Charming, premier drag laureate of West Hollywood — “Pickle With a P”— brings her highly-anticipated live cabaret performance and nine-piece band to the Grand Annex, Sept. 9.
“We’ve got a lot of comedy, audience interaction, show tunes, costume changes and fun,” said Pickle, who is a host, entertainer and storyteller. “It’s a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. I’m a very interactive performer.”
What’s behind the name, Pickle?
While growing up, Pickle’s In-N-Out Burger order was a “number two,” no onions and, you guessed it, extra pickles. When she decided on a drag name that’s what popped into her head. As for “Pickle with a P,” that’s a play on Liza With A Z, Liza Minnelli’s 1972 one woman show, co-produced by Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb. Fosse also directed and choreographed the film, with costume design by Halston.
“I’m a big Bob Fosse fan and that show was about Liza’s love of performing,” Pickle said. “I wanted to pay homage to that.”
Pickle is the second drag laureate in history and the first in West Hollywood. The city council of West Hollywood selected Pickle, June 26, as the city’s inaugural drag laureate. Pickle will serve for two years, during which she’s called on to enhance the presence and appreciation of drag culture and arts, and inspire an emerging generation of drag artists by celebrating and promoting drag history.
Part of her work involves Drag Story Hour or DSH, an organization that Pickle runs in Los Angeles. DSH is an international phenomenon taking place in more than 40 cities worldwide. Pickle’s friend Michelle Tea started Drag Story Hour in San Francisco in 2015. Tea, who is queer, had been taking her children to story times and Pickle said she wanted to take them to something that was part of her community but was appropriate for them and meant for them.
“It occurred to her that drag queens would be so good at reading stories to kids,” Pickle said. “So she started [Drag Story Hour] and it’s true, the [kids] love it.”
The literacy program element was the impetus for creating the LA chapter of Drag Story Hour. Pickle said it’s meant to give children a space that is designed for them to celebrate the love of reading and the love of expressing yourself.
“I love performing for kids,” Pickle said. “[They] are so curious and delightful and open minded. We’ve partnered with [many] organizations and have gotten to perform for a lot of families. It’s been a great honor and a lot of fun to be able to expand on my work and advocate for the community as a whole.”
The artist also incorporates other education initiatives into her drag work. She has partnered with organizations like the Academy Museum to hold a teen workshop and other presentations. Pickle will be working with more organizations to do a sort of “Drag 101” workshop, teaching elements like; “What is drag? How is it different from acting and from other styles of performance? How can anyone do it?”
“We teach that theory and then build on it with makeup and hair,” Pickle said. “A big focus of my work, outside of what I do as ‘Pickle,’ is to focus on expanding on what drag is and giving it to people as a form of expression and attracting new talent to the art form,” she said.
She noted while drag is new to the zeitgeist, it has been around forever — but it hasn’t been in the conversation for forever. Pickle aims to make this “her why” to connect people to the opportunity to try drag and explore it just like they would explore dance or theater.
Pickle confirmed that many people want to learn about drag. Numerous interesting programs on the art form have risen from institutions to museums and theaters. Indeed, she has partnered with the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Independent Shakespeare Company, LA County Library, LA Public Library, LA County Museum of Art, the Music Center, Tinder and many more, to present drag programming.
“People like the art form and I think the more it gets practiced in the public sphere, it’s going to attract curiosity,” she said.
Pickle explained the problem is drag hasn’t been codified, making it difficult to teach as it exists now. She said it’s like, well, what is it? Her focus now is to distinguish what drag is, what are its variants and to determine how to teach that, so anyone can do it.
Further, Pickle explores new technologies including artificial intelligence and virtual reality as a tool to expand her drag. She uses an AI manager tool she created which can negotiate booking inquiries — “saving her valuable time she can use for making costumes and practicing music.”
Creatively, she uses AI for costume inspiration.
“I make costumes and I’m creative but I don’t have time … to design from scratch, plus it’s not my primary passion. I’ll design a prompt that generates sketches and looks that I can bring to life. I’m also experimenting with building on my audience interaction by having members of the audience “build” a set with me [using image generation] which would be a fun way to expand on something I already do.”
Pickle is working on augmented reality and virtual reality experiments that will happen later. Now, she’s brainstorming on how one might create headset experiences to bring a drag performance into your living room, for example.
“I’m passionate about artists using technology to expand their creative capabilities rather than letting it get away from them because of fear. So, I try to be as transparent and vocal with it as I can.
“I look forward to the show,” Pickle said. “One of my pleasures is to come out to communities with a vibrant culture and population.”
Details: www.pickledragqueen.com
Pickle With a P
Time: 8 p.m., Sept. 9
Cost: $30 to $40
Details: https://tinyurl.com/pickle-with-a-p-tickets
Venue: Grand Annex, 434 West 6th St., San Pedro