BOYSTOWN — Cooking shows just got a lot more fierce.
Marc Felion and Fausto Fernos, the duo behind the popular "Feast of Fun" podcasts, are developing a new video series called "Cooking With Drag Queens."
Each documentary-style episode will follow a drag queen home, to work, backstage, and finally into the kitchen, where she'll share a favorite recipe and personal stories.
"People are expecting Julia-Child-meets-RuPaul's-Drag-Race," Fernos said. "But I'd say it's going to be more like 'Mister Rogers' Neighborhood' than anything else."
The goal is to take viewers behind the scenes to meet the queens in quieter moments.
"We want to use food as a device to get them to open up about their lives and show their vulnerability," Fernos said. "What kind of food do you eat when you're stressed out? When you're celebrating? ... When your parents got divorced, what food did dad make versus mom?"
Fernos and fiance Felion — who occasionally perform as queens named Saltina Obama Bouvier and Daphne Dumount, respectively — have produced short "Cooking With Drag Queens" videos since 2010.
They've highlighted performers like April Carrion, Pandora Boxx and Sharon Needles.
This fall, Fernos and Felion plan to release Season 1 of "Cooking With Drag Queens," an official web series with higher production value and more of a documentary focus.
"It's a profound departure from what we've done before," Fernos said.
The couple recently launched a Kickstarter to raise at least $12,000 for a professional multi-camera crew, lighting and sound technicians, video editors, directors and food.
Depending on how much money is raised, the series will film in September and run in October with six to 10 episodes.
"We think there's an amazing drag scene here in Chicago," Fernos said. "And there are extraordinary gender-nonconforming performers that will never make it onto 'RuPaul's Drag Race.'"
Fernos and Felion launched the "Feast of Fun" podcast in 2005 and have watched it become one of the most downloaded on iTunes. They've made a point to regularly include drag queen interviews.
"When you talk about gay entertainment, that's who our entertainers are, for the most part," Felion said. "When we first started podcasting, there weren't really that many 'out' gay comedians... or singers and songwriters.
"Drag queens are just naturally very social people," he continued. "They're entertainers, so I always thought they made fantastic guests. I think you can learn a lot from people who walk that gender line."
Felion said "RuPaul's Drag Race" has helped break down stereotypes and attract younger generations of drag fans.
He and Fernos hope "Cooking With Drag Queens" will continue that tradition and become a fun space for in-depth storytelling and great food.
"We've both run kitchens, worked in restaurants, and have extensive food service and culinary arts experience," Fernos said. "So we're not just pretty faces that love drag queens. We actually know what we're talking about when it comes to food."
The "Cooking With Drag Queens" Kickstarter will run until Aug. 22. As of Tuesday night, it had raised $9,000 of the $12,000 minimum.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
