When Aquasha DeLusty or Miss Claudia appear onstage in their skimpy outfits, high-heeled boots and colorful wigs during a TabiKat drag show, the audience will cheer at the mere sight of them.
They have become the leading performers of “TabiKat,” which is why five drag queens and kings-to-be attended Tuesday night’s Drag 101 session.
“Fake boobies,” “tucking,” “Rocky Horror,” “shaving,” “ TabiKat,” “facial hair,” “vogue,” and “dancing,” are some of the things the attendees write on a poster board as words they associate with drag during their first exercise.

Performer Noel Jones a.k.a “Dr. Jaktar,” the two leading ladies Claudia and Aquasha, four local guys and one girl learn what it takes to be drag queen or king under the careful instruction of Kathy Sprague, co-owner of TabiKat productions and Safari Pearl.
Dressed in a short jean skirt, black top, bright pink wig and black boots, Aquasha identifies her own style as “west coast drag.”
The attendees are here to research and pick their own style, which ranges from celebrity impersonations, glam and shock-drag for queens and rockabilly, frat-boy and “passable” for kings.

“Pick your own style. None of us will tell you that you’re doing it wrong,” Aquasha said. “There are no mistakes. Everything is a learning experience.”
The next step is picking an identity.
“Pick a name you can live up to,” Claudia said.
In case one lacks creativity, there’s a standard formula to create a potential drag name: one simply combines their first female pet’s name and the name of the first street they lived on. 

At the TabiKat shows, the audience will hear names like Johnny Angel, Bill Pfister, Paradise Rose, Miss Demeanor, Miss Vicious and Tina Turnover.
Last names are connected with a “drag family” and can’t be self-decided. They have to be offered to participate.
“We are a family here, we take care of each other,” Sprague said. “The drag world can be filled with back stabbing, alcoholism and meth use and I decided not to be a part of that. I do not tolerate drugs and vicious behavior.”  
Belonging to the TabiKat family means following rules – no drugs, no intoxicated performances and no drama. But they must have fun. To have fun is one of the most important rules because “if you have fun, the audience has fun. We are entertainers,” Claudia said.
Performers are paid and thus the shows are like any other job taken seriously by those involved.

“We’re continuing a legacy. It’s a serious thing and it takes pride,” Claudia said.
TabiKat Productions is the 13-year-old creation of Sprague and Tabitha Simmons. The two orchestrate the drag shows at least once a month.
The queens-to-be go with Claudia and Aquasha who teach them all about making certain parts disappear and others appear (tucking certain parts and adding fake ones). For beginners, the queens recommend filling condoms with freezer gel for relatively puncture-safe prosthetic breasts. Tucking, they said, is always uncomfortable.
“Nothing will feel better than being untucked at the end of the night,” Aquasha said.

University of Idaho student Jenna Giguiere, the only king-to-be at the session, is taught how to bind correctly with an Ace compression wrap.
“If you’re bound too tight, you’ll have a hard time breathing and that doesn’t help the stage fright,” Jones said.
Sprague, who at times drags as Bill Pfister, teaches her about facial hair.
“I don’t bind,” Sprague said, “but I wear a mustache and I pack.”
Giguiere decides not to “pack,” but to wear a mustache to fit her “Casey Chase-em” persona.

Finally, the attendees get to pick their costumes to match their personas. UI Student Will Slemp, who will soon be performing under the name Eva Destruction, said he hasn’t picked a set style yet but knows he’ll be in a dress and performing to dance or techno music.
Michael Loyd, a Washington State University student, wants to mix modern pop with ‘80s style for his Kimberly Dream-Cruz persona.
“She’ll have the attitude of Cher but with a long blonde wig,” he said.

Another queen-to-be, Nathan Mulch, has very long hair of his own and won’t need a wig for his Victorian-Goth Miss Andrea persona, while Ralph Frescas considers a long dark wig for the flashy Latina character, “Inferna.”
If they feel ready, these “drag-virgins” may perform at Saturday’s drag show. The performances will be at 10:30 p.m. and midnight at the Moscow Moose Lodge. The doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets are $5 if bought in advance at Eclectica or $7 at the door.

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