The Drag Artists in Drag-Súgur start the new year with a bang at Gaukurinn tonight. The show is calld Neon Me and according to Ásgeir Helgi, a.k.a Miss Agatha P, a new star in the Drag-Súgur group, it will be fabulous as never before.
Ásgeir Helgi won the Drag Competition of Iceland 18 years ago but stopped performing for a few years. Now he’s back and fiercer than ever and his drag persona, Miss Agatha P, has been taking Reykjavik by storm in the last few months. Tonight he will show two new acts, one of them a duet with none other than the Drag Queen of Iceland, Gógó Starr herself.
“The theme of the show tonight is Neon,” he says. “And I can promise you it will be fabulous. Apart from doing the duet with Gógó Starr I will be performing an act that is inspired by the Club Kids in New York and is a 90’s trance dance act. I’m really looking forward to it.”
The host of the show tonight is Adam All, the British drag king, supported his on and off stage girlfriend Apple Derrieres and Ásgeir Helgi is really excited about that too.
“Adam All and Apple Derrieres have been really making it in the British drag scene and I have followed them both on Instagram for a long time,” he explains. “They are outstanding performers and I can’t wait to see them on stage.”
“I can promise you it will be fabulous. Apart from doing the duet with Gógó Starr I will be performing an act that is inspired by the Club Kids in New York and is a 90’s trance dance act. I’m really looking forward to it.”
Drag-Súgur is starting the new year in style, obviously, but are there any changes imminent in this hugely popular drag artists group?
“The year 2019 will be exciting for Drag-Súgur,” Ásgeir says. “At the end of last year there were some changes made in the organization of the group to make it easier to organize and put on bigger shows.
We are lucky enough to have many experienced performers within the group plus very talented newcomers. We will continue to bring fabulous drag nights to our audiences, but at the same time work on making our events bigger and look for even more new artists to work with us. It would be great if we could get more foreign artists to perform at our shows to show Icelanders all the great things that are happening abroad as well as showing them the best the Icelandic drag scene has to offer.”
It’s sometimes said that the Icelandic queer scene is not very varied and there are not many places that cater to queer audiences, but Ásgeir does not agree with that sentiment.
“No, I can not agree to that,” he says. “There is a lot of events going on if people can be bothered to look for them. And if people don’t find any events that interests them it’s just a question of making a difference yourself and fill that void that some people are talking about by making new events.
“We will continue to bring fabulous drag nights to our audiences, but at the same time work on making our events bigger and look for even more new artists to work with us.”
Regarding the Icelandic drag scene I have to say that it has been incredibly strong in the last few years. But it can never been stressed enough that the drag scene in Iceland is not only meant for queer audiences or artists, it is fabulous fun that everyone can participate in.”
Who is Adam All?
Adam All was referred to as the ‘Godfather of the Drag King scene in the UK and one of the ‘Game-changers’ of the UK Drag Scene in TimeOut Magazine. Adam has featured in projects with TEDx, Asos and The London Queer Fashion Show and has appeared on ‘This Morning’ for ITV, BBC London News, BBC Newsbeat and London Live and SKY to name a few. Adam All is also the founder and host of popular Drag King cabaret night BOiBOX which has been described as the ‘cornerstone of the UK Drag King Scene, alongside his on and off-stage partner Apple Derrieres, and co-host of smash hit Drag King competition Man Up! alongside the legendary Jonnny Woo. Adam has been performing nationally for 10 years and is a huge advocate of the emerging, engaging and empowering Drag King scene. In 2013, the alpha-femme Apple Derrieres, Adam All’s on and off-stage partner and fiancé, joined Adam on stage and since then they’ve taken the cabaret world by storm, performing nationally together with their unique brand of live blended vocals, coordinated couture and cartoon flavored Drag.
Check out the event here.
