Drag King Comedy “City Folx” Returns

Last year, the locally made webseries “City Folx” debuted to do its part to raise the visibility of the Bay Area’s local drag king talent.  It followed the misadventures of Raq (Vera Hannush) and Cin (Bex Salas), a pair of drag king roommates trying to hold onto their Mission District apartment against efforts by their landlord Phil (short for Phyllis) to evict them.  

Since its debut, the first season of the series has been accepted for screening at such upcoming local queer film festivals as the San Francisco Transgender Film Festival and the Merced Queer Film Festival.  Most importantly, the “City Folx” creators are popping champagne corks for the series’ Best Screenplay win at the recent 2023 LA Webfest.

One new big project is making a pilot leading to eventual streaming service distribution of their show.  As director Rae Dawn explains, the pilot script is a combination of Season 1 episodes 1 & 2.  It was co-written last Summer and Fall by her, Rea Kapur, and Shawna Khorasani.  The director had to wait until her housing situation was stabilized before filming could be done this summer. 

But to make the pilot happen, Dawn and company are in the midst of a Seed and Spark fundraiser aimed at raising $15,000.  Those who want to financially support this project shouldn’t delay.  This fundraiser ends on August 6, and is an all or nothing endeavor.  However, raising at least $12K will at least get the project greenlit. 

Director Dawn and actors Hannush and Salas are meanwhile making plans for the second season of “City Folx.”   The trio talked about what’s coming up and other things in this lightly edited e-mail interview.

Broke-Ass Stuart’s (BAS):  Congratulations on bringing out “City Folx” Season 2.  What do you plan to carry over from the first season?

Rae Dawn (Rae):  Thank you! We’ll bring back all the main characters to Season 2, Cin, Raq, Frankie, Phyllis (aka “Phil”), and Cin’s creepy boss.  Raq and Cin are in the same house, but there we’ll continue the problems with their landlord Phil, their roommate Frankie and their lack of resources.  Neither of them work in the high paying fields needed to survive in San Francisco, which puts them at constant threat, as it does for many people in the city who are under the poverty line.  Class inequality and the lack of stability is at the heart of the show.  It is one of the main issues that San Francisco struggles with, [as do] our writers and crew… We plan on continuing with this theme by including queer characters with different levels of wealth and privilege. 

BAS:  Where will Raq and Cin’s stories go in Season 2?

Rae:  Raq and Cin will both undergo major challenges that go beyond any of what was seen in Season 1. Season 1 ended with Raq going outside for the first time in years and Cin getting a job. We’d pick up where we left off with both of those storylines and see Raq challenge themselves to reclaim the identity they left behind as a Drag performer (for health reasons, when Covid hit). Season 2 gives us time to delve deeper into both Raq and Cin’s characters, with new love interests for both of them, and most importantly, secrets between them that threaten to divide them from each other!

BAS:  What new things will you have this season?

Rae: The most exciting change in Season 2 will see a Drag King competition as the main throughline of the show.  [A]ll the tensions of the season will combust [during the] Drag King competition, with a grande musical Finale.  [We’ll] also include sketch comedy!  We’re excited to include talent from San Francisco’s comedy community in this new segment of the show and include more local Drag talent.

BAS:  What drag king talents do you plan to have appear in future episodes of “City Folx?”

Rae:  We plan on including a legacy Drag talent and can’t wait to work with Meatflap again! Some of our casting depends on funding, but we’ll be having castings as soon as we can get the greenlight to fill all any vacant roles.

BAS:  The landlord-tenant stories in “City Folx” draw from real-life incidents that happened to you and your crew.

Rae:  One of the worst stories came from a friend of mine, being served with eviction over less than $1.00. I tried to write that into the first episode for Season 1, but it didn’t seem real. I am excited to see all the new landlord issues come to life in Season 2, but I’m never excited to see anyone evicted, real or fake. 

BAS:  What particular incident did you most like incorporating into the series?

Rae:  The incident I most liked incorporating into the series was the roommate interview, as that did draw from real word for word dialogue taken from roommate interviews.  [O]ne particularly horrible roommate…pulled a Frankie, pre-Venmo, showing up after the interview with money and all their stuff in a van on the curb, even though we never told them they could move in!

BAS:  “City Folx” is partly intended to be a showcase for drag king talent.  Why hasn’t the popularity of such things as “RuPaul’s Drag Race” done anything to raise the public profile of drag king talent?  Didn’t Shakespeare have drag kings?

Bex Salas (Bex):  To speak candidly, RuPaul’s Drag Race has historically been a showcase of female impersonators. Yes, Ru is a staple in the history of Drag.  But for some reason, this led the general public to believe that Drag Kings don’t put forth the same amount of effort, dedication, crafting, and flat out heart that you see showcased for Queens.  We simply are not given the same opportunities as Queens, both locally and nationally.  I want to be clear, we should celebrate Drag Queens for the omnipotent and talented beauties that they are!  But in that same breath we also need to make room and keep that room for all other types of drag, whether it be binary or non-binary.  The Drag world is evolving, yet simultaneously returning to those aforementioned Shakespearean roots.  And on top of that, we have so much more than just Drag Queens and Drag Kings.  We’ve got Drag Monsters, Drag Quings, Drag Performers, Drag Clowns, and so much more.  

Vera Hannush (VERA!):  Yes, drag kings were around during Shakespearean times (I was in the Shakespeare Society myself :)) and have ACTUALLY been around since 1279 AD, which I learned about from DragKingHistory.com [which is] run by amazing kings who were performing a lot in the 90s like Mo B Dick.    

Drag kings are on the rise and are everything!  We as drag kings do receive or have historically received less attention because of misogyny.  But our talent and craft are receiving more attention and we deserve it, and that extends to kings, quings, and drag performers of any and all kinds!   Drag kings are killing it in the drag competition world, from Tenderoni winning Drag Queen of the Year 2021 to Landon Cider winning Dragula to Riley Poppyseed, the first black drag king to compete on a reality drag show (currently on this season of “Camp Wannakiki”), to Hugo Grrrl in New Zealand winning House of Drag to HercuSleaze on “Call Me Mother.”  “City Folx” is an ode to Bay Area drag kings, who put in so much work and support each other so much. I love all my Bay Area drag king brothers and my 27 drag children, and am so glad to celebrate what we do and shine a light on our art in “City Folx,” and also uplift being trans and nonbinary and a drag performer. 

BAS:  Say you’re doing a kids’ story hour that gets crashed by bigots.  What do you say?

Bex:  I just want to know what they are so scared of.  Why so much fear?  What threat do drag performers hold to their livelihoods?

VERA!:  I am part of Drag Story Hour Bay Area leadership and this has happened to me five times this summer, so this question is not rhetorical.  It’s scary, and I have no desire to publicly embarrass or ridicule these people.  That gives them energy, and my focus is on the incredible children and what they deserve, which is a comfortable, safe, and entertaining space to be themselves and see themselves reflected in sweet, affirming books for children.  What does surprise me is some of the comments I hear from those who think I shouldn’t be reading “Worm Loves Worm” to my kiddos.  One man asked “Are there naked men in there (meaning the room where I was reading)?”  If that’s a question you have, it’s time to seriously reconsider what you think goes on in a temple of books and why you would make that connection.

BAS:  Say that a viewer or fan of “City Folx” wants to check out more drag king talent.  Who and where would you recommend?

Bex:  There are SO many amazing kings all over the world! Some of my favorites are Ricky Rosé, Lúc Ami, Luke Modelo, Meatflap, Wang Newton, Majic Dyke, Tenderoni, and SO many more. Check out their IG’s! : @kingrickyyrosee @luc.ami @luke.modelo @kingmeatflap @drwangnewton @majic.dyke @tenderoni88  

VERA!:  OH GOD there are so many incredible drag kings! I could go on forever! But everyone Jota said and I have to include some of my amazing children: 

King Perka $exxx @thekingperkasex 

Helixir Jynder Byntwell @helixirdrag

Dragon King @drag_on_king

King LOTUS BOY @kinglotusboy

Hennessy Williams @hennessy_williams 

L.D. Hablo @rosa_robada 

Joey Gelato @bootfagg

and some other faves! 

Krēme Inakuchi @kremeinakuchi 

Charles Galin @charliedc4

Riley Poppyseed @rileypoppyseed

Tyson Check-in @diewies 

Major Hammy @the_major_s

Papi Churro @soypapichurro 

Thrustin Knightley (doing our editing for City Folx!) @thrustinknightley

Madd Dogg 20/20 @sfdukedogg

Mudd the Two-Spirit @muddthetwospirit 

Los Mentirosos @losmen210

The Cake Boys @the_cakeboys 

Skirt Cocaine @skirtcocaine 

Javier Miguel @dahlia_kash 

Devery Bess @itsdeverybess 

Johnny Gentleman @johnnythegentla

Bytch Nastee @bytchnastee

Throb Zombie @throb.zombie 

Rusty Hammer @rustyhammerdrag

Majnoon @the_majnoon 

Sherman @restingclownface

And of course, follow Jota and my troupe, the Rebel Kings of Oakland, the oldest drag king troupe on the west coast (@rebelkingsoakland).  Come see us at the Rebel Kings show every 1st, 3rd, and 5th Wednesday at the White Horse Bar in Oakland! 

There are drag kings in many shows all across the Bay of course, from Princess at Oasis to Golden Hour on Baker Beach and beyond! And also Royales, an all BIPOC Drag King show hosted by my son Hennessy Williams at El Rio!

(For those who want to donate to the “City Folx” Seed And Spark campaign before August 6, 2023, go here.)

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