Life’s a Drag for Tammy Spenks & Dusty Ray Bottoms
By: Joe DeLong
There’s not a lot of mystery at a drag queen show. We know we’re gonna get bawdy jokes and lip synching. We know the crowd will get roasted and they’ll love it. We know the queen with the foot-high hair and the stilettos to die for is there for our entertainment but who are they after the makeup comes off? Dusty Ray Bottoms and Tammy Spenks give us a look into the life of a couple of queens.
“I was literally performing as soon as I popped out of my mom,” says Dustin AKA Dusty Ray Bottoms. Long before becoming a drag queen in NYC Dusty was Dustin a 5-year-old boy going through his mom’s closet in Louisville, Kentucky and admiring her high heels. “I always thought the heels were cool,” she says, “I remember thinking I wish I could wear these cool shoes because they’re so different from what dad was wearing.”
Little Dustin used to spend the night at his grandparent’s house and watch old Hollywood movies. “I was obsessed,” she says. “I wanted to be Gene Kelly, I wanted to be Fred Astaire. I wanted to do all those dances. When I showed that interest they supported it at first and then they were like
photo via facebook.com/tammy.spenks
‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, where is this going?’ “
To be fair, Dustin’s grandparent’s probably didn’t envision him contouring his eyebrows and learning just how uncomfortable tucking is but they knew something was different with this boy and they weren’t happy about it. “My dad, my grandparents, all of them were right wing conservatives. My dad used to be my youth pastor, my grandpa was a pastor and my grandmother played the organ for him. I come from a very strict background.”
Strict? Yes but also, ironically, theatrical. One preaches hellfire and damnation while the other lip syncs for their life but they both know how to work a crowd. That irony is not lost on Dusty, “The people who gave me the hardest time about wanting to be a performer and wanting to entertain were the people who got me into entertainment.”
Tim, better known as Tammy Spenks, Dusty’s roommate and fellow queen, couldn’t have had a more different upbringing. “My family’s great,” she says. “I came out as a drag queen to them last year. My grandma sends me care packages with little drag items that she thinks are great for me which is hilarious and very adorable.” She adds, “She’s bought me girdles before. I just got a birthday care package from her with ladies underwear, which I don’t wear, and little eyelashes which are one-eighth of the size of eyelashes that I would ever wear but it’s just very cute.”
Both Dusty and Tammy came to New York separately to pursue careers in musical theater. However transitioning from acting to performing was a slow process for both of them. “I feel like I was smart about how I came into the scene,” Dusty says. “I didn’t just jump into it. I went to all the shows for a year. I watched what everyone was doing. I watched what worked and I saw what didn’t work and I tried to put my fantasy together and think about what I wanted to bring to the table.” But before she ever slipped the heels on she knew what she’d be called. “My nickname back home was Dusty Ray. When I moved to New York City I had this co-worker who just like harassed me about being a bottom and he would say Dusty Ray bottoms and I was like that’s funny that’ll be my drag name.”
Tammy was the one who lit a fire under them after she went into as bar in Astoria looking for a bartending job. “I got close with the people that owned it,” she says. “And eventually, they were like ‘We wanna do a drag show do you wanna do a drag show?’ I asked Dusty and she said let’s do it together and that’s kind of how it happened. The rest is history.”
photo via facebook.com/dustyray.bottoms
In a sea of sequins and stilettos, it’s not always easy to stand out. Drag is a lot more than just throwing on a wig and tucking your balls. “Some people just get to roll out of bed and go to work at the last minute,” says Dusty. “I don’t have that luxury. I sometimes have to have a whole day before work working on going to work.”
While it takes a lot of work to look like Rick Santorum’s worst nightmare these queens follow their own rules when it comes to their looks. “Drag is rough around the edges sometimes,” says Dusty. “All the lines don’t meet up perfectly. There isn’t gonna be the perfect blend.” She adds, “I appreciate a polished queen. I know I’m not the polished queen but I’m a little rough around the edges. That’s just drag.”
Not every queen shaves and plucks as much as you think they do. “There are some queens, the fishy real girl queens that shave their legs,” says Tammy. “Some people think I should shave my arms but I just tell them to fuck themselves.” As for Dusty, she doesn’t really need to stock up on Nair either. Pointing to her chest she says, “It took me 28 years to get these six hairs.”
After just a few years in the scene both Dusty and Tammy have built names for themselves and host their own drag shows but they aren’t resting on their laurels. “The hardest part is keeping up with being new and fresh,” says Tammy, “Not constantly just recycling the same looks and the same numbers and trying to come up with new things and new ideas.” Those looks can come at a price though. Parading around and dancing in those heels and outfights take a toll. Adds Tammy, “It kind of turns into this weird masochist thing where if you’re not hurting or you’re not sore maybe I’m not doing something right.”
With the success of Ru Paul’s Drag Race the world of drag queens got a whole lot bigger but the number of venues stayed the same. Putting the outfit together is one thing but getting your name on an already packed bill is another. Says Dusty, “When you do get in drag you go to the gigs. You have to make your appearances. You have to pay your dues. You have to do numbers for free.” She adds, “If you’re good and you really want it you’ll work. You’ve gotta go ring them bells.”
Joe DeLong is a freelance writer and co-host of The LoLo Show. Follow him on Twitter.
