By Mark Wallis***Let me introduce myself. I am a stage performer by the name of I am Cereal Killer! who works with the alternative side of theater. Recently, I decided that I wanted to start reviewing and interviewing performers from the experimental end of cabaret.
My first interview is with Untitled Queen, who is very well known on the Brooklyn 
drag performance scene and who first caught my eye on the television series “Nightgowns,” which was curated by Sasha Velour. Untitled Queen uses work by people such as Nina Simone, Simon and Garfunkel, and her own performance poetry. Her work also expresses her political action and she will speak out about subjects that matter to her, such as Anti-Asian violence. She also often includes A.S.L. (American Sign Language) in her shows. I decided I had to get to know more about this remarkable entertainer. While on social media, I bumped into her and I suggested we have an interview and I was so happy that she said yes.
C.K.: When did you start performing?
U.Q.: I started doing drag in 2012, but I realized once I began to define it for myself, that I’d been doing drag/performance art my whole life.
C.K.: Who is your inspiration?
U.Q.: My parents and family are a large inspiration in my life and artwork. I think a lot of my DIY approach to drag comes from how my parents raised themselves and a family without a lot of precedence. My art is a reflection and tribute to their self-made history.
C.K.: What is the reason you perform?
U.Q.: I consider drag as a medium in my art practice, and I love the way I can use drag as a vehicle to tell stories. As an artist, my passion is to tell stories as authentically, deeply and truthfully as I can.
C.K.: What is your inspiration when choosing a piece to perform? Do you choose the piece or does the piece choose you?
U.Q.: I am constantly inspired by my environment. Especially in New York there are so many wonderful and wild things happening all at once. At one moment, you’ll see light through trees, a dollar store window display with large handwritten signs, a street vendor with a huge black steel smoker selling B.B.Q, someone blasting a song out of their car and an abandoned tattoo shop. Any of these types of moments inspire me and I sometimes use them as starting points to think of a performance and research songs or texts that can match to create a piece. Or sometimes I also just happen to find a song that speaks to me and I go from there.
C.K.: What make-up line do you use?
U.Q.: I use Ben Nye clown white lite and Ben Nye white setting powder.
C.K.: Who are her favorite local NYC performers?
U.Q.: Mocha Lite, Julie J, Cheeks Voila, Thorgy Thor, Momo Shade amongst many others.
After this interview I am even more eager to see Untitled Queen in a live performance. If you feel the same she regularly performs at “C’mon Everybody” in Brooklyn. www.cmoneverybody.com
