Entertainment
Adam All’s top tips on how to be a drag king: ‘We’re taking over the world’-Louise Griffin-Entertainment – Metro
We’re obsessed.
Adam All shared his top tips (Picture: adamall_drag/Instagram)
Drag king Adam All has given us the glimpse we needed into the drag king community, providing us with his top tips on how to get started out.
Adam began performing in Southampton in 2008 and is now one of the UK’s best known drag kings.
He’s performed across the UK drag circuit and is the founder of Drag King Cabaret night BOiBOX.
Chatting to Metro.co.uk’s Smut Drop, he shared his top tips for anyone wanting to try their hand at being a drag king.
Be the change you want to see
Speaking about his beginnings as a drag king, Adam explained: ‘Right from that point, the whole conscious effort was be the change you want to see and I’ve kept that at the centre of my journey the whole time.
‘Not that now it’s so much about thinking that I can just encourage other people, now it’s about what I want to say politically and what I want to say about masculinity and I use my platform for those things.
‘It’s always been the goal to help people understand what it’s like to have to hide your masculinity and not feel that you are welcome or comfortable in that space. I think that’s possibly the route of a lot of drag queens’ journey as well, hiding their femininity and then reclaiming it for the stage.
‘We started out really trying to encourage more people to have a go because we knew there were people out there but no platforms, there were literally no platforms, there were no drag king nights, solely drag king nights. There were a couple of places where you could maybe have a go. But there were very, very few places where you could grow.
‘And it was all drag kings and nothing else. So we started off with a dress-up box and some stick-on mustaches in the basement of candy bar and a karaoke machine… and now there’s nights all over the place. There are kings doing stuff all over the place. We’re everywhere taking over the world. This is the UK scene we’re talking about. There are drag kings all over the world.’
Don’t just try to please the audience – you have to enjoy it too
Asked about any mistakes people make when starting out, Adam went on: ‘I think that’s the mistake a lot of people make with art in general, it’s trying to create what other people want you to create.
‘It’s important to remember that the audience is your boss, and that they need to be entertained. And if they’re not, and they don’t cheer, you won’t get booked again. That’s how it works! It’s a cheer-ometer and that’s it basically. But [the performers] have to enjoy themselves.
‘The audience love most seeing you. And hearing from you, it’s the human connection underneath what you’re doing, that makes something powerful, makes something interesting, makes something a great performance.’
Start with your character – and then practice, practice, practice
‘I would always say start with your character, and build on that, whether that gives you an inspiration for a name or whether that gives you an inspiration for a costume, or whether that connects very strongly to a song is up to you,’ Adam said when asked about his top tip.
‘I mean, art is very fluid. And when the muses hit, they do what they want, you don’t really get much of a choice!
‘I would start with, what are you trying to say? You have to remember that drag is not an identity. Drag is a performance art. So fundamentally, first off, it’s the performance of a character. So let’s start with the character. And do this like an actor would study a character for a play.
‘People think that I’m going to say something like, “Oh, get your makeup correct. And make sure your costumes got bling on it.” No, it’s not about that necessarily. It is important that you look polished. Absolutely. But polish can come from nailing what you’re doing. So practice, practice, practice, practice, practice.’
Believe in what you’re doing
Thinking back to what he would tell his younger self, Adam reflected: ‘I think I would say to myself, believe in what you’re doing, because it does matter.
‘But also remember that it’s supposed to be fun. And stop looking at yourself. Because everyone else is looking at you. So they can tell you what’s going on. Look out from your own eyes, into the space, be inside your skin, be inside your head.
‘Rather than trying to be outside of yourself constantly looking at yourself all of the time. That can be what you do in practice. But when you’re up on the stage, project out into the room, rather than focusing in on what you’re doing. It’s all about energy, selling your act is about projecting your heart energy out into the space as spiritual as that might sound.’
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