Tag Archives: Drag Bingo

Drag Bingo with Prism

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Sam Lloyd, a freshman at Ithaca College was ecstatic when he found out that Prism was hosting a Drag Bingo event.  Prism is one of four bisexual, gay, transgendered and lesbian (LGBT) student organizations at Ithaca.  Lloyd immediately began asking his female friends for clothing so he could create his drag queen attire for the first Drag Bingo event hosted by Prism.  Lloyd said he wore a red leopard print dress at the last drag queen event that he attended but this time he wants to wear a David Bowie-inspired outfit. 

Bingo – Not Only for Drag Queens

Prism is an LGBT organization at Ithaca College and is hosting its 1st ever Drag Bingo event.  This event is the 1st of the year and anyone is welcome to attend for free but donations are appreciated.  Students are encouraged to dress in drag but it is not mandatory.  Colton Bready, a junior at Ithaca and a secretary at Prism is the unofficial expert of drag.  Bready says that because his organization works diligently to include everyone, Drag Bingo will not only accept drag queens but drag kings as well.  He said that this is why it is named ‘Drag Bingo’ rather than ‘Drag Queen Bingo’. 

Drag kings are women who dress to look like men and Bready says this group is greatly over-looked during drag events.  Bready says that as long as he is involved in the event, he will work hard to make everyone feel included.  Zach Mota, a freshman at Ithaca says he is excited to socialize and meet new people at the event.  Mota says he wants to meet many different members of the community and talk with people who care about the same issues as he does.  Lloyd also shares his sentiment as he wishes to meet new people in the LGBT community as well.  Lloyd says it is fun event that is open to the community and it truly gets people involved. 

Charitable Donations from Drag Bingo

Besides the fun, social aspect of Drag Bingo, the funds that are collected at the event will go to support LGBT causes.  The treasurer at Prism, Linda Harrison says that the donations will be used to host a charity drag show in the spring.  Harrison says the drag show is their biggest event of the year and the money from that event will go to the Trevor Project.  The Trevor Project is an organization that works to prevent the suicide of members from the LGBT community. 

This program also offers support to those who are experiencing emotional instability.  The Trevor Project also runs the Trevor Line, an LGBT hotline that offers help and support to those in need.  The spring drag show that was held by Prism last year raised over $250 on behalf of the Trevor Project – they hope to raise at least $500 next year.  Anyone who wishes to attend is welcome to go to Drag Bingo.  One of the goals of the Drag Bingo event is to educate those who may not be familiar with drag culture so the event is open to everyone in the community. 

Eccentricity of Drag Queen Bingo

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Local Coffee House and Gift Shop hosts Drag Queen bingo every weekend.  Cross-Dressed comedians call-out bingo numbers, sexual innuendos, lascivious humor, and explicit language.  Not for the faint of heart, but most definitely an eccentric style of bingo.

Bingo Night at Five 15 – Media Mojo & More; it doesn’t get any better than this!  The Coffee House and Gift Shop in Royal Oak, Michigan presents the most exuberant form of bingo found in ‘these parts’.  A staff of Drag Queens MC or Host the bingo shows, calling out the bingo numbers, and cracking off-color jokes for adult, audiences only.  Five 15 Media Mojo & More currently offers one show every Friday night, with a second to be added next month and two shows on Saturday evenings.

Rainbows, Drag Queens and Bingo

Trixie Deluxxe sings a rendition of ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands’ by changing the lyrics to ‘if you know you’re straight clap your hands’ and ‘your Walmart clothes will show it’. The audience laughs, applauds, and Trixie moves on, calling-out G-6” from the small stage where this cross-dressed diva woos the crowd.

It’s all about the Drag Queens, according to Kaitlyn Shields, who came to bingo night at Five 15 for a bachelorette party and compared Drag Queens to Rainbows as they just make things better. A locally notorious event in Royal Oak, Michigan, co-owner of Five 15, Gary Baglio touts crowds of 250 avid bingo connoisseurs or more on weekends.  It is not just bingo, its bingo brought to you by racy Drag Queens like Trixie Deluxxe, Hershae Chocolatae, and Lauren Jacobs, otherwise known as The Queen of Mean.

Trixie Deluxxe, decked out in a wig, lots of make-up and lipstick, a low-cut bright colored dress, cleavage revealed and just a bit of back hair is calling out the bingo numbers during one recent show.  Everyone in the audience is fair game for jokes, punch lines about fashion, gay humor, sexual references and indecorous suggestions.  Lynn Barbara, recent bingo participant, was accompanied by several friends describes Trixie Deluxxe’s jesting by saying she says what everyone is thinking. Trixxie Deluxxe comes all the way from Orlando to host the show one weekend a month.

Five 15 sells tickets for the bingo game and Drag Queen show for $20.  The shows are typically sell-out crowds and are often sold-out weeks prior to the event.  Reservations with a credit card are required, a policy that even five star restaurants do not usually require.  So, how much is the jackpot?  Co-owner Baglio says is it so much more than just a bingo game. The ambience is unquestionably limited to 18 years and older, and undeniably a marvelous time and a change of pace from the conventional night out.

Come One, Come All to Drag Queen Bingo

One might ask “Who frequents these bingo Shows?”  Co-owner Baglio says first and foremost, those who are good sports about being the object of jokes.  It helps, anyway, since the crew of Drag Queens may be heard joking about a woman’s shoes, whether or not a bride-to-be is pregnant, who dies their roots and a multitude of other goads.

One recent sellout crowd included two bachelorette parties, around 20 massage therapy students and their guests, mothers with their husbands, gay folks, straight folks and ladies bent on heading into middle age with gusto and humor.  Mindi Hammond, 46, speaks of the Drag Queen Bingo favorably and said there is nothing like cross-dressing while playing bingo.  Trixie Deluxxe could be heard at a recent show declaring the real housewives of Macomb County have arrived.  Another small group at a recent event is demonstrative of the diversity in the crowd.  Accompanied by his wife and two other couples that they have known for years, Ken Kostrzewa, 67, describes this bingo affair as not anything like your mother’s bingo.

Introduced at Five 15 about three years ago, co-owner Gary Baglio says that Drag Queen Bingo is popular in other cities in the country, so they decided to ‘give it a go’.   Baglio initially marketed to the gay community assuming that would be the population most likely to enjoy Drag Queen Bingo.  Abundant crowds in that market lasted for about four to five months, at which time Baglio says there was a ‘lull’.  Word spread fast and more and more women began showing up for girl’s night out, bachelorette parties, birthday parties and other such get-togethers.  According to Baglio, women were the primary attendants of the event but now more husbands are attending the event with their wives. Prizes are not strictly monetary in this most fascinating bingo genre.  One might find themselves winning mugs, T-shirts, and other such novelties with naughty slogans and suggestive clichés.

Drag Queen Bingo Hosted by Three FUSE Celebrities

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Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Manaj, and Robyn dance, crack jokes, and call-out Bingo numbers for LGBT awarene

In an effort to raise awareness for the LGBT community at Drexel, FUSE (Foundation of Undergraduates for Sexual Equality), along with the Office of Multicultural Programs hosted an evening of Bingo, dance, and laughter on May 9.   The event was so much a success that the director of multi-cultural program, Kerry Hooks, said that she would like to see this event occur once a year or maybe more, perhaps for Valentine’s Day.  The evening included a dance-off between first round Bingo winners, puns and indecorous jokes, Bingo for all, and a lot of amusement.

Bingo Celebrity Hosts Stand Tall in High Heels

Three cross-dressed hosts, including freshman Ian Crumm as J-Lo, pre-junior Ajay Raghavan as Nicki Manaj, and freshman Kenny Wittwer as Robyn take the stage and MC Bingo, introduce the rules of Bingo, dance-offs, and entertain an eager audience.  Dressed to the hilt, in wigs, make-up, dresses, and three-inch heels, they stood tall in their stilettos, most of the time.  Each drag queen tripped once or twice, causing the audience to bellow with laughter. Wittwer, sociology major at Drexel, said that the FUSE members wanted to provide a fun way for people to do in commemoration of Pride Month which they celebrate in May due to finals and commencement.  They thought of Drag Queen Bingo, something extravagant that would spice things up and as it turns out, it was quite a success.

Jokes were plentiful throughout the evening as the drag queens would call out “O-65” and state as in “Oh, you’re 65?” or “B-9, that tumor is b-9!”.  They were able to keep the laughter flowing throughout the evening.  A dance-off was staged about halfway through the evening, as Bingo came to a halt and Robyn announced that they would play the song “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” as a tribute to Whitney Houston.  A few audience members even took the stage at that point.  The contestants for the dance contest included the first round Bingo winners vying for the prize – a Drexel folding chair.  One of the winners had actually come dressed in drag himself, and went by the name “Esperanza”.

The Evening Started with Laughter, and Ended with Laughter

Wittwer said that the Office of Multi-Cultural Programs has been working very hard all year to raise awareness or generate recognition and visibility for the LGBT community on campus.  By all accounts this event produced a success on that front.  Participants were able to play four or more Bingo games, watch the drag queens sing and dance onstage and were even encouraged to come up and dance with the trio.  A few audience members were even dragged, no pun intended, onstage to move to the beat.  Wittwer, a support for the LGBT community and FUSE member said that FUSE takes on a lot of responsibility and worked hard to make this event a success.

Wittwer says he had never dressed in drag before, but was hopeful that hosting this type of event would improve awareness, but also be fun.  Crumm commented about the heat from all of the lights and said ‘he was really hot’, and his feet hurt by then end of the night, but that he suffered through it to please the audience for a good cause.  Crumm said he had a lot of fun, as did Robyn.  The drag queens stayed onstage following the Bingo and Dancing, posing for pictures as the audience left the James E. Marks Intercultural Center.  Freshman communication major Chelsea Hahn said “This is good; this is hysterical.  It’s weird because I’m going to see Ian (J-Lo) tomorrow without a wig or dress.”

Bingo Helps to Raise Money to Spread Awareness

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The United States is one of the richest and most developed, and industrialized countries in the world. Perhaps what is most surprising is that despite being one of the most industrialized countries the United States is home to a large amount of people with HIV.  Now, students at UNC are looking to raise awareness. They are hosting Drag Bingo night This Thursday.

Now, thanks to Bingo – everyone can become a part of the solution. The action is taking place on Thursday with DRAG Bingo Night.The South is particularly important in the fight against HIV/AIDS, as it contains the largest amount of people living and dying from this disease. Currently, there is a rather large spending shortage on treatment and prevention. This is particularly prevalent in the South, where this epidemic has spread faster than the funding of prevention.

The Problem is Complacency

To sum up, the biggest obstruction to prevention and treatment would be complacency. As a result of complacency by traditional media outlets, the perception has become that HIV/AIDS is no longer a problem inside the United States. Lack of proper prevention and treatment has helped cause this disease to become an epidemic. Currently, college students are one of the largest ‘at risk’ groups for this completely preventable and treatable illness.

The public is cordially invited to partake this Thursday for Drag Bingo night hosted by APPLES Civil Rights team. The ‘Dress in Drag’ Bingo fundraiser will help to educate patrons about the various risks of HIV. There will be collection signatures for a petition that  plans on being brought to the General Assembly of North Carolina. It will detail how the students would like them to continue funding for community services. These services include prevention, assistance with medication, and funding to nonprofit organizations that work with individuals with HIV and Aids. This will all be possible on Thursday at Drag Bingo Night.