<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;My guest this week is queer artist and illustrator &lt;a href="https://www.cheynerama.com/"&gt;Cheyne Gallarde&lt;/a&gt;, whose style blends drag icons with classic comic book covers. Cheyne first discovered drag in queer bars of Hawaii, and after a memorable night getting pulled up onstage, he started translating the magic that he saw in the community into literal super powers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;br&gt;We’ll have that interview in a moment. First a quick reminder that I host weekly livestreams every Sunday &lt;a href="http://twitch.tv/mattbaume"&gt;on Twitch&lt;/a&gt;, and I hope you’ll join me for those; also check out my book &lt;a href="http://gaysitcoms.com"&gt;Hi Honey, I’m Homo!&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href="http://gaysitcoms.com"&gt;GaySitcoms.com&lt;/a&gt;; subscribe to my email newsletter at &lt;a href="http://mattbaume.com"&gt;MattBaume.com&lt;/a&gt;, and if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, &lt;a href="http://patreon.com/mattbaume"&gt;support the show on Patreon&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href="http://patreon.com/mattbaume"&gt;Patreon.com/mattbaume&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/p&gt;</description>

Drag Race, Archie comics, and superheroes

My guest this week is queer artist and illustrator Cheyne Gallarde, whose style blends drag icons with classic comic book covers. Cheyne first discovered drag in queer bars of Hawaii, and after a memorable night getting pulled up onstage, he started translating the magic that he saw in the community into literal super powers.

We’ll have that interview in a moment. First a quick reminder that I host weekly livestreams every Sunday on Twitch, and I hope you’ll join me for those; also check out my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo! at GaySitcoms.com; subscribe to my email newsletter at MattBaume.com, and if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/mattbaume. 

Transporting You to an Amazing Place (Ep 554 - Drag superheros/Cheyne)

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Congratulations to actor-writer-comedian Joel Kim Booster, who got married last month to his partner John. You might know Joel as the writer and star of the movie &lt;em&gt;Fire Island&lt;/em&gt;, or as a voice actor in &lt;em&gt;KPop Demon Hunters&lt;/em&gt;, or from shows like &lt;em&gt;Big Mouth&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Search Party&lt;/em&gt;, and &lt;em&gt;Loot&lt;/em&gt;. But before all that, Joel was a guest on &lt;em&gt;The Sewers of Paris&lt;/em&gt;, way back in 2017, when we talked about his childhood, his coming out, and a period when he was homeless. To celebrate his wedding, we’re taking a trip back to that conversation for this week’s episode.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;And by the way, if you’d like to see Joel live, he has a shows coming up in San Francisco, part of SF Sketchfest: &lt;a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://sfsketchfest.com/2026-lineup/"&gt;https://sfsketchfest.com/2026-lineup/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

murder mysteries, stand up comedy, and Clue

Congratulations to actor-writer-comedian Joel Kim Booster, who got married last month to his partner John. You might know Joel as the writer and star of the movie Fire Island, or as a voice actor in KPop Demon Hunters, or from shows like Big Mouth, Search Party, and Loot. But before all that, Joel was a guest on The Sewers of Paris, way back in 2017, when we talked about his childhood, his coming out, and a period when he was homeless. To celebrate his wedding, we’re taking a trip back to that conversation for this week’s episode.

And by the way, if you’d like to see Joel live, he has a shows coming up in San Francisco, part of SF Sketchfest: https://sfsketchfest.com/2026-lineup/

We've Cornered the Market on Mermaids (Ep 553 - Joel Kim Booster/murder mysteries)

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;You may know this week’s guest from his online persona, The Black Gay Comic Geek — an identity that grew out of his Buffy fandom, which was so intense that for a time he was an administrator of a Buffy role-playing community where he was a magic shop owner and queen of the vengeance demons. These days, Michael flies around the country covering pop culture, always looking for his great passions: Blood, sex, gore, and magic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Check out Michael’s work at &lt;a href="https://linktr.ee/blackgaycomicgeek"&gt;https://linktr.ee/blackgaycomicgeek&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;We’ll have that interview in a moment. First a quick reminder that I host weekly livestreams every Sunday &lt;a href="http://twitch.tv/mattbaume"&gt;on Twitch&lt;/a&gt;, and I hope you’ll just us for those; also check out my book &lt;a href="http://gaysitcoms.com"&gt;Hi Honey, I’m Homo!&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href="http://gaysitcoms.com"&gt;GaySitcoms.com&lt;/a&gt;; subscribe to my email newsletter at &lt;a href="http://mattbaume.com"&gt;MattBaume.com&lt;/a&gt;, and if you’re enjoying &lt;em&gt;The Sewers of Paris&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;a href="http://patreon.com/mattbaume"&gt;support the show on Patreon&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href="http://patreon.com/mattbaume"&gt;Patreon.com/mattbaume&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Buffy, Child’s Play, and Interview with the Vampire

You may know this week’s guest from his online persona, The Black Gay Comic Geek — an identity that grew out of his Buffy fandom, which was so intense that for a time he was an administrator of a Buffy role-playing community where he was a magic shop owner and queen of the vengeance demons. These days, Michael flies around the country covering pop culture, always looking for his great passions: Blood, sex, gore, and magic.

Check out Michael’s work at https://linktr.ee/blackgaycomicgeek 

We’ll have that interview in a moment. First a quick reminder that I host weekly livestreams every Sunday on Twitch, and I hope you’ll just us for those; also check out my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo! at GaySitcoms.com; subscribe to my email newsletter at MattBaume.com, and if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/mattbaume. 

Blood, Sex, Gore, and Magic (Ep 552 - Buffy/Michael)

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;My guest this week is author &lt;a href="https://www.jumataemill.com"&gt;Jumata Emill&lt;/a&gt;, whose new novel is entitled &lt;a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/744500/i-dont-wish-you-well-by-jumata-emill/"&gt;&lt;em&gt;I Don’t Wish You Well&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;. It’s about a true-crime writer who uncovers a queer coverup in his hometown — based in part on Jumata’s prior work as a real-life crime reporter, before he made the jump to fiction.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;We’ll have that interview in a moment. First, a quick heads up that I have a new video out about the making of the Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme holiday special. Check that out at &lt;a href="http://youtube.com/mattbaume"&gt;youtube.com/mattbaume&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;And please join me for weekly livestreams every Sunday &lt;a href="http://twitch.tv/mattbaume"&gt;on Twitch&lt;/a&gt;; check out my book &lt;a href="http://gaysitcoms.com"&gt;Hi Honey, I’m Homo!&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href="http://gaysitcoms.com"&gt;GaySitcoms.com&lt;/a&gt;; subscribe to my email newsletter at &lt;a href="http://mattbaume.com"&gt;MattBaume.com&lt;/a&gt;, and if you’re enjoying &lt;em&gt;The Sewers of Paris&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;a href="http://patreon.com/mattbaume"&gt;support the show on Patreon&lt;/a&gt; at &lt;a href="http://patreon.com/mattbaume"&gt;Patreon.com/mattbaume&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

Nancy Drew, Madonna, and An Invisible Life

My guest this week is author Jumata Emill, whose new novel is entitled I Don’t Wish You Well. It’s about a true-crime writer who uncovers a queer coverup in his hometown — based in part on Jumata’s prior work as a real-life crime reporter, before he made the jump to fiction.

We’ll have that interview in a moment. First, a quick heads up that I have a new video out about the making of the Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme holiday special. Check that out at youtube.com/mattbaume.

And please join me for weekly livestreams every Sunday on Twitch; check out my book Hi Honey, I’m Homo! at GaySitcoms.com; subscribe to my email newsletter at MattBaume.com, and if you’re enjoying The Sewers of Paris, support the show on Patreon at Patreon.com/mattbaume. 

Thank You for Reading us for Filth (Ep 551 - Nancy Drew/Jumata)

<description>&lt;p data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;I can think of few better ways to spend the holidays than seeing some live queer theater, whether it’s Golden Girls Live, a sing-along to Mame, or shows with some of my local Seattle drag legends like Dina Martina and &lt;a href="https://theatreoffjackson.org/event/scott-shoemakers-war-on-christmas-5/"&gt;Scott Shoemaker&lt;/a&gt;. And one of the most iconic holiday duos to emerge from the Emerald City is &lt;a href="https://www.jinkxanddela.com"&gt;Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme&lt;/a&gt;. Every year they create a new holiday show and tour it around the world, and you might recall that when theaters were closed in 2020 they taped a holiday special and streamed it online.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;&lt;a href="https://youtu.be/pqz7dXXSAYs"&gt;My latest YouTube video is the behind-the-scenes story of that special’s creation.&lt;/a&gt; And I was very fortunate to speak with the writer, director, co-producer, and co-star, BenDeLaCreme — who graciously made time to chat with me while on tour this year. For this week’s Sewers of Paris, we’ll hear that full conversation. We talked about DeLa’s history with the holidays, the ulterior motive behind the holiday show, and the future of queer theater.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p class="" data-rte-preserve-empty="true" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"&gt;Huge thanks to DeLa for chatting with me. When this episode goes live, there are still a few performance dates left on this year’s tour, and you should absolutely go see them live if you can. And if not, stream past year’s shows at &lt;a href="http://jinkxanddela.com/"&gt;JinkxAndDeLa.com/&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>

The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Special

I can think of few better ways to spend the holidays than seeing some live queer theater, whether it’s Golden Girls Live, a sing-along to Mame, or shows with some of my local Seattle drag legends like Dina Martina and Scott Shoemaker. And one of the most iconic holiday duos to emerge from the Emerald City is Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme. Every year they create a new holiday show and tour it around the world, and you might recall that when theaters were closed in 2020 they taped a holiday special and streamed it online. 

My latest YouTube video is the behind-the-scenes story of that special’s creation. And I was very fortunate to speak with the writer, director, co-producer, and co-star, BenDeLaCreme — who graciously made time to chat with me while on tour this year. For this week’s Sewers of Paris, we’ll hear that full conversation. We talked about DeLa’s history with the holidays, the ulterior motive behind the holiday show, and the future of queer theater.

Huge thanks to DeLa for chatting with me. When this episode goes live, there are still a few performance dates left on this year’s tour, and you should absolutely go see them live if you can. And if not, stream past year’s shows at JinkxAndDeLa.com/.

Christmas at its Wackiest (Ep 550 - BenDeLaCreme)

Revealing stories about the books, movies, tv, music and more that have changed the lives of gay men. Each week, a guest plucks a piece of entertainment from their past, and answers the question: how did it change your life?

The Sewers of Paris

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