Boy Queen Takes It To The Runaway

Oh, come on! I might not be a RuPaul Drag Race viewer (don't give me that look!), but I couldn't resist using this gif to kickstart this post as, today, I am thrilled to be involved in the Boy Queen tour! 

Now, I read Boy Queen by George Lester earlier this year during lockdown and I had a blast reading it. It was fun, queer and everything I needed! (Link to the review is here, FYI!) So, once I had read this, I had to email the publisher to ask if there was going to be a blog tour or something to celebrate this book's release and if I could be involved in some way! 

Robin Cooper’s life is falling apart. While his friends are ready to go to uni, all he seems to be getting is rejection letters from most/all drama schools of the UK and Robin’s life seems to be spiralling. Unsure of himself and his talent, he and his best friends take him to a local gay bar on his birthday to cheer him up and, when there, they watch a local drag show. And Robin gets a strong reaction and he decides to, in the words of Mama RuPaul, Sashay away. 

But how can he get to grips with drag performing when he has a secret boyfriend who won’t acknowledge him in public, his mother can talk for England, his best friends are planning their futures and leaving him behind and the new boy at school is making Robin’s heart beat a little faster? 

Now, before I hand you over to George, I just want to say that if you want to check George out online, pop over to his youTube (youtube.com/TheGeorgeLester) or say hi to him on Twitter at @TheGeorgeLester. And if you want more info on Boy Queen, check out either PanMacmillan!

Ok, George, TAKE IT TO THE RUNWAY!

DIFFERENT KINDS OF DRAG

Thank you so much for having me! This is a really difficult thing to write about because I am not an authority on drag. No one is really. But there are a lot of different kinds of drag and a lot of different ways to do drag, so in this post I am going to endeavour to provide a little more clarity and talk about some of the different kinds of drag I have encountered. Also, please know, that no drag artists fits into a single box really, they could straddle several! Let's go.

Drag Queens

Let's start easy. Drag Queens are artists who perform something close to female illusion. This is often a very heightened art form where everything is a little bit bigger, whether that be the overdrawn lips or the oversized lashes. If you will allow me to be very Roxxxy Andrews about the situation, I want to make something clear; you can be a woman and be a drag queen, you can be non-binary and be a drag queen, you can be male and be a drag queen. There are no rules. Not even RuPaul herself can tell you that!

Drag Kings

Drag Kings are artists who perform something closer to male illusion and, again, this is often very heightened. Many of the artists I have seen (Chiyo Gomes, Adam All, Landon Cider) will either draw on or stick on facial hair, carve out a stronger jawline or cheekbone. And again, anyone can do this! Guys, gals, non-binary pals, dive in!!

Now for a little detail on types of Queen that have featured on RuPaul's Drag Race, which also happen to be the types of queen you can find within the drag community!

Comedy Queens

This is the thing that I feel like drag queens historically are most known for. You look at pantomime dames or people like Lily Savage, and they were always there with a funny line or a cutting remark. This is like the origins of people like Bianca Del Rio, Bob The Drag Queen and Ben De La Creme. Obviously they are also walking the careful line between comedy and shade, but the two go hand in hand pretty well I'd say.

Look Queens

For me, the ultimate look queen is Raja from Season 3. I feel like a lot of people will disagree with this because of all the seasons that have come since with people like Shea Coulee and Violet Chachki serving us iconic fashion moments, but Raja (for me) was the original! The interesting thing about someone who is defined as a "Look Queen" is that they are expected not to be able to do a whole lot else which always leads to a good amount of drama. It is fair to say that look queens like Raja, Aquaria, and Violet Chachki have proved they are more than just look!

Broadway/Singing Queens

This is an interesting category of queen. (PERSONALLY I don't think you should call yourself a broadway queen if you don't have credits, but that's just me! Ha!) But queens that fall in here are Jinkx Monsoon (who is also a comedian), Trixie Mattel (who is also a comedian), Courtney Act, Adore Delano, Alexis Michelle, Monique Heart, JAN, Baga Chipz, Divina De Campo, Vinegar Strokes, Ivy Winters. There are more but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Dancing Divas

Oh what a fun category! Kennedy Davenport (under-utilised on AS5 recently!), Shangela, Alyssa Edwards, Chi Chi Devayne, Cheryl Hole, Widow Von Du, there are so many to choose from but those are just some of my favourites. Not only are they incredible to watch in a Rusical, you are almost willing for them to be in the bottom so you can see them absolutely SLAY it! (I am of the mind that we were robbed of a Kennedy Davenport/Chi Chi lip sync on AS3. It would have been sensational!)

Pageant Queens

This is a big category on US Drag Race as there is a huge pageant scene over there. The most prominent I would say is Alyssa Edwards and Coco Montrese because of all the drama that happened in Season 5 with Miss Gay America. But there have been many! Brooke Lynn Hytes, Nina West, A'keria C. Davenport, Roxxxy Andrews, Kennedy Davenport and more have all been prominent pageant queens from RPDR.

Spooky Queens

A spooky queen definitely doesn't feature on every season of drag race but every now and again one will pop up and show you something a little dark-sided. Sharon Needles is probably the most prominent of these, Yvie Oddly, Season 11 winner, is another. If you're really looking for queens that can give you a little more spook, I really recommend Dragula, presented by the Boulet Brothers. Then you'll really know what they're all about!

Lip Sync Assassins

This is a controversial category because it really does depend who you ask what they define a lip sync assassin to be. But I define it as 1) someone who has survived the Lip Sync For Your Life multiple times and 2) someone who is a captivating performer (which is a lot harder to quantify! It's more personal!) Kennedy Davenport, Jujubee, Dida Ritz, Roxxxy Andrews, Trinity K Bonet, Peppermint, Monet X Change, Yvie Oddly, Manila Luzon, Shea Coulee. That's just to name a few!

George’s new book Boy Queen is out from 6th August 2020, £7.99 and is available from all good bookshops. You can find him as a boy on Instagram @TheGeorgeLester or in drag @ThatGurrrlQueen.