Wednesday, December 15, 2010

December 15 - Drag Queen Deity

Today was a good day. I worked 11 hours and then saw a live show. That is all. Goodbye.

SEE! I could do this without rambling on and on with no actual theme or point! I could! But I wont. Instead I shall ramble. Ramble on and on and on. Of course Ramble means to talk or write incoherently, but it has only bean used as that meaning since the early 1600. Prior to that the word meant to walk or to go, this meaning originating in the mid 1500. Is this true or is it total bullshit? I’m sad to say its actually true. So lets ramble on shall we? Perhaps to a better subject.

As some of you may know I am in the midst of creating a one-man show for one of my biggest characters. I wanted you readers to be the first to know that "God Is A Scottish Drag Queen" is coming along nicely. For those of you who dont know, I play the character of "God", but i play it as a Scottish drag queen. Now, I say "Drag queen" but really I just wear an 80's women's power suit. I leave what the character actually "is" up to the viewer. You can find this character on YouTube by entering "michael Delamont" or "god is a scottish dragqueen" into the YouTube search engine. I am in the midst of creating a full show and I am really happy with the process. Its turning out funnier than I thought. I am putting together the mix of performance, slide show and some very enjoyable video. I am sad to say that the videos for the show will never be on YouTube, but clips of the show might.

Since we have talked about origins of words and phrases, I would like to talk about the phrase “drag queen”. Many people ask where it comes from. Its actually a fairly modern term growing in "popularity" from the 1800s. Though it was only legal for men to play female parts on the stage it was taken as a high insult for a man to portray a royal lady outside of the theatre. Though popular in underground circles the act of dressing and mocking a member of the royal family was seen as a punishable offense. To make an example of these false queens to the public, their bodies would be dragged through the streets by horse for all to see. The dragged queen would become a dark and dangerous choice for even the most courageous of what would eventually be known as "vaudevillian" performers. Interesting huh? Informative? I think so! A total lie? Oh yea. Big time.

It seems that most people think its comes from a 20th century stage direction. Drag. A shortened form of the direction "enters DRessed As Girl"... that seems to be the most popular belief of its origin. I think the first one is far more entertaining. Lets put it on Wikipedia and then all agree it’s correct. Ah Wikipedia... where fact becomes a suggestion.

Tonight I went and saw the Carnegie Hall Show. As some of you will remember, it was a week ago that I performed with the lovely folks. I will say that my friend Chris Gibbs, an improver with Carnegie Hall, and an all round amazing performer told me that he read my blog and disagreed with my opinion that I had bombed. Since he is one of the funniest people i have ever seen perform, I will not argue or pose an opposition. I will simply say thank you... and ramble on down the road.

For those of you that dont know how the world of acting works... I will bring you in to my world. I will do a performance for free for one of these reasons. 1) Somebody who I like and respect has asked me to join them. 2) Something I havent done before and its something I should do. 3) somebody important is going to see it. Sadly these are usually the reasons people will try and get you to do something as well. For those actors fresh on the scene with their first play... if somebody says "great opportunity to make contacts" that means they wont pay you a dime. Its code. NOW! When it comes to paid work it is hard to say no to things. I say no if I think i will be embarrassed or I dont think the product will be very good. There is something that can change that moral and business compass very quickly. That is poverty my friends. In my life I have had 4 performing jobs that I have regretted even while I was doing it, but those little extras in my life like food and shelter said I had to. 1 was a voice over, 1 was hosting an erotic event, 1 was hosting a terrible hippy event and one was 1 episode of a TV sketch show. Now I will still say no even if I am poor. The thing is, when it is believed you are funny, people will ask you to do things without putting any thought into if you would be right for your event. As a performer you ask, but they always say you will be great. They are usually wrong.

Once I was asked to perform at a 60th birthday party. It was at a private residence and there would be a lot of people there. I was nervous. The woman has contacted me to say that for a long time her husband has been an atheist but that recently he has seen my version of god and had become a bit of a believer in my Scottish drag dogma. I wrote 6 minutes of material and showed up as a surprise for this mans special day. I will tell you honestly that it is one of my favorite performance memories. I had so much fun, the folks were warm drunk and inviting, and we all had a laugh. I have invited that couple to several of my shows and they have become wonderful and supportive fans for which I am so very appreciative. When people come up to me on the street to say hi they always apologize first. It seems odd. THEY are taking time out of THEIR day... to say hello. Its wonderful. Unless you are going to yell at me or try to hurt me, dont apologize if you say hello on the street!

Well I have an audition tomorrow, and I already taste vomit and smell diarrhea, so I think its time I try to grab some sleep. Thanks so much for reading!

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