I’m sure you are all familiar with the television show ‘Drag Race’, a drag competition show. The creator and host is Rue Paul. If you don’t know the show, you should check it out. You’ll be entertained for sure. I for one, love drag Queens. There was a bar way back when in New York City called Club 82, a drag bar with one real woman in the show. My friends and I used to take a taxi down to the East Village, down the cement steps we’d go, and we’d sit there drinking screwdrivers while we tried to find the one real woman in the chorus line. Not so easy.
Mr. Paul has now added a new series to his credits. It is called A.J. and the Queen, a road show with a new and endearing twist. I love this show because it’s about people who love each other, need each other and will not hesitate to help each other. The premise is about an aging drag queen who is about to open her own club in Queens NY. But problems arise when her bastard boyfriend steals her money. This unfortunate incidence sets her on a different path. Poor Ruby Red must go cross country to perform in drag competitions to try and make the money back. Getting cross country in her vintage 1987 trailer makes you want to be there listening to her old eight track tapes that she watches on her I guess you could say, vintage TV. Being a fan of Oprah myself I’m sure we’d get along. Oh, Oprah is her obsession and that’s all she watches; she inspires our girl and I could probably deal with eight hours of Oprah as long as Ruby and I could split a sandwich later and talk about her life.
Well, that’s not the whole show folks. The best is yet to come. Enter A.J. an eight-year-old pick pocket/scammer. This is where things go totally off the rails. I don’t want to give away too much of this delightful show but suffice it to say it is hilarious and full of action with this precocious, adorable child who is running from her mother and running to her granddaddy. I am mad for this child. Oh, did I mention the main characters best friend? A great character, with many very funny bits on being a blind diabetic drag queen. Can you imagine?
It turns out that Mr. Paul can really act. The show has so much humor but more importantly it has heart. Heart the way only a drag queen can feel it. I highly recommend this show, but alas I have read that there will not be a second season. What a loss!
