We Had a Kiki With the Founders of Bushwig, New York's Fiercest Drag Queen Festival
1. Lady Quesadilla
Volunteer coordinator for Bushwig. "I always try to incorporate food into my performance. My tagline is 'I'm here to feed the hungry children of Brooklyn.'"
Lady Quesadilla: Of course! Yeah definitely! It's just another environment of nightlife. Drag queens, we're everywhere. You can find us at a quincenera, a bar, a dive bar, or a rave.
2. Daphne Sumtimez
Performer. "Just a faery little colorful creature. I just like having fun."
Drag has a very wide spectrum of performance. Certain types of drag go along with raves. There's some drag that's like cabaret style, and there are other types of drag that absolutely encourage partying and going hard. So I think it really just depends on the performer, but I think they definitely have overlap.
3. Kimberly Clark
Drag queen from Queens. "I've been called a drag-thesis instead of a drag queen, and I appreciate that title. I feel like a lot of my schtick and my gig is a commentary on a lot of other shit. Tonight I sang an Alanis Morissette song on a stool."
I used to be a raver back in the late 90s. That was a blast. Then I tried to go to a nightclub when I wasn't on ecstasy and it was pretty lame. So, in that sense, they are very different, because I think drag is really fun to appreciate even when you are not rolling. The long-term duration of a rave is kind of counter-intuitive to drag because, listen, we can't be in this mug for that long, so that's a little tricky. Are you guys throwing a rave, what's happening? Where's the rave, is the question.
4. Munroe Lilly
Burlesque dancer and first-time Bushwig attendee. "I love coming here and seeing all the creativity, the drag, the relaxed energy, and all the love."
Definitely. Especially the Brooklyn drag scene, because, as you can see here, it's all about people coming together, the music, all different kinds of drag and artistry mashing together. So it definitely goes together.
5. Amber Alert
"I work at a photo studio and a paparazzi agency during the day, and then I do this for fun."
Yes and no. I would say, honestly, more no. Because at a rave, the look is so secondary. The look needs to be practical because you have to rave in it. Whereas drag can be totally impractical and it doesn't matter. It's contrived and it's beautiful and it's a mess all at the same time.
6. Ragamuffin
"I'm originally from Nashville, Tennessee. Music city."
I think queens and everything go together. We are like gatekeepers of culture and general debauchery. I think there's room for everyone in that space, no matter how you identify, or what culture you connect with. We are for the people.