A second Missouri queen made the ranks of RuPaul’s Drag Race for Season 12. Crystal Methyd, aka Cody Harness, hails from Springfield, Missouri.
Her name becomes her, as an instant but edgy drug pun that channels drag names of seasons past like Sharon Needles.
“Whenever I first started, I was just going to pick Crystal because I like the name, it was kind of witchy. And my friend was the one who gave me the idea for Methyd, I was like, OK, but I’ll spell it with a Y so it’s more womanly,” Crystal says.
Her RuVeal look reminds us of Yvie Oddly (the Season 11 winner) meets Dusty Ray Bottoms (Season 10 competitor) meets Laila McQueen (Season 8).
“I gain a lot of inspiration from club kids. I don’t always like to look like a woman. I like to dress up as monsters and weird stuff,” Crystal says.
Her makeup has evolved, she says. But “I love my signature lip because it makes me look like I’m smiling all the time.”
Crystal’s RuVeal look included countless strings of pearly beads.
“I want people to see me and start wearing more accessories, because I don’t think drag queens wear enough,” she says. “There can always be more, and I hope to spread that message to all of you. More is more, and more is better.”
She calls herself a “budget girl.”
“I think my style is really quirky, and my looks – [it doesn’t] matter if they look expensive. Every necklace I own is under $3,” says Crystal. “… I used to go in my mom’s closet when I was a little kid. She had so many necklaces, display cases for her heels, so glamorous, and she buys everything from garage sales. … I was just born with it.”
She uses ingenuity in her performances. “Crystal is a different queen. She’s fun, she’s nice, she’s creative, and she’s definitely thrifty. I was an Eagle Scout, so for all my shows, I would paint my backdrops and hang them up with ropes that I braided together with duct tape,” she says.
Crystal is up for the competition and ready to let America see what she’s made of.
“What scares me the most about Drag Race is how the fans are going to take this all in. I have no idea what people are going to say. I’ve never been exposed to a huge group of people before.”
And why is she America’s next drag superstar? “Because I am so different from everyone else and I do it really, really well. You never know what I’m going to do next.”