48 J “ * 1
« September 21.2001
T
wo days after the World Trade Center
bombing, 1 called New York City actress
Mo Fischer (aka drag king Mo B. Dick) to
talk about her planned Portland perform
ances. But naturally we first talked about her
life at that moment in Manhattan.
The city, she said, has been an endless parade
of “emergency vehicle after emergency vehicle,
jet fighter planes zooming overhead— really an
assault to your senses. Emotionally it’s been real
ly exhausting and terrifying to he a part of this."
Although Fischer lives a safe distance from
the area, she had lots to say about the tragedy
and its effects. The morning of the attack, she
nxle her hike to within 10 blocks of the World
Trade Center. She couldn’t get any closer hut
recalled: “ I was chewing gum and then chew
ing soot, too. It was just terrifying."
She also commented on the startling lack of
traffic in a city that never stops. “People were just
walking around, not checking traffic or anything,
just walking all over the streets in a total daze."
As people get hack to work, Fischer believes
that is precisely what New York needs right now:
a return to normalcy. She said Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani has justifiable concerns about the
financial health of the city and state should
people remain stunned and inactive too long.
“The mayor told people just last night, ‘G o
out to a restaurant, go see a movie, shop, enjoy.’
He’s basically saying we need to get hack to
normal and practice action over anxiety.”
Referring to the rruxxi of New Yorkers, Fisch
er lauded Giuliani’s thoughtful admonition not
to react in anger, bigotry and hatred. “It’s really
remarkable that he felt the urgency to say that.”
As we moved on to the subject of her
upcoming appearances, she acknowledged her
own concerns about starting a 30-city tour after
such an event. “Quite frankly, there was a
moment where I thought: ‘Should we do the
tour? How can we go out and do shows? How
can we he entertaining people in the midst of
this crisis? Where do you draw the line?’ ”
Fischer just had canceled a show for that
very evening at Wesleyan College near Boston.
Logistically, she explained, getting out of Man
hattan was still a nightmare.
1 o B. Dick (the B stands for Bodacious) is
one of four gender-bending drag kings
I touring North America together this fall.
Fischer described her character as a “motor-
mouth ex-con who’s good-looking, hot for the
ladies, brazen, outspoken and tough-talkin’."
Expect a bawdy, foul-mouthed, funny
show— hut with a social conscience. Fischer
undoubtedly will speak her mind on the events
consuming our national consciousness. As she
told The Advocate , “Whenever you’re onstage
and you have the mike, it’s your responsibility
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to say something a little bit real and political.”
Besides Fischer, the foursome is made up of
Muthafucka MC, an Aussie gangsta; Antonio
Caputo, just named Berlin’s Best Drag King in
2001; and Miss Lora Marie, a multitalented drag
king who also branches out as a drag queen named
Miss Hamhock, a born-again stripper, ex-choir girl
and 1987 Arkansas Pork PrcxJuct Pageant Queen.
If they’re even half as entertaining as their names,
this should be an evening to remember.
As the leader of this pack, Fischer has been
getting lots of press lately. In addition to the
spread in the Sept. 25 issue of The Advocate,
she recently was featured in The Drag King
Book with photos by Del LaGrace Volcano.
Even more impressive, she appeared in the
1998 film Pecker as a “brazen, bold and angry”
lesbian stripper performing in the Pelt Room
and as a hiker named T-Bone. She couldn’t say
enough about the incredible talent of director
John Waters, laughing as she acknowledged his
icon status in the gay world.
“He’s everybody’s idol, he’s everybody’s
Gay Men’* Chorut
“joining together in song and #>ride”
we are (oofcin,? for
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her life for granted and still marvels at her abili
ty to pull it off in public. “A lot of people see the
transformation and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ ’’
This change isn’t a public process. “1 like to
he in a quiet space, not in a club, to get ready,
because I like to take the time to just...well, it
comes over me. Where I cross that line...I
don’t know and how exactly, it just literally
comes over me. My body begins to change, my
stance, my hand gestures. I’m not as lucid and
free as I am as a female,” Fischer revealed.
Although the possibilities are limitless, she
claimed she never has hit on anybody while in
her “other” role, except for a little fun. “I’ll play
with somebody’s mind, hut I don’t want to play
with someone’s heart.”
However, Fischer confided she has had
numerous people hit on her. “Straight women
totally freak out that I’m actually a woman.”
As if that isn’t enough, she also gets hit on
by gay men. “They’re out ltxiking for a little
action...hut they’re not gonna find it."
Laughing heartily, Fischer said the funniest
thing for her is when she gets hit on by bisexu
al men. “They love it— they love it because it’s
so twisted. It’s like the best of both worlds for a
bisexual man or wom an...it’s ideal.”
Because she works so hard at it, she said
she’s especially flattered and always thinks: “Oh,
my Gtxl, I’m passing. It’s such an affirmation.”
Fischer is bisexual and has a boyfriend.
“He’s not bi, but he’s cool if I date women
because that’s one thing he can’t provide.”
One of her favorite aspects of perfonning is
the diverse crowds she draws. “Sometimes it
would be just lesbians, then the next week a
totally different crowd, very mixed. To me
that’s reality, that’s life. I’ve never been fond of
single-mindedness or the blinders thing.”
Fischer and her troupe will be touring through
Oct. 27, crossing Middle America and Canada in
a van. Her hope is that “people will begin to rec
ognize women in suits as not threatening and that
hopefully, as an extension of that, we’ll no longer
have any more Brandon Teena stories.” j H
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hero,” she exclaimed. “He’s a fantastic person
and so much fun to work with. He’s absolutely
hilarious. It was a dream come true to be in a
John Waters movie— come on!”
II of this started for Fischer after she met drag
king Buster Hyman in Provincetown, Mass.,
then joined up with other kings to create
Club Casanova in New York City. She credited
her mentor, a “conventional" drag queen named
Mistress Formica, for teaching her the basics.
She and I talked about the gray line between
her onstage persona and real life. “Most people
are more interested in who I am offstage than
what I’m doing onstage, which has been from Day
One understandable, but it strikes me as funny."
Offstage, as a woman, Fischer is more femme
and didn’t think she could be a drag king “from
the get-go because I’m too girlie. I’m not butch.”
She insisted that with some work any
woman could become a drag king. “You don’t
have to be butch to begin with.”
Fischer obviously doesn’t take this aspect of
Mo B. D ick and the M en of C lub C asanova
perform Sept. 30 at Portland State University’s Smith
Memorial Center Ballroom, 1825 S.W. Broadway,
sponsored by PSU Queers and Allies. Doors open at
5:30 p.m., and a buffet ivill begin at 6 with a no-host
bar. At 6:30, a PSU student improv group will per-
form. At 7:45 the kings take over. Tickets are $16
from 503-725-5681 or at the door. As soon as the
kings finish up at PSU, they stride over to the Egypt
ian Club, 3701 S.E . Divisim St., for another show
at 10. The cover charge is $5.
RICHARD B ray is a Portland free-lance writer
who, thankfully, has never been seen in drag of
any sort. Find him at nchbray2000@hotmail.com.
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