“Magic dyke” - An interview about Magic Mike’s hotter, gayer cousin
by Carrice Hodgkins.
@carrice.h
@she_writes_poetryyy
Publishing by Irene
The tagline of ‘Magic Dyke’ is ‘unleash your inner straight woman on a hen do’ and the show definitely lived up to this. With amazing vocals and even better dance moves, ‘Magic Dyke’ is the sexy, queer experience we’ve all dreamed of. The audience ranged in terms of ages and sexualities, the show was enjoyed by absolutely everyone. The performers were drag king perfection, devastatingly sexy and a pure expression of queerness that had endless cheers from the audience proclaiming how hot and sexy these iconic drag kings are.
“‘Magic Dyke’ was incredible. The costumes were insane, there were classic costumes such as fireman and cowboys that were gorgeous and loved by the audience.
These drag kings gave their all, their choreography was to die for and the audience participation was even better - the dancers coming out into the crowd to interact with everyone as well as pulling up lucky members of the audience onto the stage and giving them a personal performance.”
— Carrice (Dirty Dyke Team)
Location, Location, Location
The Dragonfly Lounge is a must for anyone visiting the Colchester high street. The venue was incredibly beautiful, from queer art on the walls to delicious cocktails, The Dragonfly Lounge is the perfect place to enjoy an amazing queer night out
(I’m told they also do a mean drag karaoke that I cannot wait to go to).
On May 15th, the Dragonfly played host for ‘Magic Dyke’, a ‘Magic Mike’ inspired drag king show.
The true magic of “Magic Dyke”
In conversation with the creator of ‘Magic Dyke’ Jamie Fuxx and ‘Magic Dyke’ performer, Chiyo
At the heart of this performance is consent being not only sexy but absolutely mandatory, something very important to creator Jamie. There is a wristband system in place that flags who would like to be physically involved and a stop action that alerts the performance of any change in consent. These signposts are set out at the beginning of the show and reminded to the audience at regular intervals to keep both the viewers and performers safe and comfortable.
1. “How did you come up with ‘Magic Dyke’?”
Jamie — “I actually went to see Magic Mike live in the West End and really loved it, I had a great time and was super keen to get involved, but every time I wanted to, the dancers just kind of skipped past me.’ says creator Jamie. this is what lead him to creating his own show that is ‘super queer, super inclusive, super consent heavy”.
Chiyo — “‘Magic Dyke’ is important to me as I feel there has been a decline in queer spaces over recent years and wanted to have a more inclusive place for the queer community”.
2. What does this show mean to you? Would you say this helps you to express your sexuality?
Jamie — “I just wanted to make art, to be honest. Making queer art is just something that feels really special”.
It was also vital to Jamie that he created a space for drag kings to explore and express their masculinity in a way that promotes happiness as he feels that masculinity in all forms has become incredibly toxic and he just wanted a space where people can switch off and enjoy the show - getting as feral as ‘straight women on a hen do’ .
3. What was the thought process behind having predominately masc dancers? Do you think this is something that is important to the show?
Chiyo — “I think it's important to perform masculinity because masculinity is something that can be so toxic and so aggressive and it dominates the world in really tedious and oppressive ways. So I think for us to be able to take masculinity and make it camp and make it light and almost reclaim it as people who have this way that we resonate with masculinity within us.’
Jamie — “We’re all a unit, it’s great to create with other queer people and drag queens.”
4. How do you prepare for your performance?
Jamie — “The dressing room is actually usually very quiet and Zen, which I think people don’t expect, but it’s like the quiet before the storm of the show.”
Chiyo — “I personally like to listen to true crime podcasts, because I fell like once you’re in the venue, the music is on and the vibes are high so I like to decompress my brain before I just go and basically do the opposite”
5. Does being part of a team help with the performances? Is there a sense of community/are you close?
Jamie — “Yeah, it feels really great to create this with other people and have other people put into action what I've envisioned so well. When everyone comes together and the choreo is just like on point and we're all a unit, it just feels really special.”
Chiyo — “Yeah, definitely. I feel like being part of this collective, it's just a sense of security as well, especially because a lot of us are people of colour. The drag scene is predominantly white, it is predominantly men in wigs, so to have this unity amongst us to be able to like go to different stages, different venues together and like take up space, I think it's important.”
6. Do you have a favourute routine to perform?
Jamie — “It’s got to be ‘Pony’, it’s the final number that we do most of the time and people kind of lose their minds a bit when it's on and we have a really, really great time interacting with the audience during that number.”
Chiyo — “I do a number to Ricky Martin’s ‘She Bang’ and I just think it’s camp and when I do it everyone cheers.”
7. Who would be your dream person to receive a ‘Magic Dyke’ performance from?
Jamie — “One of the ‘Magic Dyke’ boys because they know what their doing.”
Chiyo — “Definitely Zendaya.”
Members of the audience’s answered ranged for Chappell Roan, King Princess and the boys from ‘Heated Rivalry’
