By Hollis Taylor

October the 13th was the Finale for Stallions Club “Amateur Drag Race” in Harrisburg. At this point I was returning to the Amateur Drag Race when I could, as a guest performer. This was the finale and I had promised two performances to Eartha, the scheduling Queen. About 3-4 days before the show a queen contacted me about doing a performance together, as Gomez and Morticia Addams.  I was very intrigued since I love to work with people more than alone, I find its more creative. I was excited to do this with BellaDonna – although anxious that we didn’t have much preparation time.  Anyway, it made 3 performances in one night, that’s a busy night!

So the first performance was with BellaDonna and although I messed a few things up, there was a lot of positive feedback. I felt like we did pretty good! It was certainly fun! I was so mad when i dropped the knife from my mouth but after watching the video realized it wasn’t as terrible as I thought! . Just like me though to stumble over a major thing, that clumsiness will go away as I do more drag.

The next performance, “Mr. Cellophane” from the show Chicago, was serendipitous. First, a woman that I care deeply about, Sandra. I am currently sort of care-taking her in a way.  I am her companion of sorts for her end journey, she is dying of cancer. I just listen, hold her hand, and generally help her feel more comfortable. I comfort her family as I can and try to be available for anything they might need, that I can provide. Then one of my favorite queens, Jade DeVere, suggested the song as well. At that point I had pretty much committed to Sandra that I would do it, and this appeared to be my last chance. So I introduced myself to the videos related to Chicago to get a feel for things, since I had never seen the show. But lots of the music was familiar, things often work for me that way. I don’t really watch Televisions because I simply fall asleep, instead I listen to music and spend most of my relax time on the internet. Anyway I watched all sorts of Broadway performances for this song. I found it to be a very sad song and struggled with performing sad, without being silly. I guess I am used to always leaving my audiences “happy”. So I was trying to tap into my experience as a child, how ignored I felt. How days would go by without interacting with anyone, especially when school was out.  These days I hide in my invisibility but back then it did break my heart, so I tried to remember that when I performed this. Also, the dance moves are inspired from a broadway performance done by a woman, dressed as a man.

Finally, I did a fun country song called “Ticks” by Brad Paisley. It’s a very flirty fun song that just makes me smile every time I hear it. I think the hardest part of performing this song is that it all relied on the audience and my interaction with them, and frankly that is completely unpredictable. Anyway it ended up going well in the end and again I got tons of compliments on it. I love being flexible enough to do any drag performance presented to me.

As for the performances went well, overall. I am happy with my drag experiences thus far. I am impressed with the support and compassion of the drag community. I find that mostly everyone backstage is sweet to me and that in general the drag community is one of the most accepting and compassionate communities I have ever been part of. I am so grateful for my experiences so far and I am looking forward to many more!