Join RuPaul sidekick Michelle Visage and a collection of impeccably dressed if raucously funny drag superstars for a night of wild and wacky comedy at the venerable Castro Theatre. The Drag Queens of Comedy returns on Sat., May 23, tickling your funny bone at 7 and 10 p.m. The show's press release describes the event as "epic," as 10 drag superstars will appear in the boisterous line-up. Performers include Drag Race winner Bianca Del Rio, film actress Coco Peru, superstar Lady Bunny, and San Francisco icons Peaches Christ, Heklina, and Sasha Soprano, who serves as the event producer.
Coco Peru spoke to the B.A.R. about the rough-and-tumble childhood that inspires her comedy. "I was an effeminate boy growing up in a pink house in a working-class neighborhood on a small island in the Bronx," she said. "How the hell do you think my childhood was?" It was no doubt a challenging childhood, but it made Peru the drag queen she is today.
"My material is always autobiographical, and I try to pull from all areas of my life," she said. "What's most important to me is that it be truthful and relatable. When I hear an audience laugh because they know exactly what I am talking about, that is deeply satisfying."
Peru addressed the claim by some that drag queens are "too bitchy."
"The drag community is diverse, and you can't say that all drag queens are bitchy, because it just isn't true," she said. "In fact, the queens in this show, even the ones whose stage personas have that bitchy quality, are all actually very nice and supportive people." Peru observed that many of the queens know that creating offstage drama doesn't make for a long and successful career.
Michelle Visage pointed out that, in spite of the show's title, Drag Queens of Comedy is not a drag show. "As far as I know, there will be no lip-syncing and no tip-pandering," she said. "These are men in women's clothing who happen to fancy themselves not only beautiful, but funny."
Visage, who co-hosted RuPaul's late, lamented VH1 chat show, said that she'll be performing similar duties at the Castro. "I am hosting the Drag Queens of Comedy show," she said. "The audience can expect a rebellious, laugh-out-loud night of raucous fun, one they won't soon forget."
She said that the show would appeal to a cross-section of audiences, gay and straight alike. "The appeal is the same across the board, which is why the mainstream world is eating drag up of late," she opined. "The irreverence of it gives people, for lack of a better term, balls. It reminds people not to take life so seriously."
Visage agrees with Peru about the myth of "bitchy" drag queens. "I think it's ridiculous," she said. "Lighten up. They're drag queens, not nuns."
"I feel that drag queens are modern-day court jesters, and we are there to be clowns and to celebrate the ridiculousness of everything and anything," said Peru, who also said that she loves to perform at the Castro. "Getting to perform in the Castro Theatre is always such a treat because of its history, its beautiful grandeur, and because it has that magic that I longed for as a kid," Peru said. "I know that we're all up there acting like fools, but I never take the opportunity to perform in that theater for granted."
The Drag Queens of Comedy, Sat., May 23, 7 & 10 p.m., Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St. Tickets ($45-$250; $250 tickets include complimentary drinks, meet and greet, signed poster): dqoc.com.