- I am beyond thrilled.
Today's about to be a huge day.
Today is...
(upbeat music)
Everything that we worked on for the past few weeks
have led up to this moment.
(squeaking)
Hello.
I'm Nadia, and this month I'm going to become a drag king.
Becoming a drag king has kind of been a dream of mine
for quite a number of years.
I have spent a lot of time going to shows,
and I've always been enamored with the drag world.
The amount of work that these performers do
to create these characters and these personas,
it's so inspiring.
And, it's just a world that I just wanna be a part of.
And, I'm ready for it.
My really good friend/amazing performer,
Vod Sinclair, has kindly agreed to help coach me,
and help me discover my inner king.
And, I'm really excited to work with them.
- First strike, son.
- I wouldn't be able to do it without Vod.
I'm so excited, thank you. - Yes.
- Why do you do drag?
- I think it's a really great way
for me to express myself in a variety of different
genders, and scenarios, and stereotypes.
And then, also utilize like a lot of different talents
that I have with like, talents and passions for
you know fashions, like costume designing, makeup.
There's just so much creative energy here,
and I just feel like I'm at a point now
where I like can't live without it.
- What's your advice on finding a drag name?
- What is your persona?
Like who are you trying to be?
And then, kind of work backwards from there.
- I really love steampunk.
I love rockstars like classic rockstars, Freddy Mercury,
I love Prince, I love Slash.
That's a look. - He's a fucking riot, yeah.
So, with the steampunk thing, like old,
like Victorian-esque names.
Because my name is Vod, and I have a thing
for like V-names, I just thought Victor
was like really perfect for that.
- What's your advice on keeping the audience's attention
throughout the entire performance?
- Number one thing is eye contact, and facial expression.
Well, your lipsynch has to be tight.
- Oh god.
- You know your words, 'cause otherwise
nobody's gonna know what you're talking about.
If you don't know what you're talking about.
- Yeah.
- We're gonna make you a man.
(laughing)
- About to go meet up with my drag coach, Vod Sinclair.
And, we're gonna try and find an outfit for my drag king.
We're gonna check out a couple thrift stores here.
There they are.
- We're going shopping for drag, baby.
(upbeat music)
- [Nadia] We just got done picking some stuff up.
It was a really successful day.
- Usually I like to like sew things on.
Probably gonna do like some buttons,
painting, gluing things on.
- So, this is like a part of the look,
it's not the complete look.
I can really start to envision it now,
and it's gonna be fun.
- [Vod] I love all the stripes.
Like they're just like different types of stripes.
- The detail though. - It's all about the details.
- It is.
Everything matches really well too.
- Yeah. - You know what I mean.
I do have a little bit of social anxiety
and performance anxiety.
I'm really looking forward to pushing myself
outside of my comfort zone.
And, seeing who emerges.
Just become someone else.
We're gonna do makeup today.
So, I'm gonna completely transform my face.
And, I'm really excited to see
what original look we're going to do.
- So we're doing-- hey.
We're doing foundation, and I was just telling Nadia
that we're doing it a little bit darker
around the crown of your head,
because the forehead's always a little bit darker.
We're gonna want the eyebrows to start lower.
Follow the shape of your natural brows,
kinda fill it in.
Facial hair, so I use this stippling sponge.
And, I'll use black eyeshadow first
because that will create that sort of bluish undertone
of like the hair that's like not quite coming
out of the skin yet.
And then, I'll do greasepaint over it
to get like a really precise texture.
The Victor Top look is pretty much complete.
And, I've never felt more alive.
It's the most incredible feeling.
I'm really excited to show the world.
I am going to be performing
for the very first time with Exposure Drag.
And it's been a few weeks of just preparation,
finding the right identity, and music, and costuming.
And, figuring out the makeup.
And, it's all added up to this moment.
(cheering)
(upbeat music)
That was the most amazing experience.
Just the adrenaline rush alone.
I'm so grateful for my drag coach.
I'm over the moon.
And, it's still kind of feels like last night didn't happen.
Everyone that was there was so supportive,
and friendly, and kind.
And, it really felt like I was part of a giant family.
I feel like throughout this whole entire process
I learned more about myself.
It is just way more than anything I could've
ever dreamed of, or expected, or imagined.
I'm incredibly grateful, jazzed, excited.
Thank you for coming along with me on this journey.
(upbeat music)