The rise of the Drag Thing
A sofa, an egg, a corn-on-the-cob, a tragic greek clown and a pair of jeans walk into a bar...
This feature, written by Evi Hall, is published in the current issue of the LMAOnaise newspaper, still available to buy here!
Evi Hall, part of Up After Dark, is the first non-me writer LMAOnaise has published (aside from comedians), which is exciting! I was so delighted that Evi wanted to write this feature because drag performers and characters such as the ones featured here are so much what LMAOnaise is about. Yes, we’re a comedy newsletter, but where we find that comedy isn’t in any way prescriptive and we often find that the best things lie across the borders between genre. The things that excite us most are, as Evi says, “slippery to define”.
Drag things sit somewhere between and outside of the queen or king – borrowing elements from both and neither. It can be a home for gender fluid performers or those who want to embody gender fluidity in their art, or for those who play with elements from clown, cabaret and mime. Drag things are slippery to define.
“I’m kind of on the spectrum of king and thing,” says Gregg Mayo. “Early on I was experimenting with being a sexy fuckboy/softboy type and I had this idea of Timowee Shatlamet but who’s always pissing or shitting himself (IBS kings!!). But I couldn't find the physicality of that sexy cool guy.” Gregg is instead a goofy “part man, part egg” who came from a desire for more control over their art and body. “I asked myself: what do I find funny? What do I want to explore that isn't being done in terms of masculinity? Then, somehow, I tied eggs into it because I thought, well, there's Easter sorted.”
“I bloody love being an inanimate object. Boundaries are a goddamn silly billy,” Su Mi comedian and drag thing says when I ask them about their multi-pack of drag characters, including the mysterious googly-eyed Thismotherphucker and corn-based Cornelius Cuntyweather the Third. “I like the look of corn, the little nibblets! The dress-like husk! The connotations of what it could be, sounds like, its backstory… Although I’d say most of my acts are ‘masc’, I enjoy the freedom of being anything and everything.”
Sofa King Filthy’s origin story is similarly playful with a darker twist. “There was a song I wanted to perform to that has this sleazy man talking before the music starts,” Sofa says. “My friend and I were trying to think who this man was – maybe he’s a casting director for a porno or something? Then I thought, but what if I was the actual casting couch? It felt very natural to become this dirty, greasy old-man gross-sofa thing.”
Similarly, Cissyphus found that pure king-ing wasn’t enough: “I wasn't happy with just stereotyping some sort of man, I wanted to explore ideas of revolution and change,” they explain. But taking the piss of a revolutionary male hero didn’t feel right either. “In this melodramatic fit/whinge to my girlfriend, I was like, ‘Oh God, the weight of the world is on my shoulders! Everything is so difficult!’ And then I was like, Oh! Sisyphus! Like the Greek myth.” Cissyphus is a drag king clown who takes cues from traditional cabaret, french mime and physical theatre. “The character is a good foundation to do silly drag that’s impactful. But it keeps that absurdity which is important to get things across to an audience.”
“I do some king-ing, but I identify as a thing,” says Jean. “I don't feel particularly binary a lot of the time so for me drag thing-ing is an expression of that.” Jean is both “a literal pair of jeans and also a little creature from a trash planet,” they describe, adding that part of the inspiration for Jean came from “an interest in trash and denim which is cheap and super easy to get second-hand”.
“Nothing about me looks human and that feels really liberating.”
Leaning into the ambiguous also allows performers to say more than they could with a binary character. “If I had gone super masc I think it might’ve limited me. I was influenced by a lot of decolonial and Marxist thinkers, so stepping away from a binary drag character felt necessary,” says Cissyphus. “Gender affects us all differently, just like patriarchy, capitalism or racism – it's the human experience,” they reflect. “Because Cissyphus is also a Greek myth, that gives me more space to be a bit more existential, more melodramatic, more OTT, which makes it easier to express our shared human anguish.”
Being an object allows you to play with objectification too. “In one of my acts I take the sofa off and underneath I'm almost completely naked with springs on my tits and a strap-on spring dick thing,” Sofa says. “If I was a drag person I’d feel more uncomfortable, but because I’m this object, I feel I identify with objectifying myself in that way. Nothing about me looks human and that feels really liberating.” The objectified is in control. “Being in a bigger body, society tries to tell you that’s offensive. I lean into that but also make you confused, maybe scared and definitely horny.”
Drag might seem to be everywhere currently but kings and things billings can be quite precarious. “I’ve been really fortunate with the opportunities I’ve had this early in my drag career,” says Jean, “but more widely there’s this real lack of appreciation and bookings for kings and things.” It’s a point everyone I spoke to raised and, as Su points out, “POC drag performers know we have to work a lot harder, so please give them the time and opportunities – and whilst we’re at it, trans people are loved, and accessibility for drag performers/audience members should be the base standard, thank you!”
Despite this bleaker backdrop, there is a vibrant world of mentors and inspiration that these performers have come from and look to. Wet Mess is a canonical self-described drag thingy-king that pretty much everyone I spoke to cited. Similarly, Cyro, known for their gorgeous, artistic and political work is frequently mentioned as inspiration and mentor for drag things and kings in the UK. Cissyphus and Sofa’s first acts were birthed under “amazing drag king and drag daddy of many kings in London”, Len Blanco. These myriad of drag things and their relatives are another beautiful quiver in the bow of this drag and cabaret world, and one we should support. As Gregg says: “I really enjoy watching a traditional king – a sexy, suave, heightened version of masculinity with a beautifully cut face and gorgeous suit – that’s art in itself. Likewise someone like Aiden Strickland dressed as a can of deodorant – that’s equally beautiful.”
Find all of these drag things and kings on Instagram at @mrgreggmayo, @sumicomedy, @sofa_king_filthy, @cissyphus_drag, @distressed_jean_, @wet_mess, @cyrodragthing, @king_len_blanco and @aidenstrickland.
Evi Hall is a writer, producer and an editor at LMAOnaise’s favourite nightlife newsletter, Up After Dark.
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