150) Patti Spliff
Don’t cry… the hostess of The Rosemont’s monthly “Sad Songs” remains one of Brooklyn’s most revered art queens.
149) Devo Monique
This provocative Brooklyn-based dance queen made her presence known in a big way this year: hosting her own twice-a-month show at Macri Park, co-hosting the sexy Bizarre Bushwick monthly party / show LOADS with Pepto Dismal, joining the hosting squad for CAKES at Metro, gogo dancing for Rify Royalty’s Straight Acting, guest starring in several Manhattan shows, and more.
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Dance, stunts and smarts are the signature of this magnetic queen, who with Boudoir LeFleur comprises the city’s best drag duo The Assassins. Kimmi and Boudoir set Stonewall on fire with a series of “killer” pyrotechnic shows before bringing the act to Cherrys in Fire Island for the summer, and then in autumn they resurfaced at Bedlam. Kudos to Kimmi for dropping the hit dance single “My Head,” which was GLAM nominated this year.
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NYC drag’s greatest singer got a few more stages this year: besides Lips and her weekly show at the Duplex, Miss Ordair joined her sis Vita Summers for a summer weekly at Cherry’s on Fire Island; the pair also appeared together several times at Stonewall for all live-singing shows.
146) Glace Chase
The queen who made a name for herself as a wacky tour guide through the dark history of queer New York continues to thrive outside the “conventions” of nightlife and drag. These days you can find her Vanna White-ing for Linda SImpson’s bingo at Le Poisson Rouge, rolling her own bingo balls at Astoria’s Madame Marie’s, leading karaoke at Tribeca’s Belle Reve, and hosting a monthly idiosyncratic cabaret at Metropolitan Bar, Neurotica.
145) DJ JCLEF
Uptown, downtown, Brooklyn, Queens… this GLAM nominated hip hop party and drag show DJ goes where he is needed. Often preferring a more obscure room with great energy and inspiring people to work with over a routine gig with a big paycheck, JCLEF helps keep the stuff that makes queer nightlife so special alive and thriving.
[Photo: Grace Chu}
144) Nicole Onoscopi
Children, this queen did not come here to play! Even though her stage numbers are mostly poop jokes and silliness, they are executed with a proctologist’s steady hand. Arriving on the scene looking like a million bucks with a veteran performer’s polish, Nicole turned out to be one of the Ultimate Drag Pageant’s more memorable winners, and the first ever winner of Icon Bar’s “Iconic” long form competition. And once the Miss Rockbar 2018 crown was also placed on her head, it became clear that her weekly shows at The West End, Icon and Rockbar were only just the beginning of Nicole’s takeover.
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Striking a chord with the theater crowd via her Jackie Cox-directed, GLAM-nominated cabaret hit R U There Ru? It’s Me, Chelsea at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, there’s little doubt that this gorgeous performer is on her way to crossover success. For now, see her on rotation with the cast of QUEEN at Industry, and monthly at Stonewall with an all-singing show.
142) STR8 To DVD
Qhrist With a Q, DJ Ten Yards and
Sherry Poppins join forces every month to produce one of Brooklyn’s most exciting, edgy, messy and important shows at Gold Sounds that showcases tons of new and wonderfully weird talent. But with Qhrist also producing their own shows like a recent Panic at The Disco tribute, Ten Yards a successful BNA-nominated Speedo mogul and Sherry Poppins a rising star in Astoria with her own monthly show there, it’s obvious that the trio are going to need their individual tHOTlist entries pretty damn soon.
141) Carlos the Uber Driver & Tiffany Anne Coke
What was Drag Life like before this on-and-off stage duo burst in out of the blue this year? It’s hard to remember, but their takeover has been thorough and we couldn’t be happier. Catch the melodious, savage, GLAM-nominated pair weekly and monthly at Boxers UES, or for Sunday Brunch at Casa Agave.
140) DJ Nandi
Hungarian Hotness alert! This world traveled DJ gives audio to the drag queens and deep house to the dancers in a growing number of venues across the city, including POSH, The Monster, Rise and The Cock.
139) Gloria Swansong
A brunch queen of Fresco’s Cantina in Astoria (alongside sister Golden Delicious), the fiercely intelligent and deeply nostalgic queen remains a square peg in a round hole that is New York Drag. Wisely making her own showcases for her flawless and loving Judy Garland stage shows rather than trying to fit them in to some drag bar formula, Gloria as Judy graced the Stonewall stage several times this year. She’s also a Best Fashion Designer GLAM nominee this year, deservedly so.
138) Vita Summers
Here’s a queen with enough sass and soul in her newly-trimmed body to burn the whole house down, and keep the children begging for more. How dare she end her iconic reign over NYC and leave us for *blech* Florida mid-year!? Well, New York will always save a spot for Vita.
137) Michael Musto
This year, the legendary pioneer of nightlife writing saw the release of Vampire Bikers Tres, a campy B-film he starred in opposite other nightlife luminaries plus Michael Alig (the “Club Kid Killer” of the 90s who’s crimes Musto’s writing first brought attention to). He also hosted a few more of his charming Duets cabaret shows at Club Cumming, got some important writing out there including one interview with maligned and astonishingly tone deaf Monster owner Charlie Rice, campaigned for Cynthia Nixon, and got his billionth GLAM nomination (and I am missing several things in this list, no doubt). Sadly he also saw the demise of The Village Voice, the seminal newspaper that made him famous, but even that loss he spoke about from a wise and wistful perspective.
136) Phi Phi O’Hara
The OG villainess of the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise remains one of NYC’s most professional and kindhearted queens, causing harm only when she is slaying on the Industry stage as a rotating member of the popular troupe QUEEN.
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Winning the “Best Reason To Leave Brooklyn” BNA is no small feat… those children NEVER leave that borough! The non-binary punk / emo enthusiast made a twice-a-month showcase for themselves and their like-minded sisters called “Queer As In Fuck You” at the East Village’s Otto’s Shrunken Head. It’s featured rosters of queens you’d expect to see thrash out to heavier-than-usual song choices, alongside queens you’d never expect to witness do so. The show blew up, and has become an important destination for drag performers and fans alike who need to mix it the fuck up.
134) DJ Natazu
A sugary pop staple of NYC dancefloors for several years now, this ageless Thai prince has worked and toured with some of the world’s biggest drag stars including Monet X Change and Bob The Drag Queen. Catch him giving you your Spice Girls fantasy at venues like Therapy, Rise, REBAR, and now Boxers Washington Heights as well.
133) Roxy Brooks
When she’s not keeping the Rockettes coiffed at Radio City or turning shows basically anywhere in the world, New York’s favorite nomad queen (although these days we guess she’s more Floridian than anything else) is giving us face, body-oddy and belly laughs right here in NY. This summer, she worked brunch and poolside shows in the Fire Island Pines.
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These seemingly laid back sisters are actually busting their culos to make the children laugh and be merry, and they’ve been at it for a hot minute. You can catch the much loved pair weekly Thursdays at Club Cumming and monthly Saturdays at Stonewall. Individually: Catrina (who officially became a Kiki this past November) does another monthly Saturday with mother Ari Kiki at Stonewall for RIOT, plus two more monthly Saturdays with Ari and Alotta McGriddles at Phoenix for Rampage. Meanwhile Miss Stonewall Fan Favorite 2018 Lola bartends at The Cock with husband Franco, and had a hilarious role in the premiere reading of Mother: A Drag Musical.
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The East Village bar’s latest owner Brenda Walsh has for years kept the laid back hangout for college kids simple, with minimal branded parties or drag queens (an exception being the long-running Queerpong with Misty Meaner & Mocha Lite). But that began to change a bit in the past two years, especially with the opening of Walsh’s new hot Brooklyn property 3 Dollar Bill. Now Phoenix sports shows and dance parties with the likes of Ari Kiki, Alotta McGriddles, DJ T-Boy, Spacebabe, DJ P_A_T and most recently Mitch Ferrino.
130) Ruby Fox
Here’s a queen that doesn’t have to light herself on fire to keep your full attention… although she’s done precisely that recently for her MR(S) BK pageant finale performance. The kids don’t always get her in the Brooklyn scene, but Manhattan nightlifers can’t get enough of her dynamic lewks and electrifying stage presence. Aside from a wide array of pop-up gigs here and there, you can most likely find Ruby hosting Otter Box at The Deep End or with Jessa Angel’s Tropicunt at The Museum of Sex.
129) Whendy Whaxwood
She’s still one of the city’s most criminally underused queens, but folks are starting to catch on! After hilarious roles in the all lip-synched tribute to Scream Queens at Lips and a reading of Mother: A Drag Musical at Icon, you can wherk whith Whendy these days as she rolls bingo balls at Brooklyn’s The Holler, or hosts her long-running monthly at The West End. A former Miss Stonewall, Whendy is soon to be a Miss Paradise contestant.
128) Hibiscus
Who doesn’t love this pint-sized powerhouse? Few queens are quite as crowd-pleasing as this fierce dancer, who ended her long tenure with cheerleading squad / charity organization Cheer New York this year right after crowning the first Miss Cheer New York (Adriana Trenta). And then our girl Hibiscus went and won a well-deserved crown herself: meet Miss Stonewall 2018! Catch her hosting a happy hour show at Stonewall on monthly Sundays.
127) Cameron Cole
Brooklyn’s most reliable DJ isn’t just for Brooklyn anymore! In addition to his sundry BK booth duties (most notably behind Ruby Roo and Ragmuffin for Mondays on Mondays at Macri Park), Cam can now be found turning the knobs for Vivica Galactica’s new Tuesday night show at REBAR.
126) Charlene
Brooklyn’s old school punk performance artist and vocal trans icon had a smart and thorough response for RuPaul after the latter’s comments on transgender women’s ineligibility to compete on Drag Race. And as always, Charlene gives us shows upon shows: A solo monthly at Metro, “Be Cute” with Horrorchata monthly at Littlefield, and a monthly brunch with Tyler Ashley at Bizarre. Oh yeah, and you better get on the list for those epic house parties she throws.
125) Harmonica Sunbeam
New Jersey’s busiest queen got to enjoy a residency at Jersey City’s The Royal for several months, back when it seemed like that bar was making good decisions. But regardless, Harmonica continues to play her sweet music in venues across the Tri-State area every week, including a few enjoyable old school revues with like-minded sisters at The Duplex (“Way Before Beyonce”).
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The Chanteuse of Club Cumming reminds us of a young Justin Vivian Bond–an old soul with a savagely modern sense of humor, as interpreted through song parody. It seems her Friday night Happiest Hour show has recently come to a close (and she’s gone offline?)– but we can’t wait to dive into the future with Daphne.
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The innovative nightlife event producer re-prioritized in 2018, focusing on managing the careers of Brita Filter and Stephanie’s Child among others. But the renown Lady Liberty drag competition is still his baby, returning to the Ace Hotel for several stand-alone showdowns this year that were nothing short of epic.
122) The Deep End
Equal parts swanky restaurant and punky dive, this Ridgewood haunt has a pretty eclectic calendar of queer events ranging from the Annie Mae drag cosplay party to the sexy Otter Box display of man meat. Plus, brunch!
121) Lady Simon
Brooklyn’s angstiest drag-ish stage performer has gravitated more towards DJing this year, and has been booked on the reg for parties at the usual haunt– notably (and aptly) among these is the Ghoul School spoopy monthly at Macri Park. You can also catch him hosting the monthly soiree “On & On” at Mood Ring along with Leo Gugu and Ben Manzone.
120) DJ Sammy Jo
The touring DJ for Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears–and a NYC club icon in his own right–keeps the kiki real at Club Cumming, The Cock, The House of Yes and beyond.
119) Kedwin Zapata,
The sexy trio preside over many major urban / Latin events in both New York (notably POSH, ER Bar, Boxers and the Copacabana) and New Jersey. Phil in particular is in charge of Stonewall’s weekly Polish The Queen drag competition, hosted by his sis Kristy Blaze.
118) Adriana Trenta
Always turning the party with killer choreo and quirky charm, Vodka Soda Bottoms Up’s karaoke queen Leveled Up this year with the win of two pageant crowns: Miss Cheer New York (she’s the first-ever winner for that one), and, epically, Miss’d America 2018. She also introduced drag to her day job, City Winery, for the first time with a fun August showcase.
117) Killer Unicorn
Jose Daniel Alvarez wrote a screenplay for a slasher flick in which many of Brooklyn nightlife’s most loved and loathed luminaries get creatively killed off one by one, courtesy of a stud in a unicorn mask. Drew Bolton directed it, Mattioli Productions produced it, and the folks at Newfest gave it its film festival premiere in October. What we have now is a vibrant, hilarious, gross and at times even poignant piece of indie cinema that showcases the people who make the Brooklyn scene amazing, while satirizing its artsy pretense at the same time. It’s a star-making turn for many, especially the infamous door personality Markus Kelle who sports legit acting chops.
116) GYM Sportsbar
Arguably the only gay sportsbar in NYC where the staff and clientele seem genuinely sporty, GYM is a bar where bears, muscle queens, average joes and anyone in between can gather and not be jock-shamed. Bonus: Will Sheridan is a bartender (more on him later!)
115) Pattaya Hart
Aside from being a renown dance teacher who’s taught classes around the world, Pattaya is a gorgeous pageant queen (who amazingly placed Top 4 in the Miss Continental national pageant this year) and fun show hostess right here in NYC. She’s with Brenda Dharling at Suite Bar on Friday nights, and a member of both the Voss Events Sunday brunch team at the Highline Ballroom and the rotating QUEEN troupe at Industry.
114) Jayse Vegas
Last year’s Best Male Performer at the GLAMs is up for a whopping three awards this year, and rightly so. Few people in the biz are as adept at branding and marketing than this singer / songwriter / dancer / fashionista / host of the “Vegas Nights” variety show in a strange-but-amazing room in back of the Offside Tavern, and we’d be hard-pressed to find anyone more hard-working in general. As of this writing, Jayse and friend Robert Garcia have performed their recent duet “Meet Me On The Moon” about 20 times in venues across the city and beyond, and they will continue to do so until, well, you download the song. But Jayse genuinely loves performing, and he won’t be slowing down anytime soon. And we don’t want him to!
113) Miz Jade
Brooklyn’s greatest dancing queen might actually be… Brooklyn’s all around favorite queen? It certainly seems that way, Brooklyn Nightlife Awards be damned! Aside from giving you life with high jumps and deep splits, Jade is also savagely funny on the mic–when Drag Race Viewing Party Time comes around, few queens are more On Point than she. Catch Miz Jade monthly Fridays at Metropolitan and monthly Saturdays at Macri.
112) Miguel Colin
This little circuit queen is somehow finding time to own the city in between college exams. While promoting, hosting and attending most of the city’s major circuit events, he actually found time to co-produce (with Alan Picus) a cute, sexy hit party of his own: Big Banana Thursdays, twice a month at REBAR.
111) Kareem McJagger
One of those rare nightlife personalities who can be high-fashion cool yet still warm and friendly, Kareem should be hosting all your damn parties. For now, catch him doing his thing at The Ritz’s Gay College Tuesdays, and watching you doing your thing at The Cock’s Playpen Mondays.
110) Flaming Saddles Saloon
On the surface, having cute boys two-step on a bar may seem like a lowbrow tourist trap, and… of course it is! But it’s a damn good one, and the clientele at this HK institution are more than just horny gullible tourists. The young bar staff are a talented lot of Broadway hopefuls and actuals, and they’re practically on par with drag queens (who frequent the bar in and out of geish on the regular) as far as being nightlife celebs with fan bases. A special nod in 2018 goes to adorbs Saddles Bar Babe Taylor Shubert for being elected as a democratic alternate delegate to the Judicial Convention 75th Assembly District.
109) Matty Glitterati
The Friday night Club Cumming party FEMME is now a Thing, thanks to the hard work and appeal of our favorite DJSexOtter (who’s now officially taken so let’s not call him that anymore!). Matty’s actually been acting up a storm lately, turning out a pretty uncanny Frank N. Furter for a recent Club Cumming Rocky Horror tribute, a murder victim in the campy queer horror flick Killer Unicorn, and a dramatic turn in the short film Neon Boys. Oh, he’s also DJing at The Cock, REBAR and Rockbar.
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Choosing a single picture from CT’s social media to represent his total being is pretty damn impossible, so we must direct you all to his Insta before proceeding. At any rate, this Jewel of Bartschland has been turning fantasy lewks at the clubs alongside sis Aquaria for a minute now… and now that Aquaria is out in the world living her Drag Race Winning Life, it’s up to CT to show these NYC kids how it’s done. We’ve heard that she’s gotten into performing lately… has the CT Zeitgeist already begun?
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The long-time funny gal of Lips and The Ice Palace (and the hostess of seasonal singing competition Stonewall Sensation) is the queen of Not Taking Shit Seriously, and is mandatory New York Drag Viewing.
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Kristy’s been a prominent force in Jersey nightlife for years starting with the ball scene, even mothering her own drag house. 2018 saw this high energy Latina dance queen venturing more into NYC territory, ultimately nabbing two big weeklies: hosting the Polish the Queen drag competition at Stonewall on Tuesdays, and twirling with Octavia Anyae Wednesday nights at POSH.
105) Nowhere Bar
The East Village bar whose events calendar is mostly music and DJ-driven (Double Headed Disco, the goth DIZZY, etc.) just turned 15 this autumn. A refreshing escape from the noise and plastic that sometimes overruns gay nightlife, Nowhere now gets the same bonus shout-out from us as that the West Village’s Ty’s does: our Bar Babe Fav Julian is there on Thursday nights!
104) David Serrano
The DJ and occasional photographer remains an in-demand person in the biz. Best known for DJing two large scale weekly shows: Industry’s QUEEN and the Voss Events Drag Brunch at the Highline Ballroom–you can also find David in the booth for Jasmine Rice & Pissi Myles’ Monday night Rise Bar show and elsewhere.
103) Zeta Jones
The dazzling dancing queen with the perfect beat was part of REBAR’s Sunday night Bad Bitch Review, and currently hosts it up at Club Cumming’s Friday night FEMME. She is the one to keep an eye on in 2019, henny.
102) Sherry Vine
It’s hard to picture a New York without Sherry Vine, but after this year that’s precisely what we’re getting. The living legend who helped define what drag was and could be in the 90′s NYC– and who mastered the art of the song parody, pioneered the YouTube video parody, and got her own weekly TV show without the help of Drag Race–is moving to Cali to pursue bigger projects. It’s going to be a well-deserved transition for her, and we’ll just have to make due with the remaining weeks of her Wednesday night Industry show.
101) Shawn Paul Mazur & Matthew Gagnon
The sexy pair of ex-bartenders fly high as the hosts and producers of FLY Sundays at The Monarch Hotel all summer (2018 marked that party’s fifth year), as well as Hardware’s Super Size Queen Fridays all year round.
Thotyssey 