Hello
This is The Deviant Dispatch. I’m Mo, your guide to the underground. I write about NYC-based events and cool kid gossip. There will be snark, typos, and lots of Charli XCX updates. If you want to get weekly issues, becoming a paying subscriber for $5 a month. If you don’t have the coins, please share this with someone or hit the heart button.
Idk if you’re noticing dear reader, but people are chomping at the social distancing bit. Now that a vaccine is just a forged letter of employment or a white lie about helping a grandpa away, people are feeling ready to mingle. A coworker eagerly told me about the collective Aftermoth who throw parties at a secret club for those lucky enough to know the location (You know there’s a party when they post a moth on their IG stories). LA (advice columnist for The Drunken Canal) was spotted at Clandestino enjoying an indoor cocktail. Political royal Ella Emhoff was spotted walking in the same direction as the bar. Michèle Lamy, Rick Owen’s wife, was spotted at 3 Dollar Bill for the Tuesday party Trish. Pauli Cakes was spotted raving at Maria Hernandez park to Ant Puke’s DJ SET. Linux ran into a faulty elevator that almost prevented her from attending a packed circuit party, but you can’t keep a hedonist down! Since we’re getting sloppy, here’s some down and dirty party advice from my fave Tik Toker Madeline Pendleton (who also runs a e-girl brand Tunnel Vision).
As you may have seen on the feed, the festival Bushwig had a spring party in Maria Hernandez park this Saturday. You would have read about it here in advance, but they announced it after the last newsletter went to “print”. It was a highly edited affair, with only 10 queens performing instead of 200 and taking only around 2 hours instead of the festival’s usual 2 days. The crowd was equally star-studded (Miss Malice and K. James were just some of the drag royalty in attendance), but dressed more low key than a proper Bushwig. Think normal festival fits instead of clown brigade. The community vibes were in full effect, with Brooklyn drag fans spreading out blankets and waving to people they hadn’t seen since the winter began. Untitled Queen started off the day with a speech about the Atlanta massacre before we got into shows.
On the weirder end Sweaty Eddie did a number in a Potato Head costume, and Linda Felcher brought out her robot number. On the normal end was Tina Twirler, who served the polish and athleticism people who wander into a free drag show in a park except from queens. The star of the evening however was Chiquitita. She looked like the lost Grease cast member as she hosted in a leather jacket and stacked hairdo. Her cool girl status was evident on the mic as she snarked about her recent pageant loss and joked how Kandy Muse wasn’t in attendance because she was at a super-spreader event. When it was her turn to give shows, she chose a classic Lykke Li song and twirled through the crowd.
Speaking of drag, it’s time to address the results of a certain television program. To the dismay of cool girls everywhere, Bimini Bon Boulash did not win Drag Race UK. That honor went to the queen Lawrence Chaney, a fine choice at the end of the day. Laurence is funny, she’s not afraid to paint herself pink and be an alien, and she’s the first fat girl to snatch the title on drag race.
Still, she faltered in the latter half of the competition while Bimini was excelling, winning 4 out 5 of the challenges in the seasons post lockdown return. More importantly, Bimini was on the pulse of where drag is moving (partly as a reaction to Rupaul). Her sense of humor is just as sharp but with a political edge, railing against Brexit in a comedy challenge and constantly crowing “smash the patriarchy!” She was both punky (honoring London Icons like Vivienne Westwood and Princess Julia ) and high fashion (dressing as an ameba for a prehistoric runway challenge).
Perhaps it was Rupaul’s professed love of Lawrence that cinched her the crown. Perhaps it was the network of the BBC, the PBS of the UK, who wanted the family-friendly Lawrence as opposed to the more challenging Bimini. Whatever the reason, culturally Bimini has been acknowledged as the real winner, racking up features Vogue, Paper, Dazed, Vulture. She’s also a queen of the people, with people on TikTok making fan videos.
Bimini wasn’t the only won who was robbed this week. The charity G.L.I.T.S. (Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society) have claimed that their former employee Flayr Poppins has been stealing from them. They claimed the Poppins was “diverting significant amount of funds & other donated resources for their personal use” while working at the organization and after leaving. This includes 54 $500 gift cards and whatever other funds they could get people to donate under the guise that he was collecting them for G.L.I.T.S. Apparently G.L.I.T.S. has been trying to handle this covertly for months, but have resorted to calling them out publicly. In the true A.C.A.B. spirit G.L.I.T.S. says they won’t “persecute or seek any kind of accountability from Flayr through the criminal justice system.” You can read their full statement below.
Poppins isn’t the only one doing shady things for money. Nadya of Pussy Riot has decided to start selling NFTs. “For me it was about my life goal - creating activist art, never expecting anything back” the musician tweeted, continuing “we've decided to try NFTs, because crypto art says: "digital art is art." It makes me feel seen. and happy.” A new Pussy Riot NFT goes live every Saturday on the Foundation App. Each one is a short video of a dystopian future that is toxic in some way. Maybe clones of yourself are being slaughtered or all the fresh water in the world has turned to blood. Visually the computer generated visuals look like video game cut scenes. Like all NFT’s you can buy them with the crypto currency Ethereum. Factoring the current USD conversion rate, Nadya’s first two NFT’s have sold for $171,501 and $23,055.
People have raised concerns about the environmental impact of NFT’s claiming the computers that make the currency and create the NFT codes has a large carbon footprint. Red Scare hosts Anna Khachiyan and Dasha Nerasova alongside art critic Dean Kissick have cast doubts over this claim, but agree with me that NFT’s themselves are largly ugly and seem worthless. I’d recommend listening if the idea of NFT’s makes your head hurt.
Time for your weekly dose of Charli XCX news. She performed a concert for the Bandsintown app and debuted snippits of two new songs (“Don’t Think Twice” and “I Ain’t Got It”). The songs are cute, but the looks she wore were not. Why the fuck is she still working with this new(ish) stylist I’ll never know. Instead of her iconoclastic style of her prime her outfits function as trend dumpsters. You can see the garish tripp pants / corset / puffy sleeves / high ponytail combo in this clip of her performing alongside a recording of Hannah Diamond.
She also was in the studio with Addison Rae, the new pop girlie of the moment, last week. If you also have no idea who Ms. Rae is, Wikipedia describes her foremost as “an American social media personality” which tells you everything you need to know. Upon first hearing her song “Obsessed” with her breathy vocals and stacatto melody I thought that Selena Gomez has a lot to answer for. If I was going to listen to a kiss-off song from a Tik Tok star I’ll put on “Josh” by Peach PRC.
Speaking of TikTok, Charli’s song “Unlock It” is 1/2 of the latest viral sound on the app. It remains to be seen if it’ll result in the 3 year old song getting a chart boost, but it did get added back to the Spotify Hyperpop playlist.
Finally, her documentary of making the album How I’m Feeling Now debuted at the bastardized digital version of SXSW. She’s still trying to sell it to someone for distribution, so jury’s still out on when we’ll get to see it.
Ok that’s all the tea I have!
XOXO
MO
Community Bread
When: Saturday, 7pm - 4am
Where: https://www.communitybread.co/
What: Community Bread is a livestream fundraiser that’ll take you on an audio/visual journey from Bogotá’s underground to Bushwick’s rooftops. 8 DJs, including Discakes founder Pauli Cakes, will be spinning. Downtown girlie Richie Shazam will also be talking with DJ Seth Troxler. As the IRL opportunities for DJs return, I predict these livestreams will be a rarer occurrence, so soak it up while you can!
How much: sliding scale
Unforgivable Emotional Carnivore Goes to The Dentist
When: Saturday, 6pm EST
Where: The Cell, 338 W 23rd St, New York, NY 10011
What: The ghouls of Unforgivable Emotional Carnivore have been pushing boundaries in NYC drag scene for years. Led by BK Nightlife Award's Drag King of the Year God Complex and designer for Bob The Drag Queen and HBO’s Legendary Pinwheel Pinwheel, the members push the traditional molds of gender, show structure, and taste with their drag. UEC performances have a madcap energy that stems from themes like "Martha Stewart Goes Back To Prison" but also from the performer's willingness to dump a bucket of dirt on themselves. This Saturday they're planning on doing a trip to the dentist, staging a socially distant performance in the window of The Cell theatre. It’s sure to be messy and so bizarre that you forget about your struggles to find a vaccine.
How much: Free
Cassandro Cup
When: Sunday, 7pm EST
Where: IndependentWrestling.tv (IWTV)
What: This wrestling cup of all queer indie wrestlers is sure to be an entertaining evening. For an idea of the shenanigans that will ensue, EFFY and Allie Kat will be a performing as a tag team with the name Bussy. I myself will be keeping an eye on the mysterious Edith Surreal, formerly known as Still Life With Apricots & Pears. What can I say, I’m a champion for arts.
How much: Free with the code BUTCHVSGORE
That’s it for this dispatch. If you liked it please consider hitting the heart button on this post or forwarding this email to a pal! If you’re the pal please subscribe. I write twice a week: once about upcoming worthy events (for free subscribers) and once about underground news and gossip (for paying members). You can send me tips about either by emailing thedeviantdispatch@gmail.com . If you care about drag queens, illegal parties, independent music/art/film/fashion, Charli XCX, and rebellion, you need to read The Deviant Dispatch.