Celebrated drag artist Wet Mess leans into confusion and complexity with TESTO
The London-based performer reveals the struggle and growth behind the bold, disarming visions of their latest show, now on its way to PuSh Festival
TESTO
PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Here + Now, and the Frank Theatre present TESTO at Performance Works on February 7 and 8; shows are sold out
COMING OFF SOLD-OUT dates in TESTO’s New York City premiere, celebrated drag artist and performer Wet Mess is bringing their “awkward, erotic, disarming, and deeply human” show to Vancouver’s renowned PuSh International Performing Arts Festival for its Canadian premiere—now also sold-out.
“You can call me Wet. You can call me Mess. You can call me any version of these things,” says the London-based artist over a Zoom call. “The name originally came from this idea that I wanted to make work about things that make me emotional or make me horny. I think underneath both these things is vulnerability. When we can be connected to what we want and desire, that can transform the way we live, and ultimately liberate ourselves.”
TESTO—drawn from the word “testosterone”—was born out of a series of recorded conversations between Wet Mess and friends in the trans community in London, especially those undergoing hormone replacement therapy or taking testosterone. These recordings became the underpinnings of the show, where lip-synchs function as testimony, amplified by Wet Mess’s performance style.
Much like Wet Mess’s previous works, TESTO is not about finding answers to gender and sexuality, nor does it exist to educate a straight, cis audience. They instead envision this space as one of “being able to lean into confusion and the mess of it, being transparent about the complexities and maybe the admission of ‘I’m still trying to figure this out,’ and allowing other people to sit in that emotion and that feeling.”
“Art can be a really interesting format or tool to deepen and open up,” they explain. “I think a lot of trans people are scared or think it’s inappropriate to ask questions. People want to share their experiences and learnings when [there’s] obvious care and thought.”
Wet Mess grew up in Cottenham, a village in Cambridgeshire, England, and studied art history at the Edinburgh College of Art. They continued their dance practice during and after their time in Scotland, and eventually settled in London in 2015, where they blossomed into the drag artist and performer we know today. For them, creating a show outside nightlife and cabaret settings, and having a new level of support from artists and designers, has opened up a host of creative possibilities.
“Probably one of the most fruitful or exciting collaborations from TESTO that was new for me was having a set designer,” says Wet Mess, referring to designer Ruta Irbīte. “She would do these tiny design drawings, bring them to my flat, and we’d play with them. It totally changed the show. There are these huge latex limbs in the show that became really important to the set and the show that I can’t imagine not having now. That’s a way that I grew through TESTO.”
In 2021, a pivotal moment came when Wet Mess participated in the six-week contest Not Another Drag Competition, and began to gain a following as a drag performer alongside their work as a dancer and artist. Despite this glimmer of success, they also highlight the ongoing trend of LGBTQ+ spaces and venues in London disappearing because of financial and social pressures.
“A lot of queer bars are actually closing in London, and these competitions are really being affected,” Wet Mess observes. “The drag scene is really having a pause or at least slowing down, in a way. I’m hoping that that is just creating space for something new, but we’ll see.”
Having grown as an artist amid this shifting landscape is perhaps why Wet Mess does not see confidence as the secret ingredient in doing something that requires so much physical and emotional vulnerability. For them, what we see as confidence comes out of years of struggle in juggling art-making and unfulfilling jobs, and a looming sense of regret that things would never change.
“A lot of people have this experience, and freelance artists still do now,” says Wet Mess. “That option, to me, is almost scarier than failing. I’d rather make bad art and fail. I think confidence is the thing you see, but that’s actually what’s going on behind [the scenes].”
For Wet Mess, the fruits of their labour have been far from failure. They toured extensively in 2024 and 2025, bringing TESTO to new audiences throughout the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Norway, and, more recently, the U.S. and Canada. For those who are drag-curious, Wet Mess will also facilitate a workshop on February 10 called Drag & Devising at the Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. For TESTO and the powerful creator behind it, there is always more to discover and transcend.
“I’m so grateful for how far it’s gone and how many places it’s taken me,” says Wet Mess. “Everyone comes to the show with very different contexts, and I have to be open to it not landing and that being okay.” 
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