There is Brighton’s Sammy Silver, Newcastle’s Baron LaVey and, in Bournemouth, two kings who are surely among the best-named in the country: Dandy Issues and Well Hung Parliament.
Outside the capital, drag kings are also enjoying success. “It was very important to me when I was figuring out my queerness, as a way of tapping into the masculinity that I had been told I wasn’t allowed to.” “Without doing drag king-ing I wouldn’t have realised that I’m non-binary as quickly,” he explains. In December he performed in a Dick Whittington drag pantomime in the West End of London. Since then, Jangles – his name inspired by the dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson – has been making waves. “Drag kings are just lovely, so supportive, always gassing you up, always showing up for you,” says Beau Jangles, who started performing as a drag king after going to a workshop run by Pecs in 2018. Other top names in the capital include Prinx Silver, Don One, Oedipussi Rex, Izzy Aman, Christian Adore and the drag king collective Pecs. In London, LGBTQ+ venues – including the Glory, She Soho, Royal Vauxhall Tavern and Phoenix Arts Club – are increasingly hosting drag-king-specific events, such as annual battle Man Up, showcase Kings of Clubs, and drag king cabaret BOiBox (run by All and his wife Apple Derrieres). So we have to find a way to make masculinity not only entertaining, but not toxic, and show people what healthy masculinity can look like.” “But, drag kings, we work with masculinity, which is toxic and boring and gross. “With the art of being a drag queen, you get feminine energy, which is beautiful and elegant,” he says. This, however, can be a difficult task, explains drag king Chiyo, who describes himself as a “professional hustler”.
“The message is much more about nutritious masculinity and looking at how positive that can be for all of society,” says All. Tonight’s event, an open mic for drag kings, is sold out – as was the launch event for new drag king collective KingDom, in the same venue the night before.Īrmed with swagger, charm and – at times – gyrating hips, drag kings seek to do anything from dismantling the patriarchy and toxic masculinity, often by taking on male stereotypes, to covering mental health, sexuality and gender identity.
“There are far more of us now, and we are smashing down doors left, right and centre,” he says. Since starting out in Southampton in 2008, All is now part of a thriving scene of drag kings across the UK.
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