We made it back to “All Tea No Shade” drag brunch at The Free Man Cajun Cafe & Lounge in Deep Ellum.
We made it back to “All Tea No Shade” drag brunch at The Free Man Cajun Cafe & Lounge in Deep Ellum.
Drag Race has been my favorite TV show for over a decade and marked important parts of my life so far.
I made it to the RuPaul’s Drag Race Hater’s Roast, which was at the Warner Theatre near Chinatown. Although I am used to seeing one-off Drag Race contestants at the bar, this is my first real Drag Race touring event.
The Hater’s Roast was hilarious, although there were an uncomfortable number of HIV and Holocaust jokes, (and at least a few Sahara Davenport digs). I was actually clutching my pearls during Mimi Imfurst’s set. I also was thrilled to see Miz Cracker, who looks as amazing in person as she does on TV.
Manila looked good, and Thorgy had her signature Muppet hair.
My last-minute ticket happened to be in the third row of the theater, so I got to make awkward eye contact with the performers. Maybe procrastination isn’t always such a bad thing…
The bars in the gayborhood were packed on Monday night for the season finale of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
We watched the finale at Alexandre’s while sitting between an underweight boy who kept screaming “YASSS COME THROUGH!” and an overweight man who kept asking whether every drink he ordered “had carbs.” (The bartender lied to him, of course.)
After much anxiety, tweeting, and YAS!, we learned that Bob the Drag Queen won the title of America’s Next Drag Super Star.
Thank god!
The top 3 contestants were very similar to last year’s finalists – two younger Instagram-famous queens and a slightly older queen who prioritized comedy over glamour.
Finalists Bob the Drag Queen, Kim Chi, and Naomi Smalls.
This year, RuPaul made the right choice.
On Friday, Station 4 hosted a massive Mardi Gras themed party, and we got to see Willam from Rupaul’s Drag Race!
We were hesitant to drop $35/each on cover, but it was totally worth it – Willam sang live and performed on a hover board in heels.
Now that’s talent.
WIllam of RuPaul’s drag race performing live while on a hover board.
Willam performing on a hover board while singing live at Station 4.
Willam performing on a hover board.
They were unified in their horror, but mostly because they thought I was moving to some desolate, backwoods place.
They were totally thinking about Iowa.
The drive is uneventful, but pretty in its own way.
The drive was very long, and I was blasting trap music the entire way down. I wasn’t paying close enough attention to my speed however, and totally got slapped with a speeding ticket by Trooper McDreamy of Bumblewood County.
By the time I passed through Waterloo I was shocked to see buildings.
People actually live here!
Iowa City is actually a rather cute college town. The city is dominated by the massive University of Iowa and has a nice downtown area. I did have a strange feeling of always being on campus though…
Oh, and it happened to be Gay Pride weekend!
The Iowa City Gay Pride parade was the saddest four minute thing.
But hey, they tried.
The silence was the strangest part of the parade – none of the cars or floats played music. It made the block-long procession feel even smaller.
This was the most extravagant float in the parade:
It’s from Studio 13, the only gay bar. Iowa’s finest.
And again, no music.
The underwhelmed crowd drifted toward the pedestrian mall after the parade ended. The mall was lined with booths but there was no music there either.
Not even the restaurants with outdoor seating had music.
As with any pride, there was a great cross-section of the community: young, old, black, white, tan, punk, prep, etc. Oh! And there were these crazies holding up anti-gay signs:
One girl decided to make her own sign and followed them around for about 20 minutes.
“Sodomy is an abominable sin” / “But it feels so good!”
This sparked another faux-protest.
There was a stage set up in the pedestrian mall. Everyone congregated there and things picked up once the performances and drag shows started.
The Iowa City drag shows were entertaining and surprisingly good, but most of the girls are from the same drag family and interchangeable.
We went to Studio 13 both nights and I was again surprised by the quality of the drag.
They also had a special guest:
Alaska Thunderfuck from Drag Race! Hiiiiii!
Studio 13 is small but just like any other gay bar – aggressive hair, strong cologne, and at least three people face-planting on the floor.
I had a lot of fun, but I’m sure the $3 long islands helped.
We ended up going to several other douchey college bars so it was a long drive home on Sunday…but I had a great time that weekend and will definitely visit Iowa again.
I think my next adventure is dancing in Des Moines!
Due to some hang-ups with my German passport, we spent Pride 2012 in Chicago.
I’ve been to Cologne, Amsterdam, New York, Philly, Vegas, etc. as a child, but this was my first time as an adult in a big city other than Miami.
Let’s just say that Minneapolis feels a lot smaller now.