Cult drag icon Peaches Christ kicks up the heat at Comic-Con this summer. For more than a decade, Peaches Christ’s Midnight Mass has swept San Francisco – programming and performing some of the most outrageous, imaginative and hilarious show of drag, campy movies and never-ending laughs. If you thought Rocky Horror was revolutionary, you’ve never seen our dear Peaches’ creations.

Gay & Lesbian Times: How did Midnight Mass start? What was your motivation?

Peaches Christ: The idea for Midnight Mass was hatched soon after my sidekick Martiny and I moved to San Francisco back in 1998. We had hosted John Waters’ visit to Penn State University a year prior where he told us all about San Francisco and The Cockettes. He told us about this incredible drag troupe of misfits who would put on shows before midnight movies in the ’70s and that Divine and Mink Stole would perform with them whenever they were all in S.F. That’s really where the seeds for Midnight Mass were sewn and a few years later I found myself sitting in front of a Landmark Theatres executive pitching this outrageous idea. I’m amazed they gave us the green-light and allowed us to find our way through this crazy adventure, especially with my “controversial” stage-name. I can’t believe we’re still going strong 11 years later!

GLT: For those of us who have not seen it, what is it about?

PC: Basically, it’s a completely different show each week designed to celebrate whatever film we’re screening. It can sometimes be a straightforward theatrical presentation where we are doing a parody of a film we love. A popular play of ours is Trannie Dearest where I play a Hollywood movie star adopting a “drag daughter” in order to get more press. Or the pre-show can sometimes be centered around a contest like our Drag Queen Roller-Derby competition before Sing-Along Xanadu; or an inside the actor’s studio type of celebrity interview with folks like John Waters, Mink Stole, Tura Satana and Elvira. We call those shows our “Idol Worship” pre-shows. It just depends.

GLT: How has it been received?

PC: The show has exceeded any of our expectations as far as the response goes. We were really just a group of friends that loved these movies and wanted to create shows around them to show other friends. The fact that the shows started selling out, and all sorts of people began coming, and the fact that we were eventually being sent on the road is still incredible to me. Our favorite audiences are in San Francisco where people are just so ready to have fun. I’d say that Seattle and New Orleans are strong sister cities to S.F. where the audiences easily become part of the show. New York City is the toughest crowd and it took a lot more warming up for us to win them over … but we eventually did. They’re more afraid of looking retarded than people in S.F. are.

GLT: You’ve attracted some considerable stars to Midnight Mass.

PC: Last year, for our 10th anniversary opening weekend, we had legendary filmmaker John Waters, cult-film icon Mink Stole, and Faster Pussycat star Tura Satana all there to celebrate with us. It was like a bizarre dream come true and I really did feel like I was floating through the weekend on some weird cloud. These are the people I worship! For closing weekend, we had Elvira herself and it was just such an incredibly fun time and yet another dream come true. Over the past 11 years we’ve been lucky enough to work with so many of our idols and it’s something none of us could have predicted. I’m still just a big dorky fan of all these fabulous people!

GLT: Any favorite films from this Midnight Mass season?

PC: I’m really looking forward to our Nightmare Weekend that’s closing out the season. For the first time ever, we’re screening the original A Nightmare on Elm Street on Friday, Aug. 15 and then on Saturday, Aug. 16 we’re screening A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. I can’t wait! Freddy was truly one of my greatest drag inspirations and I can’t wait to do a whole new pre-show as Peaches Krueger.

GLT: What do you enjoy most about your career?

PC: It’s definitely that my friends and I get to play dress up, make our own movies, and do these fun shows and I now make my living doing this stuff. The fact that I get to work with my friends and be creative is absolutely the best part.

GLT: What’s next? What other projects do you have up your sleeve?

PC: I’m currently working on my first feature film. It’s a feature-length version of a short film I made a while back and it has taken me about three years to finish writing the screenplay. I’m going to direct the film and my friend Darren Stein (writer and director of Jawbreaker) is producing it. We’re casting the film now which is so completely exciting. It’s called The Blood Shed and it’s an over-the-top gore comedy that’s as horrific as it is hilarious.

GLT: Are you excited about Comic-Con? What are you most looking forward to at Comic-Con?

PC: I’m so excited about Comic-Con! I’ve never been able to attend in the past because it’s Midnight Mass season in San Francisco. However, this year when Elvira asked me to come and do this show with her I just could not turn it down. So, now I’m doing the Elvira show in San Diego on Friday night and then I fly back to San Francisco and do a show with RuPaul at Midnight Mass on Saturday night. It’s going to be quite a weekend! I just hope I get to see enough of Comic-Con in the short amount of time I have there.

GLT: What is your favorite comic?

PC: My favorite comic right now is the Tura Satana Comic Book. She gave me one a few years ago when she was at Midnight Mass and I’ve read it like 10 times. She’s a real-life super-hero!