At nearly every drag and burlesque show, I get asked the same question: How long have you been doing this? I never really know how to respond. The easy, sort of official answer is that I had my draglesque debut as Vicious Mockery at the variety show Glamorama this past January, but that’s not really where my story starts.

I often tell people I did drag and a few stripping numbers ten years ago in college as part of Pride events and Rocky Horror Picture Show shadowcasts, but I didn’t have a name or brand back then. That’s not exactly the start of it either, though.

In high school, I was an avid cosplayer, dressing up as fictional characters and running around convention centers with my friends, and I performed in talent shows. Very often—not yet knowing I was trans—I preferred to dress

See Full Page