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James Judd captures the magic of (lovable. vicious, filthy, and jaw-droppingly rude) BIANCO DEL RIO

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An earlier version of this story first appeared in The Provincetown Independent.

How does she do it? Del Rio bills herself as an insult comic. “I’m like Don Rickles but in a dress and prettier.” But underneath all that hilarious vitriol she’s lovable. Vicious, filthy, and jaw-droppingly rude, but you leave her shows feeling like you just got a big hug of love. You can’t explain it. It’s just part of the Bianca Del Rio magic.

Bianca’s latest solo tour kicked off in Provincetown, followed by a gig Brazil.

After that, it’s onto the rest of the world. Tour dates and a name for the new tour were still being decided upon when I reached Bianca by phone from her home in Palm Springs.

I saw Del Rio perform at the XL Nightclub in NYC maybe 11 years ago. She was hosting a middling drag show with more Broadway aspirations than actual talent. The show seemed programmed for an audience of straight, drunk Times Square tourists. Our table of gays felt out of place, and we were on the edge of ditching when Del Rio made her entrance.

“Drunk people give you so much,” said Del Rio. “If you’re bold enough to talk to me, get ready. I’m coming after you. No one is safe. I don’t care if you’re in a wheelchair. It’s open hate for everyone.”

I walked away from that show leaving feeling absolutely dazzled by Del Rio’s talent. It was evident then that she was already an assured and polished star in the making. I wondered if her comedy chops were innate or learned.

“I don’t think I was a particularly funny child,” said Bianca. “I knew that I was different and that was an issue. I tried to find humor in everything. That was how I dealt with those feelings of being different. I don’t know if my family thought I was funny, but now they take credit for everything.

Del Rio’s voice took on that exasperated tone she uses in one of her online Really Queen? takedowns. I was asking too many questions about how she developed her comedy chops, and the lady was over it. “Do your act in a drag bar at 2 am in New Orleans where absolutely nobody gives a shit about you, and you learn a skill set.”

So many different cities, so many different local politics. I asked Del Rio where she stands on adjusting her act for the mood of times and she said she had not only never thought of doing that but doesn’t even think about what the audience’s mindset might be.

I just assume everybody knows what I’m like and that everyone is on my page,” she said. But that doesn’t mean she wants an audience that’s pre-programmed to laugh at anything she says. “If they just liked everything then I would be bothered by that. I prefer to work for it… a little.” 

Although Del Rio is performing in large venues rather than comedy clubs, she’s still very much a road comic. Her most recent tour ran for nine months with one hundred and thirty shows in ninety-nine cities. Most of the travel is done on a bus. 

“I hit the road hard,” she said. “This year I had some surgery. Not elective face surgery, but some foot surgery from years of wearing cheap shoes. That slowed me down a bit but now I’m ready to go.”

One thing that sets Del Rio apart from other drag comedy acts is that it doesn’t actually depend upon her being in drag. Her look is an accessory to the stand-up, not its raison d’etre.  She could do the same material out of drag and still slay an audience, which she had to do when a lost luggage incident before a gig meant she had no costume.

Costumes have a deeper meaning for Del Rio than you might realize. Back when he was only known as Roy Haylock, he began designing costumes while he was still in high school. In 1993, he won a Big Easy Entertainment Award for Best Costume Design at the age of 17. Those skills helped keep him afloat in New York before he hit the big time.

I still work on my own costumes,” she said. “I’ve got two other guys I worked with before. They came out to Palm Springs. You get to catch up with friends and get some great costumes out of it.”

When Del Rio talks about his childhood comedy influences – Carol Burnett, Don RicklesJoan Rivers holds a special place in his heart. Del Rio was a guest on Joan’s In Bed With Joan Rivers internet talk show. Each week Joan invited a celebrity to get in bed with her and dish on their lives. Del Rio’s episode aired just two weeks before Rivers died in August 2014. 

She was wonderfully kind and gracious,” said Del Rio. “The finished shows were only twenty minutes long, and after twenty minutes of taping she could have kicked me out, but Joan kept our interview going for over an hour.”

Before we ended our conversation, I asked Del Rio if she had any thoughts on Provincetown.

“I hate it,” she said. “I hate the people. I’ve been with those people walking too slowly on Commercial Street. I can’t stand the smell of lobster. There will be fewer drag queens there this time of year which is good because I don’t want to face all these other queens I can’t stand.

 

Guest Contributor: James Judd is a freelance writer, a performer, frequent contributor to NPR, and a Creativity Coach. He lives on Cape Cod. 



Why Eric Shaeffer’s ‘Boy Meets Girl’ was one of the best Transgender movies of 2014

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    Once in a while we come across a new small movie that is unafraid to tackle important issues with a very big heart, and ” Boy Meets Girl” is certainly one such film.  It is a tender, human, sex-positive romantic comedy that explores what it means to be “real”: to live and love … Continue reading



International Opera singer LUCIA LUCAS talks about the World Premiere LiLI Elba the Danish painter and trans woman

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Queerguru first came across the international baritone Opera singer Lucia Lucas two years ago after viewing The Sound Of Identity one of the most uplifting LGBTQ+ documentaries we had seen for a very long time.  It’s the story of how Tobias Picker a remarkable queer composer and also a forward-thinking Artistic Director of Tulsa Opera House, decided to mount a production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. It was he who decided to cast Lucia Lucas for the lead role purely on her talent but he was more than aware of the risks of casting an openly transgender woman.

From the very first scene of James Kicklighter’s film  (which went on to win countless awards), it is impossible not to warm to the disarmingly charming Lucas.  Besides her powerful voice that literally sends shivers down your back, both her quiet confidence and her sheer natural generosity of spirit, leave you slightly in awe.  Lucas insists that there is more to her than being trans, and that is reflected in how Kicklighter filmed her story.

Fast forward to the present time and Lucas has very successfully made both her NY Metropolitan Opera debut and her London Coliseum debut and she is back working with Picker.  With his husband Aryeh Lev Stollman, Picker has composed a new opera LiLI Elbe about the Danish painter and trans woman who was among the early recipients of gender-affirming surgery.  Already her story has been the subject of a film ……The Danish Girl .…. when LiLI was played by a cisgender male, however, the opera was written specifically for Lucas giving it so much more authenticity.

LiLI Elba the Opera has just enjoyed its World Premiere at Theater St Gallen in Switzerland to rave reviews and has more performances this month.  We seized the opportunity to reach out to her while she had a few days off to catch.

 

 



Migguel Anggelo bares all in his spectacular one man show LATINXOXO

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Migguel Anggelo is a transdisciplinary performing artist. He invokes muses from art history, harnessing this lineage in effortlessly forward-thinking ways. and magically combines them with his journeys as a Latino immigrant and a queer man:. He has an unceasing supply of energy and it is as infectious as his passion for his art. His natural charisma perpetuates all his performances and makes his talent shine even brighter.

Happy performing to sold-out audiences at Joe’s Pub or the Lincoln Center in his adopted home town NY, However, Queerguru last caught up with one of our very favorite artists as he was about to take his show LATINXOX around the US including our winter hometown of Miami.  Now he is making tracks to California with shows in Ronart Park on Oct 12,  San Francisco Oct 14 and 15th and Orange Park Acres on Oct 19th.  When you see him be sure to give him our love

 

FULL DETAILS & TICKETS ETC 

https://www.migguelanggelo.com

 



Author, Journalist and Activist Paul Burston talks about his memoir “WE CAN BE HEROES”

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When you read a resume like PAUL BURSTON‘s you feel (a) totally exhausted and (b) that you really should achieve more with your own life! He’s a journalist, author, activist, one-time editor, and founder and host of POLARI the LGBTQ+ literary salon. Before we started talking to him we knew a little about his life as he had been one of the participants of Alexis Gregory‘s stunning verbatim piece Riot Act. We are still a little unsure why we had not tied him down for an interview, particularly as he is very much a significant figure in the UK”s queer community …….. and in fact in 2016, he featured in the British Council’s Global List of ‘33 visionary people promoting freedom, equality and LGBT rights around the world.. So when his memoir We Can Be Heroes was recently published it seemed the perfect time to catch up with this fascinating charming man of letters

 



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