Irreverent-yet-relevant, gay performance artist-turned-podcast trendsetter Fausto Fernós wants your attention. The colorful Renaissance man is willing to do whatever it takes to keep you entertained, whether it means breathing fire, dropping trou onstage, spending hours in a makeup chair or simply asking hard-hitting questions while conducting podcast interviews.

He and co-host (and husband) Marc Felion, the first gay couple to podcast, have crafted the unique and wildly popular Feast of Fools, the first comedy podcast to reach 1 million downloads (in April 2006). Feast of Fools is also one of the first podcasts available on iTunes, is the first gay podcast to reach the all-time top 100 on the iTunes Music Stores, and is one of the first podcasts to create a podcasting widget for OSX.

Fernós and Felion have interviewed Margaret Cho, Bruce Vilanch, Kathy Griffin, George Takei, Tim Miller, Teri Garr, Eric Himan, Charles Busch and others, and on Aug. 15, 2006, Feast of Fools received the 2006 People's Choice Award for podcasting. Fausto took a break from his super busy schedule to answer some of my own hard-hitting questions.

AfterElton.com: You co-host/co-produce the Feast of Fools podcast with your life partner, Marc Felion. What are the pros and cons of being a couple and working/performing together?
Fausto Fernós: Doing a podcast, playing tennis, running a restaurant, even going on vacation with your husband will make or break a relationship. I think all couples need something they can work on together in order to have a relationship that exists outside of the bedroom. Putting on five shows a week, answering all our fan mail, coordinating guests, etc., has been a huge project. But I can tell you without a shadow of doubt that it's brought us very close.

I think Marc is one of the sexiest, funniest and smartest men I've ever known, and he's always surprising me with the brilliantly funny and insightful things he says on the show. If we ever get married, it's going to be a huge spectacle, and we're going to market the hell out of it. Pay per view folks! [Laughs.] It will make Cirque du Soleil look like amateur night at [Chicago drag bar] the Baton. [Laughs.]

It's so hard to find the words to describe my relationship with Marc Felion. He's my lover. He's my friend. Boyfriend seems very teenager. Partner sounds so guppie. I deeply feel he's my outlaw husband. It may not be legal, but he is my personal beneficiary. If I die, all my money, my home, my car and my diamonds, rubies and sapphires go to him. Everything. Marc Felion is the love of my life. All men since and to come in my life will stand in his shadow. He's awesome, smart, funny, clever, cute and sexy. Think of Marc as Sex and the City's Mr. Big, but cute, younger, gay, and he mixes up a mean blue margarita.

AE: Speaking of blue things, what's up with the blue hair?
FF: It's this terrible genetic condition I have that makes my eyes and hair this deep cobalt blue color! It might kill me one day. Cough. Cough. [In Sally Struthers' voice:] Please, won't you donate some money to help a starving podcaster? For the price of a cup of coffee — well, a very expensive cup of coffee from Starbucks — you too can help put food and clothing on some of your favorite podcasters.

Seriously, in the 1990s I used to be well-known for being this Technicolor, sci-fi drag queen, very Ziggy Stardust-meets-Lion King on Broadway, and every Feast of Fools show I had a different color, like those Gem dolls or Rainbow Brite. But then after a while, I just started wearing blue all the time. Like Mary Kay, only blue not pink. For a while I called myself the blue fairy. Blue is Marc's favorite color, too.

The last 10 years has been this experiment in how much of my drag costume I could make integral into my everyday life. My crazy blue wigs got smaller, then they became hair extensions, and nowadays I just dye my hair blue. The full facial makeup and feathers and glitters became less and less, until now all I wear is a little concealer. It's so easy because it allows me to sort of be in costume all the time and be myself as well. In many ways, my onstage character met my offstage person, got a sex change and became me.

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