JINKX MONSOON (WITH MAJOR SCALES)

“Unwrapped”

Dec. 8 through 11 and Dec. 19 through 21

Q. WHAT IS YOUR SHOW ABOUT?

A. It’s kind of a satirical, tongue-in-cheek, jaded, boozy look at the winter holidays from the perspective of two gay men. Growing up as a gay boy during the holidays, there’s the things you want to ask for, and then the things you ask for because you’re afraid of asking for what you really want. That translated into our adult life and our feelings toward the holidays, of this artifice where everyone tries to return to normalcy and put up their air of magical Yuletide family happiness. The older we get, the more and more we realize it’s a facade.

Q. WHAT’S THE CONNECTION BETWEEN GAY MEN AND CHRISTMAS?

A. It’s this chance for us to peacock a little. It’s like Halloween. It’s another party. But deeper than that, if you’re someone who is separated from your family, or you disowned yourself from your family, or for your sanity you don’t see them, it’s important that you have your chosen family to be with during this time of year. It doesn’t matter if you’re going home and doing the traditional dinner around the table and playing nice for grandma, or if you’re having a potluck dinner and get drunk. You find your own way to celebrate.

Q. HOW DOES YOUR SHOW REFLECT THAT SENSIBILITY?

A. We do some traditional Christmas carols, but we break them down and reinvent them a little. We’re resurrecting “The 12 Daze of Christmas,” as rewritten by Fay McKay, an old cabaret singer who did a lot of stuff in Vegas way back when. She did a Christmas show that’s kind of not far off from what we do for our show, but for the straight community from the 1950s and ’60s. If our show has a thesis statement, it would be that the older you get, the drunker you get at the holidays.