If you haven't been in on the story here's the gist: The Rodeo came up with a fundraiser to showcase cowboys you would pay to see in drag, and the cowboys had to solicit sponsors to raise the money. The event took place Friday night at Marlena's.
Former Mr. Gay Rodeo and former Rodeo President Doug Graff agreed to help out the newbies (one of the criteria is that the cowboys in the show must never have done drag before). Doug was exceptionally generous with his time, experience, and accessories.
Doug is also known as Winnie Baygo.
My eyes kept watering from the cold so I had to forego eyeliner and fake lashes, but Winnie did me up fierce. (And very much in the Winnie Baygo style—everyone could tell who did my makeup.)
I was amused to get my nails done by the shop across the street. I have been going there for almost a decade and the ladies there still can't grasp that I am gay. There is a language barrier to be sure, but C'MON! After I while I gave up trying to explain. Then Shilpa started joining me from time to time.
"That your girlfriend?!"
"No."
"That your girlfriend?"
"No."
"That your girlfriend?"
"No."
"That your girlfriend?"
"No."
"That your girlfriend?"
"Sure. Whatever."
"I knew dat was your girlfriend!"
I went in for an acrylic set but she said they had temporary nails that would not come off during the night but could easily be removed tomorrow. Basically these were plastic "fashion" nails from China that affixed with superglue. They only had diamonds and fireworks and hello kitty sort of stuff. So while I was hoping for red plastic they could just glue on, they had to glue the fashion nails on then paint them. Which of course I managed to screw up once or twice before leaving the salon (things guys don't generally know: you should pay first as retrieving the wallet ruins the nails. Then there was the incident of retrieving my keys from my pocket to get back inside.)
But back to the drag.
I'll tell you, it was an experience!
First of all, no one recognized me. I didn't recognize myself in the mirror. And once all that drag was on, I was a different person. I don't know if it was the hair or the nails that did it. Most experienced queens say there is a single trigger. Once that goes on, the personality emerges.
I had a blast. Thank God for good friends and Jack Daniels!
RMJ and Miss Otis Regrets
Miss Otis Regrets and Kevin Koberele
Shilpa and Miss Otis Regrets
(Can we take a moment for the size differential here?)
Miss Otis and James Hass
Guy Innes and Miss Otis Regrets
My intimates were there to cheer me on: James, Shilpa, RMJ, and Kevin and Shawn. Also showing their support were Canadian Guy and Sharon. And a very special thank you to Michael Smith, and Lance Holeman, for cheering me on and taking such amazing photos! (Flickr is all nanny now so to see my photos or Michael's you'll have to go to Your Account/Privacy & Permissions and scroll down to Content Filters and turn safe search to off.)
Kevin had agreed to be my man prop for my second number, and did an excellent job.
Sure, I performed well and looked good too, but most of the questions or comments I've gotten were all about who that hottie was that I brought along.
I really do wish that the band could have been there. 77 El Deora would have howled at my renderings of their songs, and the crowd's reaction too. Although I sorely missed having Mau, Jeanine, Jenn, and Christopher there, I had a blast doing the numbers.
Apparently, it showed. After the first number, Marlena herself asked me to come back and become a repeat performer. High praise indeed!
It was a lot of fun but I don't know if I'll do it again—drag is a lot of investment. And I have no idea how to put on my own makeup. Or where I would store clothes, shoes, wigs and all of the face products. If Winnie agrees to make me up again, and let me borrow some hair again, I'll consider it.
Oh yeah, let's talk about the hair. I felt like Janice from The Muppet Show. And I kept flipping my hair to get it out of my face (and annoying the people behind me). And having all that hair was certainly a unusual experience for me.
Scenes from the first number "This Record Sucks":
And from the more elaborate "Is This Gonna Hurt?":
"This feels so good..."
"It's so long..."
(since I've had so much attention)
"Before we take this any further let me choose..."
"Is this gonna hurt?"
"Is this gonna hurt? I can brace myself a little if I know."
This event, as I've said, was a fundraiser, and we raised about $1,200 Friday night. $300 of that was in raffle ticket sales during the night, and the remainder was in drag sponsorships. I raised over $500 and won prizes for raising the most money. Including a fabulous new Rodeo belt buckle.
And you know how I am about buckles. I was also given a special edition boxed set of Garth Brooks CDs.
A friend arranged to video record the show but flaked on me so I don't have a recording of either performance. Shilpa took a few seconds of video here and there and I have put these together into about a minute clip of my performances and the award.
Enjoy!
I do have a couple of things to say about performing, but it's late and I'm tired and I'll follow up later. Folks have been asking for a Miss Otis post and I wanted to get all of this up as soon as I could manage it!
Something tells me you haven't seen the last of her.
Apple gallery and video. Flickr set (Shilpa's photos) and Michael's.
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