Articles
I'm standing in the events space at the back of The Working Kind Collective and the founder of Bambuddha Group, Anna Sheppard is waving her hand enthusiastically towards the wall which will soon have mirrors installed for our new rehearsal and workshop space for Kings of Joy. She turns to me and say...
It all started when I got a call from Jim Junkie, our loveable, local Drag King Fitness Influencer.
Jim (Becks Blake) said to me,
“I loved being part of that first group of Kings of Joy with all first-time Drag Kings. I wasn't sure if I would ever get to find a creative community like this. I want...
Midsumma Carnival 15 Jan, 2012 (L-R Danica Lani, Rocco D'Amore, Lucy Berry & Alison Shirley.) Photo by Alison Bennett
My Drag King apprenticeship really began in the salon chair. Rocco D'Amore was my hairstylist for many years - and my Drag Daddy. We discussed everything from representation in the ...
A newly released song 'Joy' penned by one of our Kings of Joy, Bridget Harilaou aka Trans Mission, was written as a love letter to our LGBTQ+ friends living in one of the largest refugee camps in the world, in Block 13, Kakuma, Kenya. When you buy the song from Bandcamp, you...
Live from Drag Kingdom!
Chris aka Chase Cocks 0:00
You know, I could talk about this whole thing all night but I think we would probably be best to hear it from the choreographer, the creator of Kings of Joy, my wife, Danica Lani…
Danica Lani 0:11
Now I’m gonna cry…
Danica Lani 0:54
I’ve been sta...
This Thurs 18th August is our inaugural, never been done before night of Drag Kingdom, bringing together the groups of Kings of Joy in an epic night of boi bands.
And as another first, we are releasing our very first, brand new Kings of Joy t-shirts designed by King of Joy, Toby aka Martin Van Tasm...
Photo credit: Sarah Malone
Gender affirming surgery has been raised in political commentary leading up to Australia's federal election with current Prime Minister Scott Morrison helping spread alarmist views and misinformation about this topic, alongside one of his colleagues.Â
Less than a week af...
Photo credit: Sarah Malone @sierramalevich
I have something deep to share with you this week. On Saturday night at Temple, I took fate into my own hands and... walked my first (mini) ball.
I've seen balls here in Syndey - Sissy Ball has been fabulous, but my very first ball was when I was living i...
Marrugeku’s Jurrungu Ngan-ga. Photo: Prudence Upton, Sydney, 2022
After a number of days deep in the work of distinguishing and untangling the impact of systemic racism that was raised by the BIPOC members of my Kings of Joy Naarm group and had us withdraw our show Queers of Joy from the Midsumma f...
Doing the real work of anti-racism takes soul searching, emotional untangling, taking responsibility, deep intellectual effort, and staying in communication. This is the work that many people of colour are left to do when a situation requires them to do the ethical thinking and communicating about h...
Many people have heard of Drag Queens, but when I mention Drag Kings, there’s a moment. A pause. Often there’s not even a flicker of recognition. And so I always start with, “You’ve heard of a Drag Queen, right? Well, a Drag King is a woman dressing up as a man.” I keep the language limited and easy...