•thearts
OREGON'S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE
year to celebrate the Pagan holiday o f Belt
ane and were inspired to spread the word
even further. However, when asked about the
Faeries, Mitchell makes one thing emphati
cally clear: “I am not a hardcore hippie guy.”
Even if he’s not fond o f the look, the sen
sibility is there: “[It’s] definitely in me and in
my work, a kind o f belief that things can be
better for society as a whole and for the
community that you commune within.”
Mitchell will not be moving full-time to the
Faerie sanctuary anytime soon, though. “I’m
more about creating communities than join
ing them,” he explains, “but Fve had really
good experiences with the Faeries, despite
my not being as Faerie-ish as some. I’m just
29
JULY 15. 2011
not much o f a joiner, especially because gay culture.
sometimes it reminds me o f church.”
“Being queer used to be a passport to non
Along with his co-promoters, Mitchell conformity, to finding your own gender and
has succeeded in forming a vibrant com your own specialness,” Mitchell observes,
munity around M attachine that he hopes and perhaps Mattachine can bring back this
will also manifest when it swings through old-school passport to a generation that lost
Portland. “ [The party] attracts very creative it. Still, all high-minded goals aside, M itch
people, very productive people, and that’s ell offers the best reason to throw a party in
who we promote towards,” he says. “When the Rose City. “I always have a blast in Port
you’re around creative people, your creative land,” he says, “and I can’t wait to see all my
side comes out.” Just as his films celebrate buddies again.” it]
the freakiest o f the freaks as they struggle
to connect with others, the Mattachine With Amber Martin, P J DeBoy and Paul
tour is a celebration o f queer identity— an Dawson; Sat., August 6, 10 p.m M ississippi
invitation for queers to re-embrace creativ Studios, 3939 N. Mississippi; $5; mississip-
ity and tenderness in an ethical vision o f pistudios.com.
June
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Bunny, “The Heifer”
Lady Bunny hops into Portland
BY DANIEL BORGEN
Pioneer, legend, high-profile fixture— it’s
all a matter o f semantics when it comes to an
icon like Lady Bunny. With wigs and fake
eyelashes to the sky and flawless, glitzy dress
es, Lady Bunny, born Jon Ingle, has come a
long way from her modest beginnings in
Chattanooga, Tenn. First a major star in A t
lanta alongside the likes o f RuPaul, she soon
took on New York City— and won. There she
remains a queen-of-all-trades, a wildly suc
cessful deejay, singer, promoter and actress.
Perhaps best known for founding Wig-
stock, the NYC drag festival that now boasts
40,000+ attendees each year, Bunny is also a
notable journalist (Star) and comedienne—
her routines and infamous parodies keep her
ever the jet-setter, as Bunny books venues
from L.A. to Paris. Just Out chatted with the
legendary Bunny ahead o f her upcoming
Portland show.
Ju st Out: Bunny, when were you last in
Portland? W hat’s the weirdest thing that
happened to you here?
Lady Bunny: I spun at Mitchell Gold’s
{grand reopening] event [in 2010] and after
ward went to visit Darcelle at her place. I
loved meeting those girls and Darcelle
couldn’t have been sweeter— and it wasn’t
that weird hut it was hilarious: A black female
customer in a wheelchair was ruling the joint.
She was wearing a wig and told me that be
cause she had wigs in three different colors
and her senile husband thought he had two
other girlfriends on the side. I also performed
a couple summers ago with Taylor Dayne at
your gay pride—the crowd was amazing and I
really hit it off with the emcee, Poison Witers.
Until I got back to my hotel and realized that
she’d stolen my crack pipe!
JO : What can Portland fans expect from
your show? Music? Comedy?
LB: All o f the above. I do have some new
material like my parody o f [Katy Perry’s]
“Firework ” and [Far East Movement’s] “Like
a G 6.”
JO : Any special requests from us?
LB : Horse-hung drug dealers, meet me
backstage.
JO : Your parodies kill. Tell me a bit about
your process. Any one song you’re most fond
of?
LB: I ’m a twisted heifer. My humor can be
so inappropriate that when you see me on
stage, my number has usually been tried out
several times. I don’t trust my own instincts
anymore— after I made crowds at Wigstock
uncomfortable with a parody o f “Dance With
My Father” called “Suck O ff My Father,”
which was performed too soon after Luther
Vandross’ death. Maybe it’s time to resurrect
it!
JO : When I re-watched the trailer for
your D VD, Rated X (For Extra Retarded ) , it
reminded me that you’ve literally been ev
erywhere. Sex and the City cameos, you name
it. W hat specifically inspired the making o f
the D VD?
LB: Angel dust! Seriously, I’ve loved hav
ing cameos on SATC, the Pamela Anderson
Roast, To Wong Foo — but it was time for a
starring vehicle o f my own. And my humor is
so raunchy that no TV show is going to air it,
so I came up with something I could sell my
self without censorship.
JO : W hat’s your favorite celeb or T V mo
ment so far?
LB: Pamela is outrageous— so gorgeous
and fun. But Patti LaBclle, Carol Channing
and Charo are three o f my favorite perform
ers ever. I’ve gotten to work with all o f them
and even got video footage o f Charo from the
set o f Drag U saying, “Lady Bunny is the big
gest puta in the United States.” Chaka Khan
was another idol who guest judged on Drag
U. Barbara Eden once told me she wished she
could get her hair to look like mine— and she
inspired all o f my hairdos with her looks on I
Dream of Jeannie .”
JO : You make headlines for making even
Republicans (like the Bush twins) have
4 6 3 5 SE Hawthorne Blvd
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3 5 2 4 N. Mississippi Ave
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porquenotaces.com
Patti LaBelle, Carol Channing and
Charo are three of my favorite per
formers ever. I’ve gotten to work
with all of them and even got video
footage of Charo from the set of
Drag U saying, “Lady Bunny is the
biggest puta in the United States.”
-LADY BUNNY
fun. W hat’s the sexy secret to your cross
over success?
LB: It’s easy to make Republicans have
fun—just take away someone’s rights or slash
vital services in a recession! It’s funny you ask
that because many o f my deejay gigs are in
ultraconservative Texas. While I do have a
passion for politics, I take a break while I’m
spinning and focus on partying. I think people
hire me because they get a clown and deejay
for the price o f one— it surely isn’t because of
my mixing skills. Speaking of clowns, I just
decjayed for Lady Gaga at the after-party for
her C FD A fashion award. Did you hear her
give me a shout-out during the song “Teeth”
on l\er Monster Zto//HBO Special? Suddenly,
I’m relevant again! JW
The always-relevant Lady Bunny appears at
Red Cap Garage, 1035 SW Stark, at 10 p.m.
Fri., July 29. She'll perform, spin and stick
around for a meet-and-greet. Cover is S3.
Palin Dining. Prit air*Dining.
Fun Dining. Fine Dining
# M i N G 0
in Beaverton
503 646 6464 WWW.MiNGOWEST.COM