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Day 1. Friday
After a day-long car trip accompanied by members of the Chicago Kings, I
wandered into Woody's, where the the first night of performances at the
International Drag King Extravaganza took place in a campus bar in Columbus,
Ohio.
Smoking outside, I pressed my nose against the window to watch two
incredibly beautiful, voluptuous, corseted women from the Disposable Boy
Toys in Santa Barbara.
I slunk inside to watch a leather daddy/boy scene,
a self-bondage song, a strutting performance from the legendary Carlos Las
Vegas, a scorching girl scout/boy scout version of ³Sixteen Going on
Seventeen² complete with very enthusiastic rope usage, and a mixture of
everyone else, from those who were scared to do anything but move lips to
those who ate up the stage and were showered with dollars (the threesome of
Harley Poker, Izzie Big and Skid mark from the Chicago Kings caused quite a
stir). These boys were so smolderingly handsome, I had to crawl up there and
give them dollars in order to get a taste.
Day 2. Saturday
Saturday began by going to a slide show presentation, drag king (and other
gender transgressive) portraits by Erin O'Neill, a photographer and writer. She
showed a
series of photos of drag kings with their transportation of choice; the
audience, some in drag but most out of it, all various degrees of gender
expression, was very appreciative. These kings had all different types of
masculinity, thoughtfully explored. I learned that her partner, Annie Toone,
has done drag in various incarnations since 1979, she's done a drag king
rockabilly musical and wants to stage a scene from West Side Story for next
year's conference. Next I went to the film room to watch documentaries about
drag king performances (including shots from the Chicago Kings' other field
trip I've been on, the Murray Hill show in New York), transitioning from
F2M, an incredibly touching documentary about a drag king wedding featuring
Flare from
Canada, and others.
I then stumbled upon a political meeting of Bioqueens.
What's a Bioqueen and why are they at a conference for drag kings?
A Bioqueen is a femme who performs female drag - or someone with a feminine
gender identity who performs female drag, with other bioqueens or drag kings or
by herself. The two corseted femmes I'd lusted after the night before?
Spectacular, articulate bioqueens, both of them.
Because drag kings are often so focused on masculine people performing
masculinity, bioqueens are not always seen as valid performers or given room to
perform. It's good to know how and why female drag (and femme gender identity
within that) is important and transgressive and not only props for the what's
perceived as the more important work of male drag.
Next was the Disposable Boy Toys workshop. They are a feminist drag collective from Santa Barbara who
perform female and male drag, generally giving equal stage time to each
performer and with few solo acts. The group has been around for a few years, and I
was very curious to see how this played out on stage with so many people.
That night's show was an incredible collection of performances.
Reardon
Kingsdale and Ken Las Vegas performed as very steamy leather daddies; Carlos Las
Vegas wore an outrageous gigantic sparkly set of chaps and glittery vest and
hat, with a truly impressive package in between the chaps, working the crowd
into a frenzy with his fancy moves; Andy & Enroy performed as Sinead O'Connor
and a hyperactive little boy who is devoured by a cow; an adorable David Cassidy
look-alike singing "I Think I Love You" to what appeared to be his morning wood
but was actually a Hitachi Magic Wand; the St. Louis kings performing a very hot
version of "Greased Lightning". Johnny T. did a sexy, heartbreaking lounge act
only using a bouquet of flowers as his prop. I saw more types of masculinities,
more ways of being drag kings and performing, than I ever imagined that night.
The Disposable Boy Toys performed "It's Too Darn Hot" as a swing number, with
spectacularly choreographed moves and focus on!
a few stellar couples: king-on-king and bioqueen-on-bioqueen included, of
course!
I performed as a frat boy with Billy T. Holly for Orgy's "Blue Monday". The best
moment was, as I bent to lick his boots, hearing a crowd of drag kings cheer and
scream and thrust dollars at us - supporting us as performers, for the message,
believing in our drag, in the way we chose to perform masculinity that night.
Day 3. Sunday
Sunday morning, everyone went to a brunch to watch drag monologues, poetry
and other performances which were more interpretive or nontraditional drag.
Dred performed and
discussed being a
gender illusionist, illustrating the transformation from luscious male to
luscious female on stage. Billy T. Holly performed a brave monologue as a
heartbroken cowboy who finds solace in a sailor. After a final exchange of
conversation, photographs and contact information, I followed everyone back
into the van and began the trek back to Chicago: tired, but happy and
exhilarated, awestruck to be performing drag and thrilled to have had the
chance to go to such an inspirational gathering of performers.
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