"After he somersaults on the bar in six-inch stilettos and a blood-stained, Chucky's-bride-themed white corset, the crowd at Bushwick's queer-owned Pink Metal Bar roars in delight for Xaddy Addy, a Black transmasculine drag king and sideshow performer. The audience has gathered in the intimate bar for Superstar Open Set's Halloween show, an open stage that Xaddy Addy cohosts each week alongside drag performer Pachacvnti. After a night of performances from Brooklyn's emerging talent, the crowd remains spellbound as Xaddy Addy staples cash tips to his cheeks, thighs, and hips. Not even the loud cheering drowns out the clack of the staple gun as it pierces his skin."
"Manhattan native Xaddy Addy tells me that drag was "a way to save his life" after years of doing sex work "100 percent out of survival.""
""You have some of the best Black trans drag performers in the world in your city," says Klondyke, a Black drag artist and sideshow performer. "Why are they starving? Why am I seeing more people that are Black and trans posting mutual aid than posting shows that they're in?""
Xaddy Addy, a Black transmasculine drag king and sideshow performer, stages daring, transgressive acts at a Bushwick queer-owned bar, including somersaults in six-inch stilettos and stapling cash to his skin. Drag provided an escape after years of sex work and became a survival strategy for many performers. Drag contributes to New York's $35 billion nightlife economy, yet performers often cannot cover rising rents and basic expenses. Many Black and trans performers are crowdfunding and relying on mutual aid to pay rent, medical bills, and groceries. Performers welcome proposals for affordability and protections but argue that policy changes alone will not be enough.
Read at The Nation
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