(JESSE on the BRINK) Just another Saturday in Sydney!

by Jesse Archer

The day started off normally enough. We took our friends Noah and Leo to see the movie Frozen. 

But that evening my straight, lifesaving friend Rhys decided to have a drag celebration for his 30th birthday at the Burdekin. We also had tickets with friends to see a tango concert at Sydney Town Hall that same night. And wouldn't you know – it took so long getting ready that we weren't going to have to change outfits. So this is how we rocked up to Town Hall.

The bevel pose is to die for, no? Such a lady! Simon was none too happy that this kind of exposure was going to happen in front of a discerning live audience and felt all sorts of pressure but somehow, SIMONE got right into it and didn't mind at all!

However, being only her second time in drag, Simon is now losing both big toenails....

 

With our pal Georgina at Town Hall.

Afterward, we dragged her and her husband back to the party. This below is not them:

Lifesaving pal Nisha with India Schincter.

The very messy Miss Anya Back.

 A step and repeat red carpet... !  Rhys #30 sponsored by Prada, Durex condoms, Range Rover.

Surprising how into it the straight boys were, although some considered spandex onesies to be appropriate drag... not that we minded at all!

 Rhys (below, far right) was far gone by this time. Happy birthday, Legend!

We continued the party up Oxford Street. And then this hairspray thing happened...

Having a blast!

And this, my friends, is my local pub. Witness the big hair, the warm atmosphere, the hint that you might win the lotto. That's just how I feel, having discovered the Eastern Suburbs Legion Club. 

 

These locals RSLs are a very cool Australian thing, created for returned service members (hats off!) - and it's a local community, such an authentic place in a world of pretenders. We are members ($2.50 a year!) and when we enter, the median age drops by several decades. There are often bands, but tonight is karaoke night and there is Antoinette on the stage beginning her number. She is queen of the stardust ballroom and soon she will be putting her foot, minx-like, on one of the old men's laps cooing to Nancy Sinatra's "These boots are made for walking".

Patrons are not only the same every week, they sing the same karaoke songs every week, and there are always people dancing... especially that woman with the big blonde bouffant and her partner. No performance is too terrible not to get her up out of her seat and dancing check to cheek. The other woman on the right in what looks like a nightie? She spins around and around in her own world of interpretive dance. There are toothless old men, in the back behind me, like those old Muppets, but staring at TV and often completely asleep.

We've made friends with the bartenders, Sue and Yvonne, who love it when we come in. Last time we went, they asked why we missed the previous karaoke night. Apparently it was a whopper. A brawl broke out during a performance of "Smooth Operator"!

Now I am usually a performer who loves an audience, but as you might imagine, here I just sit back and watch the show!

Check out my Drag Debut Below:


uncut and uncensored