Artist POV: Sasha Colby’s ‘Stripped II’ Continues Highlighting Trans Artists

Sasha Colby admits she never realized she was growing up in paradise. The performer and drag queen superstar (who refers to herself as “Your favorite drag queen’s favorite drag queen”) grew up across the street from the most stunning beach she’s ever experienced in Hawaii, but at the time she took it for granted. It wasn’t until she began traveling the world that she began to appreciate just how blessed she was.

And so, on both her “Stripped Tour” and her upcoming “Stripped II” run of theaters and large clubs, she’s made a point to end in Honolulu. The upcoming tour, promoted by Live Nation, kicks off on Sept. 16 in Seattle and runs through Nov. 15, once again wrapping in Hawaii so Colby can celebrate at home.
“It was so emotional being home,” Colby says. “I’ve lived in a few cities and I call a few cities home, but nothing hits like Hawaii. To be able to present the [‘Stripped’] story to the people that were living it with me was really, really special. All my friends and family that stuck by me through hard times, being able to be celebratory and show them my life, it was really powerful.”

The tour features stops at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, Town Hall in New York City and more with capacities averaging around 1,500. She’ll be wrapping up at Neal S Blaisdell Concert Hall in Honolulu, which has a 2,158-cap. Helping her on the road is Colby’s manager, Jack Ketsoyan of Full Scope and her agent, Ryan Quint at CAA.

Colby described herself as a natural performer, who grew up in the ’80s, dancing to Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul, emulating her favorite pop stars and later joining a dance studio in Hawaii. Parts of that were detailed in Colby’s initial “Stripped Tour,” which ran from Feb. 29, 2024, to April 19. The theme of that tour was Colby’s own story as a trans artist, and how she came to accept who she is. In the fall, she’ll be doing it all over again with “Stripped II” – but this time, Colby wants to turn the focus to other stories.

“The ‘Stripped Tour’ we already did on the first run was more a touch on my life,” Colby says. “It was telling my story for people who didn’t know how I came to be the person I am. We had a transition piece about my transition, and it was in spoken word format and my voice to really simple beats. We did it with a modern contemporary dance with my two dancers. It was very abstract, I wanted it to sound like the inner ramblings of a trans brain, all the things we think about. All the insecurities, all of the angst, all the love, all the joy, all the freedom that we get to experience.”

Colby confesses she found her first tour to be quite emotionally exhausting, reliving her story each night of the 23-show run.

“Stripped II” is expanding to 30 shows. Colby explains that flying from show to show on the first round wound up being quite taxing on her, so she and her team opted to rent a tour bus to carry them between shows – which also allows for more stops in smaller markets.

“‘Stripped II’ is based on the format of ‘Stripped’ the original, but it’s all new numbers,” Colby says. “‘Stripped’ was about stories in my life. We’re going to get more exploratory. I’m talking about universal topics that we can all relate to. I don’t want to give too much away, but we’re really excited to push visually and creatively. I’m really wanting it to be a place for an hour and a half where you can forget about all the crazy things going on in this world and just escape to this place of pure joy.”
With the current political climate, and Colby’s history of activism within the trans community, she hopes this upcoming tour can inspire concert-goers to take a stand. Colby notes that she’s been witnessing her communities growing stronger.

“This ‘Stripped’ is almost like a call to action,” Colby says. “What’s your protest going to be? How are you going to stay creative? How are you going to be part of the community? And how are you going to be inspired by what we’ve shown to really make a safe space in a world that’s not safe for people? I’m hoping this will be a call to action for people to find protests in being creative and telling stories. Not being afraid to speak out.