Nicholas Richer
The State News
Nicholas Richer
The State News
Drag shows give performers gender-bending opportunity
On most Sunday evenings, Tyler Cooper can be found in the bathroom of his Lansing home, covering his face and bald head with foundation, delicately painting on a set of eyebrows and spritzing hairspray everywhere so his makeup doesn't smear.
The pre-drag show routine is standard for Cooper now, but if you had suggested drag performing to him more than four years ago, he would have laughed in your face.
Cooper, known on stage as Sabin, said when the idea was proposed to him, he thought, "It's not me. That's not what I want to do."
A few years ago, Cooper didn't know anything about drag performing and thought it was just dressing up and acting like a woman, which he had no interest in doing. But after being exposed to the creative side of it and learning that he didn't have to pretend to be a female, he changed his mind.
Part of what makes Cooper unique from other drag performers is his character is more ambiguous and isn't classified as a drag king or queen, but instead, a circuit performer. He said circuit performers are more about "blending the lines" between genders, whereas drag queens usually act as women and have a certain face or image they work to perfect.
"I don't follow boundaries," Cooper said. "(People say drag queens) have to impersonate a woman. That's not me."
Cooper, 24, has always had a passion for performing. He used to be a professional dancer and performed in music videos for artists such as Madonna, Ricky Martin, Destiny's Child and Missy Elliott. However, two torn ligaments and a cracked kneecap put his passion on hold when he was 19.
"In one false slip, my dance career ended," Cooper said.
Almost 10 surgeries later, Cooper is as repaired as he can be, but said his knee can't take the everyday stress of dancing.
Drag gives Cooper the chance to perform and be creative, since he makes all of his own costumes and jewelry - using bright colors, thousands of rhinestones and loud, busy patterns.
Cooper said he makes up to a dozen costumes per week and has six places to store them - a rented storage facility, three closets at his home in Ashley, Mich., and a closet each at his mom's and sister's houses.
On Sunday, Cooper wore hot pink and yellow contacts with matching pink eye shadow. His lips were drawn in thick black liner and colored in with "good grandma at church" pink, which he blended with the liner to make a dark maroon.
After makeup, he's off to Spiral Video Dance Bar, 1247 Center St. in Lansing, for one of his four weekly gigs, along with two in Detroit and one in Flint, but he usually performs five or six times per week.
In addition to his regular shows, Cooper also performs in special events, like the annual MSU Drag Show, which he hosted last year and will be performing in Friday night at the International Center.
Cooper said the MSU show is a lot different because a lot of audience members have never been to a drag show.
"It's awesome to see people that have never been exposed to that lifestyle because it opens their eyes," he said.
On stage, Cooper can be found wildly dancing, doing the splits or making fun of people in the audience - but before and after performances, he goes back to being himself.
"I live as Tyler," Cooper said, even though many people know him by his drag name and persona. "I just do Sabin every once in a while."
Cooper explained when people dress like the opposite gender every day - often because they feel trapped in the wrong body - they stop being performers. However, he feels confident as a man and has no desire to change.
Cooper's wild and outrageous stage presence paid off near the end of the night Sunday, when he found out he had won the Performers Awards of Detroit award for best out-of-town entertainer - which Cooper said was like the "Oscars of drag." Preveterinary medicine and fisheries and wildlife senior Chris Chamberlain - on stage as Angel Fairfax - also was in the running for the award.
Cooper said before he started doing drag, he was mostly quiet and subdued, but performing as Sabin has changed his personality.
"I'm more confident because of this character," he said.
King of queens
Although Chamberlain didn't pick up an award on Sunday, he still holds titles for his performances - "Miss Amateur" at Spiral and "Miss Amateur Gay of Greater Grand Rapids" at Rumors Night Club in Grand Rapids.
His drag name, Angel Fairfax, was given to him by his "drag mother," a tradition in the drag community in which a drag queen teaches a newcomer the ropes of performing.
Chamberlain's drag career started around 2001, and while at first he planned on performing a few times a year, he now does it a few times per week.
Aside from regular gigs at Spiral, Rumors and clubs in Detroit, Chamberlain said he tries to get into benefit shows and also does the MSU Drag Show, which he coordinated in 2002.
Chamberlain said it took him a while to learn how to put on his makeup, which he can now do in 20 minutes if he's in a hurry.
Unlike Cooper, Chamberlain performs as a female impersonator and said he creates the same type of look most of the time. He said his costumes include everything from ball gowns to "skimpy, little lingerie."
Chamberlain said he uses a wide variety of music, including some older songs by Whitney Houston and Madonna. He said in a typical drag show, each entertainer will lip sync and perform a dance routine.
"When I'm doing a character impersonation, I mimic them as they would perform the song," he said.
Queen of kings
While Cooper and Chamberlain frequently perform, nursing senior Lori Carlin - known on stage as Dax Animus - only hits the stage every once in a while.
A good friend of Carlin's approached her about doing drag and Carlin jokingly agreed to give it a try. She did drama in high school, so this was just another chance to be on stage.
"I'm very busy with nursing so I haven't performed in probably three months or so," Carlin said. However, she's looking forward to the MSU Drag Show, which she has been a part of since her sophomore year.
"It's such a big venue, just a great crowd," she said.
Carlin, who performs as a drag king, or a male impersonator, said she is sometimes misunderstood because many people think of drag only as dressing like a woman.
"A lot of people don't know that a lot of work goes into being a drag king," she said.
To get into costume, Carlin sometimes borrows clothes from her guy friends or goes to thrift or craft stores. She then uses makeup and wigs and has to bind her chest in order to appear more masculine, which overall usually takes a couple of hours.
Carlin said she doesn't always keep the same character on stage. Most of the music she performs to is upbeat, sometimes a song with "sexual undertones" - such as Justin Timberlake's "My Love" or Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" - because of the gender ambiguous setting.
"(Drag performing) creates a dialogue about what is attractive, what is male or female, what is in between," she said. "It's just how you respond to different people based on how they're dressed or how they move. It's kind of like gender bending."
She said the most difficult part of being a drag king is passing as a man and embodying masculinity, which she doesn't do on a daily basis.
"You would see me and probably wouldn't guess that I'm a male impersonator," Carlin said, adding that she's very feminine.
But because she impersonates men, Carlin said a common misconception is that she wants to actually be a man.
"I don't want to be a man," she said. "All men have a feminine side, and all women have a masculine side. I'm the same way."
Carlin said the drag scene in Lansing is somewhat limited, so the MSU Drag Show is a good opportunity to perform.
"It has a big pull, and it's a very diverse crowd," she said. "It's very good exposure to the community."
In addition to the audience, the performers also are incredibly diverse, Carlin said.
"Each drag performer is different," she said. "It's all about interpretation and expression."