CUNNING STUNT
(Cunning) My name in drag is Cunning Stunt, like stunning… oh! Don't say it! And my name out of drag is Rose.
(Cunning) 30.
(Cunning) In drag is he/him, out of drag is he/they.
(Cunning) Yeah, so Cunning is a sexy, sleazy rock star. I like to describe him as the man your mother warned you about. He started off - I've been doing drag for three years - and I started off doing what I thought was critiques of really traditional masculine roles.
So I started off as boxers and truck drivers. And after doing more and more shows, this very sparkly, kind of sexually fluid-rock star guy came out.
I think it's maybe my affinity for sparkles and rhinestones that made that happen. But yeah, that's sort of the history of where you come from.
CUNNING STUNT
(Cunning) I do, yeah. It's actually so funny you should ask that. Fordham University, I did a show there yesterday and we ended up doing a panel discussion afterwards.
It was the second time in 24 hours somebody asked me this question. But my very first drag performance was actually at a drag game night. So it wasn't just bingo, but it was like audience members had to come up and play a game that would, I don't know, play a game on stage.
And then they would have four newer drag artists perform in between the games. And I did a song called Teach Me, Tiger.
(Cunning) And I had Tiger Boxers. April, I cannot remember her last name.
It's a pretty old song, it's from the 50s. And I, my best friend crocheted me, you know what a packer is, right? Yeah, yeah. So she crocheted me a packer.
And I sewed a little tiger, a felt tiger onto the tip of it. And that was my, I also did not start drag in the US. I started drag when I was living in Taipei, Taiwan.
(Cunning) Both.
I've never had another character, I've never had another persona. This guy just took over my life over the last three years.
CUNNING STUNT
(Cunning) Oh, I like to call him the man that takes all of my money and space in my apartment.
(Cunning) Yeah, he really, he does not pay, I mean he does pay rent.
But he takes up a lot of my time and money and he dresses far better than I do. And, yeah, we are definitely not the same person. It's not like, some people I think, they think their drag is like an extension of themselves.
And I think that Cunning is for sure a character that I play.
(Cunning) Maybe elements of myself. Yeah. But not, yeah.
(Cunning) It's changed my social life quite a bit for sure. So, in that way, yes. Drag is like my entire social life.
Everything revolves around it. So, that has definitely changed my life out of drag. But, are you asking if it's made me more confident or?
(Cunning) Not really. No, I was always really loud and confident and annoying.
CUNNING STUNT
(Cunning) My favorite part of drag and my least favorite part of drag…
My favorite part of drag. You know, it might be this feeling of like when you work really, really hard. And you sort of have your head down and you're just powering through.
And then you look back at maybe the last four or six months and you go, Oh, wow, like I've really achieved a lot in the last couple months. Like this is really working for me. And that self-doubt sort of melts away.
And that feels good. And my least favorite part of drag. I really don't love competing in comparison.
So, I've done a lot of drag competitions. And I've lost every single competition I've ever been a part of. And they got me a lot of bookings. They got me a lot of great references and professional relationships. But I never won. And it makes you feel like your drag is bad.
And then the comparison. Like you look at other people's drag who you really like. And you start to feel like, oh, am I not as good as them? Or do they have something that I don't have or can't have?
(Cunning) No.
So, I am currently Mr. Gay United States Masculine Illusion NYC. So, NYC. So, when I went to nationals competing in Mr. Gay United States Masculine Illusion. That was the only time that I was competing with drag kings. However, I was very surprised to see that there was far more trans men who wanted to compete in pageantry. As opposed to drag kings.
If that makes sense. And so, if the competition, if the category is called Masculine Illusion. These men are not performing an illusion.
They are men. And so, I was really shocked that they were more offended that this was how the category was shaking out. But they were happy.
I was not happy. I hated how that went. But when I do...
So, I also do pageantry. Which I think I'm one of the only kings in the city that not only does competitions but does pageantry.
(Cunning) Great question. So, a competition is smaller. And like a local group or organization puts it on. You can win a title like you're the winner of that season of that competition. But a pageant is a registered with a pageant system.
So, they are more formal. They're more competitive. And people put more into these packages, I think. Yeah. And they're supposed to come with more prestige when you win. But with my...
I'm not going to talk shit about my...
(Cunning) No, I'm in an interview. No… I've not really done much as Mr. Gay United States NYC with my crown. And I have that crown until next fall.
(Cunning) So, it's my responsibility to hold prelims for Mr. Gay United States NYC Masculine Illusion for next year. It's my job to cast and find and have compete a guy to go fill this spot.
But it takes a lot of money and a lot of time and a lot of travel to compete in nationals. And I just don't know any kings off the top of my head who I think would want to go.
CUNNING STUNT
(Cunning) No, I think that it's stronger in New York City than in a lot of other cities. So, it was already strong when I showed up. One big change is we have the only Drag King brunch in the city. And that's in Queens.
And that was not here when I started.
So, I run not only one but two of New York City's only Drag King bingos. As you already know.
I think that I'm so deeply imbued in this scene that if things are changing, my head's underwater.
(Cunning) I see... Unfortunately, I see them but I don't see... There are very few drag things that I see consistently getting bookings that were not already.
If they already were... There are a handful that are doing super well and are really rising up in the ranks, which is awesome. Drag things, unfortunately, also tend to be more in Brooklyn.
And the Brooklyn drag scene is known as more experimental, more wild. And it's more... It can be hard to get pigeon-holed into just being a Brooklyn.
CUNNING STUNT
(Cunning) Most of them are made... I get them made for me.
These pants were made by my drag wife, Liz B.N. I did Levi's Pride campaign last summer and so this jacket was custom-made for Levi's.
(Cunning) Thank you. It says my name on the back of the jacket. It's hand-embroidered.
I love this look. This is Leather Master, which is a leather shop in South Florida. I have a rhinestoner, and my rhinestone made this.
(Cunning) My earliest costumes were just dead-ass my own clothes. For my first show, I wore chinos, a brown belt, loafers, and a white shirt. And I don't smoke cigarettes, but I rolled a pack of cigarettes up my sleeve because I wanted to look like Marlon Brando.
(Cunning) A pose?
(Cunning) I do this inversion on people, where I sort of sit in their laps and then flip upside down and do a spread eagle. I do that at most shows.
Probably that, yeah.
(Cunning) My characteristic? Yeah.