Derek Viveiros brings back a new softcore with “Möther’s Creme Diaries”
"Big Story" - vol. 1 / no. 1
Halloween night. Downtown Los Angeles. A scary, sexy chill fills the air. We see Monica– your not-so-average, ditzy ex-housewife, desperate to sell her haunted estate. But, alas, nothing (and no one) comes so easily in the Diaries. Suddenly, our Monica is being filmed. And as the camcorder pans to our leading lady, she’s getting the LA handshake– a fist right up her ass.
"Behind us was a real, graphic, hardcore video of a woman being fisted…Derek was very persistent about using the footage and had to fight to show it on stage. And I’m so glad he did because that scene was the magic of the show,” LA-based drag artist Icon Lewis (a.k.a Monica) said.
Committed to executing his aesthetic vision with laser focus and total ridiculousness, only “Möther’s Creme Diaries” Creator and Director Derek Viveiros can brilliantly pair bizarre, psycho-sexual fantasy with relatable, tender story-telling, all while demanding it be set to fisting porn. And that’s only the softcore.
Originally from Massachusetts, now based in LA, Viveiros was first introduced to the softcore genre as one of his only means of exploring sexuality.
“Before the start of the internet as a place to learn about the world, I had to surf through the premium channels with the kind of naughty programs,” Viveiros explained. “You couldn't find pornography and when you did, it was scrambled or blurry. Even if you could hear something…it was all just softcore…We had to use our imaginations.”
As a young filmmaker, sketch star, actor, drag artist, etc, Viveiros was inspired by HBO, Showtime, SpiceTV, Playboy Channel, “Real Sex,” “Taxicab Confessions” and the erotica of the ‘90s. Blending the worlds of sexuality and comedy, Viveiros began moving away from the more graphic, explicit style of his early work toward the gentler, still ridiculous world of softcore.
“Because I grew up hardcore Catholic, [softcore] is where I learned about sexuality,” Viveiros said. “Even seeing blurry visuals was this eye-opening adventure into a world of sin!”
Deciding to create a softcore-style TV show featuring drag queens, Viveiros crowdfunded $13,100 in just over a month and began pilot production in early September 2021. However, serving as both director and drag performer, Viveiros struggled to balance his eagerness to launch the project with his responsibilities as a writer, actor, director, and producer. As the pilot developed, Viveiros was unsatisfied.
“There were just so many fucking plot holes,” Viveiros joked.
Ultimately bringing on co-producer Christina Kuehl, the team pivoted to a fictional, scripted podcast format. Though initially weary of the switch, Viveiros was able to take advantage of what was originally a TV budget to build an entire world within each audio story.
“We don’t want to make it just about softcore. We want to elevate. And no one wants to hear a drag queen having fake sex for 25 minutes. Instead, let’s tell a cool story with some awkward, weird, sexual encounters mixed in,” Viveiros said.
With the input, guidance, and support of a fully formed team, Viveiros moved forward with his plan to bring softcore back: FM radio host Shaniah (played by Kuehl) will seductively yet gently guide the listener through the (fictional) erotic adventures of her late-night, drag queen callers.
“After listening to…the first episode [‘Debbie Does Discount’] with Sherry Vine and feeling Christina’s [added perspective] as a woman, I just immediately felt it had turned into something amazing,” Viveiros said.
Slowly learning to trust his team and relinquish total control over the process, Viveiros produced seven more episodes featuring LA-based drag artists including Cake Moss, Lyle, Sadie Pines, Lorelei, and Jordan Jayro.
“I love performing live, but this allowed me to use my experience in drag to become a different character. I really liked recording and acting with other people to tell a story. We don’t get the opportunity to do that much in the clubs…The chemistry was amazing,” Jayro said about her experience recording episode eight, “A Blessing in the Basement" as Sister Awhora.
Jayro describes Viveiros’ style as clear and direct, offering notes and feedback while still leaving space to play. Lorelei notes his ability to communicate his point of view to collaborators, allowing the performers to make strong choices with their characters.
“[MCD allowed me] to work alongside great actors who understand how to improv…and take the script to the next level,” Lorelei, who played Misty St. John in episode seven, ‘Panty Confidential’ said. “I’m an actor first, and drag is my tool for my acting. Getting to practice my craft in a voiceover setting was exciting and very liberating!"
Viveiros also had the opportunity to record with “RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestants Salina EsTitties and Hershii LiqCour-Jete before their respective appearances on the show.
“When Salina came in, the bitch was bringing it. She was on time, knew her shit. She brought her character to life and made it her own. There’s nothing a director or producer wants more,” Viveiros said. “When she popped up on ‘Drag Race’ I started crying because I just knew she deserved to be there.”
After the release of all eight episodes and a short break from writing in the Diaries, Viveiros returned in September 2023 with the first Möther’s Creme live show at the Lyric Hyperion Theater followed by a Halloween night show at Precinct.
As explained by Icon Lewis, who starred in both live shows, unlike most drag shows with individual performances that do not connect, Viveiros’ live shows are 90-minute plays where performers tell a continuous story as characters from the MCD universe. Playing Monica in the Halloween show, Icon Lewis felt honored Viveiros trusted the cast to tell his original story.
“There was a magic to [the live show] and the theatrical production that made it unlike anything else I have yet to experience in drag. I truly got to be an actor and transform into my role,” Icon Lewis said. “I’ve already begged enough to get a small role in the next show! Derek has a vision and I’m so proud to be any part of it.”
As Viveiros explores the various forms his stories can take, he wants to focus on producing more live shows.
“Eventually, I would love to see it on television (where softcore originated) with more queens. There are a lot of queens that have that naughty essence at their core. Jimbo, for example. I’m also playing with a dirty, Playboy-style magazine featuring queens,” Viveiros teased.
With the potential for more live shows and future podcast episodes, Viveiros continues to create opportunities for local drag artists to do what they do best— play pretend. Centering personal, intimate stories written through the lens of complex, female characters, “Möther’s Creme Diaries" is an unserious ode to unbridled, unapologetic queer sexuality and the femininity essential to it.
“Derek’s artistic mission is one of a kind and he makes it very easy for others to interpret his vision in their unique way,” Lorelei said. “Each one of the queens on the show has a very distinct performance, all unified under Derek’s brilliant artistic supervision.”
Viveiros dusted off his old VHS, broke out the Diary, and brought us an updated, queer softcore. Are you Intrigued? Titilated? Stimulated? To unlock Viveiros’ full body of work, you’ll have to sign up for more. For just a few easy payments (or a free subscription to his new, bi-weekly newsletter) you can stay up to date on future shows and see where Viveiros brings softcore next. But be careful! You won’t be able to last even sixty seconds before busting (with laughter) and begging for the next queen to call in. And when she does, Möther will be standing by.