BARBIE-Q: Some theatre company wants us to answer some questions about drag queens.
KORA: Again?
IVANA: I wonder why people keep asking us about drag queens?
BARBIE-Q: I know I’ve only ever seen Tootsie once . . . and I didn’t even understand Priscilla Queen of the Desert . . . it was so confusing with all those Austrian accents . . .
KORA: It’s very strange . . . but anyway let’s indulge them.
1) What the fuck is going on?
BARBIE-Q: Is that a typo?
KORA: ummm, could you repeat the question?
2) Is drag performance fundamentally more sexual than other kinds of performance?
BARBIE-Q: Only if Ivana’s doing it.
IVANA: I’m not sexual . . .
KORA: No, you’re eveybody’s . . .
IVANA: Some people collect glass figurines . . .
BARBIE-Q: You collect STDs . . .
IVANA [admament]: and coins!
3) Can you be a drag queen without the costume?
KORA: Ever seen Richard Simmons?
BARBIE-Q: Rosie O’Donnell?
IVANA: La Toya Jackson?
4) What does the word “fierce” mean to you?
IVANA: According to Webster’s it is defined as an adjective i.e.: fierc·er, fierc·est. – Having a savage and violent nature; ferocious, extremely intense or ardent, strenuously active or resolute.
BARBIE-Q: Wow Ivana that’s amazing . . .
IVANA: No, that’s homework . . . I have the ESL.
5) Would you say there is a specific drag approach to comedy?
KORA: Yes run on sentences that take a long time to get to the point can really have an adverse effect on a punch line and can absolutely without a doubt put the proverbial nail in the coffin of what potentially could be an amusing anecdote . . .
BARBIE-Q: You mean kill it?
KORA: Exactly.
6) How do you feel about drag queens lip synching to the music in their shows?
BARBIE-Q: Better than hearing them sing . . .
7) Beneath the camp and comedy of drag performance, is there always a political message?
KORA: No, just a desperate plea for attention . . .
IVANA: and money . . .
KORA: Speak for yourself . . .
IVANA: Okay.
8) Does drag performance always refer back to ideas of gender performance?
BARBIE-Q: I think very few of our shows have anything to do with farmyard animals . . . although back when I was young I learned an interesting sound from George, our pet gander.
KORA: Idiot – that’s gender.
BARBIE-Q: Oh. I dunno.
9) Are there any common misconceptions about drag queens?
KORA: Not all of them have large feet . . .
IVANA: But some have large . . .
KORA: Ivana . . . !
IVANA: Adam’s apples?
BARBIE-Q: Gwyneth Paltrow has an Apple too!
KORA: Oh shut up.
10) Any tips or tricks from your experience that could apply to non-drag performers?
KORA: Remember when applying lipstick always go around the lips and across the teeth.
BARBIE-Q: and if you ever take LSD . . . all cars are real . . .
IVANA: No matter how hungry you get, don’t eat your rice boobs . . . no matter how good they smell.
Wow. I’ve never seen this serious side of The B-Girlz before. This interview is funny and informative. Especially the part about drag queens.
Oh, and that reminds me. Whatever happened to Mark’s Gander Panda?
I think you mean Gender Panda? I predict the GP will be back, with a vengance.