Mama Tits is Bringing Super Spicy South of the Border Flair to PS

I first met Mama Tits at Seattle Pridefest pre-covid. She was hosting a brunch at the lovely W Hotel, and I was immediately a fan. She’s a larger-than-life package of simply divine decadence and if you haven’t seen her show, you need to truly treat yourself to that experience.

You’re not really having a full Puerto Vallarta moment until you witness her belting out some live vocals, mixed with just the right amount of comedy and racy tidbits thrown in at the perfect moments. You will leave the show a better person for it, TRUST!

I’m so thrilled that I got to catch up with her before she leaves the sandy shores of Mexico for a solo tour of the West Coast. (While writing this for my readers, I got a late breaking bulletin that it is now a North American Tour with new dates and venues added!)

How long have you lived in Puerto Vallarta and what made you decide to move to Mexico?

I’ve been living in Puerto Vallarta for the past seven going on eight years. I fell in love with PV within the first week of coming here for my first gig many years ago. It was the people, the culture, the food, the location, the beauty…everything! I immediately fell in love and knew that I needed to make this magical place my home.

Since moving there, you have become a staple in that town selling out your nightly shows year after year. What’s your secret to packing the house?

Hahaha! That’s an excellent question. I have no idea. but seriously, I’ve always just been myself and always try to keep my shows 100% authentic to who I am. And to be honest, it’s all that people should ever strive to be is 100% authentic to who they are. The magic of that is that it seems to be very relatable and many people are able to connect on a personal level. I can’t tell you how many times I have people tell me after a show that they felt that I was speaking directly to them, and that feels amazing.

You’re embarking on your first ever West Coast Solo Tour. How did that all come together and were you fearful of taking that first step?

Yes, thank you. I’m super excited for this opportunity and I can’t believe that we’re kicking it off in the beautiful city of Palm Springs. However, this tour has grown now into a complete North American tour! And I’m over the moon!!!!

Funny thing – I have been working with different people over the past many years to try to get some semblance of a tour created, but nobody could ever get anybody to bite. So this year I decided to take it upon myself, like the old adage says “if you want something done right…you gotta do it yourself.“  So, that’s exactly what I did. Now of course I did not do it alone, but I did take the helm.

It first started with me reaching out to my good Judy, Sherry Vine. I asked her for some leads on venues. She also said I could drop her name which could’ve been good or bad, depending on where we’re dropping it. I mean it is Sherry Vine after all, but seriously it helped me get a little leg up because they all knew Sherry and since I was able to use her name, gave me an opportunity for them to listen to what I had to pitch. And boy did I pitch my show. Baby, if there’s one thing I know how to do it sell what I do!! So, I did just that. And trust me, it’s not as easy for a gal who’s built her own career her own way, without the aid of a television show. And that is in no way a dig towards anybody who’s been on TV, just a statement of fact. Without the television show backing you, it can be a much more grueling uphill climb. On the other hand, it can be more rewarding. So, I sent off the emails and waited. It wasn’t a week later that I had my first response and then a second, and then the third and so on. Everyone was so kind and welcoming that encouraged me to keep going.

Overnight the tour went from a few stops to a nine city 15 show tour. I’m going on tour! Now, it is scary and expensive, but I know that I’m worth it. I mean I tell people all the time “remember you’re worth it” so of course I’ve got to walk the walk, and not just talk the talk. And the beautiful thing is usually when you take a chance on yourself and trust in the universe, The Goddess is there to catch you and show you that you did the right thing.

Drag is EVERYWHERE these days. Do you feel the drag in Mexico is different than here in the states?

Drag is different everywhere. That’s one of my most favorite things about Drag. It’s rooted in what we know. Meaning, the artists create from their own history, their own culture, their own surroundings. So, when the art hits the stage, if you will, it’s undoubtedly coming from its own perspective and completely individual. Now of course, if you want to make broad generalizations, yes there is a “type” of drag that is more prominent here in Mexico, which is based more in the cubs and consists of passionate ballads sung by very popular Spanish speaking artists. They not only perform one song, but they also do up to three or four in a row! It is amazing and something I’ve never seen before coming here. But again, even with that broad stroke, each individual artist is so uniquely themselves. And that is what makes drag magic to me.

As we are all aware, laws are trying to be put in place banning drag in many states in the US. You were on the front lines many years ago and went viral with some folks who had some views that you didn’t agree with. Tell us about that moment.

Oh, you want to know about THE moment? Well, it was a bright sunny June morning. I was set to host Seattle Pride from Westlake Center alongside some other people from the community. However, the beginning of the parade, which of course takes forever…so we had a lot of downtime while they were setting everything up. People were arriving while the parade marchers were getting in place. Unfortunately, there was a permit mistake, and a simple clerical error allowed a “religious” hate group to also march and had a police escort.

As the pride parade is waiting to start, here comes this group of anti-gay hate filled people. The moment I saw their signs on the parade route, I felt rage, but not a blind rage, a controlled calculated rage. I looked at my cohorts and invited them to come and “Care Bear stare“ these religious bigots! Of course, they all looked at me like I was crazy. I walked out in the middle of the road by myself, placed my arms straight out to my side and stood there, staring at the ringleaders eyes.  He never actually looked into my eyes, but did not move one step in his route, even though I was standing directly in his way, so we became infamously “tits to nose“ and that’s where the famous picture was captured . Now mind you in that moment. I had no idea anybody was really watching. I was so focused on my own situation right there and making my own stand. The protester actually hit me with his sign while I was being surrounded by his cohorts, and I noticed none of them had any life behind their eyes. Everybody seemed almost zombie like. It was crazy . After he hit me with the sign and I pushed back, that’s when the police started showing up to separate us. The anti-gay protesters then continued past me at the behest of Seattle police and continued walking the opposite route of the parade, quickly encountering a wall of dikes on bikes. However, before they could even reach the dykes on bikes, a group of teenagers ran into the middle of the parade, locked arms and created a wall of protection. At this moment was when the sound team was able to give me a microphone,  I had 100,000 watts of sound projected over six city blocks in the palm of my hand. Up to this point it was voice against megaphone, but now I had the sound.

I remember thinking to myself “be 100% accountable for every word that comes out of your mouth from this moment on“ because I knew I had a responsibility especially because it was being projected publicly over many city blocks during the largest parade in the city. I had a responsibility to keep it classy, keep it factual, and keep it poignant. And that’s when I started to speak and it wasn’t until I saw the video later, that I actually knew what I had said. I felt like I was a conduit for all the people in the past and the words just came from me. It felt like I had Divine on one shoulder and Marsha P. Johnson on the other shoulder, with Sylvia Rivera, standing behind me, giving me strength and power to take on this hate. And the rest as they say, is history. But that was the day that changed my life forever and I’m very grateful to have had that experience.

Your current show “Por Que’ No? Life is Short” will be the one you take on tour. What do you hope the audience takes away from the show? Or what message do you hope they hear?

If we have learned nothing in the past couple of years, it’s that the world can change in an instant. Everything we thought we knew was gone or changed or stopped for an undetermined amount of time. And that got me to thinking “what was I waiting for?“ My main take away from my show is: “What are you waiting for?” It’s your life, so live it how you want. You don’t need anybody to give you permission except for yourself. You don’t need anybody’s approval except for your own. We get one life. Get out there and live it and when your expiration date comes, I want you to be able to look back at your life and say, “I did it all and it was GRAND!”

See Mama Tits when she makes her first tour stop at Oscar’s Palm Springs. June 7th at 7 pm. Limited tickets are available at www.oscarspalmsprings.com. For other tour dates and appearances head over to www.themamatits.com