Maggot Banks on Positive Masculinity, Community, and Drag Kinging

Sometimes you see one performance and something in you answers before your mind has time to catch up.

Not with a plan.
Not with a polished identity.
Just with a full-body yes.

That is where this episode begins.

With Kaitlyn aka Maggot Banks seeing a Drag King for the first time at Queers of Joy and instantly knowing she had to try it too. What opened from there was not only a stage persona, but a much bigger journey into community, masculinity, confidence, and creative play.

Watch or Listen

You can listen to the full episode here

Chapters in this episode:
00:00 Welcome to The Kings of Joy Show
01:06 Kaitlyn’s Drag King origin story
03:52 The first Kings of Joy group routine
06:02 Who is Maggot Banks?
10:05 First time on stage as a Drag King
13:18 Finding community through Kings of Joy
17:05 The story behind Eat Randy
24:10 Why gender is fun to play with
28:06 Drag King archetypes and persona building
31:19 Body confidence and feeling sexy on stage
35:10 Kaitlyn’s vision for a thriving Drag King scene

What You’ll Hear

• The Queers of Joy moment that changed everything
• How Maggot Banks was born from family history
• A first routine set inside a record store
• Why group Drag Kinging creates real bonds
• The story behind Eat Randy
• Positive masculinity in practice
• Feeling hot, handsome, and sexy on stage
• A vision for more Drag Kings everywhere

Kaitlyn aka Maggot Banks did not grow up dreaming of the stage.

She did not come into Kings of Joy with theatre training, dance training, or a polished performance background. What she had instead was recognition. That immediate spark when something finally appears in front of you and your whole system says yes.

In this episode of The Kings of Joy Show, Kaitlyn tells the story of seeing a friend debut as a Drag King at Queers of Joy and knowing instantly that she had to do it too. It is one of those moments that feels simple when you say it out loud. But anyone who has ever had a creative awakening knows it is never just simple.

Sometimes, one moment rearranges things.

What I love about Kaitlyn’s story is that it starts from a place many people will recognise. She had not really found her queer community in Sydney yet. She had people she loved, of course, but not yet that deeper web of connection that lets you feel held, reflected, and fully seen. Kings of Joy entered at exactly that point.

That matters.

Because a lot of people still imagine Drag Kinging as only a performance art. A show. A costume. A persona. And yes, it is all of those things. But it can also be a doorway into community, into embodiment, into the kind of self-discovery that is difficult to access when you are doing life alone.

Kaitlyn’s first Kings of Joy group routine captures that beautifully. The concept was that a bunch of completely different people walk into a record store, each in their own world, each with their own taste, their own identity, their own little bubble. Then one song comes over the radio, I Believe in a Thing Called Love, and suddenly they are all in it together.

That is such a good metaphor for Kings of Joy itself.

Different personas. Different backgrounds. Different ways into masculinity. Then music, movement, and Drag Kinging become the thing that brings people together.

Kaitlyn’s Drag King persona, Maggot Banks, is especially memorable because he is built on contrast. He is rough, loud, leather-clad, stage-diving energy on the outside. But under that, he is tender. Loyal. Soft with his boys. A snuggly teddy bear in a kilt and boots.

That duality is part of what makes him so alive.

And it is not random. Kaitlyn shares that Maggot Banks is shaped by family history, especially the story of her Scottish grandmother and the energies around softness and roughness in her family line. That grounding gives Maggot substance. He is not just a look. He is not just a joke. He is a persona with roots.

That distinction is one of the things Kings of Joy does so well. It does not only help people come up with a name. It helps them discover a persona that feels like an extension of truth, not a mask that cuts them off from it.

Maggot is a rebel. But he is not a flat stereotype. He lets Kaitlyn play with masculinity in a way that feels expansive rather than restrictive. He can be gruff and sexy. He can also be playful, vulnerable, and deeply affectionate. That matters because one of the strongest threads in this episode is positive masculinity.

Kaitlyn says, “Gender is such a fun thing to play with.”

That line sounds light, and it is. But there is so much depth underneath it.

What she goes on to describe is the way Drag Kinging has helped her study, embody, and recognise forms of masculinity that are not toxic. Through playing with masculinity on purpose, she has sharpened her sense of what good masculinity looks like in the world. She knows it exists. She can feel it. She sees it in the Kings around her. And because of that, she no longer tolerates toxic masculinity in the same way.

That is a huge cultural insight.

Drag Kinging is not only personal expression. It can also be political education. Embodied education. A way of understanding what masculinity could be if it was untangled from domination and opened back up to care, tenderness, humour, loyalty, and play.

Kaitlyn speaks about this beautifully. She talks about how playing with gender has taught her how to care for herself, who to surround herself with, and how to build a world that feels more aligned with her values. That is not a small transformation. That is life-shaping.

And still, the conversation never loses its joy.

Because Maggot Banks is not an academic theory. He is on stage in leather gloves and studded boots. He is under a kilt flashing his bum. He is bouncing around in group routines, feeding off the energy of other Kings, finding new facets of himself every time he performs. Kaitlyn says that she thought Maggot would be stuck in a certain rocker space, but over time he has grown. Pop numbers. Boy band routines. New energies. More play.

That is another key part of the episode. Persona does not have to mean limitation.

A good Drag King persona can actually become a tool for growth. A way to ask, what else is here? What else can I unlock? What else can I let myself try?

That same spirit is all over the much-loved duet Eat Randy, which she performs with Randy Rootrat. It is absurd, funny, affectionate, theatrical, and unmistakably Kings of Joy. It also reveals something important about the community. A lot of Drag King creativity does not happen in isolation. It happens because Kings bounce off each other. Because someone says yes to a weird idea. Because there is enough trust and enough shared humour to make something bizarre and beautiful together.

That kind of creative ecosystem is part of what makes this episode special.

Kaitlyn talks about housewarmings, hospital runs, helping each other move, showing up for art shows, and knowing that if she puts a message in the King chat, someone will answer. There is something very concrete and moving about that. Kings of Joy is not only the performance itself. It is what happens around it. The friendships. The care. The ordinary acts of showing up.

She says that almost every friend she has in Sydney now is a Drag King.

That tells you something.

It tells you this is about more than a hobby. More than a stage night. This is about what happens when queer people find one another through a shared practice and then build real life together from there.

One of the strongest emotional sections of the interview is when Kaitlyn talks about body confidence. She describes the fear of watching her first performance back, worried about how her body would look on stage. Then she finally does it and sees something completely different. “I felt handsome. I felt hot. I felt sexy.”

That line lands.

Because it is not abstract confidence talk. It is the specific, hard-won experience of seeing yourself with new eyes. Of catching your own beauty. Of recognising your own magnetism. Of feeling that your body is not a problem to solve, but a source of pleasure, power, and expression.

For so many people, that is reason enough to take Drag Kinging seriously.

And then Kaitlyn lifts the whole conversation outward again. She talks about the bigger vision. A world where people no longer ask, “What’s a Drag King?” A world with more Drag Kings on main stages, in mainstream media, in film, on television, at Mardi Gras, in paid gigs, in queer events where Kings are not an afterthought but a natural part of the landscape.

That vision feels both ambitious and obvious.

Of course, Drag Kings belong there.

This episode reminds us that the culture is already here. The artistry is already here. The history is already here. What is needed is more visibility, more resourcing, and more stages.

Kaitlyn is not waiting around for someone else to build that future. She is helping make it. As a Kings of Joy producer, performer, and community member, she is part of growing the scene from the inside. And you can feel in this conversation that her love for it runs deep.

Not in a polished, detached way.

In a lived way.

A “these are my people” way.
A “this changed my life” way.
A “I want more of us to exist in public” way.

Season 2 of The Kings of Joy Show is documenting a global Drag King movement through the voices of people who are not only performing, but helping shape culture. These conversations track what happens when gender becomes something to play with, question, and embody on our own terms.

Kings of Joy is a global Drag King community helping LGBTQIA+ people break free from constraints around gender, sexuality and self-expression so we can be 100% at home in our own skin. Kaitlyn’s story is one powerful example of what can happen when Drag Kinging becomes a place for joy, connection, and transformation.

If you’re feeling the pull to explore Drag Kinging yourself, start here:
danicalani.com/dragkingname

About Danica Lani, The King Coach

Hey you 👋 I’m Danica Lani - also known as The King Coach. I’ve mentored 150 first-time Drag Kings since 2020, and I’m here to say: if you’re feeling the pull to explore gender through performance, you’re not alone - and you’re not too late.
Whether you’re new to this world or quietly dreaming of stepping into your masculine side on stage, there’s space for you here.
Kings of Joy is a global Drag King community helping LGBTQIA+ people break free from constraints around gender, sexuality, and self-expression - so we can be 100% at home in our own skin.
✨ Ready to name your King? Download Claim Your Drag King Name in 4 Simple Steps - a free guide to choosing your Drag King name.

About the Guest

Kaitlyn aka Maggot Banks is a Kings of Joy producer and performer helping build the Drag King scene in Sydney. Her Drag King persona, Maggot Banks, is a rough-and-ready Scottish lad with a rebel edge, a soft heart, and a deep love for his boys.

In this episode, Kaitlyn shares how one Queers of Joy performance changed everything. What followed was a journey into Drag Kinging, queer community, positive masculinity, body confidence, and the creative freedom of shaping a persona that keeps evolving over time.

Production Credit

The Kings of Joy Show is produced by Bambuddha Studios. Their support has made it possible to document and share these conversations with care and cultural integrity. Learn more.