Tenderoni has done his best to put drag kings in the spotlight. I’m a girl who dresses as a man for a living.” “My sexual orientation is a bad lesbian - I date women but I don’t discriminate when I see a cute boy walking by,” the 32-year-old performer tells Bustle. Tenderoni, who uses he/him pronouns in drag and she/her out of drag, is just one example of the rarer breed of drag king. You’re really only competing against yourself.Drag isn’t all about the queens. There are no limitations to what a drag king can do. I’ve taught my son the same thing: the only way you are going to be able to earn a drag queen’s respect is to compete against them at a level playing field. I compete regularly against drag queens because I wanted to show that a drag king can do anything a drag queen can do-and maybe better. We’re much more creative forces than the general public gives us credit for. The general public mostly think of drag kings as gay women with short haircuts wearing a leather jacket, t-shirt, and jeans lip synching to Elvis Presley. We work on outfits and makeup just like queens. GC: Well, we’re just as entertaining as our counterparts. JdB: What’s something about being a drag king that you wish more people knew? I have to remind myself for every person who doesn’t “get” what I do, there’s someone who supports me and cheers for me and tips me and books me for shows. It made me more determined to carve my niche into the world of drag. GC: I could have stopped, but it only made me stronger. Gary Carmichael | Photo by Cole Saladino for Thrillist I did that a few times at Barracuda and one of those times a guy spat at me and said, “I’m more of a man than you are!” That was his nice little comment. But you also have to take risks and step into the lions. Most of the kings only stay in Brooklyn because they feel safe.Īnd I can understand. I’ve also performed in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. I’m one of the few that regularly performs in Manhattan. Some of them get discouraged and they only perform in certain areas of the city and in certain clubs and they don’t branch out. We still haven’t gotten the opportunities to shine that much. I’ve been part of Bushwig.īut I’ve never had my own show, and I would think part of the reason why is that bar managers don’t think they would be able to make money off a drag king show because unfortunately drag kings are still fighting for acceptance. I’ve been booked in a lot of guest spots. Even though I’ve been doing drag for seven years, I haven’t had my own show. JdB: What’s a Gary Carmichael show usually like? He’s always entertaining and he always gives 110% every time he steps on stage. Gary can also be whatever he wants to be, but he’s always polished. But Gary is the type of guy that could exist, and probably does exist. Drag queens celebrate women, but then drag kings usually what they wind up doing is making fun of men, and that doesn’t go over well with the general populace. Gary is the perfect guy without all the toxic traits. I was told by a queen that no one would be interested in seeing a woman dressed up like a man, and I looked at her and said, “Thank you for your support.” And then I started doing my research and realized that there aren’t that many active kings in the city, at least at the time. I’m like, as much as I love this, no matter where you go in the city, it’s basically the same type of drag-the same songs being lip synched to. After a while I started thinking to myself, I could do this. Back around 2003, one place in particular, Boots and Saddle on Christopher Street, was where my love of drag was rekindled.Īround the time of the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, I met Venus D-Lite and I just fell in love with the artform again. Gary Carmichael: Well, I’ve been a longtime fan of drag and people like Lady Bunny, Mistress Formica, and I have a deep respect for drag as an art form. But first, how did you get into drag to begin with? JdB: I’m really curious to explore how the life of a drag king is different from that of a drag queen.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |