A Dragula watch party? At Long Beach’s own horrorcore pizzeria, The 4th Horseman? Yes and yes. Long Beach drag misfit Girl Haggard will be accompanying fellow drag mutt Ronnie Rotic for Extermination, a weekly showing of season six of Dragula as well as drag performances and other sorts of debauchery. And it all kicks every Tuesday, beginning on Oct. 1 at 8PM.
Weekly Dragula watch party, drag show, pizza, horror, queers, beers, winning.
“Dragula’s tenants are: drag, horror, filth, and glamour. And they declare these tenants without any form of gendered expectations on the artistic creations of the performers.”
These are the words of Girl Haggard, the host that will be partnering with Ronnie Rotic to guide veterans and newcomers throughout season six of Dragula in a weekly night dubbed Extermination.
For those unfamiliar or, even worse, asking, “Is this part of RuPaul’s thing?” well, stop. Dragula is the Boulet Brothers’ drag competition show that has aired since 2016. The antithesis to RuPaul’s Drag Race in many ways (and more on that in a bit), Dragula goes for the jugular rather than the prostate. Or both. And with it, has created a new form of drag that has not only broadened the art itself but also seamlessly embedded more queer culture into the world of horror.
“Patrons at Extermination will get an opportunity to view acts of shock and awe take place in front of them,” Girl Haggard continues. “Ronnie and myself will curate different ways to make your jaw drop, stomach turn, or maybe even look away. Staple stunts, firey habanero pizza eating contests, shock collar trivia, perhaps? Abysmal pit is the limit, dears.”
Dragula actually has deep ties to the world of Long Beach drag thanks to Landon Cider.
Dragula’s season three winner was none other drag king royalty, Long Beach’s own Landon Cider. As a result, it not only marked a massive leap for Long Beach drag (not seen since our own Delta Work appeared on season three of Drag Race), it showed the many, many issues with the format of that other drag show at the time.
Even more, Landon became the first drag king to win a televised drag show. Of course, it wasn’t because he didn’t try to get on Drag Race. Bluntly put, he wasn’t permitted—despite his talent. And to this day, though the show has finally opened itself up to trans drag performers, has yet to feature a single drag king. And this is something Landon has long criticized, penning an op-ed three years before going on to win Dragula.
“Although the king community has had a recent burst of growth over the last decade, we’re still leaps and bounds behind the visibility that drag queens enjoy with RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Landon wrote. “Which is the world’s most prominent stage for drag performers. You haven’t seen drag kings on Drag Race, but trust me, we exist. And it’s past time we get the opportunity to lip-synch for our lives alongside our equally talented sisters.
The importance of having drag competitions beyond the mighty dominance of RuPaul and World of Wonder Productions.
“Dragula allows artists to pull from politics, culture, the macabre, deviance, ostracized populations, freaks, gorgeous freaks, beauty in all forms, and a heavy, heaping helping of punk rock,” Girl Haggard said. “Being a contestant from season five of Camp Wannakiki on OutTV, a show where you are to showcase your campiest and craziest drag creations, I know that platforms that showcase alternatives drag are important. It is important to show something outside of RuPaul’s DragRace, to engage in way more gender expression and play can come to fruition and offer a broader scope of expression for drag artist. And not solely for drag queens.”
It is for this reason that shows like Dragula and Camp Wannakiki need to exist: to push the art of drag, not the pink dollar of drag.
Long Beach drag star Tammie Brown has echoed this sentiment, famously standing up to RuPaul herself and honoring the real art behind drag—not the one in which a team oversees nearly every aspect of your look, performance, and style.
“There is no hierarchy in drag—RuPaul just gives off the aura of some hierarchy because of his relationship with [production company] World of Wonder,” Brown told me last year after a historic drag performance at Wilson High School. “She’s a studio queen who has her makeup and hair and dresses chosen for her and regurgitated, stolen material. There’s holes in his wings—he’s just a performer who lucked out.”
This first Dragula watch party won’t quite be as planned—but Girl Haggard has got it covered.
Extermination’s first showing won’t go as initially planned. Girl Haggard—or Billie Joe in boy form—has come down with a vicious case of colitis, putting her on little than applesauce, broth, and a visit to the ER across the past several days. She will, however, be making a 30 minute appearance in support of the event and, come week two, will be as ready as a newly minted, blood-filled vampire.
Can we get a hellmen? Now let the metal play!
Extermination will take place every Tuesday at 8PM at The 4th Horseman, located at 121 W. 4th Street.
