About The Big Reveal book

Billed as a first-of-its-kind, “spellbinding” book, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag thoughtfully weaves memoir, history, and theory into a living portrait of an artist and an art. Throughout the book, Velour illuminates drag as a unique form of expression with rich history and a revolutionary spirit as she recalls her own journey and uncovers the history of queer life around the world that made it all possible. The new work by Velour will highlight both intellect and imagination, featuring photos and her own original artwork intertwined with insightful critical theory, riveting LGTBQ+ history, personal memoir, and all-engrossing camp.

About Sasha Velour

As a modern-day pioneer of innovative, emotive, and provocative drag aesthetics, Sasha Velour continues to raise the bar for the art of drag performance across the globe. Velour is most notably recognized as the winner of season nine of the Emmy-nominated “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on VH1 in 2017, where her lip-sync performance to Whitney Houston’s “So Emotional” made history and was hailed as “the performance of the year” by The A.V. Club and named one of “TV’s Best Musical Moments on Television” by Entertainment Weekly. The act cleverly featured an elaborate reveal full of rose petals hidden in her gloves and wig and is now widely regarded as one of the most iconic performances in the show’s history. Ingenuity is not something new to Velour, as her live performances have been renowned by critics as “an entirely new level of performance art” (Yahoo!) and “heart-wrenching” (Billboard). Her first one-queen drag show “Smoke & Mirrors” toured from 2019-2022 to over 80 cities around the world including sold-out performances at the prestigious London Palladium and the Folies Bergère in Paris. Velour’s esteemed drag show “NightGowns,” founded in 2015, has hosted some of the world’s greatest drag performers before being adapted into a docu-series directed by Sophie Muller and The Documentary Group in 2020. In 2021, the cast released two original “NightGowns” films: “NightGowns Forever,” an anthology of past shows, and “NightGowns the Musical,” an original comedy set in 1966, adapted from a live show performed Off-Broadway.

Velour’s talents also expand beyond the drag universe, as her artist profile continues to transcend boundaries and mediums untouched by many other queens. Her studio and illustration work has been the subject of two acclaimed solo gallery shows in New York in 2014 and 2016 before being tapped by Google to draw their homepage search engine doodle of the late Marlene Dietrich in celebration of her 116th birthday in 2017. Together with her partner Johnny Velour, she also self-published and designed the art magazine “Velour,” which celebrates the art of drag through visual art, poetry, photography, and essays. Velour frequently uses her platform to discuss politics, queer history, and LGBTQ+ issues in an educational format, having transformed her into a highly sought-after public speaker. She has graced the stages at prestigious venues, including The Smithsonian for “The Long Conversation,” an event with thought leaders from around the world, the US Embassy in Singapore, and many distinguished universities including Purdue, The University of Illinois, the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and Columbia.

For more information about Sasha Velour, please visit www.sashavelour.com.

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About Just For Laughs

Global leader in comedy and home to the #1 Comedy Festival in the World, Just for Laughs Group has been launching and championing top comedic talent - including Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Burr, Kevin Hart, Amy Schumer, Ali Wong, Hannah Gadsby, Hasan Minhaj, Jo Koy, Canada’s very own Rick Mercer and Russell Peters - for close to 40 years. Founded in 1983, the company is an international powerhouse in the creation of multiplatform comedic content. Every year, millions of spectators are entertained at its worldwide festivals, from Montréal – the biggest comedy event in the world – to Toronto and Vancouver, Canada; Austin, U.S.A.; London, UK; and Sydney, Australia; featuring thousands of Canadian and international comedians - from well-established artists to aspiring up-and-comers. With concentrated growth on television development and production, the Group’s digital and televised content is shown in over 150 countries and followed by an online audience of over 14 million. In addition, the Group produces touring shows, stages its own musicals and is the originator of the ComedyPRO industry conference along with the daytime, fan centric, ComedyCON event.