Those of you who have been following my drag career will be pleased to hear that I won the “Miss-ter Relay” competition at the Relay for Life this past Friday. I was attired as Lucille Ball and did her Vitameatvegamin routine as I rounded the track collecting donations. I came up with $900, so I was the winner. Lots of good clean homoskittish fun. Photos as soon as I get any.
(Those of you who donated at my Relay for Life page will receive photos of me directing car riders traffic in my Utilikilt as soon as I receive those. It was a good day for men in skirts.)
Now here’s what occurred to me yesterday after I arose from my bed at 2:00 in the afternoon. This year was my second year representing Newnan Crossing Elementary school in the Miss-ter Relay thing. Last year I made my infamous Bjork swan dress; this year I was Lucille Ball. If I ever get stuck for an idea, I have my old NCTC drag ball murder mystery dinner gown, and I could be Mae West.
Here’s my point. All the other guys were essentially burlesque: big boobs (I actually had none), trash talk, mincing falsetto. That never occurred to me. I picked real women, strong, talented women, and went with that.
Do not get me wrong: the burlesque thing, although it is clearly at some level misogynistic, doesn’t bother me, and certainly the men doing it were doing it out of a commitment to raise money for people they loved. (I shared my makeup remover with a fellow drag queen in the restrooms and heard all about his mother and his girlfriend’s father.) If anyone was offbase, it was me with my attempt to portray a woman of genius with any degree of verisimilitude. (I was getting ready to let loose with Lucy’s trademark waaaah when I lost, only to have to think fast when I won.)
Is it my theatre background, that I’m looking for a character to portray? I don’t know. Maybe next year I’ll have to do the burlesque thing and see what it’s like, to see if it feels as if I’m lowering myself.
Men dressing up as women for rituals of civic jollity is the ultimate in talentless entertainment. It’s easier than lip-synching and gets more laughs. The more hysterical and restricted the displays of “manhood” in a culture, the more laughter-producing the “burlesque” drag show. I would argue that it’s already kind of dated, like community matriarchs self-publishing daily devotionals.
I’ll make explicit what I assumed was implied in the previous comment. By approaching the thing with your talent as an actor, you took the proceedings into another realm. And miracle of miracles, the people responded.
Quite a difference between acting and being a stereotype, or at least I was told that by some director of a certain theater group. I wish I had been there to see it, but at least I can look forward to the pictures.
By the way -congratulations! I kow it’s not like the old NCTC or finishing the symphony, but is still shows Art still triumphs even whent the goal is totally monetary..
I’m sorry. I thought this was a porn site. My bad.
No, that’s here.