Provided with wigs, fake mustaches and fake eyebrows, attendees of last week’s interactive workshop with Bay Area based drag kings Mister Mercury and Tenacious Beef Supreme got the opportunity to laugh, discuss potential performance ideas and further brainstorm different drag names and aesthetics.
Mercury and Supreme lead participants through creating their own drag persona by leading activities that broke down barriers and allowed for connection.
The event was hosted by the Otter Cross Cultural Center, in collaboration with the Rainbow Raft and the Helen Rucker Center for Black Excellence.
“I think after this one event, I feel my confidence and my comfortability has gone up significantly because you realize that you’re not alone,” said third year Liberal Studies student Bella Alvarado.
The activities were intended to help ease the transition into starting drag for people who are interested in exploring the art form further.
Starting is, “the hardest part because it can seem really intimidating,” said Mercury. “So we created the…[Intro-to-Drag] workshop with Motion Specific to kind of eliminate that barrier to entry.”
Supreme highlighted that these events allow attendees to dismantle their own gendered thinking and lets them create their own expression of masculinity and femininity.
“I like seeing people become really confident,” said Supreme. “And I think that bringing new people in gives them a space to practice skills that maybe they don’t practice a lot, like taking up space or being bold.”
This event is one of three in the Werk Witch Bootcamp event series hosted by the OC3 in order to help the CSUMB community learn more about drag history, tips and performances.
“I think [these events are] important for students in the community because if you’re coming from a place where you’ve always been interested in drag or… getting into different aspects of art within the queer community but you didn’t have that outlet…, you have the space to do it on campus and it’s free,” said third year Marine Science student Mariana Botello.
Botello has been with OC3 for two years and currently serves as the OC3 signature programs coordinator.
Werk Witch “is the biggest event during the fall,” said Botello. “I have a lot of love for the event.”
Werk Witch is Oct 9 at 7 p.m. with tickets going live on MyRaft Oct 2 at 6 p.m.