Puss in boots

>> Meow Mix boosts Montreal's drag king scene with a Halloween spectacular

by LORRAINE CARPENTER

Ladies, it's no secret that we invest stupid time and money in shaving, waxing, plucking, primping and painting. That cat is long out of the bag. Some renegades, however, are out of the closet and proudly displaying fake whiskers and five-o'clock shadow, along with suits, boots and suspenders.

For those unfamiliar with the drag king concept, just think "drag queen," reverse the genders, and presto! The North American drag king scene, which has been growing gradually over the past decade, is strongest in New York City and (in Canada) Toronto, with Montreal coming in at a distant nowhere on the ladies' menswear map. But Miriam Ginestier, organizer of the local Meow Mix parties for "bent girls and their buddies," has invited NYC's premiere drag kings to star in her annual Halloween bash, with some local royalty in support. But before the details, some history on the Mix and its drag connection.



"Lots of lesbians live in Mile-End or on the Plateau, yet there isn't much for them there, and that's why I created Meow Mix," says Ginestier, whose ever-popular party has changed venues four times and gone from weekly to monthly to "special" events (Halloween, Divers-Cité etc.) since '95. "Also, I can't stand house music so I'm allergic to the Village. At Meow Mixes, you can dance to hip hop, funk, alternative, techno, breakbeat, ethnic music and retro favourites."

Ginestier also launched the annual Boudoir lesbian cabaret at Lion d'Or, a party that spawned Montreal's best-known drag king troupe, the Mambo Drag Kings. Due to the suave, retro flavour of Boudoir, these kings are clean-cut gentlemen next to their sexy, rock 'n' roll counterparts in other cities. But the local talent at this year's Halloween Mixer is Skidmore's Bob Loblaw, and a sleazier jackass you're unlikely to meet.

Misogynist quipster Bob Loblaw was born in '97 when local comic Martha Chavez asked Skidmore to host an all-female comedy showcase. The clever idea backfired, however, as the event was swarmed by block-headed convention men who missed the irony and howled at Loblaw's bad jokes. Since then, Skidmore has shied away from mainstream comedy, reserving the alter ego for niche audiences who are more likely to get the joke. But becoming Loblaw, a character Skidmore compares to Andy Kaufman's obnoxious Tony Clifton, is both a cathartic and a puzzling experience for his creator.

"Bob, by denigrating women, is in some way denigrating myself, but, because I'm a woman, I can get away with exploring that darker side, and maybe distance myself from the fucking PC, kind, nurturing femininity that was conditioned into me," says Skidmore. "It's extremely liberating to let all that go and be as hideous as I want to be. I think that we're all, on some level, trapped in the theatre of gender and I just wanna bust out of the little box that I've been forced into. But I question my own motives. I guess I'm gonna have to go back to drag king theory class."

Professor Dick

And if anyone wrote the book on drag kings, it's NYC's Maureen Fischer, aka Mo B. Dick. Actually, such a book exists (The Drag King Book, by Judith Halberstam) and it devotes an entire chapter to Dick, the creator of NYC's first drag king night, Club Casanova. After Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's cultural cleansing, which resulted in shutdowns of a number of New York's queer and strip clubs, the Men of Club Casanova took their funny, sexy, upbeat show out of the Big Apple and on the road, where they've been suiting up and testosterizing for sold out crowds.

"When we toured three years ago, there were very few people who even knew what a drag king was, and now we go back to those cities and we have other drag kings opening for us, which is just great," says Dick, who brings her mantastic troupe to Meow Mix as part of a 30-city tour.

Performing almost exclusively in a lesbian context, Dick and co. haven't experienced the hassle our Skidmore had with her Loblaw persona, but she's no stranger to mainstream misconceptions vis à vis queer women and drag. "Drag kings present a real change in the traditional perception of lesbians as male-hating, because now some lesbians are embracing masculinity."

And the crowds are embracing the Men and their star Mo B. Dick, whom The Advocate describes as a "lovable, foul-mouthed greaser with a penchant for bump and grind." So lovable, in fact, that he caught the eye of director John Waters and scored a role in his 1998 film Pecker.

"I'm very aggressive and funny by nature, and that comes out in the character, but I don't identify myself as butch or even lesbian," says Dick. "I'm bisexual and more femme, so becoming Mo B. Dick is a real transformation for me. But it's really fun and our crowds are just loving it!"

At la Sala Rossa on Sunday, Oct. 28, 9pm, $7