Drag queen Lady Bunny on President Trump: 'Drain the swamp? He didn't drain it, honey, he put new gators in.'
Conveniently enough, she has a pretty easy metric for her potential audience: "If you're struggling to keep up and don't mind having a laugh at someone who gets it wrong on purpose, then this is the show for you," Bunny said. "But if you're precious, you will hate it. Please don't come."
Hey Bunny, how's it going?
The sun's out. I'm trying to find something to celebrate because this might be the end. But I've fought Republican presidents before.
Does this president feel any different?
Yeah, because he's crazy! He's insulted everyone from women to Muslims, and he's punked his own supporters. Guess what, working-class whites: Tax cuts on the wealthy don't help you. Drain the swamp? He didn't drain it, honey, he put new gators in. Some times can be worse than better. At least I'll try to make them laugh while that's happening.
And now you're taking your act on the road.
I wore it out in New York, and I want to milk it in London, Palm Springs, L.A. My act is very vulgar, but what makes this show different is it's topical. What can we still laugh at as a member of the LGBT-whatever community? We are divided as a nation. I feel like PC culture can stifle discussion because people are walking on eggshells. They just made Dick Van Dyke change his name to Penis von Lesbian.
The show is mainly song parodies. I don't want to be high-minded and say it's this topical thing, but it is within the framework of what we can still laugh at. I want to challenge, especially young audiences, on having to know the latest labels about cisgender or transgender. I don't want to disrespect people, but I don't know half these things, and I'm a sexual variance.
Why is it OK to laugh even if this "might be the end," as you say?
Laughter is what we do when we're feeling the best on this Earth. Hopefully, no president will completely get rid of that. Listen, a laugh can't get you through hard times. This show focuses on gender politics, not politics. But people would say I'm the Other. I've worn women's clothes to work for 30 years. Everyone and my mother call me Bunny. There's been a big rift between trans and drag people, which is so weird to me because we've been the closest. I heard Donald Trump addressing the LGBTQ community, and I'm thinking, "We're saying Q now? Donald Trump knows more about this than I do."
How do you fight for a community you can't name? When the New York Times is saying Hey, you guys is sexist because it doesn't include women ... that's what suburban housewives say. They're not slighting their daughters, they're just in a hurry. We're demonizing greetings. As a comedian, words are a tool of my trade, and you can't take them away from me.
But language and its reclamation is important to movements.
But people get lost in all of this. We had a word to encompass all of it: Miss Thing. It's what you would call a gay man acting queenie or a drag queen or a man being girlish and nutty and probably fun.
I talk about Caitlyn Jenner and how that mystified my trans friends. Are we creating these undeserving idols? As a longtime friend and ally of the trans community, I think they can get better representation.
I hope trans rights aren't being tied to a trend. When that trend goes out of style, so do your rights.
Is it different doing this show now than it was when you were performing at the Stonewall Inn over the summer?
The first night after the Pulse nightclub shooting, that was tough. They were doing a rally outside while I was doing the show. But I can get through anything, and I feel the same thing about a Trump presidency.
Lady Bunny, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Rrazz Room, 385 W. Bridge St., New Hope, Pa., 888-596-1027, www.therrazzroom.com.