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PROVINCETOWN GUIDE
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| DIRECTORY |
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Provincetown :: Sunday, March 14th 2010
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24 Carrot Gold Drag
Lady Bunny Returns to Provincetown
By Steve Desroches of Provincetown Magazine
August 14th, 2009
Christians might measure time before and after the birth of Christ, but if drag queens had their own calendars, it would be B.L.B. and A. L. B. – Before Lady Bunny and After Lady Bunny.
| Any appearance by Lady Bunny is sure to be full of delicious in-your-face humor, dirty jokes that can make the most seasoned drag fan blush, all packaged in a southern-fried style that only Lady Bunny can deliver with a smile. |
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The Dusty Springfieldesque girl with the too-tall wig and the too-tall lashes is fearless, flawless, funny as Hell, and coming to Provincetown for a special one-night-only appearance at the Atlantic House (4 Masonic Place) for Carnival Week.
She’s known the world over for her bawdy humor, her Laugh-In style comedy numbers, and her X-rated jokes, with, as she says, the X standing for “Xtra Retarded.” Most recently, folks will remember her for her appearance on stage with another big-haired, big-breasted blonde, when she took the dais at the Pamela Anderson roast. You know, the one where Courtney Love acted all wasted and Tommy Lee couldn’t stop talking about his penis.
“Tommy’s #@%* is so long that he actually had it going out of his pants through a hole in the couch and then up into my mangina,” says Lady Bunny, remembering the evening fondly. “Courtney was fine in the dressing room but when the show started, something kicked in and she was nuts. My contract doesn’t allow me to discuss the details of the taping, but she was very sweet to me."
Under that wig is more than just a drag queen, but really a genius creative mind that masters not only drag performance, but also pursuits such as acting, being a DJ and songwriter, singing, comedy, and writing for both print and a long-standing popular blog (hosted at www.ladybunny.net), as well as producing events like the world-famous Wigstock.
Now on hiatus after a 20-year run, Wigstocks have popped up all over the world, from Japan to Israel. Clearly, the event has pushed drag into the culture-at-large. And Lady Bunny drops occasional hints about a revival of Wigstock for 2010. While Wigstock was a lot of work and a lot of fun, Lady Bunny remembers the times things didn’t go quite as planned.
“Once a speed freak created a half-assed hanging mobile which collapsed mid-show,” says Lady Bunny. “Actually, Boston-based performer Afrodite was on stage and this huge mess came crashing down in front of her. I had no idea what to do and a quick-thinking pier queen snatched a knife out of her bag and cut the whole thing down. I thought it was hilarious.”
A talented DJ and songwriter, incorporating dance music into Wigstock became an integral part of the festival and its success.
“I always liked to mix dance artists with the drag queens, and the year Cece Penniston sang ‘Finally,’ the pier was rocking so hard that I thought it might break off,” says Lady Bunny.
“That was magic. But so were a zillion other moments--it ran for 20 years and each festival was 8 hours long with performances by everyone from Debbie Harry to John Cameron Mitchell as Hedwig. Oh and Ryan Landry was a real showstopper. Literally. People left in droves,” she jokes.
Any appearance by Lady Bunny is sure to be full of delicious in-your-face humor, dirty jokes that can make the most seasoned drag fan blush, all packaged in a southern-fried style that only Lady Bunny can deliver with a smile. Normally, she is uncompromising, but the forces of the Right Wing can sometimes muzzle even Lady Bunny.
“My act is dirty and I sometimes have to censor it if I’m doing outdoor pride gigs, especially in the Bible Belt,” says Lady Bunny. “Apparently, when I performed at Savannah Pride, the police were videotaping me dangling a dildo a few feet from a little girl’s face. She was sitting on her dad’s shoulders….The cops intended to use this footage to shut down Gay Pride and I don’t want to be known as the Typhoid Mary who kills Gay Pride festivals in every city she appears! I want to be known as the Typhoid Mary who brings the NYC bed bug and staph infection everywhere she goes. Look out, Dick Dock!”
Ah, Lady Bunny. Always a refreshing breeze of vulgarity followed by a ray of sunshine.
Her appearance in Provincetown is a rare, and most welcomed occurrence, especially for fans of drag. Arguably one of the most famous and accomplished drag performers today, Lady Bunny has a reputation for giving wildly creative performances time and time again. She is also known, in some circles, as the focus of a gay urban legend about a drag queen who went to Morocco and “serviced” three generations of men in a Marrakesh family.
“There is a queen from New York named Polly Grip who travels frequently to Morocco and I know that she ain’t going to buy baskets and pottery,” says Lady Bunny. “Because we both wear lower lashes and heavy eye make-up, there is a resemblance. Even in New York City, Polly would go out to hustler bars in a blonde wig and go to town, claiming she was me. She’d also go out in a red wig and claim to be Varla, hence Varla’s horrible reputation as a bitch, alcoholic, and slut.”
With that out of the way, you can now focus on Lady Bunny’s performance without having images of her in bed with Berber nomads. So hop on over to the A-House and check out a living legend.
Lady Bunny will be appearing at the Atlantic House, at 4-6 Masonic Place, Provincetown, on Wednesday, August 19th only. Music will be by resident DJ David LaSalle.
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