Lady Bunny Riffs On Beyonce’s Activism, Prince As A Gay Icon And Peeing In North Carolina
There’s only one Lady Bunny (thank God!). The singularly-talented entertainer is currently taking no prisoners with her riotous new show Trans-Jester, performed at New York City’s iconic Stonewall Inn. Due to incredibly popular demand, the show which has received widespread acclaim, Trans-Jester has been extended through May 18. You don’t want to miss this night of comedy and music, which has received unparalleled raves from Bunny’s celeb friends ( the Clintons described it as the “Worst 3-way we ever had!” while Khloe Kardashian exclaimed, “Tall, fat, talentless and loves black cock — she’s perfect!”) Besides, new parodies which re-work selections from Adele, Rent and Bruno Mars to hilarious effect punctuated by zany Laugh-In style zingers, Bunny has widened her ?don’t go there! ? repertoire (trust us, she will always go there) to include some actually insightful social commentary. Bunny took a few minutes out her busy day trolling for hot Latin men praying in church to answer a few pressing questions for Queerty readers.
Queerty: After releasing her visual album Lemonade over the weekend, Beyonce is suddenly hailed as a feminist and political icon. Since a lot of the material focuses on her rocky relationship with Jay Z., what advice would you give her if her man really is the cheater she sings about?
Lady Bunny: Oooh, I really felt Bey’s pain in Lemonade, and I’ve determined that the only way for her to heal is to give me half her fortune. No, Beyonce’s a genius! She’s made us all think she’s done an album about cheating when she actually begins “Formation” with product placement for her husband’s jewelry line. So clever! She’s made us think she’s come out with a new, deeply personal album using the words of a Somalian poet. What skill! She’s made us think she’s a feminist by taking off most of her clothes in most of her performances, which traditional feminists would view as remaining within the confines of the male-dominated entertainment industry which rewards attractive strippers. How novel! She’s sending positive vibes about natural, black features like “negro noses” while sporting blonde wigs and bleached skin. A miraculous accomplishment which defies logic! And now she’s crafted a perception of being a political icon by including images of Hurricane Katrina in her video. I’m glad she shone a light on Black Lives Matter, a current issue. But we’re almost done with Obama’s second term and Katrina happened during the previous president Bush’s term. Eleven years after the disaster in New Orleans, it’s Beyonce to the rescue! I’ve never seen such effective activism, even if it is 11 years late. And now she’s put out two “visual albums.” I don’t watch albums, I listen to them. Do you enjoy a meal which looks appetizing yet doesn’t taste good? We’re talking about a massive pop star with loads of money and access to the top producers and songwriters. Yet, somehow she manages to release music with very few memorable hooks. Beyonce truly is a wonder. When we’re talking more about who Jay-Z cheated on than humming the songs on the album, the focus is taken off good music like her fantastic “Love On Top.”
The world is mourning Prince since his death last week. There’s been some discussion about whether he was a straight ally. How do you think he really felt about LGBT equality?
Prince certainly played with androgynous looks with his stage persona. He was mysterious, sexy, impish and often feminine. I can’t say whether he did it to be controversial or because felt some affinity to the LGBT community. But Prince was a Jehovah’s Witness and they’re very screwed up. Definitely not welcoming towards gays, as many Christians are not. I actually have Jehovah’s Witnesses in my family who won’t donate blood to their own kids even if it would save their kids’ lives. However, I was a teen when Prince’s first album came out and I wasn’t aware of his antigay religious beliefs known until decades later. So I prefer to focus on the great music he put out before knowing the nasty things he said about our kind. “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” “Sexy Dancer” and “Lady Cab Driver” were my fave Prince jams. And to honor the artist formerly known as alive, I’ve thrown in two new parodies to my show Trans-Jester at Stonewall Inn: (“When Does Cry) When My Ass Cries” and “Raspberry Beret (Raspberry Bidet).”
What do you think will happen to this country if Cruz or Trump is elected president?
We would get into more wars and keep letting the wealthy and corporations continue to not pay their fare share of taxes. Sadly, that’s what we’d also see if Hillary is elected. (They call me Lady Bernie.) I can’t see Cruz getting elected. I actually didn’t think Trump was seriously running because he actually sells Trump steaks and champagne at his rallies. I thought he was going to pull out and announce some new reality show on how to punk an entire nation’s media. His insane pronouncements against latinos, muslims and women turned our entire media into TMZ and prevented much discussion of what the other candidates were proposing. It’s a shame when our “news” would rather focus on his shocking statements for ratings than actually inform us on other candidates’ actual policies prior to an election. Do you know the difference between Hillary Clinton‘s and Bernie Sanders’ hearth care or immigration plans? You really have to dig for that kind of policy analysis since pretty much only Trump is discussed on our “news” networks. We really need to work on our education system if people are dumb enough to think “Him rich. Him gonna make me rich. Him gonna run the country like a business.” But as a comedienne, a Trump presidency would be comedy gold. I’d love to see what kind of thong a Slovenian mail order bride would wear to the inaugural ball.
What do you have to say to LGBT people who are supporting Republican presidential candidates?
Well, Republicans raise campaign cash on destroying LGBT rights nationwide. So LGBT Republicans do seem self-hating to me. Why else would they ally themselves with a party which seeks to destroy hard-won gains like same-sex marriage? Either that, or they identify as wealthy more than they do gay, so they’d prefer to paying less taxes to advancing equal rights. In my show, Trans-Jester, I take Caitlyn Jenner to task for this reason. A year ago, everyone was falling all over themselves to support her transition. Now that Cait’s offered to be the “trans ambassador” of Ted Cruz, the most evangelical GOP candidate there is, she’s a laughing stock. I fully support her transition into whatever sex she desires, but I just wish she’d transition out of the GOP party which doesn’t even respect her right to use the bathroom in public. And Glamour names her Woman Of The Year? She ain’t been a woman for a year!
What would you say to someone in N. Carolina who asked for your ID before letting you pee?
Once they saw my age, I think they’d realize that I was wearing diapers. With my new Heavy Flow Depends, I can go pretty much any time or any where I want. I can’t believe that they think someone like me is peeking over stalls in the ladies rooms trying to make sexual advances. I do that in the men’s room, honey! I was actually born in North Carolina and I know my people to be extremely charming — until they get into a voting booth. Eleven of the state legislature’s votes for the infamous “Bathroom Bill” were Democrats, for chrissakes!
Again, nudge, nudge, you can get your tickets here.
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