Friday, January 31, 2014

DRAG HISTORY WRAP WITH.........


My favorite Queen of all........Lady Bunny..... is drag royalty. What a better way to end drag history and the week with some laughs. And if your a regular around this joint, you'll know Lady Bunny is my hands down favorite queen!!!! To me, she is a legend of my generation of drag and to me she is the perfect definition of what a drag queen should be. If someone had to declare a queen of all drag queens, Bunny would be up there! Blame it longevity. Blame it on the wigs. Blame it on her organizational skills, or her outspoken activist tendancies. Maybe it’s because she’s a world-class DJ. But no doubt… She is a queen on top!Bunny circulates in all circles, DJing at skanky downtown clubs or a glamorous Fashion Week shindig, hobnobbing with uber-celebs, or with taxi drivers on the West Side Highway. The Lady gets around; she’s a legend.  Bunny was raised in Chattanooga and first "up in drag" professionally in Atlanta’s fertile bar scene with friends Flloyd, Lahoma Van Zandt and RuPaul" back in the day. She hit NYC in the late 80s and the rest is, well… herstory!
I came across the entertaining interview with New Now Next with Bunny for a Q&A to get her take on National Drag History Month, and she had much to say. (The dear does go on…).


What does National Drag History Month mean to you personally?
It means that I can dust off my oldest dresses and wigs and wear the raggedy-ass f**kers proudly. Instead of just dusting them off and wearing them as I normally do. Now I have an excuse. I’m being "historical" as opposed to just plain busted.
How do you plan to celebrate?
 
Well, this recession makes elaborate parties a little tough, but maybe I’ll see if I can get my fellow lodgers to chip in so that we can get the cable turned on at the homeless shelter and watch LOGO while slurping our gruel!



Can you tell us about what you recall about seeing drag for the first time? When was it? Who was it?
Yes, I’ll never forget it. It was Lypsinka‘s first farewell performance in 1982! Actually, it was at Chattanooga, Tennessee’s Go-Go Club where all of the resident dragoons had subtitles like Adrian Sanchez, "The Look and Feel of Real", Tasha Khan, "Chattanooga’s Own Bubbling Brown Sugar" and Candy Carrington, "The Illusion of Confusion". I thought they were goddesses–I’d never seen anyone wearing sequins and false eyelashes before! Unlike many queens I know, my mom wasn’t a glamorpuss who inspired me with her high fashion wardrobe. We’re talking Keds with pantyhose, okay? Though in later years, I did manage to coax her into wearing one of my wigs!


What drag queen has had the most influence on you and your career?
As a teen I hung out with college students who turned me onto Divine in John Water’s films. I thought she was so brilliant that I never re-watched any of her films because I didn’t want to be tempted to copy her and recite, as my friends would, the lines from her films. And that was before I even knew that I was going to have a career dressing up! (Now I rip other queens off freely.)
In high school I was mesmerized by disco’s high priestess Sylvester, not only for his sensational music, but because I once read an interview in which he said that he’d wear any article of clothing which appealed to him, be it male or female. And then in college I gagged when I found the Female Impersonator’s Handbook by Pudgy Roberts in a thrift store. It contained oodles of pictures of the queens from the 60′s like Ricky Renee. Their bouffants, heavy lashes and liquid liner had a lasting effect on my own look.


Who do you think is or was the fiercest drag queen ever?
As far as traditional lip-synch goes, NYC’s H.R.H. Princess Diandra is electrifying, once and If you ever get her onto the stage. She’s kinda like the Grace Jones of the drag world in that respect. With stand-up, Jackie Beat is untouchable. Seattle’s Dina Martina is also a very demented new frontrunner.
The vocal impressions award goes to Jimmy James, though he no longer does them in full drag. But I’m such a huge fan of drag that so many come to mind: Lypsinka, John Cameron Mitchell as Hedwig, RuPaul, Charles Pierce, Atlanta’s Lily White and Charlie Brown, Divine, Flip Wilson, Jamie Foxx as Wanda on In Living Color. And these are just the ones whose names you’d recognize. Or categorize as full-on drag. The androgynous things like Boy George and Leigh Bowery certainly deserve a mention too.


What advice would you give for a young, emerging drag queen who’s a little afraid about putting on that wig and stepping out on that stage?Give in to your worst fears and your stage fright and hide yourself away so that crusty old pigs like me don’t have any fresh competition! You will fail. You will fail. You will fail! And then they’ll all laugh at you! It’s definitely not worth the risk, sister girl.
 


Why is drag important?
Ask my landlord!
 
There are some powerful cultural and political slogans and quotes out there. "We shall overcome." "Yes, we can." "Remember the Alamo!" What should be the motto or battle cry for National Drag History Month?
“Yes we can-can?” “Remember the lyrics, Ho?” Or maybe just the time-tested “Break a Nail!” Or how about in the immortal words of St. Louis’s Petrina Marie (R.I.P.): "Listen fag, you paid to see me. I would NEVER pay to see YOU!" Of course now that January is Drag History Month and February is Black History Month, I’d love to catch Rupaul as the clock strikes midnight on January 31st and tell her "You’re a black drag: face it, bitch–YOU ARE HISTORY!



And here is a tyical interview, just so you know how funny and entertaining the Bun Bun can be.
 

 
God, I love this Queen. Now that was a Drag History Month...where is my cock-a-tail!?!?!

17 comments:

  1. And what a great history month it was! Lady Bunny looks absolutely funny as hell!

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  2. I still say she needs to be on Drag Race instead of santino! Her and Michelle would be a riot!

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  3. Your right, hands down the funniest drag queen! And then there that hair!

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  4. LOVE Lady Bunny! Even when in a mood she can get me to laugh! Very nice history month Mistress, great way to end.

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  5. best.drag queen.ever.

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  6. I think bunny is beautiful. rupaul is a close second (those legs up to her neck!).

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  7. Bunny is amazing. I always enjoy her appearances on Drag Race. Which is perfect because the new season's only a few weeks away!

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  8. WOW! What an amazing month of drag education. So, Professor Maddie, when is the final exam?

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  9. Lady Bunny is so unique. Love her, filthy, but love her!

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  10. How would you describe your style? clown on drugs. Leave it too Bunny! Love her!

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  11. I always wanted to meet Lady Bunny in person. Too bad i missed her performance here when she came, cause she's my favourite drag queen

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  12. Lady Bunny is wonderful!!!!!!! Love her since her NYC wigstock days in the east village

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  13. She is so fabulously wonderful!!! I have loved her style and wigs for years. She is def a legend for sure!

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  14. Lady Bunny is a comedy queen, through and through. She has a signature look and I personally think it works and suits her. Plus, she's in her fifties and a man. You expect a fifty year old man in a dress to be like Marilyn Monroe and Angelina Jolie's lovechild? She talks trash about celebs but I find it hilarious

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  15. I WANT TO BE A DRAG QUEEN WHEN I GROW UP!!!!

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  16. All hail the Lady Bunny! What a great month of post Mistress- THANK YOU!

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Go ahead darling, tell me something fabulous!