Jun 5
The 'Body-Ody-Oddity' That's Celia Smokinbutts
Nicholas Dussault READ TIME: 11 MIN.
The unnamed alter-ego of both drag performer Celia Smokinbutts and adult content creator Clarice S Darling showed up to our meeting on a bright, sunny day clad in what they described as a sea of black clothes.
"Right now I'm wearing a dress, but there's sweatpants underneath. Sometimes it's leggings, but I'm always wearing black." Apparently, the hoodie is regular attire, and the big dark Jackie O. glasses were essential on this day because they claimed they didn't have any eyebrows. Their lone accessory was a necklace that looked like a cigarette butt on a chain.
The intriguing person underneath the shades claimed they were missing a couple of teeth and smelled like second-hand smoke. Neither could be confirmed as we were speaking via Zoom. But as the conversation continued, it became clear these were considered assets to both Celia and Clarice's careers, so they no doubt were missing a couple of teeth and did smell like secondhand smoke.
Celia was "born" at Spooky World, "New England's Largest Haunted Destination." Clarice followed years later as a result of pandemic exploration on the part of their alter-ego. They each have an impressive following on social media, though it is likely that there is crossover in their respective fan bases.
Watch Celia Smokingbutts in performance.
Amongst Celia's numerous gigs is a monthly show in Boston at a Somerville club called The Jungle. She describes what she does as "stupid stripping." "It's called 'Welcome to the Jungle" because it's at the Jungle, which is a local band venue. We do a few bands and some other performances interspersed. I call it a variety-shit show."
This summer you can catch Celia at a number of gigs. On Saturday, June 21, Celia returns to Somerville, this time at The Crystal Ballroom at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square for a tribute to John Waters called "Filthy Formal & Trash Talent Show – A John Waters Tribute."
On July 18, Celia joins 12 other drag performers, who include the host Vesper, for Demonology, which is described as a "Devishly Good Drag Show." Its theme is "Cunt-tholicism. An Ode to Reclaiming Catholic Imagery in True Gothic Queer Fashion." It takes place at Advanced Action Sports in West Warwick, Rhode Island. For more information, click here. And on Saturday, August 2, Celia produces and hosts "INSEX: A Buglesque." Called "a night of erotic entomology, hair raising drag, buggin burlesque, creepy crawly cocktails, and of course... formication," it features Celia and 11 other drag performers at the Crystal Ballroom. For more details, follow this link.
Meanwhile, her alter-ego Clarice can be found making original content on JustFor.Fans. For a preview of her NSFW collaborations, visit her X account where she describes herself as "vers sissy femboy switchbitch genderfluid crossdressing smoker slut."
EDGE recently had the chance to chat with their alter ego, a funny, charming, delightful person who no doubt is the life of every smoking section they visit.
Source: Instagram
EDGE: Let's talk about Celia first since I like that name so much. What do they do?
Celia Smokinbutts: Celia does kind of a drag burlesque thing, also hosting. I have a monthly show in Boston and assorted other gigs. Mostly they're I guess, stupid stripping would be the best way to describe it.
EDGE: Tell me about the show in Boston.
Celia Smokinbutts: It's called "Welcome to the Jungle" because it's at the Jungle which is a local band venue. We do a few bands and some other performances interspersed. I call it a variety-shit show.
EDGE: Where is the Jungle?
Celia Smokinbutts: It's in Union Square, Somerville (MA). It's weird because it's down a little alley that looks like there should be nothing back there but dumpsters, but there it is. There are a few venues back there actually. It's really cool.
EDGE: How long have you been performing?
Celia Smokinbutts: I started doing burlesque about 15 years ago officially. I had always played with my gender in my presentation but right around the time of the pandemic I started to lean more into the drag aspect of it. And post-pandemic is really when Celia took flight, though the name came from years earlier when I used to do special effects makeup for Spooky World.
I was a makeup artist for them for about six years. One slower night in the makeup trailer we decided to do some drag makeup, which of course can itself be very scary. But we really go into it and one night these customers said, "My God, we have a wedding dress that's going to fit you." We made up this whole character and I just walked around the park, alone and chain-smoking, telling people that I lost all my friends and asking if I could go in the (haunted) house with them. It was my first scare, but it was really just funny and annoying. Celia Smokingbutts was the first name that fell out of my mouth. But it was a number of years before she got up on stage officially. She had to incubate for a bit.
Source: Instagram
EDGE: Had you done any drag before that?
Celia Smokinbutts: A little bit here and there and I did a lot of theater growing up. There were a few roles, but I was always obsessed with drag queens like Divine. I guess I took it slow, a slow burn if you'll pardon the pun.
EDGE: I like that Celia smokes.
Celia Smokinbutts: Thank you. It's kind of my thing. I'm gross. I make all these things out of the butts like this necklace, really stupid merch that I don't sell. I just give it away to people if someone likes it. I love the cigarette-themed stuff. I don't know, I just think it's so funny. I get a kick out of it if somebody truly embraces the trash that she is and celebrates it. People really do seem to like it; not everyone, but I think it's funny.
EDGE: How long ago did you start doing drag as performance?
Celia Smokinbutts: I started officially doing drag, performing at drag shows that is, when I was still doing burlesque. Initially my burlesque was as a man I guess, but it was more like a gender-fuck kind of thing – a little bit in between. Fast forward to today, I don't really think of myself as one gender or another. I don't care. I know what I look good in.
I started getting booked for drag as stuff started reopening after the pandemic, but technically I had been doing it 5 or 6 years prior to that. It wasn't drag in the sense that you think of it, it was usually grotesque. I made this costume that had six boobs on it and all of them had tassels so I could shimmy them all. I love playing with horror and humor.
EDGE: I'm guessing you're a horror fan.
Celia Smokinbutts: Oh my God, yes!
EDGE: How did you get into content creation?
Celia Smokinbutts: As I was experimenting more with drag I started taking it in a little less of a comedic or horror element. I had time on my hands during the pandemic so I thought I would try it. I thought I looked good and so I started putting it out there, but I didn't think there would be that much interest in it. I should've known better. I got people interested in creating content with me and it just kind of took off.
Source: Instagram
EDGE: Do you have a specific genre of content?
Celia Smokinbutts: Amateur porn? It's usually one-on-one, not a lot of solo. I get bored with that. I have crazy ADHD, so I'd be filming and start doing something that's not sexy and before you know it, I'd have an hour of footage of me picking at a scab on my knee or something. It's usually just me with someone, top or bottom. There's something for everyone. Oh my God, when I found out about smoking fetishists! I don't know what genre that is.
EDGE: Tell me about your work with cigarettes.
Celia Smokinbutts: It's a really big thing and I love that because I already do it, so why not try and capitalize on it. I don't have to try harder. Guys love just watching me. They all want me to smoke those long, skinny cigarettes like Virginia Slims. I try to look good while doing it.
EDGE: Are you doing anything else or just smoking a cigarette?
Celia Smokinbutts: I'm smoking a cigarette, pooching a little bit, giving some poses, showing off my ass. You know, slinking around. I guess the best way to describe it is I writhe around, but there's no sex going on, not usually. I'm rarely all the way naked. I enjoy the lingerie and that element of it. It helps make my body even more feminine. I love corsets, garters, stockings, teddies, all that.
EDGE: Heels?
Celia Smokinbutts: Oh yeah, heels. I'll put them on and just be kind of flirty. I'm not going all in on it, they like the flirty. And the cigarette.
EDGE: Is this a fetish?
Celia Smokinbutts: I don't know if it's a fetish or a kink. I guess it is. It's certainly a tag. Lingerie is definitely a popular tag. It's a buzzword.
EDGE: But you don't have any non-solo content with smoking.
Celia Smokinbutts: I haven't made any smoking content with another person. I get a lot of people wanting to be my human ashtray or smoke while I'm giving them head. I actually do have one video of that, but it's hard to find an indoor smoking setup.
EDGE: Do people get off on smoke-smelling lingerie?
Celia Smokinbutts: I don't know. Probably.
EDGE: There's your merch!
Celia Smokinbutts: I have thought about selling some panties or something, but honestly I like them too much to sell.
Source: Instagram
EDGE: What's the strangest request you've ever had?
Celia Smokinbutts: Somebody wanted me to castrate him. He had a very detailed breakdown of how to do it and how he wanted me to do it. I don't even know if it was real. I did get the request a few times. I'm not sure if it was from the same person, but I gather it probably was. I told them I wasn't comfortable with that. It's the one that has stuck with me the most. There's so much to unpack there.
EDGE: What's the strangest thing you've ever done?
Celia Smokinbutts: Hmm, that's a good question. Dude, you got me stumped on that one. I have no idea. I definitely have to think about it. It's probably something along the lines of role play or CNC.
EDGE: What's that?
Celia Smokinbutts: Consensual Non-Consent. I don't know what is considered strange these days. I don't know what would be considered strange to me. I've never pooped for anybody. That would be pretty strange for me, but I haven't done it, so I don't know. I have been asked though.
EDGE: What's the most positive experience you've had?
Celia Smokinbutts: My STI reports! (Laughs) I'm just kidding.
Honestly, it's helped me in my own journey of figuring myself out, finding what I'm comfortable with, and how to express myself in a gender sense and also more of a non-gender sense. I don't like putting so much emphasis on gender because there's so much more fluidity. Meeting people who can be attracted to me but are not interested in men has been a really positive reinforcement. Even before I started putting it out there, when I was doing drag I would think, "No guy is ever going to want to be with me if I'm dressed like a girl." That stopped me from doing it for a very long time, but the response I got when I did has been really reassuring. It's had a huge positive effect on my life.
EDGE: Have you ever been trolled by fans?
Celia Smokinbutts: Yeah, many, though I don't know if they were fans. Somebody did try to flag all my content. And this was on Twitter (X) which is linked to my JustFor.Fans and automatically promoting it. They flagged a bunch of my posts and almost got me banned because they said they were in the content without consent, which was not the case. It was not them in the video, it was my ex. I guess that constitutes trolling. Thankfully I did not get banned. They came forward. I don't think they expected the repercussions for me would be so severe.
EDGE: Do you have any future plans for your content work?
Celia Smokinbutts: Nothing concrete, but a girl can dream. I would love to have a production company or something. I would like to expand content – not even niche; all kinds of content. Why not? I used to say I want to make porn that people would want to play in the background at parties at college. We'll see.
EDGE: You started on JustFor.Fans?
Celia Smokinbutts: Yes. I tried to get on OnlyFans, but they wouldn't verify me. I tried a few times. They never let me know why, so I got kind of fed up. Then I heard they were trying to kick all the sex workers off their site. I just don't agree with that. These are the people who made you. I'm not one to fight for a seat at a table where I'm not welcome. Regardless of the table, there are plenty other places to eat. So it's JustFor.Fans for me.
For more on Celia Smokinbutts, visit her on social media – on Instagram (as Celia Smokinbutts), on YouTube (as Celia Smokinbutts), on X (as Clarice Darling), and on Just For Fans (as Clarice Darling).