Pandemic Profile: During COVID-19, San Diego Drag Queens Search For Ways To Keep Performing

Speaker 1: 00:00 On the long list of industries disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic is drag as part of our series of pandemic profiles, KPBS, Metro reporter, Andrew Bowen spoke with one local drag queen who also opened a costume shop this year about how the community is trying to survive. Speaker 2: 00:19 My name is VV incognito. I was raised in San Diego. I've been doing drag for about 10 years, And Cognito is a kind of punk rock, extra terrestrial, post binary drag performer. Prior to COVID. I was performing like two or three times a week. I was traveling every week up and down the coast, booking my own shows and, uh, building my network after COVID happened, all the drag shows got canceled. And when this is something that you do full time and you're only a form of income, it was definitely a scramble to figure out what to do. Next. A lot of drag performers went to virtual, uh, drag shows. I actually hosted a few virtual drag, shows myself something that I can say about COVID is that most drag performers have learned a new skill. Not only do we style wigs style outfits, do our makeup, but now we've, um, had to learn how to record, edit and produce our own like music videos, which is a lot Speaker 3: 01:30 Right. Speaker 2: 01:35 Part of being a drag performer is that connection that you get when you're onstage. There's nothing that can replace the energy between the audience and the drag performer. So I know that a lot of that energy and excitement does get lost. When you're just watching the show on a TV screen or on a computer screen, you don't get that dollar exchange. You know, you don't get tipped the same, some performers that energy and that exchange and that creative outlet is really what they have to look forward to week after week. And, um, for a lot of people, there is a lot of depression, a lot of sadness. There's a lot of, uh, creative blockage happening. Cause it's really hard to focus on being creative and coming up with like, uh, new ideas and ways to express yourself when you're also worrying about food and, and, and money and your job. I've had some friends that got a storage unit and had to put their stuff up for a little bit. Um, taking a little break from drag, which is healthy too. Speaker 2: 02:34 Yeah. About 10 years ago, when I first started doing drag, I came into this very store. Um, at that time it was called secrets, wigs wig designs, and it was owned by Maria and Maria is a staple in our LGBT local community here. And when COVID happened, I messaged her about, well, what's, what's the plan going to be. And she let me know that she was going to actually have to, um, go out of business. And so when I got that news, I was devastated. I had to make a quick decision what I was going to do. And I talked to the landlord and I decided to take over the store myself. Um, I changed the name to whips and furs. Um, and we expanded on the wigs. Speaker 2: 03:16 We have super deluxe Santa costumes here, full on Santa suits that come with everything. And we also have like these like morph suits here, a lot of drag Queens like to wear these while they perform, it was a tough decision to open up during the pandemic, but I've been just kind of doing whatever I can to keep a float and to keep the store interesting enough to have people coming back. And I plan for after COVID, um, that we're going to have so many programs here at the store. So we'll have makeup tutorials, we're going to have wig styling classes, we're going to be making hip pads. Um, so we're going to be having a lot of, uh, community interaction and a lot of events here that really are going to be a resource and a benefit for the community too. Speaker 3: 04:03 [inaudible] Speaker 2: 04:04 Cannot wait to hit the stage again. And as a performer during this COVID times, my drag has changed so much. Like I've really like grown through this experience. I know people are getting like super excited and eager to get back out there and stuff, but we all just kind of have to like, wait it out a little bit. Um, that way we can all survive this. And, um, uh, and we can appreciate, you know, being together when this is like Speaker 1: 04:36 That was Vivi in Cognito, a local drag queen and owner of the costume shop whips and furs in North park.