It's cool to be a (drag) king

The Age
January 18, 2008

Drag kings are sexier than drag queens, discovers Fiona Scott-Norman.

ONE of culture guerilla Banksy's works of graffiti has just sold for more than $400,000. Elvis Costello is in an advertisement for Lexus. You'd be pushed to find anyone under 35, male or female, bogan or bourgeois, without a tattoo or piece of metal thrust through some nubbin of soft tissue. Society doesn't so much as attack counter-culture as appropriate it to death.

Drag queens are another example. Only 30 or so years ago a drag queen was unusual, confronting, and more provocative than sketching a jaunty cartoon of Muhammad; these days they're family entertainment on stage at the Regent and scarcely raise an eyebrow.

Not all drag is safe and familiar, however. Melbourne has a thriving drag king scene, but most folk wouldn't know a drag king if he came up and humped their leg. Bumpy has been running King Victoria Drag Kings for eight years (the world's longest-running weekly drag king night), and she says that drag kings seem destined to remain underground.

"People don't seem to be able to wrap their heads around the concept of women dressing up as men. Maybe that's just how it is. Perhaps the general population will never want to see women take on male privilege in even an ironic way," says Bumpy, who changed her name by deed poll many years ago, and brings out her own drag king, the Bumpsonator, every couple of months.

King Victoria Drag Kings is on every Friday night at the Opium Den (nee Star Hotel) on Hoddle Street, and is basically a variety/cabaret night featuring the gamut of drag king styles, from boy bands, duos and rappers to crooners, cowboys and losers.

"There's all kinds, parody types, and the handsome tribute type. The most common is someone reinterpreting music with a real sexy vibe to it. There tends to be a lot of message and a lot of humour. I think there's a lot more variety with drag kings than drag queens because there are so many male archetypes out there.

"We have a lot of information about men and their myths and careers and heroics, and it all seems to come out on stage. It gives women a lot of instant power to do drag; they stand up straighter, they take up more space, they exude charisma."

There seems to be something innately stylish about drag kings. Bumpy points to costuming — unlike drag queens, drag kings aren't getting about in feathers, sequins and high heels. They're wearing suits, looking slick, acting smooth and oozing confidence and machismo.

There's no question that it's cool. Cate Blanchett has just won a Golden Globe for drag kinging it up as Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. And, as part of Midsumma, not only are King Victoria Drag Kings pimping up their Fridays with plenty of interstate drag kings, but the Victorian Arts Centre is hosting A Night at the Star — a truly beautiful exhibition of images taken over several months at the Star Hotel by Northern Irish photographer John Sones.

Tomorrow at 3pm at the Midsumma Carnival, 29 drag kings are going to be performing together on the main stage, yet — as evidenced by the work of Blanchett — female drag is far from being the exclusive domain of the gay community.

"It's not just lesbians, not at all", says Bumpy. "A man can be a drag king, it's just about exaggerating male characteristics. You can have drag animals.

"And lots of straight women have approached me who want to play out their male character; they can't stop thinking about it and have to do it. The transformation is amazing. And a lot of artists come and try it out. We've got a lot of acrobats at the moment."

This inclusiveness is reflected in the Opium Den as a venue. It prides itself on being friendly to everyone — gay, straight, transgender, you name it. Every couple of months it even has an Auslan-interpreted drag king night for the deaf community.

"It's basically just a fun, entertaining night", says Bumpy.

Drag Victoria Drag Kings is on Friday nights at the Opium Den, 176 Hoddle Street, Abbotsford at 10.30pm. Details: www.kingvictoria.com or 9417 2696.