One-on-One with the Drag Legends of Fauxgirls!

With PRIDE season every year comes many celebrations, for drag fans in San Francisco and those who come here to visit Fauxgirls!, the longest running drag show in town celebrates its 10 year anniversary this month.

EDGE sat down the founder of the show Victoria Secret (aka "Vikki,") and "Alexandria," the MC of the show. Both divas are famous in the drag scene and have been performing for years. Each has their unique style and can dazzle a crowd, and sometimes pop a sequin in your face.

If you are in San Francisco soon, check out the Fauxgirls website, which boasts one of the few "all male drag queen" casts in a lounge setting. Shows are monthly, the third Saturday of the month.

Ever wonder where the penis goes? Read on to the answer to that question, as well as where they find the energy to perform for us month after month.

Where does the penis go?

EDGE: What is it like to live a dual life? Would you call being a drag queen a dual existence? How do you manage?

Vikki: I think that "dual life" is pretty accurate. Since I don't do this 24/7, I live most of the week as Richard and most of the weekend as Victoria (yes, it is indeed a bit schizophrenic - - but in a good way...). It was more difficult when I had a "day job," as I was an attorney, and I could be bartending or serving cocktails as Victoria on the weekend, then back in court (as Richard, in a suit) trying a complex criminal case on Monday!

Now that I'm retired, it's a bit less complex and hectic. However, I never had any problem keeping things separate... there was so much of a disconnect between the two, it felt like I was actually living two different lives; one in the South Bay, and one in San Francisco. I have always kept a place in SF, with all my drag there. I have no drag at all at my home in the South Bay, and I almost never make appearances as Victoria there.

EDGE: How and where does the penis go? Had to ask, because we have all seen you in some tight stuff!

Alexandria: Ancient Chinese secret... I think everyone knows how it is done and believe me I get that all of the time especially when they see me as a guy!

Is drag timeless?

EDGE: How do you think drag speaks to different generations, is drag generational, will we always have drag queens? Why?

Alexandria: Because it is a fantasy and fantasy never dies.

Vikki: Drag has always been around, and it always will be. There were drag queens in the Roman Empire two thousand years ago, and probably before that. Each generation finds its own way, just as it does with everything else. When I first started, real female impersonation was pretty much limited to Finocchio's; transgenders were much less visible. Most of the drag was in places like the court systems, where it tended to be a bit more campy and "over the top" with huge hair, wild outfits, etc. though not exclusively so.

As society became more accepting, transgenders became more visible, and a lot of queens were toning it down, and moving more into female impersonation than over-the-top drag. Look at the difference between Gladys Bumps and Donna Sachet, for a vivid impression of the old style against the new.

When I started, most of the queens were my age and older, and we all did Broadway numbers, almost exclusively. Now you hardly see anyone doing Broadway. Then everyone started doing Madonna, and now Lady GaGa. Every gay bar seems to have a drag show now. Every new generation of queens finds its own style, and does the music that they know and like.

EDGE: Talk about performing, how do you get the energy for each show, the creativity and passion, you have been doing this for many years?

Alexandria: That is the best part of the whole thing because it doesn't matter what kind of day that you have had for how many minutes the song lasts you can escape. I am not sure where the energy comes from because there are times when I am back stage and it is the last thing I want to do is perform. Then the music starts and your character takes over and you pop through the curtains and the magic begins.

Drag idols?

EDGE: Who inspires you in the drag world?

Vikki: I have three idols in the drag world:

1. Varla Jean Merman, who I think is the best drag performer currently on stage anywhere;

2. Randy Roberts, another phenomenal performer who is seen almost
exclusively in Provincetown and Key West. I actually do a couple of his numbers; and

3. Charles Busch, a New Yorker whom I consider the Orson Welles of drag, as he writes, directs, produces and performs. He wrote "Psycho Beach Party" and many other fantastic shows. I was fortunate enough to see two of them in New York, one of them with him in the starring role. He plays piano and is a very talented actor and singer.

EDGE: So show off about Fauxgirls!, you started it, what is it and why is it the best show in town?

Vikki: Fauxgirls! was actually my second show. I started the first one, En Drag, in 1996 because I was convinced that you could do a regular weekly show with a set cast. No one (except Finocchio's) was doing that then; all the shows were rather impromptu, and the performers were whoever showed up. I set out to do Finocchio's on a budget. It worked so well that lots of people started copying the concept, and we have lots of shows like that now. After En Drag folded (the club we were performing in changed formats) it was reborn about a year later as Fauxgirls! in a different club, with a new cast. Alex (who joined Fauxgirls! in 2003) and I are the only En Drag veterans with the current show.

I set out to create the best show I could, with a name (I came up with Fauxgirls!) and the best possible cast I could assemble, and that's what we have now. We also have in Kimo's the best venue in town for a drag show. Other shows are stuffed into a small space in the back or side of a bar, but at Kimo's we have a real showroom. Except for Donna Sachet's show at the Sir Francis Drake, only Deco Lounge has anything that is at all comparable to what we have, but it's a lot smaller space. When people ask why we only do one show a month, I tell them that it's because the performers are so good that I can only get them all together once a month. I think it is the best overall cast in town, bar none, and that's why we are San Francisco's Favorite Drag Revue. And at 10 years, we are one of the oldest shows in town, so we must be doing something right!

EDGE: You are known for working a crowd, what are some tips and tricks for aspiring queens and crowd pleasers? It is the hair?

Alexandria: Of course it is the hair! Seriously when you are a performer and you are behind a mask it enables you to do so many things and get away with so many things. I do not pretend to be a woman. I do not alter my voice, or hide my muscles, and I think that is why it is easy for me. About half of our audience is straight and I get just as many compliments from straight men as I do from women granted they are different. The straight men ask me how I work out to get my shoulder muscles and the women ask me where I get my shoes or ask for make tips.

Fauxgirls! celebrates its tenth anniversary on June 18, 2011 featuring the return of the fabulous Pinky Bubbles and guest stars Shelly Wilde and Kipper, plus our full regular cast. Showtime at 10:00 pm at Kimo's Penthouse Lounge, 1351 Polk St. San Francisco, CA. For more information, visit the Fauxgirls website.