With roots in Rocky Horror, Oliver Bliss is the perfect draglesquer for the Season of Spook. [Photo: MCP Photo]
Thotyssey: Hello Oliver, thanks for chatting with us! We are deep in Spooky Season now, is this your time to thrive?
Oliver Bliss: Definitely! I’ve always found that as a Drag Thing, the Spooky Season is going to be the best one. A lot of times when you’re not a conventional drag performer, you’re going to find Halloween is the time of year that things will feel more welcoming in terms of booking the weird and unconventional acts. Also, I’m a Rocky Horror performer, so the latter half of my Spooky Season usually is booked up with that!
We lost original Rocky Horror star Tim Curry recently. Besides Frank N Furter in Rocky, he played so many subsersive and over the top characters that defined generations of moviergoer minds! Were you inspired by him to become a perfomer at all?
Losing him hit everyone hard! I haven’t gotten to do a Rocky show [this year] yet, since I took a quick break for September… and I just know it’s gonna be emotional once I get back on the stage!
In terms of him inspiring me, not really when it comes to starting my performer journey– but he’s always been part of it. I only got into drag and burlesque due to being in the Rocky community. That also at the same time got me to explore my gender, since I joined right when I began transitioning. Tim as Frank has kind of become a symbol of sorts for me–of exploration of the self on and off stage, and finding new ways to perform. A very grounding constant in my performer life.
I actually ended up recently getting the “boss” tattoo on my right arm that Frank N Furter has. Initially it was for my 10th anniversary as a Rocky performer, as well as the movie’s 50th. But once Tim passed away, it also became a tribute to him.
Actually I might as well bring it up now: you’ve got a Tim Curry tribute coming up this week, right?
Monday at the Windjammer I’m gonna be doing VenaShitShow, Night of 666 Tim Curries! I’m super excited because I’m finally getting my husband [Neon Pie] on stage with me as well! He’s doing King Arthur from Spamalot, and I will be one of a handful of Frank N Furters!
Can you tell us a bit about where you’re from, what your early artistic pursuits were, and how you ultimately became a Rocky Horror performer and otherwise drag / burlesque performer?
Oh God, where to start? I grew up on Long Island, and had a very early interest in theatre. I was five, and my mother and grandfather–may his memory be a blessing–took me to see CATS at the Winter Garden. I don’t think I ever played another CD as much I did the cast recording. But it wasn’t until I was eight, when I joined my family’s temple’s production of The Wizard of Oz, that I realized this is what I wanted to do with my life.
Initially, traditional musical theatre was all I was aiming for. But as I got older and started to realize I wasn’t a straight “girl” and I got more involved in the queer community, I began to consider other avenues of performing.
I credit drag queen Annie Manildoo as the one who first inspired me to do drag at all. She did a few shows at Pride For Youth, which is an organization for LGBTQ youth. We would have drag nights, and I’d dress and perform as a “drag king” which got me to realize how much more comfortable I was in a “masculine” existence.
At the same time, my friends and I were into a movie called Repo! The Genetic Opera, which is another cult classic musical. We discovered a group that performed shadowcasts of it, and became regular audience members. By the time we were 18, I was the only one still interested in the idea of joining the group. By then, they were also doing Rocky–so with about three weeks notice, I was gonna do my first performance as Brad Majors and just never looked back!
Being in the Rocky community had me meet more drag performers, and see my first burlesque shows. All that, and a need to explore myself more, took on a gradual life of its own. One night while driving alone on a rainy highway, I was listening to some songs that I had begun to visualize as a performance pieces–kind of in a queer, provocative style–and I realized this would be something I wanted to maybe actually do. I began to give these ideas more thought and shape, and by the time I got home, I had the name Oliver Bliss in my mind. In 2018, I did my first official drag act at a Rocky Horror con.
I was so stiff and nervous on that stage in heeled boots, pleather leggings and a bad makeup job… but I got on there and performed the title song from Cabaret. And something kind of clicked into place that day.
It wasn’t until I finally escaped Long Island in 2021 and came to Brooklyn that things felt right.
How might you define what your drag and burlesque style is like today?
Ooh, that’s a tough one because much like my ADHD brain, it seems to bounce from one thing to another. But I guess I could sum it up as someone combined Adam Lambert, Lady Gaga, Liza Minelli, and a dash of My Chemical Romance. And the thing that came from that mix got way too into cosplay and comedy.
I guess you’ve probably popped up in all the NYC gayborhoods at this point in addition to Long Island. Do you have a favorite place to perform?
Every place I’ve performed has its charm! I think up in my Top 3 have to be Club Cumming, Wonderville, and Dromedary, which is sadly now a different bar.
How about a favorite all time performing moment?
A moment that stands out in my mind as a “favorite” (though I couldn’t name any moment an “all time” favorite) is likely when I did a show where I was performing a pole routine as Colette March sang live. At the end of the song, I had choreographed coming down to the floor slowly as the song ended in kind of a sung-whisper verse. As she finished the song, she got down to the lip of the stage I was dancing on, and we just locked eyes for the rest of the number. Just that moment of intensity between performers–of being two parts of one piece coming together–is something hard to truly describe, but it felt magical to me.
And what about a noteworthy WTF / Cringe moment, lol?
I certainly can think of a few! I was in a drag competition on Long Island–and this was before I started wearing good wigs, like what I had was just a step up from Party City. Our challenge was to take a plain apron and make something only we would wear, and I wasn’t too clear on what I was doing drag-wise at that point. So mine barely had anything on it, aside from paint. My outfits were still pretty plain, I hadn’t gotten into rhinestoning yet, and as I mentioned, the cheap wig.
My talent was singing, and I managed to send the full length track instead of the cut version. But the host didn’t stop the track either, so I went way over the two minutes we had per act. Then in the lip sync; I was trying to do a Kim Possible act where I went from mission clothes to the cheer uniform, and ended with cheer choreo. I missed certain points I had to hit in my routine, ended up bringing on a pair of cheer sneakers that I never switched into, and blanked on my choreo. I was the only performer who didn’t win a single category that night.
Living and learning is the name of the game, lol! This coming Monday, you are returning to another competition you did once before: Mx. Rockbar! Tell us what made you want to give this another shot, and what we can look forward to in your number.
Funny enough, a cringe / WTF moment. Last year, I had tried to do a number that was a lip sync of Patrick Star being a fan of Jeffrey Jellyfish. I had made a weird cardboard cutout that refused to stay standing up, my number didn’t have a lot going for it, and I didn’t have much choreo. I mainly want another shot, with the high likelihood of my bringing that number back as it is now–a more intricate draglesque number with better costuming and a better prop. I haven’t fully decided if I wanna bring that back–unsure about risking if I get a few points off for bringing back a number, even an improved one. But even if not, I know I’m leaning on the comedy for at least one number.
What else is coming up for you?
On Thursday, October 15, I’ll be making my Sleepwalk debut in Cabaret de Luxe, and have several Rocky shows in NY and NJ with my casts The ZEN Room and The Ordinary Kids. That schedule comes out soon!
Okay, lastly: what would you rather be, a vampire or a werewolf?
Though I like the vibe vampires have more, I think werewolf. I can’t imagine how much being immortal would suck (no pun intended), seeing your loved ones die off. Werewolves age slower, but can pass as a normal human when it’s not a full moon. Plus I love the beach in the summer; not being able to go out and enjoy the sunshine would be spirit-crushing!
That’s a strong case you just made! Thanks, Oliver!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Oliver Bliss’ upcoming appearances, and follow them on Instagram, YouTube and LinkTree.
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