FUNNY BUNNY
Drag diva Lady Bunny on turning 50, her first TV show and ditching New Year’sresolutions
Lady Bunny performs New Year's Eve at BJ's NXS. “I don’t think there will be anyprudes in a strip bar, but I do perform somewhat raunchy material,” she warns.
Lady Bunny has a development deal for her first-ever television show —surprisingly, not a reality series.
Founder of New York’s legendary Wigstock festival and all-around renaissance drag queen Lady Bunny isn’t known for standing still in her stilettos.
While chatting on the phone just before she embarks on a mini-tour of Texas that will have her ringing in the New Year at BJ’s NXS in Dallas, the Lady riffs on everything from why New York is less funky in the 21st century to how to properly put on a pair of false lashes. (Let the glue set for three minutes before applying, just in case you’re wondering.)
Her career is equally all over the place, as she’s accomplished everything from writing and recording original music, starring as a judge on RuPaul’s Drag U, appearing in films such as Party Girl and To Wong Foo, traveling the globe as a highly paid comedic performer, and DJ’ing for the likes of Visionaire and V magazine.
“I have different talents, so I can’t get bored, which is my way of saying I have ADD and can’t focus on any one thing,” Bunny says.
“I enjoy doing different things, and it’s kind of like having part-time jobs, because you aren’t stuck,” she explains. “If I want to perform more, I can do more shows. If I want to focus on DJ’ing, I take more DJ gigs. I have different talents, so I can’t get bored, which is my way of saying I have ADD and can’t focus on any one thing.”
For her Dallas BJ’s performance, which begins at 10:30 pm December 31, she’ll deliver her token karaoke parodies of popular hits, along with some bawdy banter apropos for a male strip joint.
“I don’t think there will be any prudes in a strip bar, but I do perform somewhat raunchy material,” she warns. “There’s a lot of bawdy humor and twisted song parodies targeting everyone from uncircumcised men to Whitney Houston.”
2013 is shaping up to be quite exciting for Bunny. In addition to her normally packed performance roster and Drag U duties, she has a development deal for her first-ever television show — surprisingly, not a reality series.
“It’s scripted, and their plan is to use established stars in the cast,” she says. “I was approached by a writer who has written a couple of episodes of Weeds and a couple of movies, and because she has a drag theme, she wanted my expertise. We came up with the idea and pitched it to six studios, and one has given us a development deal.
“It’s exciting. I turned 50 this past summer, and our natural tendency is to stick with stuff we know. But even before we got the feedback, I had to say, ‘Bitch, you know, you fucking did it!’ They could have laughed our idea out of the meeting, but none of them did.”
Although she says she gave up on New Year’s resolutions “a while ago,” Bunny says she’s excited to watch the ball drop in Big D, not only for what the next year holds but also for the old superstition of “What you’re doing at the stroke of midnight, you’ll be doing all year.”
“Since I’m performing at a strip bar, I guess it means in 2013 I’ll be surrounded by lots of hot, sexy guys. If my eyesight gets any worse, I won’t be able to see them, so I better hurry up and get all while I can!”
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Lady Bunny performs Monday, December 31, at BJ’s NXS at 3215 N. Fitzhugh Ave. For more information and tickets, call 214-526-9510 or visit www.BJsNXS.com.
