Currently in its eighth season, with over 200 episodes under its belt, World of Wonder’sUNHhhhhas become a mainstay for drag fans and queer viewers. Episodes uploaded to YouTube, where they appear after debuting on WOW Presents Plus, regularly attain views in the millions. Because of the ineffable comedic duo that hosts the program, drag queensTrixie MattelandKatya Zamolodchikova(best known by her mononym, Katya; as a duo, they are best known as Trixie and Katya), the series has also broken through via memes and clips on social media. Though the hosts made their popular debuts as competitors onRuPaul’s Drag RaceandAll Stars, it isUNHhhhthat has solidified them asdrag superstars.
And yet, despite its subcultural and social media success,UNHhhhhas yet to fully break into the mainstream television and streaming conversation (as suggested by the Television Academy’s failure to nominate the series this year for the Short-Form Comedy, Drama, or Variety Series Emmy). An attempt to help the show break out did come in 2017 in the form of a Viceland spin-off series calledThe Trixie & Katya Show. However, Katya had to step away from the show for her health, and the spin-off was canceled after one season.UNHhhhreturned in its original, spectacular form in late 2018, but the series remains primarily a subcultural phenomenon. After nearly a decade of consistently hilarious, rewatchable, and relatable episodes, it’s time forUNHhhhto break out from the niche into the mainstream.
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No Hosts Can Match Trixie & Katya’s Chemistry
Across the non-fiction television landscape, from singing competitions to roundtable talk shows, audiences are drawn to the charismatic hosts and judges that populate theirfavorite programs. While different styles of television use their hosts in different ways, the best quality of any host is their chemistry with the guests, competitors, judges, or other hosts with whom they share a microphone. And while there are certainly standouts out there, no hosts match the comedic chemistry shared by Trixie and Katya.
Perhaps what makes Trixie and Katya such standout hosts is that they aren’t actually hosting any “thing” other than the show itself. There are no competitions, no structured sets of segments, nor any celebrity guests (though there are a couple of episodes with guests, they solidify that the show works best without any). Instead, as they mention in the show’s oft-memed introduction, they just talk about whatever they want (because it’s their show, and not yours). What they host, then, is just a discussion between themselves on a set topic each episode. And, as any pair of friends know, said discussion often veers wildly off-topic, often resulting in Trixie restating the episode’s topic to laughter from Katya.
Part of what makes their chemistry so undeniable is that they know just what to say to make the other laugh. For example, in the “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” episode, the two queens revisit their past performances on the competition series. While discussing Katya’sAll Starsentrance look, Trixie says, “Tell me about this wig.” Katya responds, “Okay, that’s a wig,” prompting one of Trixie’s signature cackles. By focusing on what jokes make each other laugh, rather than just trying to tell jokes for the audience, the hosts create a comedic dynamic that is not only funny in it of itself, but also creates a stronger connection with the audience who can enjoy both the joke being told, as well as the rapport between the hosts.
Their rapport allows them to not only laugh with each other but often at one another through the art of reading, or wittily mocking the other’s characteristics. In “The 100th Episode Milestones,” the pair discuss doing a make-up swap episode. Trixie reads Katya for her age, saying, “I think you’ve completely forgotten how to do make-up on young skin.” Their reads come so often, they even must clarify when they are being genuine. In “Quitting,” Trixie asks Katya, “Did you ever think about quitting drag?” and immediately follows the question with, “I’m not making fun of you,” for clarification. Naturally, this comment sparks laughter from Katya, and adds another layer of humor for the audience by calling back to their many reads. Importantly, though, the hosts’ reading of one another strengthens their on-screen rapport. As Trixie astutely points out in “Reading,” an episode actually dedicated to the subject, “Nobody can make fun of you the way people who love you can make fun of you.”
Nothing better encapsulates the bond between these two than in the episode, “Death,” where Katya, noticing Trixie is staring at her, nervously asks her, “What? What? What? What?” Trixie responds, “Nothing, I just like you,” which prompts jubilant shrieking from Katya. As Katya is overwhelmed with laughter and Trixie giggles on, the background changes to a rainbow with the words “Best Friends” plastered in bold letters above their heads. And, as any best friends would, the hosts quickly move on from this delightfully sentimental moment when Katya begins to explain she is obsessed with movies that explore “the bureaucracy of the afterlife.”
Every Episode of ‘UNHhhh’ Demands a Rewatch
As the “Best Friends” edited into the “I just like you” moment suggests,UNHhhhuses its editing cleverly. Series editorsRon HillandJeff Maccubinfill each episode with an innumerable number of backgrounds, graphics, text, and music that add another level of comedic value to every moment of the show. By amplifying the conversation between its hosts, and through the sheer outrageousness of some of the creative choices,UNHhhh’s editing heightens the shows comedy and rewatchability.
Throughout the series, the editing effects highlight and extend the jokes of its hosts beyond their conversation. In “Theater,” Trixie bemoans when actors take roles simply to receive awards recognition. As she discusses the issue, the screen cuts to a cartoon drive-in movie theater, with Trixie animated to look like a woman in a hospital bed on the drive-in’s screen. Katya then appears in a car that crashes into the parked vehicle in front of her. Then, the drive-in screen reveals the title of this fictitious movie to be “Blind Woman in a War and She’s Gay.” Playing off Trixie’s comments, the editing adds several layers of humor to the conversation. There is the anachronistic use of a drive-in as the setting, satirizing Katya’s unpredictable nature with the car crash, and, of course, mocking the melodramatic subjects ofOscar bait filmswith the ridiculous film title.
Significantly, the entire drive-in scene described above happens over a matter of seconds. The number of jokes peppered into each episode practically demands that audiences watch an episode multiple times so they can pick up on every reference on screen. If someone isn’t rewatching to pick up on all the gags, they likely will just reexperience the ridiculous nature of the graphics and text that appear. When discussing her post-set routine at home in “Pain,” a television screen is edited into the frame with the text “Bear PornTube” written across a video of two actual bears mating. While an in-reference to Trixie’s love of bears (the gay body stereotype, not the animal), the sheer absurdity of the mating video is hilariously gag-worthy.
As the bear reference demonstrates,UNHhhh’s brand of humor draws from the lives of its queens. In “Awards,” Katya tells Trixie that she once won an award in first grade for self-control. A picture of the plaque with the award is then superimposed onto the image with text that reads, “This is real.” Both the hosts’ conversation and the edited text mock the irony of this award, which is dependent on knowing Katya’s personality. Additionally, long-term viewer pay-off also comes from the series self-reflexively pulling from its own bank of quotable lines and edited aesthetics, like every time the background fills with flying birds and the text “bird noises” during Trixie’s boisterous laughter. Moments like these are surely funny for casual viewers, but the joke pays off the most for fans who have watched, and rewatched, the series with dedication.
The Heart of ‘UNHhhh’ Is Conversation
Even with the wacky editing and countless callbacks, the core ofUNHhhhis conversation. The conversational structure is significant for two reasons. One, the structure of the show is relatable for viewers because the conversation feels like those that you would have with your best friend. Trixie and Katya’s chats are thus inviting, making viewers feel like they could be part of the discussion. This is even more pronounced during the show’s “Ask Us a Questunhhhn” moments that have made appearances since the series’ fifth season. During these parts of the show, Trixie and Katya offer advice in response to viewers’ Twitter questions. Unexpectedly, and riotously, their advice is typically nonsense.
UNHhhh’s focus on conversation also makes it stand apart from other drag-centric television. For many audiences, they are probably most familiar with drag through the juggernaut that is theRuPaul’s Drag RaceEmpire. For this reason, and because of shows like the canceled-too-soonQueen of the Universe, drag is often synonymous with competition. Even Trixie and Katya themselves are, of course, alumnae from the realm of Ru. Even other distinguished drag shows, likeDrag Me to Dinner, thrive on mocking the competition format.UNHhhh, though, offers something different. Despite being one of the most ridiculous things you’ll see onscreen, because of the conversational format, the show is, at its core, about connection. And there’s never been a more pressing time than when the art of drag is under attack, than to focus on its power to connect us.
