Transgender in Drag!?

Dragology for Beginners

Chapter 8

Transgender in Drag!

Hello, hello, hello brothers! Welcome back to another chapter of Dragology. I hope you guys are enjoying yourselves and building that fan base we talked about. In this chapter we are going to go into a topic that is not uncommon in our world, but as a new performer you may not know the details and sooner or later you will deal with this. Transgender men in drag!

First we are going to discuss the differences between transgender, transsexual, and drag kings/male illusionists. I am going to first give you the literal definitions of each category and then go more in depth.

Transsexual- Transsexual men are men who were born female, however they identify as being male. They dress, talk, act, walk, and try and hide their feminine aspects as much as they can, but they have not made a physical, permanent  transition from female to male.

Transgender- Transgender men are men that were born female, however they identify as being male. They take hormones and have surgeries to physically and permanently change their gender from female to male.

Drag Kings/Male Illusionists-(We are grouping these two together because in Chapter 6 we already talked about the distinction between the two.) Drag Kings/Male Illusionists are born female and still identify as being female, but they make a physical (yet not permanent) transition from female to male for purely entertainment purposes only.

Does being transgender give you a leg up in a competition against Drag Kings?

This is a question that has caused a lot of controversy among our brothers. Everyone has their own opinions and there will never be a set yes or no to this question, but it is a good idea to get both sides of the story to understand what exactly is the issue.

First we are going to discuss the ‘unfairness’ of transgender men competing against Drag Kings. The main argument is that for a ‘true King’ to be a King you have to go through that physical transformation every time you perform. i.e. Applying facial hair, breast binding, groin padding. That is what makes a female into a male for performances. Now if you are transgender (not transsexual) then the issue arises when you do not have to go through the same steps such as facial hair and binding.

Here is a bit from one of my personal influences, Nation Tyre, “ My opinion, I hope ur ready for this!!... but my opinion(Nation Tyre) I consider myself an M.I. female, I don’t have any probs with transgendered or transsexuals, but as far as competing, it IS an unfair advantage. It is an art, and craft,… when surgery and drugs are not involved, but when those come into play, I feel the entertainer should not be considered M.I. WHERE IS THE ILLUSION, U EAT SLEEP DRINK, AND CONSIDER YOURSELF A MAN, BUT YOU WANT TO POSE AS AN M.I.??? TRUE U ARE ONE, BECAUSE OF THE FACT U WERE BORN A FEMALE,BUT IF U GET THE SURGERY AND PROSTETICS AND WHAT NOT, LIKE A REAL BOI, LIKE THE QUEENS THAT R TRANSGENDERED, THEY ARE TRANS DAY AND NITE…. ITS JUST LIKE BASE BALL, U CANT TAKE STEROIDS AND STILL WANNA BE CONSIDERED THE HOMERUN KING, U TOOK A BODY ALTERING DRUG, THEREFORE YOUR TITLE, OR ABILITY TO PLAY WAS ALTERED.. THIS IS MY OPINION, AND NOT LAW!! I HAVE A RIGHT TO FEEL THE WAY I FEEL BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY, I HAVE NOT EVER ONCE THOUGHT OF MYSELF MALE, I JUST GET PAID FOR IT!!!!(THAT IS ALL) BUT LIKE I SAIDS I HAVE NO PROBLEMS WITH TRANS, BUT WHEN I SPEND MY MONEY TO RUN IN A PAGEANT, I WANT TO RUN AGAINST OTHER FEMALES, NOT TRANSMEN AND ITS NOT ABOUT LOOKS, ITS ABOUT LIFE, AND WHAT U CONSIDER URSELF WHILE LIVING IT!!!”

Now we are going to jump the fence and look at the other side of this issue from both transgender men and non-transgender kings. I am going to start with a few quotes and then after that we will sum up the entire debate!

“To me, it’s always been the elephant in the room. I agree with Damian that the queens have been doing it for years and in a way it has helped to open up new systems and concepts of what drag is. If I spend all my time as a performer worried about what the guy next to me looks like, who he is on a daily basis, and all that crap, then I am wasting my time of trying to better myself.”- Joshua K Mann

 “As an entertainer who just happens to be transgender, I can tell you right now that my 5 years of hormone therapy and top surgery has not made me a better entertainer nor does it give me an edge in competition. Being around other entertainers, studying my own strengths and weaknesses, and giving each performance my all is what has made me a better entertainer.”-Teddy Michael

“I agree, it is the heart that makes the entertainer. In my case, I am NOT transgender, my stylist and I work really hard on creating my illusion. I don’t have a problem with transmen competing on competitions alongs side non-trans. Although, truthfully, this has not always been the case.. I used to think that it would be almost impossible for someone like me to compete with a brother who has has the top surgery and hormones, but have since changed my view on this. I have come to realize after following circuits and with the some wise and supportive opinions of some of my dear friends, that it is all about the performers spirit and dedication to the craft that makes them a winner, title or not!!”—Logan Dale

What my brothers are saying here is that we, as performers, shouldn’t worry about what other people around us are doing, we should be focusing on ourselves and trying to better ourselves because really, if you are an amazing performer and are a non-transgender man standing next to a transgender man who didn’t do quite as well as you did, then the fact that they are transgender doesn’t automatically make them a better performer. Transgenders do have to be careful in pageants because most of the higher end ones such as Master Illusionist have guidelines about whether a transgender man can compete or if you have to be fully female. Though these guidelines are mainly set for big national titles, pageant agencies should start adding specific rules stating if transgender men can or cannot compete so that the other performers will know what they are up against and don’t get blindsided when they see a bunch of shirtless men out on stage.

Many of you reading this are young and new to the entertaining world so you may not have encountered a situation where you have had to deal with this or had to have formed an opinion on the matter, but I assure you, eventually you will and it is best to get opinions from more experienced Kings before the occasion should arise so you will be well prepared. Now for a quick quote from my man Nikki Kidd to end this discussion.

“I believe we are all people with a drive to entertain in our community and help make it a better place through performing. I really believe that we need to embrace each other as brothers no matter what. Each Artist has their own ideas, creative outlets and tools. If we work together, we can become a stronger force. Hormones do not make an entertainer, it is the heart, drive and ability to help others grow and be willing to grow that make an entertainer. Even in competing rank means nothing, doesn’t mean you are any better means you have strengths and weakness just like everyone else. A true winner comes out on top when he offers tools to those that are willing to learn, a true entertainer never stops pushing themselves to be better.”- Nikki Kidd

ALWAYS LOVE AND SUPPORT YOUR BROTHERS! WE ARE ALL BROTHERS! EVEN IF WE HAVE NEVER MET! If we fight and separate ourselves among each other then who will have our backs when the world turns on us?!

Alright men that is all for this chapter. Make sure to come back next week to continue your advanced journey! ALSO if any of you would like to do some advertising on here, hit me up with your name, picture, and a form of contact and I will be posting them with the weekly updates! Peace out!

Getting Known.

Dragology for Beginners

Chapter 7

Getting known.

Welcome back brothers! If you are having trouble getting bookings then this chapter is just for you! This chapter is alllll about different and easy ways to get your name out there to clubs and other entertainers in the business.

So first of all we are going to start with the best way to start getting you name out there BEFORE you ever hit the stage. NETWORKING. The most basic and easiest way to do this is by creating a Facebook page or a profile on your favorite  social networking site. (Myspace, Twitter, ect.) If you know of any King or Queen, go and add them, add their friends. Most nightclubs even have their own pages, so go add them. Introduce yourself. Build relationships before you ever even have your first performance. That way when you get there to the venue you will know the people working around you and it will make you more at ease and more comfortable. This business is all about networking. If people don’t know who you are, they aren’t going to book you.

Another kind of networking is face to face. Go to your local bars and clubs that you would be interested in performing at and meet the people! Go up to the entertainers, introduce yourself, tell them you are thinking of doing drag and they will be more than willing to talk with you. It is always a good thing to be friendly and willing to meet new people. This can be a difficult thing to do if you are a shy person, so start off small, don’t try and push yourself into doing something you aren’t comfortable, but the more outgoing and talkative you are the easier it is to get people to notice you and remember you the next time you come around. This is a great way to get your foot in the door, but it doesn’t stop there. It doesn’t matter how many times you go or perform someplace, there will always be new people, so before and after every performance you should be walking around and meeting new people!!  You never know who may be watching. You have to be a very down to Earth kind of person and you can’t let fame get to your head no matter how hard it is! You have fans out there! You should know them, and talk with them because your fans are the people who are keeping you on that stage and keeping you paid!

Now those are just some ways to get people to know you before you ever perform, THIS is the best way to guarantee shows. Amateur nights! Most clubs that have drag shows will have a monthly Amateur or talent night where everyone is welcome. Go out to your local bars and nightclubs and ask about their Amateur nights. Sign up and bam! You are in a show. It’s pretty easy and the best thing is normally you will get paid if you win! However if you don’t win your first time or second or third then don’t sweat, it can take some time to win a contest, even one for Amateurs. You might get sick of doing Amateur nights, but trust me you need the practice! You shouldn’t just stick to one club though, you need to travel. Some performers go hours away, even out of state to get shows, because unless you are a cast member (which takes a title or years of experience to accomplish) you aren’t going to get enough shows from one place to make good money. However, you need to check the rules for each club because most places won’t let you compete at other clubs in the same city if you win their Amateur nights. So be careful because you don’t want to do anything to get disqualified.

After you spend your time perfecting yourself as a performer and your performance in general and building up your rep. you should be winning those Amateur nights with no problem! With winning talent shows comes benefits like going on to compete in(and hopefully win) Entertainer of the Year pageants, getting more shows outside of Amateur nights, and all around the experience and growing fan base you will need to make it BIG time!

Now once you get you name built up locally, that is when you can start going NATIONAL! There are hundreds of M.I. and Drag King pageants all over the country that you can easily enter, compete and possibly win. These pageants are where the big titles come into play so be ready for a hard competition. You won’t be competing against amateurs anymore, this is the big leagues and you will be competing against some of the best and well known Kings in the country! Some of which helped write this blog. J

Well that is the end of yet another chapter boys! I hope this helped and gave some insight for what is expected of you as an entertainer, because you ARE a public figure and people do look up to for guidance and all around a good time. Remember! It doesn’t matter how many people know your name, never let yourself get lost in the clouds and as always please leave any comments or questions. Peace out brothers!

Drag Kings vs Male Illusionist

Dragology for Beginners

Chapter 6

Drag Kings vs Male Illusionist

Welcome back! I hope all of you have some shows lined up already, but again if you haven’t don’t worry it does take some time. What we are going to be discussing today is the difference between Drag Kings and Male Illusionists.

First we are going to be talking about Male Illusionists. If you remember from Chapter 2, Dress/Music, I talked a bit about ‘illusionists’ being Kings who portray a certain artist. Well a Male Illusionist is simply a woman portraying a real man. Normally that means they wear normal clothes that you would buy from a store. It can have basic alterations to it, but nothing too fancy. Basically these types of performers want people to see them as a man on stage performing, not a woman on stage performing as a man. They want to hear whispers in the crowd saying, “Is that a man or a girl?” This kind of performing is difficult to pull off, because even after all of the transitioning from woman to man, women still have a femme side to them and it’s hard to hide, but if you are one who can pull it off it pays off well in the end. Male Illusionists try not to do anything crazy during performances and they don’t wear crazy costumes.

Then there are the Drag Kings and Drag Kings are different in the fact that they don’t just wear normal, store bought clothes. Drag Kings are Kings and they have to shine like Kings. In the Entertainment world, Kings do compete against Drag Queens and Queens, are, well Queens. They have crazy outfits that sparkle and glitter and shine. For Kings to be able to stand out against all of that glitter, they have to glitter as well. Drag Kings normally make their own alterations to their clothing by adding rhinestones, glitter, their stage name, studs, anything and everything. Some of them even wear crazy wigs or have crazy colored hair and makeup. Drag Kings are there to put on a show in the sense that they are Kings and Kings need their jewels. No Drag King is going to look like the other.

Now the lines start to blur after awhile, some people may disagree about the ‘definition’ of a Drag King, and some people may put the two groups as one, which is fine, but one basic rule does apply as said by Victoria Cornerstone, “Good drag ain’t cheap and cheap drag ain’t good.” You need to put a lot of time, thought and effort into what you are wearing and sometimes that even means a lot of money. Though Good Will and thrift stores are a great place to look into as well. You don’t always have to spend a lot of money to look like you spent a lot of money.  ;)

Well that is all for this chapter. Please keep coming back because you never know what next week’s topic will be and please keep sending in your questions and comments I enjoy reading them. J Peace my brothers.

Final Touches

Dragology for Beginners

Chapter 5

Final Touches.

Welcome back my brothers! At this point in your journey you have learned all of the basics for being a King and hopefully you have at least had your first performance, but if you haven’t then no problem there is still much to learn. Today we are going to be talking about a few different topics that most people don’t think about before their first performance.

We are going to start with the head and work our way down. First is the hair. Most people really don’t think about their hair until the night of and just expect to put it up in a pony tail or they think that it’s short enough not to worry with, well guess again, it doesn’t matter how long, or short your hair is or if you plan on wearing a hat or not, you need to worry about your hair. The smallest thing can make you look like a girl or a man. A short boy cut is the best way to go, it makes you look more manly and it doesn’t take so much to worry with, this kind of cut you can wear with or without a hat, it all depends on the song and your look. However don’t go chopping all of your hair off for drag! If you like your hair a bit longer, then you can work with that as well. For hair too short to put in a pony tail, but too girly to leave out just wear a hat, it doesn’t matter what kind, a fitted, a fedora, whatever, wear a hat, but if the back of your hair touches your shirt collar you should tuck it into the hat. Also you can go all out and get a short cut boy wig to wear that way you really don’t have to worry about much of anything. Now for girls with long hair, a pony tail is really the best way to go, just pile it all on top of your head and put it under a hat, or you can use the wig method as well, which ever you think is best. Just a forewarning, by pulling your hair onto the top of your head you can tell by the way the back of your head looks, you can tell that you do have longer hair and you are just hiding it. It can make you lose points in a competition, and it does ruin the illusion for the audience.

Alright so still on the head; now we have hats. Hats are very important because they can make or break a look. Hats make you look more manly because fitted caps and fedoras are associated with men more so than women. It all depends on what look you are going for, however you don’t always have to wear a hat if you have short hair or wear a wig.

Working our way down to the face now. Sunglasses are always a ‘cool’ accessory to have. Especially if you are doing hip-hop or rap. Sunglasses also make you more manly because it does hide your face more and it gives the audience that mystery of what’s behind the glasses. Sunglasses can also help you as a performer to be more comfortable on stage because you don’t have to look people straight in the eye. However, you can’t wear girly sunglasses! They have to be men sunglasses, or they will make you look very femme.

Then we move on to jewelry. Jewelry is hard to do because most men don’t wear a lot of jewelry, so unless you are going for the crazy, punk-rock look the less jewelry you have the better. However, if you do want to wear pieces of jewelry like a watch, a necklace or a ring, make sure it is men’s jewelry. Again the smallest things can make you look like a girl or a man and one girly ring can sent off your entire look.

Next are jackets. Jackets can work very well for Kings because you can customize them by putting your name or rhinestone or other designs on them. Once again they need to be men jackets! Most men jackets have a square shoulder line to them, which is good! Women have rounded shoulders so wearing a man’s jacket can help square those shoulders a bit.

Shirts are really hard to go wrong with so I wouldn’t worry too much with those, just make them work with your outfit, again MEN’S SHIRTS! When you are dressing like a man, all of your clothes need to be from the men’s department!!!

Pants are again something that is really hard to go wrong with, but it does happen. You need pants that are a bit baggy on you so it doesn’t show the shape of your hips as much. Women have wider hips then men so to find pants that fit your waist you are going to have to go a few sizes over.

Shoes are once again hard to go wrong with, but they need to match your outfit and style and they need to be easy to move in. Always make sure your shoes are clean also.

Now the last thing I want to discuss is something that most Kings really don’t even do, but it is something that will give you that extra punch over other Kings. PADDING! Queens uses pads to make breasts, and tape to hide their groins, well as Kings we use tape to hide our breasts and pads to make groins! Sounds strange I know, but when you perform just stick a pair of rolled up socks in your groin and it makes a huge difference! Trust me the audience and the judges will notice and they will all comment on it. In a good way. ;)

Well you guys that is it for this chapter. If you have already had your first performance and didn’t win, try some of these out and let me know how they worked for you and as always send me your questions and I will answer them for you! Peace out!

Facial Hair

Dragology for Beginners

Chapter 4

Facial Hair

Alright men after you bind yourself the next step is to apply facial hair and to make your face more masculine.

So materials that you will need.

1.      Eye shadow (I know you thought that you would never have to wear any again, well you were wrong.) The color eye shadow that you need depends on the color of your hair. If you have black hair you need a grey eye shadow, if you have dark brown hair you need a dark brown eye shadow a little lighter than your hair color, if you have light brown you need a light brown eye shadow, if you have blonde hair you need a very very very light brown and a bit of yellow eye shadow.

2.      Eye brow pencil. The same rules as above apply for the color.

3.      A small make up brush.

4.      Spirit Gum (You can get spirit gum offline or at almost any costume store there is.)

5.      Hair (When you get a haircut you can save the clippings and cut them up very fine in a plastic bag. Or you can get a wig/Barbie doll/baby doll with the same color hair you have and get the clippings from there.) (Note: For best results you should use your natural hair.)

Alright now that you have all of these things, it’s time to turn that face into a man’s.

Step one: Finding your face.

You need to decide on the type of facial hair you want. The point in Kings using facial hair is to make their faces look more manly. One thing you need to change is your jaw line. Women have a round jaw line when men have a square jaw line so your facial hair should square your face and bring out your jaw line. You need to decide if you want a full beard, just side burns, a goatee, a mustache, however you want your style to be and if something doesn’t work right the first time you can always change it.

Step two: Shadowing.

Once you figure out where you want the hair you bring out the eye shadow and makeup brush. You take the brush and dab it into the eye shadow. Then draw in side burns connecting it with your hair, down your jaw line and then along the bottom of your jaw to your chin and repeat for the other side. (Refer to Diagram A.) Next you go along the line you just created adding shadowing to your cheeks, along your chin and on your upper lip. (Refer to Diagram B.)

(Diagram A.)

(Diagram B.)

Step three: Eyebrows.

Now you take your eyebrow pencil and lightly go over your eyebrows to make them thicker. Bring them in towards your nose a bit as well so it squares off your brow. Once you shape them the way you want, go back in with a piece of tissue and feather the lines so it’s not so sharp. (Refer to Diagram C.)

(Diagram C.)

Step four: Applying hair.

Alright guys now we get to the fun part. Actually applying the hair to your face. Take a clump of hair out of your bag and break it up a bit. Then open your Spirit Gum and apply it along the line you created earlier. Only do a little bit at a time because you have to make sure you get everything even and the Spirit Gum dries pretty fast. Once you brush on the glue, pinch some of the hair between your thumb and finger and dab it along the glue until it gets to the thickness you want it. Then repeat the process until you have hair everywhere you want it. (Note: You do not have to put hair everywhere you put the shadowing, just were you drew the darker lines.) (Refer to Diagram D.)

                                                                   (Diagram D.)

Step five: Trimming up.

After you have the hair where you want it and make sure it’s even and there are no gaps it’s time to do some trimming. Take two fingers and place them on either side of the hair line that you made, lightly brush them down the line so the line gets straight and there are no crazy hairs poking all over the place. Then get close to the mirror and it helps to have a light in front or above you so you can see all the out of place hairs, just gently pluck them, but try not to pull a lot of hairs out at once. You may have to go back and touch it up with the spirit gum, but like everything else you will get better with practice.

Congratulations! You have officially learned the basic fundamentals of being a Drag King! You should be taking your time to perfect these past few chapters. Don’t rush into it. This sort of thing takes time and practice and if you don’t win a competition your first time, don’t sweat! Just by getting on that stage you have succeeded more than most people have!

Now this isn’t the end of your training, more chapters will be coming soon so no worries. If you have any questions or want to share your experiences with us then send them in! Peace out my young Kings!



Binding

 Dragology for Beginners

Chapter 3

Binding

Alright so far we have covered your name, your attitude, and your style of music and dress. You are officially half way there! In this chapter we are going to be talking about binding, there will be pictures for you to look at because binding is one of the most important things a King needs to know how to do. *Warning! Some pictures are a bit explict!*

Now binding or taping seems easy to do, but it can be very dangerous. If you do not bind yourself properly you can cause yourself short term or long term injuries. Binding takes some time to get use to and it takes practice to do it right. Not binding correctly can cause restricted breathing, displacement of ribs and organs, and it can even cause breast cancer.

When first starting out all I can say is to PRACTICE and always get someone to help you and  you should stay bound as short of time as possible. The more you do it you will understand what works for you and what doesn’t work for you and how to not hurt yourself. I would suggest to bind when you get to your venue you are performing at and to unbind before you leave. And NEVER EVER USE AN ACE BANDAGE TO BIND!!!!

Now there are different ways to bind depending on your outfit or you natural cup size. When binding with tape you should use duct tape. It might hurt taking it off, but it sticks to your skin better and it causes a tighter bind. Other tapes can break and slip during performances which is never a good thing. You can always put a piece of a shirt over the area where the tape will be, but if you are putting it straight on your skin I would suggest to put lotion on first and take the tape off in the shower so it will peel off easier. NEVER USE THE BANDAID METHOD BY RIPPING IT OFF. IT CAN LEAVE WELPS AND EVEN MAKE YOU BLEED. (Been there, done that.)

If you are a person with a small cup size then you could probably get away with not binding with tape, however, not binding at all is not the way to go. If you wear a bra on a day to day bases, you should always bind! Otherwise you are not really a ‘Drag King’, you would fit into a totally different category, but we will get into that in another chapter. Now instead of using tape to bind, you can always go to Wal-mart or Target or someplace like that and get a tight fitting tank top that is used kind of like Spanks, except they are meant for your chest and stomach. (Refer to Diagram A.)Putting that on under your performing clothes should be enough to make your chest flat enough to perform. THIS ONLY WORKS FOR SMALL CHESTED GIRLS. IF YOU ARE OVER A ‘B’ CUP YOU NEED TO USE TAPE!

(Diagram A.)

For girls with a ‘C’ cup and larger you can use the same method as above, however you will also need to add some tape for extra support. This is where things get dangerous so pay attention.

When binding with tape you should never do the ‘mummy’ method. Meaning you shouldn’t wrap the tape all the way around your chest. (Refer to Diagram B.) This is where Kings go wrong because this type of binding doesn’t really do much good because it just causes a ‘muffin top’ and it causes unnecessary discomfort.

(Diagram B.)

The best way to bind is to start on one side of your chest, place one end of the tape in the middle of your chest and pull your breast to the side wrapping the tape around to about the middle of your back. Continue to do this to one side until the entire breast is covered. Then do the same thing to the other side. (Refer to Diagram C.) If your arms are not long enough to reach behind yourself this is where you should get help from someone. This type of binding is best for what we call ‘closed shirt binding’ where you are wearing a t-shirt or any type of shirt that will not be showing your chest.

(Diagram C. Notice the seam in the middle of the chest. The tape does not wrap all the way around.)

Like I said before there are different types of binding depending on what you will be wearing so now that we have covered closed shirt binding, we will now discuss ‘open shirt binding’ and this method applies to every girl with any cup size.

Open shirt binding needs to be done on skin or again you can cover the area with a piece of shirt or cloth. Now it is done exactly how I explained above only instead of starting in the middle of your chest you should start where your nipple is that way you can show off most all of your chest area. (Refer to Diagram D.) When doing this type of binding you have to be careful when you are performing because you shouldn’t let your audience or judges see your bindings, so what you can also do is take some double sided tape and tape your shirt to your chest so it will not open wide enough to see your bindings. (Refer to Diagram E.)

(Diagram D.)

 

(Diagram E.)

Alright well that should be it for how to bind yourself, like I said it takes practice to get use to it so don’t worry if you have problems at first. So get off of here and bring out that duct tape and get started. Again if you have any questions send them in and they will get answered. Peace out.

Dress/Music

Dragology for Beginners

Chapter 2

Dress/music

Hey all of you Princes! You are now on your way to becoming Kings! The last chapter just quickly talked about picking a name for yourself and working on getting your swag down tight. In this chapter we are going to be talking about dress and music together because depending on the type of music you are doing decides how you dress.

Now the next thing you should start thinking about is what kind of style or artist you want to portray. Some people do stick to one style of music like Rock or R&B, or they portray just one artist like Usher or Justin Bieber. Other performers switch between different artists and different types of music because it keeps your performances interesting and people aren’t seeing you do the same thing over and over.

First we are going to talk about one of the hardest types of drag there is and that’s ‘Illusionists’. Drag ‘illusionists’ are Kings who make their selves look and act exactly like a specific artist. When doing illusions you have to be very careful, because if the roster says ‘Usher illusionist’ people come to see someone who looks, and acts, and performs exactly how Usher would on a live stage. This type of drag needs a lot of research and a lot of costuming and dance moves. Everything down to the way they talk and walk. There is some big money in being an ‘illusionist’ because a lot of clubs will book you simply because you do Usher or Jason Derulo or whoever.

Another form of drag, which is the most popular and easiest to do is called ‘interpreter’ drag. Most kings do this type of drag because it allows you to let your own personality show through into the way you move and dress. Basically what you do is study the song and then you make up your own routine and outfit based on your personal preferences. So you essentially act as if you were the original artist and you do it the way you would had. This leaves room for a lot of fun and creativity.

Well I think that is about it for this chapter, i know it was short but we will get more into dress in another chapter. If anyone has questions feel free to send in your questions and I will personally answer everyone of them. J Peace.