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Who is Renttecca? |
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Renttecca is a 7ft drag queen who likes to be
very non-traditonal and do things off-the-beaten
path. More Metallica than Madonna, ya know? |
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| How long has she been about? |
She's been around for 3 years, but only on the Dublin
scene for four months. I started in San Francisco in July of 1997 and have been skipping down that yellow
brick road ever since. The first two years I relied on my friends and drag mothers to help me with my
look. Only since November of 1999 have I been doing my own styling and makeup. |
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| When did you decide to become a drag queen? |
After a night in San Francisco's big drag club - called "Trannyshack" - I was
like "I could do that".
There was a rock song by Courtney Love that I'd always lip-synch in my room and I decided to try it out on
stage. The crowd gave me a fantastic response (even though the whole number was done with my eyes closed)
....and so it began. I was lucky enough to have a good friend at the time that was the international make-up artist for The Body Shop .
He was quite talented and
gave this poor queen a lesson in beauty. |
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| What is your most memorable performance? |
(I'm not exactly sure if you can print this....but here
it goes) Trannyshack is kind of an "alternative" drag show. You can go there and see anything from Liza Minelli to
Nirvana. It can get a bit racy at times...and then it can just get out of hand! My most memorable
performance is probably when I did a song by Garbage. I had one of my friends
come out with a bicyclist's camel pack strapped to
his back, with a tube leading down to his crotch. My other friend kneeled down in front of him and then
water starting coming out of the camel pack tube onto his face. Then I came out
in a bathing suit and started lip-synching the song "I'm only happy when it rains". The number continued with my mates
pretending to urinate into a water bottle...and then
me drinking it. Finally, it all ended with my
ex-boyfriend coming on stage - dropping his trousers and then me rimming him. Truly an all time low
when it comes to drag. Nevertheless, it's the biggest response I've ever gotten
by a performance. |
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| How would you describe yourself on stage? |
| I'd like to think I'm funny and entertaining on stage.
I try to keep the gays with a smile on their face. It's a bit difficult trying to be feminine when you're
really tall. When I look at videos of me performing, I'm downright manly! |
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| Favorite songs? |
I'm a rocker girl, so my taste do differ quite a bit
from the rest of the queens. Anything by Korn,
Smashing Pumpkins or Hole gets my blood flowing. I've been trying to get the general gay crowd that come to
see Dublin drag shows into more alternative music. At the George I do a song called "Faith" by an American
band by the name of "Limp Bizkit". It's really loud (even for me) and crazy,
but the people absolutely love it. Slowly but surely adding spice to the scene. |
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| How are you enjoying Ireland? |
| Ireland is great. I haven't got a chance to see any
more than Dublin just yet, but am planning on checking out Donegal, Galway and the Aran Islands very soon.
The Irish guys are great as well - always willing to take a girl out and show her a good time. Love
those redheads! (gasp) |
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| What advice would you give someone wanting to become a drag queen? |
Advice to budding queens...let me see...I'd probably
tell them to give it a good try and to not take themselves too seriously. I've
encountered many a queen who just think they're the hottest thing because
they've got a bit of makeup and a wig on. Doing drag doesn't give someone a
license to be rude or nasty. It's just your Halloween costume - have fun with
it! |
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| What is the worst thing about being a drag queen? the high-heels? the
make-up? The glamour? |
| The worse thing is stumbling pissed out of a club, with your suitcase full of
drag, trying to get a cab on Dame Street at 2 in the morning! |
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| Where do you get your outfits from? |
Most of my outfits I've gotten from charity shops in
San Francisco. A good majority of the rich, fuller-figured ladies just wear an
outfit once and then donate it. There was one shop in a dodgy area of San Francisco where I'd walk away with
$200 outfits for $5! |
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| If you could ask yourself any question to be used in this interview which
would you ask? |
| Probably, who are my inspirations or who do I look up to?
My drag mother back home, Putanesca, or my mates Phatima in San Francisco and
Transformer in London. They just do amazing things with performance and drag
-you look and say "wow". I've seen them and a hundred other queens a hundred
times before and still I'm in awe. The best part about them is that they're
fantastic people out of drag as well. I'd love to
design a website for one of them one day. |
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| Do you do your own webdesign? (love the site by the way) |
| I did my own webpage, yes. It was a shell of a page
until I started with my job here in Dublin. My 9-5 position here is actually for a sports website.
There's a headline:"Drag Queen reports from All-Ireland Hurling Final". There's been a lack of work to do
lately, so I've been totally revamping my personal site. I've had a bit of help
from online scripts and tutorials - but it's all legal. |
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| Whats your favorite website? |
| www.rotten.com - Not for the faint hearted or weak of
stomach. |
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| Any plans to enter the Alternative Miss Ireland 2001? |
Absolutely. I've already got my number planned. I'm
also going to enter the Alternative Miss Limerick and also, my personal favorite: the Alternative Miss Ballymun. Exposure at any
cost. |
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| Pictures
One
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| Renttecca
appears at Q+A - Queer and Alternative nightclub in Eamonn Dorans -
Temple Bar, Dublin - check the brilliant www.renttecca.com
for more info... |
