Every other Thursday at my house is Godfrey’s night. My roommates and I and some of our close friends have a club night but in the living room, which we have found to be so much more comfortable than actually going out. Last year, we went every Wednesday and loved the tradition we had started of dressing up and going out on hump day. It was something that allowed all of us to de-stress in the middle of the week when things were usually at the most chaotic homework wise. After the closing of Godfrey’s, our favorite drag club in Richmond, we were at a loss for how to fill that void. My one roommate and I started doing drag makeup over the summer just for fun. After about a week of moving to Richmond, we decided that the whole house was going to put on a show. Each week we perform a new song or, in some cases, a mashup of a few songs. We all dress up in our fanciest attire and put on a show for our audience. I am not one to practice, so I usually just wing it as soon as I get some liquid courage. One of my roommates introduces each of us with our drag names. The posse includes Strawberry Lemonade, Juulia Pods, Ella Espresso and Lucy Diamond.
We all contribute an iconic performance and earn maybe one or two dollars. One of my roommates goes hard and delivers a few outfit changes during his performance. This is the most exciting for me. We have all almost mastered the expressive faces and lip-syncing that goes into a good drag performance. The last few times, we had a few of our close friends walk over for our performances. They are always blown away by our commitment and fabulousness. When it comes to the real Godfrey’s queens, we don’t even measure, but I will say we take pride in all the work that goes into the performances. We have definitely grown to appreciate all of the effort and creativity that goes with being a drag queen. It takes a lot of work, money and time to create a good performance and the real queens do it for a living. Gluing down eyebrows is probably the hardest thing for me personally along with having to keep the makeup from sliding down our sweaty faces. I love that we came up with this idea and actually keep up with it every other week. I asked some of my roommates what their favorite part of our version of Godfrey’s is. One mentioned that it fulfills the need to go out and party without having to leave the house at all. Another said that she loves being able to change into comfy clothes as soon as the festivities are over, which I have to say is my favorite part as well. Doing this brings us all together and still allows us to fulfill our need for Godfrey’s.