Drag Queens Kiki Roquette & Puffy Von Pop N Fresh tell us how it’s done
I recently had the pleasure of spending the weekend in Regina with Kiki Roquette & Puffy Von Pop N Fresh, two of Saskatoon’s premier drag queens, while they put together their Hot Mess Drag Show.
It was a weekend full of late nights, glitter, house music, more late nights, makeup, and a lot of vodka.
Obscene amounts of vodka.
If you’ve never partied with drag queens before, there’s one thing you really should know before you do. It takes them a long time to get ready.
I’m talking a minimum of five or six hours here. There is approximately four times as much makeup as your average person would wear so, logically, it takes about four times as long.
Drag can really be a painful experience. Strutting around on a stage in seven inch high heels can leave large blisters, and duct tape around your chest can even leave scars. The act of tucking also isn’t the most comfortable either, and we’re not going to go into detail on that subject. (Hint: Once again, duct tape may or may not be involved.)
The first step is to glue the eyebrows down. Dudes usually have pretty bushy eyebrows so they can really get in the way of your makeup. A standard Elmer’s School glue stick works perfectly. I asked Puffy about it and she said that the purple ones are the best because they dry perfectly clear so it’s easy to know when you can start doing your foundation and the rest of your makeup.
I’m pretty sure we listened to Icona Pop’s “I Love It” fifty times while we were getting ready. It was Puffy’s first performance of the night so she needed to have all the words down pat.
The show’s theme was “Hot Mess” and the venue was decorated appropriately. Beer bottle vases were placed on each table along with a plate of glitter cut into lines with conveniently placed straws. (Inappropriate? Nah.) There was a no trespassing sign hung on the stage as well which definitely improved the atmosphere, making things just a bit more trashy.
Also, everyone who attended the show was handed a shot as they walked through the door.
My favourite part of the show came when Kiki Roquette poured a ziplock baggie filled with baby powder (?) all over her head and flailed around in it for a couple minutes.
I had an absolutely fabulous time with the girls. The show was a fair bit of work to put together but it turned out great in the end; a ton of people ended up coming and it was a total blast! In the end the show made over $3000 to give to Kiki & Puffy’s charities of choice.
The best part about drag is that, for a night, you get to become a completely different person. If you are skilled enough, you can shed every ounce of your normal self behind and really become that character. And that’s exactly what Kiki & Puffy do. The original clown queens, I thank you not only for just being hilarious performers, but for inspiring the people around you to express themselves as well. Including myself.
