By Gwen Frost
The Associated Students Queer Resource Center will be hosting their 26th annual drag show this Friday, February 2. We spoke to three of the performers to get their thoughts. In order, they are: Chel Ryan (“Pistol Marquis”), Jorge Mendoza (“Anastasia Taylor Duvall”), and Eric Guizar (“Rikki Sinsation”).Tickets can be purchased online or at the PAC box office, $10 for student, $12 for general admission.
Q: What’s your favorite song to walk/ perform to?
Pistol Marquis: I really love performing to unexpected songs. Led Zeppelin and other classic rock acts, bands with male vocalists. I have a really deep love of music so anything that speaks to me and allows me to tap into an emotion deeply is what I’ll usually choose to perform.
Anastasia Taylor Duvall: My favorite song to walk to, would have to be, “Trouble” by Neon Jungle but to perform to would be “Rabiosa” [by] Shakira
Rikki Sinsation: Gosh, there’s too many to pick from. I have some favourite artists though, Marina and the Diamonds, Kesha, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Selena Quintanilla, Lorde, Shakira and Dua Lipa. As you can see I am very inspired by pop and Spanish music.
Q: How did you come up with your drag name?
PM: I chose Pistol because it’s a little cute, a little dangerous, and the only other thing that will give one man six shots. Marquis is a level of nobility between a Duke and a Count, and it also sounds like the marquee of a theatre.
AD: My drag name, Anastasia Taylor Duvall, was inspired after my late friend Taylor Alesana; a beautiful, trans woman who took her life after continuous bullying. She inspired me to make a difference and I wanted to pay tribute to her. While my first name (Anastasia) comes from my trans co-worker whose name is now Logan (Don’t worry I asked permission), he left behind an old identity that I was able to transform into a drag persona, [Duvall] rhymes with “the ball of them all” which I strive to be. Plus doesn’t it just roll off the tongue!?
RS: Coming up with my drag name was hard but essentially my nickname is Rick (What my friends call me) So, I just decided to call myself Rikki and my last name is optional but together it’s Rikki Sinsation. IG: Rikkisinsation
Q: When did you start ‘doing’ drag?
PM: I’ve been doing drag my entire life, but I started performing and getting paid in 2016. As a kid/teen I was doing drag in terms of my gender identity and presentation; presenting like a boy when I knew I wasn’t. Drag allowed me to express my femininity and come to terms with being a trans woman.
AD: I’ve been doing drag for almost two years now and many more years to come, I’m gonna show everyone I’m a star
RS: I started doing drag about a year ago, but as a kid I always put on my moms heels and my sisters clothes.
Q: When/where did you first perform? what were your initial feelings before, and after?
PM: I first performed at a “gay bar” in Bellingham. I accidentally entered an amateur competition and they offered me a spot in the cast without competing but I wanted to challenge myself and grow. I was nervous– I’m always nervous before I perform– but it’s the most freeing feeling in the world, and allows me to channel my passions into performance.
AD: My first drag show was at WSU when I used to go there. I knew I was gonna kill it, I was so excited and that night I impressed a drag company enough to sign me the following school semester. So I felt great after too! I was than booked consistently until my shows in Seattle, I began performing there and was exposed to so much more.
RS: This Friday will be my first official performance, I have been preparing for about a year and I now feel ready. Feeling wise, I am a little nervous but performing is very audience driven and I’m really excited to entertain the audience.
Q: Why are drag shows important?
PM: Drag is inherently punk and political, so having shows (especially all-ages shows) allows people to be entertained while also thinking critically about gender. The punk philosophy is all about shedding the rules and constraints placed on us by society and playing with ideas of gender norms is the biggest bucking of the system. Bringing ideas of performative gender and queer artistic expression to people in a fun way is incredibly important.
AD: Drag shows are important because its some of the few areas in which people can genuinely feel comfortable, they can express themselves however they want, I mean it’s a fucking drag show! It’s a time and place where we can all feel like we’re not being judged or looked at through a heteronormative lense. Also drag queens have been leaders when faced with heated political climates, and have driven change, we need drag queens now more than ever!
RS: Drag shows are really important because it really introduces people to what drag is about, a lot of people don’t realize how talented drag queens/kings are. Drag is also a big part of queer culture!
Q: What stereotypes surrounding drag shows are true? Which are false?
PM: Drag shows are absurd and always late. I think that a lot of people have this idea that drag performers are characters and not people: there are iffy ideas about consent in terms of the audience and some performers, ie: audience touching performers without permission and expecting extra attention because they tip one dollar; also performers touching, kissing or grinding on audience members without permission. It’s a tough line to toe but the biggest misconception has to be that being an entertainer or performer of any kind relinquishes your right to privacy and bodily autonomy.
AD: Hmm stereotypes I guess people think that drag shows are only dudes in wigs, but drag is so much more! we got everyone from the spectrum! from drag kings to bio-queens, you never know what you’ll get! What is true is that Drag Queens want their money, so tip these men! “It takes a lot of money to look this cheap darling”!!!
Q: What is one thing you would want an audience member to take away from this Friday’s show?
PM: I would like to see audience members walk away from this show with a fuller understanding of different kinds of drag. I always try to push at boundaries of androgyny and gender roles and I hope I can make even just one person think critically about what “male” or “female” even are, what they mean, and how we perform those roles in life.
AD: One thing I’d want them to take away is to give us “freaks” a place in their heart and to spread love to people who may seem different from you, at the end of the day we all bleed the same color.
RS: There is a bunch of amazing performers that will definitely wow you.
Q: Do you have a favorite drag performer?
PM: Everyone (except Serena ChaCha).
AD: My favorite drag performer!? Would have to be Alyssa Edwards, because she is the essence of all that is sickening and is a true entertainer! Oh and Lady Bunny!
RS: Gosh, there’s so many talented drag queens, but my favourite drag performer is Evah Destruction from Atlanta, Georgia. I encourage anyone to watch her performances on youtube, she is an amazing, fierce queen.
Q: Do you have to be dressing up as a gender you don’t identify for it to be considered drag? Like if I, a cis womxn wanted to be a drag queen, is that a no-no?
PM: Drag is performance art and absolutely anyone can do it. Trans, cis, straight, queer, male, female. As long as you are putting in the work and turning the party then you’re welcome. Just know your drag herstory, know and recognize the struggles that other drag artists have that you might not, and remember: If your work isn’t intersectional, it’s bullshit. And if anyone tries to tell you you aren’t allowed to do art: Do it more, do it louder, do it better, do it forever.
AD: No not at all, you can dress up as whatever you’d like, drag is pretty much anything and everything. You could be a bio-queen, I’ve worked with bio-queens before all very pleasant and great performers! Give it a try!
RS: No, anyone can do drag, drag is a form of art and expression. I’ve met a lot of cis womxn drag queens and they’re just as talented and fun to be around.
If you’re thinking about attending the show, check out these tips from the AS Queer Resource Center.