For 'Drag Race' winner Trixie Mattel, Barbie beauty combined with Wisconsin-bred humor is a winning combination

Wisconsin-born Brian Firkus joked, "I always tell my mom that if she would have just bought me a Barbie when I was little I would have gone into real estate." 

You could say things worked out for the best.

Firkus, better known as the drag queen Trixie Mattel, won the latest season of "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars," taking home $100,000 and other prizes. Mattel originally appeared on Season 7 of "RuPaul's Drag Race" in 2015 and hasn't stopped working since. She also appeared in Thursday's premiere of Season 10 of "RuPaul's Drag Race." (The show airs on Thursdays at 7 p.m. on VH1.) 

Mattel stars in a show on Vice Network, "The Trixie and Katya Show," with fellow "Drag Race" alum Katya Zamolodchikova, and she has released several alternative folk albums — "One Stone" came out March 16 and debuted at No. 16 in Billboard's Folk/Americana chart.

Mattel is going on tour; she'll be appearing at Turner Hall May 9. The show will include songs from the latest album, stand-up comedy and some pretty fabulous wigs.   

"Me, myself, Brian, I'm a Midwesterner at heart, and I have this deep, bone-dry sense of humor, and I've found it worked to combine this Barbie with a dry, sarcastic man," Firkus said. "People love to see a kids' toy combined with adult sensibilities. … It's familiar, so I think people are more willing to go on that journey with me." 

RELATED:Milwaukee native Trixie Mattel wins it all on 'RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars'

Firkus grew up in tiny Silver Cliff, near Nicolet National Forest in northern Wisconsin, and moved to Milwaukee at 18 to go to the Peck School of the Arts, where he studied musical theater. 

Firkus' first time in drag was at a screening of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" at the Oriental Theatre, after someone in the live cast that performs with the movie bailed at the last minute. 

"I really enjoyed it, and it made me feel fun and powerful," Firkus said, tongue in cheek. "It's sort of like all drag queens: You do it once, then again, then it's part time, then full time, then you're on 'RuPaul's Drag Race.' " 

In Milwaukee, Firkus regularly hosted bingo at Hamburger Mary's and performed at the now-closed La Cage in Walker's Point before getting a spot on "Drag Race."

" 'Drag Race' took my career from black and white to Imax," he said.  

You could call Trixie Mattel over-the-top. "I want to look otherworldly, like I was made in a factory," Firkus said.  

"I started the look because I loved Barbies and toys and Cabbage Patch dolls, but as a kid I wasn't allowed to play with dolls, so as an adult, I'm making up for it. 

"With Trixie specifically, on the one hand, it's a celebration of femininity," Firkus said. "It's that moment when you're playing Pretty Pretty Princess, and there's also, this is what society says a girl looks like, the amount of makeup I wear and the humongous blond wigs." 

Trixie Mattel is known for Dolly Parton-esque hair, pink outfits, exaggerated makeup and superhuman curves, which drag queens make using foam padding shaped just right.

Each drag persona is as unique as the person under the makeup. For Trixie Mattel, the Barbie motif paired with Firkus' sarcasm and wit resonates with fans.

Trixie Mattel's show "Moving Parts" is more than a painted face. Firkus describes it as "mostly stand-up and my dry, dark take on life." 

Dry as Firkus is, there's still this joy and laughter. 

For example, he gushed about Milwaukee: "I have traveled the world singing the praises of Milwaukee. It's so underappreciated that people living there don't even realize how amazing it is. You live in a postcard city!" 

Firkus is looking forward to his upcoming show at Turner Hall, knowing friends and family will be there.  

He laughed, "I think people (in Wisconsin) sort of know who I am. I'm like a mascot." 

IF YOU GO 

What: Trixie Mattel's Now With Moving Parts Tour 

When: 8 p.m. May 9 

Where: Turner Hall Ballroom, 1040 N. 4th St. 

How much: $35 and $50, with a $99 VIP meet-and-greet; available at the Pabst and Riverside theater box offices, (414) 286-3663 and pabsttheater.org