Showgirls

Siren & Pistol @ The Embers

"Do I make you nervous?" Pistol asked me as she shuffled the tarot cards.  "Not at all," I replied half-truthfully.  In fact, she did make me a bit nervous, not so much because she was a drag queen, but because she was personally very hard to read.  She carried herself with an air of detachement and her expression was mute while I explained the symbology of each card.  Yet at times, she'd become a little giddy, perhaps even a bit flirtatious.  The interplay between Pistol's stoicism and glee, coupled with my own disoriented gender expectations surely amplified my usual awkwardness.  Nevertheless, I appreciated chatting with her and I was impressed by how feminine she came off despite her enigmatic nature and masculine physique.   

Pistol and Siren perform at The Embers on Wednesday night with Let Her Eat Cake.  You can also catch Pistol on Thursday nights with Adam Apple's Fruit Basket and Friday nights as part of Jersey-Jo's troupe Prime Time.  Siren hits the stage Saturdays with Krystal Lynn & Company. She describes their performances as "a standard drag show," elaborating that, "we dance around and lip sync to other people's songs.  Sometimes we get sassy and engage the crowd in witty banter".  It's quite the act; a steamy paradox that is surely liberating, but also somewhat lonely.  It's a dangerous world for a drag queen-- her world is a shadowy night club where everybody knows her name; sort of like Cheers, if Sam Malone and Cliff Clavin danced around in heels, singing "Like a Virgin".