'Seeing the joy again': Like the world, drag brunch is getting back to normal after COVID-19
On a Saturday morning, five queens gathered, partially in drag, at City Winery in Chelsea, a neighborhood in New York City.
Walking onto the stage to rehearse for an 11 a.m. show, Ginger Ladd, Gina Tonic, Sophya Medina, Freeda Kulo and Amanda Pörq met for the first time. Each had been hired for a Spice Girls Tribute Brunch put on by Drag Diva Brunch part of Burd Events, a national drag brunch company.
Drag brunch, like the rest of the world, is slowly returning to normal.
"Drag Queen Brunch has come roaring back to life," Poppy Tooker, author of "Drag Queen Brunch," told Paste BN.
"Reservations are harder than ever to come by, and no one is more thrilled than the queens themselves who have had more than a year to work on new routines and sew new spangly costumes," Tooker said.
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When the queens returned backstage to get ready that late May morning, an audience filed in, ordering cocktails and food from the venue. The curtains closed before Ladd took the stage to host.
"I'm seeing the joy again," Ladd said, commenting on making eye contact with audience members.
Tonic echoed Ladd's sentiment: "There is no feeling on earth that beats the laughter and applause of a live audience."
Like her peers, Tonic performed online during the pandemic, but the feeling of returning to a live show setting is exhilarating for both performer and audience.
"I think people are so excited about live drag shows returning, I could hear them whispering things like, 'We've missed you!' as they slipped the dollar into my hand," Tonic says, explaining that during live shows, queens bring the show to audience members as they collect tips.
Medina said that the "energy is so magical" and that she believes people are enjoying drag brunch more than before.
"We had a packed house at our first indoor show," Ladd said. "This is only going to get bigger and better."
And bigger might go with venues, too. Joe E. Jefrreys, a drag historian, told Paste BN he has noticed that some larger restaurants and bars are beginning to host drag brunches now that COVID-19 restrictions are being lifted.
"Announcing now a drag brunch is a strong comeback for businesses that have been struggling for COVID because it is good advertising and drag performers come with great photos and things and they're advertisement ready," he said.
Shlomo Lipetz, the vice president of programming for City Winery, told Paste BN drag brunch is a New York City tradition. City Winery offers drag brunch in addition to concerts and comedy shows.
"The brunches add to the diversity of City Winery’s experiential dining programming," Lipetz said.
Drag performances have continued, and drag brunches are reopening in stages
Drag Diva Brunch has been conducting a "rolling reopening," Brian Peeke, general manager of Drag Diva, told Paste BN, starting in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Texas in April, then adding locations in Boston and New York City.
During the pandemic, Peeke said Drag Diva pivoted to digital content to help artists continue to make money. There are new restrictions back in venues.
While the city was shut down and drag brunches remained on hiatus or under restrictions, the queens took to the internet to connect with a virtual audience.
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Ladd, who lost her father to COVID-19, said she did more than 200 shows through social media in 2020 after feeling isolated and needing to reconnect with her audience.
Tonic also shifted the way she reached her audience. "I had to teach myself how to livestream on Twitch."
She started to post short videos on TikTok, where she amassed more than 35,000 followers. Though eligible to be part of TikTok's Creator Fund, she's not making money off her videos.
For some digital shows, Tonic said ticket sales often were split between performers during the pandemic. For other shows online, she said she relied solely on tips sent through Venmo.
It wasn't always easy financially
Right before the pandemic, Pörq began paying bills from performing in drag, which had been a goal. Shifting to virtual performances was a letdown in more than one respect.
"I had to go back to my retail job that I hated, and I really felt so hopeless," Pörq said.
Pörq was on unemployment for two months before returning to a retail job. She works as an evening barista and performs.
"I quit my corporate retail job because they were not at all flexible with my performance schedule and would schedule me on days outside of my availability, fully knowing I wouldn’t be able to come," Pörq said. "It felt like they didn’t take me or my career seriously."
Now that life is returning to normal and restrictions are being lifted, Pörq's performance schedule is getting busier: up to three shows on Saturdays and up to two on Sundays, averaging three to four shows per weekend. Pörq often performs as a guest with "drag siblings" during the week in different locations around the city and hopes to add solo gigs.
Per drag brunch with Burd Events, Pörq makes $300 to $400, including a booking fee.
Pörq isn't the only one who faced financial constraints during the pandemic while pursuing a career in drag.
"I had closed my tattoo shop two weeks prior due to the CDC warnings and found myself unemployed as a tattoo artist and a nightlife entertainer, and now a new father and a full-time home school teacher," Ladd said.
Kulo also faced a slew of challenges tied to finances: Her landlord died from COVID-19, and she was forced to move, eating away at savings. She was laid off from a management job and said she racked up credit card debt attempting to make ends meet. She tore her ACL and meniscus, further hindering her abilities as a dancer and fitness instructor.
Finding aid, Kulo said, has been a challenge.
"I couldn’t get food stamps or rent relief," Kulo explained. "The only program outside of PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance) that provided assistance was 'Feed The Queens', created by Shangela, actor/drag performer from 'RuPaul’s Drag Race' (and) 'We’re Here' on HBO. I was able to not worry about groceries for two months, and it came handy because it was after my knee surgery where I was bedridden."
'Being revalidated' in 2021
Though the pandemic proved difficult for drag queens, things are looking up as drag brunches return to normal.
"When your career is taken away from you and you have no feasible way of bringing in a livable wage, and it comes back there is a whole different game that is being played there," Peeke said. "It's a whole different feeling than just 'oh wow, restrictions are being lifted,' it's being revalidated."
Pörq also feels hope: "I am so close to being back to just doing drag, and I’m really excited and motivated by that."