After proving she has a “campy can-do attitude” on TV, reality show celebrity drag queen Flap Jack is coming to Prattville for a Friday the 13th drag show at Carl’s Country, 426 County Road 4.
“I hope people laugh. That’s the biggest thing,” Flap Jack said.
A competitor on OUTtv’s “Camp Wannakiki,” Birmingham drag queen Flap Jack will be joined at the 9 p.m. show by host Addison Vontrell, opener Ivy Vontrell, and main support acts Sharon Cocx and Reese Eve Cocx.
“From being on (“Camp Wannakiki”), I have gotten to do a lot of different events that I never would have gotten to do beforehand,” Flap Jack said.
Friday’s show is a specific comedy genre of drag, where the entertainers’ appearances and acts are extra campy, Flap Jack said.
“I like to add prank calls to my campy mixes,” Flap Jack said. “Or I’ll focus on a specific theme and make it as outrageous as I can.”
One of Flap Jack’s personas is of a diner waitress at a ball, walking around with a stack of pancakes.
Is that where the Flap Jack name comes from? Not exactly. She was inspired by Flapjack’s Pancake Cabin restaurant in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where her family used to go.
“One day I was driving by it and I was like, how funny would it be if that was someone’s drag name,” Flap Jack said. “So, I decided to make it mine.”
Flap Jack emphasized that her whole act isn’t about pancakes and other breakfast foods.
“But I do like to lean into that every now and then,” she said.
Tickets to Friday’s show are $15 in advance at stubwire.com/event/dragshowcampfriday13th/carlscountry/prattville/27975, or $20 at the door.
Life on the Camp Wannakiki set
“It was a huge learning experience for me,” Flap Jack said of season 4 on “Camp Wannakiki.”
This was the first season for it to be available on the OUTtv streaming channel. The previous three seasons were on YouTube. On the show, drag artists compete in activities and talents shows to become the Queen (or King) of the camp.
“Going to film that was kind of like a boot camp for drag queens,” Flap Jack said. “I would have to get up at 4 a.m., because it took me a long time to get my makeup on.”
Makeup took around three hours to complete for Flapjack and her nine competitors.
After a morning activity and lunch, campers would prepare for a nightly talent show.
No, Flap Jack didn’t take the camp crown home, but she grew from being around people like herself, doing this brand of drag.
“I think a lot of people who are not familiar with the drag scene don’t realize that drag is not just female impersonation, or a man trying to look like a woman,” Flap Jack said. “It’s people of all different types of gender expressions doing performance art that plays with gender. I try to do that in a comedic, outrageous and ironic way.”
Becoming her true self
These days, being her true non-binary self is as natural as breathing. Along with drag show work, including her stint on season 4 of TV’s “Camp Wannakiki,” Flap Jack is married, and said her husband from Vietnam is on the way to becoming a U.S. citizen. Flap Jack also co-hosts a drag show podcast, “Flapping & Fawning,” with fellow non-binary Birmingham drag queen Fawn.
One of her last visits to the Montgomery area was for a drag queen newcomer’s pageant a few years ago, and she is the 2022 Mx. Central Alabama Pride.
“I am very new to the scene,” Flap Jack said. “I started about three years ago. It was right before the pandemic, so a lot of my time has been quarantine shows.”
Coming out and moving into the LGBTQ+ world isn’t always easy, especially in Alabama or the South in general. Flap Jack said she had a slow, difficult time of it.
“I came out to a friend at school, and was met with some rejection,” Flap Jack said. “So I went back in the closet.”
It took about six years for her to truly start being herself, from junior high and high school into college. Flap Jack said much of the fear of coming out came from her family’s church life.
“There’s a lot of shame and stigma surrounding queer folks in Alabama, because there is such a large religious presence,” Flap Jack said. “But I think now people are realizing that being a queer person and being a person of faith are not mutually exclusive things. It’s not something that we have to outcast anyone for.”
Birmingham and Montgomery drag scenes
Flap Jack said Alabama has a lot of up-and-coming drag entertainers with unique, original performance art. They just need places that will accept their acts. Many work in pop up shows, which Montgomery has seen several of.
“I used to host one called the ‘Upside Down Drag Review,’” Flap Jack said. “A friend of mine currently hosts one called the ‘DIY Drag Show.’”
Probably the most regular current show in Montgomery is Uncle Daddy and his Divas at Rhonda’s Sports Bar every other weekend (the next show there is Jan. 21). Besides that, we have pop up shows, like Friday at Carl’s.
So what’s the drag scene like in Birmingham? Flap Jack said they’re going through a resurgence.
“We have two clubs in town that have shows every weekend,” she said. “That’s The Quest Club and Al’s on 7th. You can always catch shows there on Friday and Saturday nights. They often have things going on for Wednesdays and Thursdays as well.”
Flap Jack will also be a part of a Family Friendly Drag Show on Jan. 22, at 2:30 p.m., at the Birmingham Festival Theatre, produced by her podcast.
Since the TV show, Flap Jack said she’s seen an appreciation build for campy drag shows among young Birmingham entertainers.
“My personal motto is that no matter how smart, talented or rich you think you are, you can afford to be nice, and niceness counts,” Flap Jack said. “I want people to realize from these shows that they should spread positivity and be nice. There are people in the LGBTQ community who have not been treated very nicely, and I think that should change.”
Follow Flap Jack on Instagram @flapjacqueline.
Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at sheupel@gannett.com
