I was able to establish a cultural and social bond with other Jews that I still experience and cherish today.

Jewcy: What is your Jewish identity like these days?

Being Jewish is definitely the basis of which I understand and relate to the world spiritually, but I was also taught that our G-d is one G-d, therefore He/She is belongs to everyone no matter what you might call Her.

Jewcy: Is there anything Jewish about you as a performer, in general, or your drag in particular?

I don’t think there is anything really Jewish about my performances or persona. Judaism is the foundation of what my mother gave me to understand the world around me.

Jewcy: Do you think Jewishness is particularly conducive to queerness, or aspects of queer culture?

I definitely give credit to my upbringing as a Jew to how and why I relate to queerness. Being the only Jew in elementary school and one of five in high school, I was in the awkward position of not completely fitting in and relating differently to the world early on. While in elementary school, my mother would visit every year to educate my classmates about Hanukkah through story telling, music, and themed lollipops. Ha… Very similar to how the queer culture has to go out and educate the world about our perspectives and experience.

Jewcy: Have you encountered a lot of other Jewish drag queens? Why do you think you have or haven’t?

Since announcing on TV that I’m a Jew, ha, I have met a few crazy Jewish drag queens. Its like a secret sub-sub-culture and I love it! Just like queens, we Jews have our own sense of humor that comes out of our unique culture and shared history. It’s actually a very funny and great mix — Jewish drag queens.

Image courtesy of Viacom.

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