On Point With: Lucky Pierre

A king who paints for the Gawds, Lucky Pierre is a show producer and an NYC alternative drag sensation on the rise.

Thotyssey: Hello Lucky! Oh wait, that’s a good first question… do friends call you “Lucky” or “Pierre” in casual conversation?

Lucky Pierre: Pierre for business, Lucky for pleasure. Or whatever you feel like, people call me both!

I saw you did Chevy Lace’s “Villain Edit” at Club Cumming back on Valentine’s Day weekend!

I’ve actually be co-producing and hosting Villain Edit with Chevy since last summer! VE has long been my favorite recurring show as an alt drag king, and I’d already been a recurring alum by the time Chevy brought me on. This was the second year we did the “Villainous Valentines” edition of VE and it’s always such a blast.

Tell us a bit of your back story. Where are you from originally, and were performing and art always a part of your life?

I grew up in Los Angeles, but spent the last decade before moving to NYC in Boston. I originally started out in theater, which is what I moved to the city to do; the musical theatre to drag pipeline really is a tale as old as time.

As a trans and working class person, though, I got disillusioned with it pretty quickly after trying to “go pro.” I’d dabbled in drag during some fringe theater I did back in Boston, but during the pandemic I started to feel really pulled towards drag–once I was able to see that drag could be so much more than I’d thought. I had been following a few kings on IG just by happenstance, and that combined with finding the early seasons of Dragula really expanded my idea of what drag was.

I did a huge amount of digital drag, and that segued into live drag as soon as lockdown ended. My first live show as Lucky Pierre was actually the first Villain Edit! After that, I did the first season of the Cake Boys‘ “Takes the Cake” competition and made Top 6, and the rest is history from there.

How would you describe the Lucky Pierre experience today, as far as looks and numbers go?

What Lucky is now is very different than what he started as, for sure. I’ve always been pretty high concept–and I still love to play around when I’m painting–but the character and my performances have gone a little more hardcore in the last year. I think overall the stories I’m trying to tell with my numbers are a little more visceral, so the end result is gonna be less “polished” and way higher in filth and weirder than they were. A lot of different things contributed to this transformation, but I’m happy with the very punk rock direction my drag is going.

There’s a rapidly growing community of kings and things coming up into local drag, but venues are only just now starting to see the potential in utilizing this very different perspective and talent pool. Do you think we will be seeing more non-“traditional” drag in the popular venues soon?

I think to some extent we already are. Groups like the Cake Boys and even events like La Zavaleta’s “BitchFest” are really creating spaces for alternative and non-traditional drag and drag artists to thrive. I have noticed that even with these opportunities, king-produced shows still tend to get pushed into the same five or so venues.

Something I’m focusing on right now as a producer is reaching out to bars and clubs who don’t traditionally have a drag presence in them. I find that when a venue doesn’t have a preconceived idea of what drag is, they are more likely to book our shows and be really supportive and excited about them! When I’m not producing with Chevy, I do shows through the Dead Boys Club, a production company that I co-run with fellow alt drag king, Willy Killigan. We just did an alt drag brunch at a new venue in Ridgewood that was super successful, so we definitely feel like we’re going the right direction.

This Saturday (March 4) at Purgatory, you’ll be taking part in a special show hosted by [Unintelligible Screaming] featuring other drag performers and punk bands!

It’s called “T4T“… its a fundraiser for a mutual aid fund for a community member. It’s $10 to 20 sliding scale cover, but its also a NOTAFLOF show!

A great and important show! Let’s close with: what’s your favorite number to do right now?

Oh wow, what a question… that’s like choosing a favorite kid! Willy and I do a weird, sexy, gross vampire kink duo number to “Flesh” by Simon Curtis where we do a bunch of stunts: he dangles me off the edge of the stage, I do a blood spit backbend… it’s a whole thing. We don’t get to do it often because we need a high enough stage to do it (the last time we did it was at 3 Dollar Bill), but it’s something I’m really proud to have choreographed–and it’s so fun to perform. So if anyone is looking to book two blood covered kings with one tarp between them, you know where to find us!

Thanks, Lucky!