Bob the Drag Queen

“So Hedwig and the Angry Inch. First of all, this is a drag queen staple. I actually did not know much about this movie until I moved to New York City. Shout out to my friend Adam Siciliano who actually taught me about Hedwig. He’s what they call a Hedhead. But John Cameron Mitchell kind of created this character and the New York City cabaret, theater scene. It’s been played on Broadway by, my God, Taye Diggs, Andrew Rannells, Neil Patrick Harris. Don’t know why they didn’t call me. It’s kind of crazy. But I guess I’ll take this home for a little bit of research purposes.”

“So, okay, I do not know this one. Let me read this real quick. “One of the greatest comedians of all time, Richard Pryor” – I guess we agree on that – “gets raw and real in this brutally funny and lacerating self-portrait, following the notorious incident in which he caught on fire while high on cocaine, nearly losing his life.” Well, sign me up. Hook, line, and sinker. I’ve been doing stand-up comedy for 17 years and I don’t think there’s a comedian who has not been inspired by Richard Pryor. He’s been in everything from musicals, The Wiz, to, apparently, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling. I don’t do cocaine, but if you do, go to your bathroom right now and flush it. And I know it’s expensive. You’ll get the money back.”

“Okay, I have Pee-wee’s Big Adventure. I don’t know if you know this, but Pee-wee Herman didn’t actually start as a kids’ show. It started as, like, a live theater thing that was actually for adults, and then somehow it morphed and it made its way to my desk as a small child. Contributed so much to the culture. Paul Reubens, wherever you are, I don’t know what you believe, but much love to you.”

“The movie Network. Have you ever seen those things online where they’re like… they take a monologue and then they overlay what’s happening right now? The fact that this movie came out in 1976 and the stuff they’re saying in this film makes even more sense today is sign that progress is slow, if at all. “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Will we all be there for the justice? I don’t know. I probably won’t. I’m probably older than some of you watching this, but I’m definitely younger than some of you.”

“Okay, this is actually a really controversial movie because it was kind of a flop in its time, but it ended up being a cult classic. Diana Ross was cast as Dorothy in The Wiz, which is kind of crazy because Dorothy’s, like, a 16-year-old girl, Stephanie Mills was actually pretty young when she did… Is this, like, the butchest lean you’ve ever seen? But yeah, I mean, this movie, it’s got Michael Jackson, it’s got Nipsey Russell, it’s got Diana Ross, it’s got Mabel. There’s so many amazing actors in this film. Quincy Jones did a lot of the music for this. This is an absolutely brilliant, brilliant film. Richard Pryor! Richard Pryor’s in the bag twice. Okay, good.”

“Okay. A Black gay guy chose Paris is Burning. Shocker. That being said. What ended up happening to the subjects, like, a lot of them died in abject poverty. This movie has secrets that aren’t even revealed in the movie. There is actually a dead body in this movie, and they didn’t even know there was a dead body in the movie, which is crazy. Do you know about this? One of the main subjects of the film actually killed a man by her own admission, through a note that she wrote. And then she mummified his body using pleather and put it inside of a trunk in her closet, and it was there till the day she died. And the body had been missing for, I think, 20 or 30 years. There’s a note that said stuff like, “This poor soul tried to rob me.” Her name is Dorian Corey. And it has one of my favorite quotes of all time, which is: “If you shoot an arrow and it goes real high, hooray for you.” You don’t have to bend the world to make a change. You change the world just by existing and living through it. This movie really changed the way that queer people speak. It changed the way that ballroom was respected. It changed the way that Black and brown people are seen, through creativity and expression and culture-making. Paris is Burning is probably one of the most important films of all time.”