On the opening day of DreamHack Atlanta, professional drag artists took the Main Stage for “Drag & Drop: A Cosplay and Gaming Drag Show.” After its premiere at DreamHack Dallas in May, the show made its Atlanta debut on Oct. 4 as the second-ever installment—-and my introduction to the world of drag.
A drag show at a traveling gaming convention with a focus on esports might feel out of place to some. But to Jenny Drechsler, the producer of “Drag & Drop,” “especially with the cosplay community having a strong presence here, it kind of just made sense to naturally bring in drag artists as well.” On its website, DreamHack is described as “a magical realm where gamers from all walks of life unite under one gigantic roof, armed with their trusty keyboards and fueled by an insatiable passion for pixels;” so why shouldn’t drag artists join the fun, especially with their presence in the gaming sphere?
Drag queens in the show’s lineup, like Emmy-nominated drag artist and host of “Drag & Drop” Biqtch Puddin’, Lawrie Bird, Dotte Com, and Marisol Lords stream video games in drag on Twitch. All four are members of “Stream Queens,” a team on the streaming platform of 117 drag artists whose mission is to “unify the Drag queens, kings, characters, & creatures of Twitch in one place,” according to the group’s biography. Drechsler said, “Drag at DreamHack is extraordinarily valuable in the space. You have a really heavy intersection with the queer community and the gaming community.”
Lawrie Bird | Photos by: Fynn Grindle
As a queer woman and an occasional gamer myself, I was excited to experience this convergence in person. When I sat down for my first-ever drag show, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t the utter entrancement and empowerment I felt. Drechsler mentioned that for many audience members, DreamHack’s “Drag & Drop” is their first drag show. Included in the price of admission, the show is easily accessible and prominently featured in the convention’s itinerary. Drechsler said, “It's really cool to just bring in something that's really fun and energetic and colorful and bright, especially to an all-ages event. It's always really important to have queer representation and intersectionality here.”
Jarvis Hammer | Photos by: Fynn Grindle
"Drag & Drop" was announced as a coalescence of the “vibrant worlds of cosplay and gaming with the high-energy flair of drag performance.” The participating drag artists, given few performance constraints and allowed artistic license, brought their passions to the stage in themed lip-sync and dance numbers. Biqtch Puddin’ opened the show dressed as The Boss from Metal Gear Solid 3 in a tight white tactical suit. She set the scene for a “spooky season” spectacle, given Halloween’s imminence as well as highlighting the fact that two of the seven artists---Biqtch Puddin’ and Jarvis Hammer---starred in “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula,” a drag competition show centered around horror and glamour.
LaZanya Ontré | Photos by: Fynn Grindle
Alongside artists from all over the country, the show featured local Atlanta drag queens Brigitte Bidet and Dotte Com as Barbie from the Greta Gerwig film and Ulala from the video game Space Channel 5 respectively. Marisol Lords was Nancy Wheeler in their “Stranger Things”-inspired number, which was well-suited considering the heavy presence of Dungeons & Dragons at the convention and in the television series. Lawrie Bird performed, fittingly, as Laurie Strode from “Halloween” in a spoofed “Michael Myers Gets His A** Beat: The Musical,” dancing and fighting a puppet of the title character. LaZanya Ontré portrayed a buxom young Gruntilda from the video game series Banjo-Kazooie.
Bridgitte Bidet | Photos by: Fynn Grindle
Closing out the show, Atlanta local Jarvis Hammer, the only drag king in the lineup performed as Dracula from the Castlevania franchise, theatrically strutting around the stage in ghoulish makeup and fangs. I was particularly taken with Jarvis Hammer and his performance; perhaps it was simply my love of vampires, but more likely, it was that I didn’t even know drag kings existed. To see one of Jarvis Hammer’s caliber live was awe-inspiring. I was stunned and strangely emotional that I knew so little about such an incredible, inclusive art form that I now hold a strong affinity for.
I am so happy that “Drag & Drop” was my gateway into the drag world, partly because of the wide diversity of the cast. Drechsler said, “My primary goal as a producer is, firstly to have fun, and secondly, to make sure that my show is as diverse as possible, not only in gender representation but also in racial and ethnic representation as well. When I'm creating drag shows, the diversity really comes from the artists themselves.” Every artist in the “Drag & Drop” lineup was completely unique; nearly every identity was represented in some way, and no two artists filled the same niche.
Marisol Lords | Photos by: Fynn Grindle
This unapologetic individuality is what drew Drechsler to drag in the first place. She shared her emotional connection to drag, which I found myself relating to: “When you are in the four walls of a gay bar, a lot of the time, the whole world disappears. If you're looking at a drag queen, it's really difficult to be in the back of your head wondering, ‘Oh, I have a test tomorrow that I'm going to be stressed about.’ I think I found drag so alluring because it was an escape for me and it was entertaining to just see people be extremely empowered on stage.”
Dotte Com | Photos by: Fynn Grindle
Despite potential pushback, Drechsler felt confident in drag’s place at DreamHack. She admitted, though, that she and her cast were initially nervous, especially for the event’s premiere in Texas, which, according to the Movement Advancement Project, ranks as one of the worst states for LGBTQIA+ individuals. “With drag artists, they are so bold,” Drechsler said, “it's impossible to hide the fact that you're queer. There are drag artists that are not part of the [queer] community, but a lot of the time it is branded as queer content, so it's really difficult to hide that.” But after the full-audience, standing-room-only positive reception in Dallas, Drechsler knew that drag belonged at DreamHack: “I'm not scared to ever do drag, ever, on any stage.”
I hope "Drag & Drop" becomes a DreamHack staple. Drag is so often associated with bars, meaning age restrictions and sometimes, unsafe environments. But at DreamHack, world-class drag entertainment is readily available, and people of all ages can experience it in an atmosphere focused on creativity and inclusion. Drechsler said, “Drag, to me, is really just community. It's gender expression, it's art expression. It can be whatever you want it to be.”
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