Laganja Estranja (Photo via Wikimedia Commons)

We are now in month four of The Year of the COVID, and some of you (us) are likely running out of shows to watch. Never fear, Jack Daniels and the drag queens are riding to the rescue.

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire (the cinnamon-flavored version of one of my personal favorite bournons) is partnering with a few well-known drag queens for Drag Queen Mukbang, a new series that pairs two popular food trends: mukbang and the drag brunch.

OK, so most of you are familiar with the concept of the drag brunch. If you are not, well, you were living a very sheltered life long before coronavirus made its debut. Mukbang, though, might be new to you. I had heard of the concept before, but I didn’t know what it was called. So in case you are wondering: “Mukbang, or meokbang, is an online audiovisual broadcast in which a host consumes large quantities of food while interacting with the audience. It became popular in South Korea in 2010, and since then it has become a worldwide trend.” (Thanks Wikipedia.)

Drag Queen Mukbang debuted on JackFirePride.com during June Pride Month. There are four episodes, and the newest one, streaming Saturday, July 11, will feature Dallas native and RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Laganja Estranja. According to press material for the show, Drag Queen Mukbang “blends the irreverence of a drag queen brunch, a drag show normally performed in front of a live audience during a late morning meal, with the intimacy of mukbang.” With Laganja, of course, “irreverence” is a given.

Laganja said, “For some reason, food, drink and drag just seem to go together. My fellow queens and I applaud Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire for shining a light on the community during these challenging times and using this series to support organizations like GLAAD.”

The shows “feature talent enjoying a lavish meal mukbang-style while entertaining viewers with quips, jokes and other surprises highlighting Tennessee Fire,” the press material says. “With bars, clubs and event spaces shuttered in the wake of the pandemic, drag queens and other self-employed entertainers who earn their livelihoods from performing at these venues have faced unprecedented financial hardship, which will be addressed by the Drag Queen Mukbang hosts in each video. With an aim to champion organizations and initiatives that support LGBTQ  communities, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire has also partnered with GLAAD and various local nonprofits across the country.

“A longtime supporter of the LGBTQ community, Jack Daniel’s parent company Brown-Forman has received a perfect score for 10 consecutive years on the Corporate Equality Index, a national report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality.”

Other episodes of Drag Queen Mukbang feature YouTube beauty guru Patrick Starrr, trans woman and Drag Race alum Gia Gunn and Try Guy Eugene Lee Yang (aka Cheyenne Pepper)

Each episode was self-shot entirely by the hosts; any hosts that appear together in an episode are also in quarantine together, in compliance with social distancing restrictions.

The performers also designed their own sets using whatever materials were readily available — with the exception of Tennessee Fire products.

— Tammye Nash