Kate Demolder speaks with seen Irish Drag Queens to hear about their most chaotic nights on the stage.
The art of drag has always been about more than performing. But with each queen comes a myriad of unique stories––each more harrowing than the one before.
To continue on from the joy that is Pride Month, we wanted to lift the lid of the reality of drag life; how it’s not all sequins and lashes, but sometimes everything but.
Davina Devine (@davina.devine)
"Back in 2006, when I was performing an ode to Britney Spear’s Slave for You, era, I hired a real live snake that regularly made nightclub appearances all over the country to join me onstage for the performance just like Britney did at the VMA Awards.
"I had performed the piece twice at different events and always got an amazing reaction. But the third time wasn’t so lucky. Right as the snake was about to make her appearance on stage, I saw the handler in the wings freaking out and the snake going wild, but I had no idea what was going on. I took it onstage only to find this beautiful, 10ft, yellow python freeze around my neck. It went totally stiff and then there was this god-awful smell.
Yes, it had a poop live on stage (I didn’t even know snakes pooped, they poop every few weeks). After that, Chanel [the snake’s name] was in glorious form and finished the track with me in all her glory. It was the rest of us that left in a knot. If you don’t believe me, here is the exact moment caught on camera."
Victoria Secret (@victoriasecretdublin)
"It was January 2014 and I was performing to a sold out crowd of 700 people in the now closed Dragon Bar (RIP) on George’s Street. I’d been promoting the show for months so I was thrilled to see a full house in.
"For those unaware of how the stage was in The Dragon… The venue was a long, slim room, with a stage built over the bar on scaffolding. It was like no other in Ireland, which came with its pros and cons. Standing at 14 foot off the ground, we took to the stage each week lipsyncing looking like we were on a building site.
"This particular week I had booked international Drag Queens - Detox, Willam and Vicky Vox. And as per usual, I took to the stage to do the opening number. I decided to bring back my Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball, number, which I had made a home made wrecking ball from a yoga ball, duct tape and some rope from the €2 shop for. I had performed this number a few times but this was the first time I didn’t hang the ball myself. I began performing and the crowd were going wild. Then they see the wrecking ball and scream as I mount it to swing across the stage.
"I always only swung once across the stage during this number. But this time the crowd were so excited and cheering that adrenaline took over and I went to get on to swing across for a second time. Unfortunately this time, the ball gave in. The rope didn’t hold and I went flying across the stage and landed on my wrist and hip. While in shock, I knew the show must go on so I kept performing as everyone gasped but then cheered.
"This was the start of a two-hour show, full of numbers that we had choreographed for weeks, including a brand new cane number. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that I’d injured myself. Throughout the night I had to get my dancers to change my costumes as my wrist was too weak to do it myself until we finally got to the end of the show. The pain really didn’t hit until after… and off I went to A&E in drag to get my wrist checked out. Turns out I had a bad sprain and it ended up strapped up for two weeks.
"Moral of the story is… don’t make a homemade wrecking ball and think you’ll live to tell the tale."
Paul Ryder (@itspaulryder)
"I once saw a couple get engaged. Well, he proposed in front of the main stage performer while she was singing, the partner looked to have said NO, then they fought, mid-show, walked off, and later that night saw the SAME partner scoring another chap.. no sign of the husband to be, or not."
Ariana Grindr (@_arianagrindr)
"I was dancing on The George Pride float this past Pride weekend as Taylor Swift in an Era’s tour costume that I spent MONTHS meticulously re-creating with over 20,000 rhinestones, when the heavens opened and washed one of my eyelashes overboard!
"I had to jump off and run to the Boots on Grafton street for a replacement, bolting down the road like Sonia O’Sullivan in full Taylor Swift drag, in a wig that shrivelled up in the rain like a wet raccoon. I bought a couple pairs of eyelashes, superglued them together, stuck them back onto my face and somehow Usain Bolt-ed it in high heels back to Pantibar just in time for my show!
"I went to see Taylor Swift in the Aviva that night and even though I had to stay up 'til all hours with the massage gun on my poor feet that were about to fall off after 16 hours of drag, "the high was worth the pain".
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"I also have a story about being hired by a woman to show up to her ex husband’s surprise 60th and introduce myself to all his family and friends as his new girlfriend lol. Thankfully he had a sense of humour and I made it home hate crime-free!"
Grainne Kneez (@grainnekneez)
"A group of lads once offered me €20 to give his friend a lap dance because he thought I was a stripper."
Anita Hero (@anitahero__)
"One time another Queen stepped on my foot in a heel, and broke my toe. My tights were full of blood. Another time a Queen fell on stage and broke her two elbows––with the adrenaline she was able to continue performing. Another Queen did the splits and her kneecap popped out, she had to pop it back in and perform again…
"Another time, I was hosting a brunch when a stag party came in. I pulled them all up on stage individually. One lad did a strip tease and took everything off, except for the thong he was wearing... which he eventually stripped off. The place didn’t have a licence for nudity, so they wanted him down, obviously. About that time, he decided to gob me. Consent* is key, guys."
Tina Leggs (@madameleggs111)
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"I was doing a show with three other Drag queens one night - four of us all together. The night we were in rehearsal, the fourth one of us showed up; this naturally beautiful, glamorous Drag Queen who said she’d been late because she’d met the most beautiful guy at the bar and had fallen in love. We were looking down from the first floor, onto the bar, trying to find him. She said he was gorgeous, dark hair, dark eyes, very chiselled features, almost Italian looking the way she made him out.
"So, for the show, the four of us were doing an individual number each and then an ad lib. When we finished, she started looking everywhere for him, but couldn’t find him. Only to discover that the man had left… with his wife who had come to join him. He left because he didn’t realise that the Drag Queen who he was speaking to before his wife arrived was actually a guy.
"On the way out, the bouncer said to the guy’s wife: was everything alright? To which the wife replied: "I don’t really know, all of a sudden my husband doesn’t want to be here anymore. And the bouncer had seen it all––including him kissing her. Mad night."
*If you have been affected by issues raised in this story, please visit: www.rte.ie/helplines.
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