Nightlife/Drag

Toast: The Best Drag Thing Since Sliced Bread

During college I’ve started performing in drag, gotten involved in queer nightlife, found a chosen community, and brought my producer/director/hosting skills to a new setting!

My drag journey—and the debut of Toast (my drag name)—began sophomore year, when I hosted NYU Welcome Week’s Drag Bingo at the Skirball Center alongside RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Tatianna for 700+ incoming students. It was a surreal experience, in particular performing Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls” while dancing through and interacting with my fellow students in the audience.

Since then, I’ve performed in drag at numerous cabarets and concerts and often appeared at the now-shuttered Macri Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. A highlight: performing in “The Pink Pony Club: A Celebration of Chappell Roan,” a tribute show produced byJust a Girl Productions and theAsbury Park Theatre Company that sold out the House of Independents in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Most recently, I’ve been honing my producing/hosting skills through an ongoing collaboration with Brooklyn arcade bar Wonderville and my nightlife parent, DJ Guilty Pleasures. Tapping into my love of video games—shared by countless others—I’ve begun producing variety shows that feature drag, burlesque, singers, cosplayers, and more, as well as DJ sets, trivia, and cosplay contests with prizes. “An Undertale & Deltarune Variety Show” and “A Pokémon Variety Show” were resounding successes—and our next show is in the works for this summer.