I really believe we are appealing to these people as drag kings. It's harsh having to live with that and there will be kids at school who bully you – I was bullied. "Butch lesbians, for want of a better term, have often been regarded as somehow 'less than.' These are people who've been told they're not strong enough to be a man but not pretty enough to be a woman.
One of the drag king scene's godfathers, Adam All, who co-hosts Man Up! along with another popular London drag king night called Boi Box, says the boom is especially important for a group of women who've traditionally been dismissed. I feel like we're potentially at a point in society where we're ready to start examining masculinity, and laughing with it and laughing at it." "There's a lot of focus on these straight white cisgender male figures who dominate politics and the economy, and I think there's a strong desire to take down those figures a bit with humour. "We're starting to question and satirise the role of the male in society," he argues. The winner of last year's Man Up! contest, a drag king called John Smith, says drag shouldn't be analysed too much because "it's there to cast a spell in the moment." Nevertheless, he puts forward an interesting theory for the growth in drag kings' popularity. It's more unusual to see a female channelling a male and adopting that sort of weight that a man has." Whereas with drag kings, a lot of it feels like new territory. And we're very familiar with the physicality, the look and the vocabulary of drag queens.
"When you watch a drag queen, everything becomes very lifted and 'up'. "In a way, I find watching drag kings more interesting than watching drag queens," Jonny Woo says. There are endless layers to peel back if you want to.
We're watching a woman impersonate a then-closeted gay man who was attempting to pass as straight but coming off incredibly camp in the process. On the one hand, it's the evening's most straightforward performance, but on the other, it's the most confusing. Georgeous Michael lip-syncs to George Michael's "I'm Your Man" wearing the leather jacket and designer stubble of the singer's '80s heyday. Richard Von Wild lip-syncs to a cleverly-mixed rap medley, while a contestant called Brent Wood delivers a more comic set, sending up Essex lad culture. When the drag kings take to the stage later on, the performances they give are both technically impressive and a lot of fun. That was really empowering so I thought I'd give it a go." "I've been interested in drag culture for a long time but last year's Man Up! was the first time I'd seen drag kings taking centre stage, as opposed to being just one performer on a bill. "I was inspired to try it for myself after I came to watch the competition last year," he explains. A drag king called Richard Von Wild tells me he's having a second stab at Man Up! after being beaten in the final last year, while another, Georgeous Michael, says he's performing in drag tonight for the first time ever. I've been invited to serve as the first heat's guest judge, but within half an hour of arriving at The Glory I've lost all claim to impartiality by chatting to two of the contestants backstage. This time there are six heats, twice as many as last year, and we've doubled the cash prize to £1,000." Last year's contest was basically a test to see if there was a demand for it, and we got a massive response so we've brought it back. "I was surprised at how immediately popular it was. "I felt like we were doing a lot of drag performance that basically just featured gay men and I wanted to cast the net a little wider and encourage more female performers," The Glory's co-owner Jonny Woo explains.
#Over meet drag kings series#
The Glory, an LGBT venue in east London, is currently midway through the second series of its weekly drag king talent contest, Man Up!. In the UK, drag kings are now beginning to catch up with the queens as they get booked to perform at more mixed cabaret shows and run their own club nights.
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