And that’s evident in the mix of performers. Big Kim acts as the hostess and MC, introducing the two other Queens: Minerva S. Breakdown, Queen Q’ream, and Johnny Gentleman, who’s actually a King. More about that later.

January’s theme was “Dragolutions,� featuring lip-synched songs that promise things will change — or maybe not. Audience participation is a huge part of the show, so plan to eat, drink and be…naughty.

In Act 1 Big Kim introduces herself as hostess and MC. She’s dressed in a curve-hugging, cleavage-enhancing leopard print dress, with a shoulder-length blond wig, and is just outrageous enough to get the audience warmed up and involved. Then she brings out the Queens, who’ve been in a staging tent behind the patio fence putting final touches on their over-the-top costumes and makeup.

At January’s show, Minerva wore an extremely long platinum wig over a tightly-fitted black dominatrix suit with curvy golden lines, all wrapped up in a black satin skirt that she’d flap open and close like wings over her high-heeled velvet lace-up boots. Resolving never to let another man hurt her, she dances around the room flirting and collecting dollar bills.

Queen Q’ream resolves to stop being a “bitter bitch,� dressed in in her crazy red long-haired wig, and her seductress tie-dye striped leotard. She’s trying to tone down her bitchiness, but you’d never know it from the snake she wields and the moves she makes, sneering, bending and dipping, then jumping up on the tables to pick up dollar bills flying at her.

And then we meet Johnny Gentleman, smaller and rounder than the Queens. He’s dressed in jeans, white shirt, suspenders and a mocha-colored cardigan…looking for all the world like a rural hayseed, then breaking into wild dance moves, while peeling off various items of clothing to the screaming delight of the guests.

Act 2 included Minerva in a blue wig, big baggy blouse and skirt that she strips off to transform into Wednesday Addams, replete with white collar and long black braids. Queen Q’ream is wearing the most vertigo-inducing shoes of the day, 10-inch-tall heels under flame-red, knee-high, buckle-up vinyl boots.

Johnny shifts into Latino cultural mode wearing a black shirt, elaborately decorated with a floral design and a black hat, suggestive of a mariachi’s outfit. Johnny’s onstage, and soon-to-be fully legal, name is Roxy J. Valle-Orsi, who identifies as “transmasculine and non-binary; I had top surgery in April of 2021 and in May I started testosterone treatment. I have experienced both genders in my body so I feel a sense of freedom in not calling myself some sort of ‘correct’ gender.�

His Latino Catholic military family in the Bible Belt were transphobic and judgmental of their own Latino culture. That’s why, says Roxy, “I packed a bag and left. And it’s why I am working to create Drag Camp, where young BIPOC LGBTQ+ people can meet, express themselves, and be mentored in the creative arts of drag makeup, costuming, collaboration and performance in a
safe space.

“Kids who consider transitioning often fear losing their family. I want them to know there’s a chosen family, a community that will love and accept them for who they are. Even if it’s one community, or a small location, it saves lives. I want kids to have that because I wish I’d had that when I was younger.�

Roxy is completing paperwork for Drag Camp to become a non-profit while creating pitch packets for meetings, and is hoping to find both funding and collaborative partnerships with community organizations.
Follow Roxy at Dapper Puss Entertainment at dapperpussdk.com. Drag Brunch is on the third Saturday of each month at Sorry Not Sorry; visit the website to reserve a ticket. sorrynotsorryla.com.

Sarah A. Spitz is an award-winning public radio producer, retired from KCRW, where she also produced arts stories for NPR. She writes features and reviews for various print and online publications.