Ever Been to a Drag Show?

[BOSSHOG]

Saw one in New Orleans Mardi Gras. Either 91 or 92. Perfect weather. Outside. Corner of Bourbon and Saint Ann. Mid afternoon. Actually, Drag Queen Beauty Pageant. Incredible show. Incredibly funny. Bawdy to the bone - NOLA Mardi Gras has its bawdy moments (days) No crime, no grooming. The only injuries were peoples sides hurting from laughing. Not recommended for people with claustrophobia. Other then that, a wonderful time. My good old days. We lived within 40 miles of NOLA for almost 30 years. And we let the good times roll.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I went to a Drag BINGO game in Wilmington, DE about a decade ago.

Had skads of fun, interacted with the Ladies freely. They made the whole experience memorable.

[bluedigger]

2. Lived in the FQ for a couple three years.

Walking home was a drag show. 😄

[BOSSHOG]

8. Interesting hunk of real estate

And yes, every day was a live fashion show. Used to hang out on the balcony of tropical Isle on Bourbon and Orleans and watch the show stroll buy. I truly love that that town. But I’m way too old for that now.

[bluedigger]

18. I was in my late 40's when I moved onto Barracks St. for a while.

I don't think I would have survived if I had arrived in my late 30's.

[BOSSHOG]

22. Roger that Teammate

I’d probably partied myself into an early grave if it weren’t for my level headed wife.

[nolabear]

80. I lived on Esplanade in my late teens and early twenties.

I could tell some tales…

[BOSSHOG]

104. We did three Crescent City Classic runs

In 91, 96 and 01. A big chunk of the run was on Esplanade. Too much fun. Always had a great time in NOLA. There was a great burger joint on Esplanada. Can’t recall the name. The 2001 Crescent City Classic Poster features the Degas House on Esplanade. And Degas is in the picture. Go ahead nolabear, tell some tales. I won’t tell.

[nolabear]

105. The strangest and saddest was after I moved to Gentilly.

One night there were suddenly cops everywhere, which as you might imagine caused considerable consternation and a little flushing. But they were there because my upstairs neighbor, a lovely young woman who was just starting her career, was one of the women who jumped out the beauty salon window in the Rault Center fire.

I lived there when the Upstairs Lounge fire happened too. Terrible.

But damn I loved that city. I’ll tell happy stories later.

[a kennedy]

3. No, but loved the movie Birdcage with Robin Williams and Nathan Lane ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

[panader0]

32. Check out 'La cage aux Folles' . (The Birdcage)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Cage_aux_Folles_(film) it's from 1978.

[Wednesdays]

74. I went to see La Cage Aux Folles, the musical

Peter Marshall.

I guess that's the closest I've been to seeing a drag show. It was awesome.

[Lucinda]

4. ❤️ ✿❧🌿❧✿ ❤️

Yep.

[lamp_shade]

5. Yes - in Provincetown, MA... with my mother of all people.

20 years ago or so. We had a ball. Lots of laughs. Great entertainment.

[BOSSHOG]

10. Old people had a blast in the quarter

Now I am one but don’t have the energy.

[JuJuChen]

6. I can see a Drag restaurant from my room, it's PACKED. The bridesmaids LOVE it lol

[Lars39]

7. 5th grade...all the male teachers

and the janitor, for a school fundraiser.

[BOSSHOG]

9. We're any children

Harmed in the production of the show? He asked facetiously.

[Lars39]

11. Maybe splashed by a water balloon bosom lol

[Glorfindel]

12. Yes, at the Imperial Palace Casino in Biloxi, MS

It was terrific.

[BOSSHOG]

17. Another fine town

The Gulf Coast was a great place for us to spend time. And the little towns all around. Oh my, I’m finding myself on memory lane.

[Maraya1969]

13. There was a drag comedian on a cruise ship in the early 80's when I went

She was hysterical. I love drag queens.

[IrishEyes]

14. Yes, I went to one last month.

The performers danced really well. It was a fun time.

[LakeArenal]

15. I haven't, but this is a very favorite movie. I'm sure I watch it once a year.

[MLAA]

40. I'll check it out

I enjoyed this movie about a woman whose son dies and she inherits his drag show bar. Fun musical numbers.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-8465113/Jacki-Weaver-inherits-San-Francisco-drag-bar-estranged-gay-son-new-comedy-Stage-Mother.html

[alwaysinasnit]

50. Excellent!!! One of my all-time favorites.

[2naSalit]

16. A few.

When I was in the city I hung out with a small bunch of people my age at the U., some of whom were gay, and we would go out bar hopping sometimes. Oddly, for a mormon city, there were TWO gay bars that had shows once in a while.

They were funny and very entertaining. One thing I noticed about the attitude in all the scripts was that they were flat out honest about love, life and sex and carried it all in a hilarious comedy routine. I was favorably impressed with every one I went to.

[BOSSHOG]

19. The one in NOLA

Was so freaking well done it was dangerous. In a good way.

[2naSalit]

23. Sounds like a gas!

I used to like to go to lots of things when I was a lot younger.

[BOSSHOG]

26. I spend a lot of my days looking for my glasses.

[2naSalit]

28. Those...

And several other items I can't find or recall what it was in the first place!

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Yes

Gay friend of my wife & me took us to Kaboom in Chicago a couple times.
Utterly harmless entertainment even though it wasn't my kind of music.
We had a good enough time that we went back.
Only twice, but it's a pretty long drive home late at night. That's what made twice enough. It wasn't the show.

[underpants]

21. Yes. Sunday Brunch at a place downtown

Last edited Tue Dec 6, 2022, 10:49 PM - Edit history (1)

It was a hoot.

This place is right in the middle of the block. The only doors are the back and the front. The performers make their entrance through the front down. They have to go out the back and walk around the block. One Sunday morning I was on a big marathon training run and I see what appears to be Cher walking up the sidewalk. We were the only people on the street. I thought that I might be hallucinating or I hit a massive runners high when I realized where I was running by.

[BOSSHOG]

29. Wife and I ran 5 and 10ks in NOLA

Usually started about 8 Sunday mornings. After the runners were past the start/finish line a couple of beer trucks would set up just past the finish line. Free draft beer til Eleven. Freaked the tourists out. Drinking beer? On a Sunday Morning? Two blocks from St Louis Cathedral? Yes, Cher and her many sisters occupied the quarter.

[underpants]

36. 😃👍

[nolabear]

93. You ever do the Red Dress Run?

Talk about impressing the tourists!

[BOSSHOG]

99. We didn't participate in the race

But we were on the path, drank beer and loved the view. If I recall, I opted out because start time was late afternoon.

[TlalocW]

24. I twisted balloons at an LGBTQ event

That had a drag show. I thought it was well-done. Very impressed with one performer who makes all her outfits as I sew my own vests for twisting.

[Faux pas]

25. Yes

Way back in 71. At that time I didn't know what it was lol. It was at the Show Biz in San Diego. There were 6 of us, three married couples. The guys in our group freaked because you didn't know what bathrooms to use. My ex told me I shouldn't go to the bathroom at all. Screw that noise, I was eight and a half months pregnant. Anyway the show was fantastic! We women were a little jealous because the queens were a lot prettier than us.

[BOSSHOG]

27. They are darlings

Went to Navy Bootcamp, San Diego, 1972. Outstanding liberty town for an 18 Year old from Arkansas.

[Faux pas]

84. I

can imagine! Must have been a real culture shock. Glad you had a good time

[mnhtnbb]

30. I went to a show at the legendary Finocchio's in SF

in the mid '70's. It was fabulous. The club is gone now, but I found some interesting history about it.

https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Finocchio%27s,_a_Short_Retrospective

I was with some of my grad school classmates attending a convention. They were all ex military --Vietnam era--and I had the impression this wasn't the first time they'd been to a drag show. We had a blast.

[PufPuf23]

39. I went on a high school field trip to Finocchio's,

did not see an actual show, as there in afternoon and got a tour, meet performers, and a taste of the show.

This was 68 or 69 at a "progressive" boarding school an optional cultural Saturday paid for by parents or scholarship

Went to Cafe Trieste, City Lights Books, Condor Club (Carol Doda), Anton Levey's Magic Shop, Spaghetti Factory for dinner, etc.

edit to add: we were given tours by the principal personalities associated of the establishments.

[mnhtnbb]

88. A field trip!

I can't imagine a permission slip going home in Florida for a field trip to a drag show. Heart attack city all over town.

[IcyPeas]

31. I saw Divine performing in the early 80s in NY

[Beacool]

34. Wow!!

Lucky you!! I would have loved to have seen Divine perform.

[Beacool]

33. Yes

I've been to more than one because I have quite a few dear friends who are gay. One of them is like a brother to me and he has taken me to several shows over the years. They're a lot of fun, some of the performers I've seen are very talented. I don't understand the controversy over this issues. No one is forcing anyone to go to one. Why can't the Right live and let live?

[BOSSHOG]

35. Because My Dear

The right are expletive deleted to infinity squared. Or, because they are extremely easily manipulated by the Russians. I get extra points for two correct answers. Gotta ask. Are you an Eagle fan?

[Beacool]

37. Yeah, they're autocrats.

They want to impose their dystopic ideas on the rest of the country.

Do you mean the Philadelphia Eagles? I don't dislike them, but I'm not a fan. I live in NJ. Why the question?

[BOSSHOG]

38. Because you live in Jersey

I was born in Philly. My Moms brother lived in Maple Shade. I also thought of Jersey As a second home. But that was a long, long time ago. And I believe many Philly Eagle Fans come from Jersey. As well as Jets and Giants Fans. Football Mecca.

[Beacool]

46. I'm at the other end of Jersey.

I'm a few minutes away from Manhattan.

[Aristus]

41. All the time, believe it or not, when I was in the Army.

Louisville’s legendary The Connection, and their cabaret act Le Boy La Femme.

Those were wonderful times.

[niyad]

42. Have been to any number of them. A friend owned several gay bars in Reno,

and I was friends with various members of the Courts there and here in Colorado Springs. Saw a lot of very good entertainment.

[Reader Rabbit]

43. Darcelle's!

A Portland institution!

https://www.darcellexv.com/

[Martin68]

44. Nope. Never had the opportunity, as long as I know.

I believe drag queens and their fans are just having fun. I'd have been there if I'd known.

[BOSSHOG]

47. A good Tim's is had by all

[Initech]

45. No, but my brother's fiance is a huge drag fan.

And they're going to a Christmas drag show. I might go with them, because fuck the Proud Boys!

[BOSSHOG]

52. Go

Have a good time. They enjoy life. You enjoy life. Proud Boys don’t enjoy life.

Go to the show. merry Christmas Teammate.

[Initech]

54. No, the Proud Boys are the literal American ISIS.

Fuck 'em all!

[BOSSHOG]

57. "Drag"''em through the mud

But don’t ya think the ISIS lunatics are a lot less cowardly then the the proud boys? Ya know, ISIS do, PBs posture.

[ellie]

48. Yes

I used to hang out at Caesar's in Toledo in 1984-1985. It was a lot of fun.

[LeftInTX]

49. No, but I've been in a Turkish prison

Actually I was sorta at one at Cornyation.

I have friends who go to lots of them. I may have been, I just don't remember because I was in the back of the bar

[BOSSHOG]

63. Turkish Prison? Back of the Bar?

How does that make you Feel? As Bill Murray once said, I want to party with you.

[LeftInTX]

68. I got the Turkish prison from Airplane

Crowded bar when there happens to be a drag show going on. Stuck way in the back.

Cornyation is a local show and much of it is in drag. Although it's not a "drag show", but it's alot of men dressed up as women, but they're not men dressed up as sexy women.

[BOSSHOG]

69. Love Ya Dear

Now can you do something about Cruz. I liked it better when we were talking about Turkish prisons and crowded bars. Oh My My.

[LeftInTX]

71. Cornyation took on Cruz ..LOL

[calimary]

51. Yes. While in college.

One of the guys, in the house where my then-boyfriend rented a room, was gay. We all spent an evening at one of the local gay bars. Great show, music and comedy, and everybody in the room had a great time. Some genuinely outstanding entertainment, lots of laughs, good food, and some absolutely stellar vocalists!

[irisblue]

53. Yes 1978 Muskegon Michigan. Drag has an old & Honorable history

[pnwmom]

55. I know many people enjoy this, but I don't get it.

Why do some women enjoy seeing men perform caricatures of women?

[BOSSHOG]

60. It's a conundrum wrapped in an enigma

I’ve yet to figure out why my brother in law is a Dallas Cowboy fan.

[LakeArenal]

83. I think because shows are a production.

Costumes, music, dance. Not much different than a Broadway musical.

A LOT of work goes into these shows.

[inthewind21]

94. Well

Why do people enjoy watching slasher movies? Why do some people enjoy country music and others enjoy rock music and some enjoy them both? It's entertainment and preference. And the purpose of entertainment is to entertain. Also, drag queens are the best people. Like LITERALLY the best! I hung out at drag bars through my entire 20's and 30's. And I go as often as I can now. Why, because the people there tend to be friendly, genuine and non judgmental. No one cares if you are big or small. No one cares if you are straight, gay or in-between. No one cares if you are wearing Gucci or Walmart and EVERYONE there is having a good time. That's why for me.

[pnwmom]

96. You're going to compare them to slasher movies? Oh, okay.

But I don't understand why anyone likes slasher movies, either.

[inthewind21]

98. No

But you already new that.

[bottomofthehill]

56. No but I have gone to the pre-Halloween drag races at DuPont Circle in DC

Always a great time. Lots of fun. Started going in the 80’s when it was much less structured and a bit more wild. It is more organized now, still fun, although I have not been since 2015.

[MustLoveBeagles]

58. Yes and I had a blast

We used to go the local gay bar to support a friend of ours that performed in the show to suppliment her income.

[Mr.Bill]

59. In the 70s, I went to Finocchio's

in San Francisco. It's one of the earliest drag show bars/nightclubs. Very professional, very good and funny show.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finocchio%27s_Club

[mnhtnbb]

89. Me, too.

Posted above #30.

[Mr.Bill]

95. Yeah, I saw that

after I posted.

[Behind the Aegis]

102. That was the club's name?

[Mr.Bill]

103. Yes, it was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finocchio%27s_Club

[Behind the Aegis]

106. Too funny.

I saw the link already,

[Texasgal]

61. Been to many!

I once had a convention in Las Vegas and took my husband who was traveling with me to a wonderful drag show! He LOVED it!

[William Seger]

62. Saw Boylesque in Las Vegas sometime around 1980

Really good female singer impersonators and lots of bawdy laughs.

[AllaN01Bear]

64. the movie , the bird cage w robin williams is as close as i ever got to one .

[Skittles]

65. yes, in England when I was a teenager

and also in New Orleans - loved it, great fun

[Lunabell]

66. Lots!!

I love them. I ❤️ drag queens and all my LGBTQIA community.

I saw a hilarious show in Tampa back in the 80's. A drag nun who stole the show with her fabulously irreverent routine. I miss those days.

[Meowmee]

67. I think birdcage was the only one which I laughed throughout

Otherwise I am not really into that type of thing and would not go due to covid, claustraphobia and fear of being shot etc now. Maybe one on zoom but I doubt it.

[Genki Hikari]

70. Went to one when I was in high school

Actually, it was a dinner theater skit, but it had the over-the-top drag queens and was hella funny.

I don't get how so many Americans have a problem with drag anything.

Not after this:

0

Or this:



Or this:



Or this:



And what would they have done in Shakespearean times when all of the women's roles were portrayed by men?

[tanyev]

72. Does seeing the musical Pageant count?

It was a local production, but they did a great job. Very funny.

[dai13sy]

73. OMG

I'm not sure there's a way to not have a great, over-the-top, the fun never ends, than a Drag Queen Beauty Pageant anywhere. We were in San Francisco. I don't know if I ever laughed that much before and my face hurt from smiling and there was dancing after the girls performed and then the votes were counted, then more celebrating after the winner was announced. We did not want to leave

[childfreebychoice]

75. Have two gay brothers, and use to go to gay clubs with them

Saw lots of drag queen shows. Loved them. Wish rethugs would conc on policies that don't interfer with the rest of us, espec us nonbelievers

[heckles65]

76. Yes. In Charleston W.Va. of all places

I had a wonderful time. Would have gotten the hots for 'Reba McEntire' if I didn't know better.

I still wear guy's clothing, I still like girls. Didn't feel threatened, don't know why any guy would be.

[orleans]

77. went to vegas with my mom & her friend

when i was a young teen and we went to the silver slipper -- it was great (my first drag show)

later in my teens into early twenties my friends and i used to go to the baton in chicago. (i had a fake i.d. and was able to get into the bars). the baton was always great & lots of fun. another favorite chicago bar was the infamous bistro (an amazing gay disco. i still remember the song that was playing the first time i went to the bistro--my first time at a gay bar & it had all the bells and whistles/sirens/strobe lights, beautiful dancing boys (of legal age of course) on pedestals who were practically naked, and stars falling from the ceiling--it was mind blowing--"you should be dancing" was the song)

i digress.

yes, i've been to drag shows numerous times. they were always fun, entertaining, funny, bawdy, and the majority of performers were so professional, & fantastic impersonators or terrific originals

[nolabear]

78. Honey I lived in New Orleans. As you said, it's a way of life!

Some of those little clubs in the Quarter didn’t have dressing rooms so the performers got ready in the women’s restroom. I learned some things about tucking and taping that impresses me to this day!

We had a blast. 😍

[chiffondior]

79. Thoughts from an actual drag queen...

As an actual drag queen and the owner of a queer website that the United States Library of Congress selected for preservation in their LGBTQ+ archive, I obviously have been to numerous drag shows and they are incredibly fun. But I can also tell you that the fear in the drag community across the country is very real. We have become the latest bogus, non-issue in search of a solution by the right. While many drag shows are not appropriate for children, they take place in the evening or even after midnight in a lot of cases. I find it ironic that the people who are screaming “Parents rights!” when it comes to school curriculum don’t believe in a parent’s right to take their child to a drag show if they deem it appropriate for them This past Wednesday, the Department of Homeland Security raised concerns about potential threats to the LGBTQ, as well as to Jewish and migrant communities from violent extremists inside the United States. There is palpable fear that Pulse and the Club Q club shootings could happen again. I'm asking my fellow DUers to vocally and loudly state their support for the LGBTQ+ community because things are as bad as I've seen for my community in many years.

Long story short: Statistics show your children are infinitely safer around drag queens than they are around Republican Congressman and assorted clergy.

[nolabear]

81. Oh Sweetheart, I am so sorry. I do know some Seattle drag queens now

and that fear is heartbreaking and infuriating. All my love…❤️

[chiffondior]

82. Thank you nolabear!

Thank you nolabear! The Seattle drag queen is one of the best and most creative in the country. I send them my love and support always.

[BOSSHOG]

100. Love Ya chiffondior

Conservatives give nothing but sadness and hate, with zero justification.

I will do my small part to provide such support. And thx for all the positive vibes generated by drag queens.

[IbogaProject]

85. Lucky Chang's the origional

When I moved to NYC 25 years ago my roommate who was a straight woman loved Lucky Cheng's bar. She started being their coat check person eventually. Its now a chain. https://www.thrillist.com/eat/new-york/lucky-chengs-nyc-drag-restaurant
I'm not sure about the name, I think it was Chang's but they may have switched due to web squatting. I saw the show a couple of times but typically we hung out by one of the bars, rather than the small show place. I went to a fundraiser for an unrelated activist thing at a small party room when they first moved to much larger diggs up by Times Square.

[Amishman]

86. No, not my thing, I'd be uncomfortable

Those who enjoy that type of entertainment, go for it.

I'd probably be little uncomfortable given the sexual undertones. I've also been very uncomfortable the few times I was at a strip club.

[LeftInTX]

87. And now they're canceling them here due to harassment.

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/san-antonio-cancels-drag-shows-17632152.php


I think all this harassment is probably gonna make drag shows even more popular in the long run..JMO

[Elessar Zappa]

90. No but I wouldn't mind going to one.

They seem like a lot of fun.

[NNadir]

92. I saw La Cage Aux Folles on Broadway. We took my right wing father with us.

He was fighting with my step mother, left home briefly, and was staying with me and my (then) girlfriend, my future wife. It was Christmas time, and I told him I could get tickets to a Broadway play and invited him.

After I bought the tickets he asked me what the show was, and I told him and he then asked what it was about.

I told him.

Rather than insult my girlfriend/future wife he didn't say much but I could tell he was disturbed by the concept of the play.

The punch line was that he loved the show, and was especially impressed with how he couldn't tell the guys in drag from the real women.

It was a lot of fun, watching him trying to be "liberal." I credit him for trying.

As it happens, three of his step-grandchildren, my step mother's grandchildren, turned out to be gay. (She has something like 30 grand and great grand children; I've actually lost count.) As a staunch deeply religious Catholic, it upsets her, but she's coming around to it. She's 95. She's lived a long time, seen many changes. I saw her a few weeks back; I explained it's no big deal, and she did say she loved all her grandchildren. One of her grandchildren lost her wife because the wife's family couldn't deal with her being gay. It's very sad, that world of the right wing.

I miss my old man. He was a right winger, but in his better moments, he could still drop it all and lighten up a room. I loved him very much.

[nolabear]

97. That's really lovely. I understand.

My grandparents, whom I adored, and my father, with whom I had a deeply ambivalent relationship, would certainly be right in todays world, but there was indeed an ability to see past the prejudice and be decent and kind. I loved them, and they me, even when we avoided lots of things. I’m glad you had that, and sorry you lost it. Still, good memories. ❤️

[Ligyron]

101. Several.

The best were the ones where they play famous females and lip sync a musical number.

Some were SO realistic they were more female than females.

Attention to detail counted for a lot as some of these were monied contests so bird seed simulating areolas and various attempts to disguise adams' apples in ingenious ways abounded.

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

107. One drag show that I went to was the funniest stand

up comedy I've ever seen, by far, live or on video.

Hilarious beginning to end, with no relief from the laughter.

[BOSSHOG]

108. Yeah

The one in the qtr was side splitting funny. Incredibly professional yet somehow charming with incredibly potty mouths.