IN Magazine sat down with the incomparable Lady Bunny as she prepared to bring her hilarious “Don’t Bring The Kids” tour across Canada…
By Christopher Turner
Photos by Steven Menendez
Drag artist extraordinaire Lady Bunny is truly one of a kind. A living drag legend, razor-witted comic, fabulous DJ and, most famously, the founder, organizer and hostess of Wigstock, Bunny has created a mini empire outside of the Drag Race world. She’s a legend, of course, and also every bit as hilarious as her reputation suggests…something I quickly found out when we chatted about her brand-new stand-up tour, “Don’t Bring The Kids,” which is getting ready to tour across Canada.
With her sky-high platinum wigs, outlandishly glamorous gowns and razor-sharp wit, Lady Bunny isn’t just a drag performer – she’s a one-woman cultural institution. After sharpening her teeth in Atlanta drag clubs in the early 1980s, where she formed a lifelong friendship with RuPaul Charles, she moved to New York City in 1984 and became a pioneering force in New York’s downtown nightlife scene. Alongside RuPaul and legendary Australian performance artist Leigh Bowery, Lady Bunny brought a uniquely anarchic blend of camp, comedy and club kid chaos to the stage. Something she is still doing today.
Born Jon Ingle in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Bunny’s Southern charm is always laced with a side of savage humour – her performances blur the lines between stand-up, political satire and pure diva spectacle. She’s perhaps best known as the founder of Wigstock, the legendary outdoor drag festival that defined an era of queer visibility and performance art in New York City’s East Village, and later as a scene-stealing guest on shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race, where she has been consistently referenced by the show and the competing queens. She even made a memorable appearance as the emcee at the LGBT prom on the Sex And The City episode “Boy, Interrupted.” Then there are the tours and the viral song parodies (her love song to Luigi Mangione went viral…but more on that later) and, most recently, a TikTok channel. She’s done it all!
But Lady Bunny isn’t just about the laughs. Underneath the bouffant and bawdiness is a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, a DJ with encyclopedic musical taste, and a sharp-tongued critic of mainstream politics. She’s unfiltered, unbothered and utterly unforgettable – a true original who helped shape the glittering, gender-bending world of modern drag.
Before the self-described kooky queen plays a selection of dates across Canada in May (in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal), we sat down with her for a wide-ranging conversation that touched on the tour (which already has audiences across the United States screaming with laughter), role models, the differences between the States and Canada, combatting hate with laughter, and much, much more. The conversation was a reminder that she is a true superhero of the queer community, and it was a reminder of her outrageous quick wit, which should get you into a seat at one of her Canadian stops this month.
Hi Bunny! Big fan. Let’s kick things off by talking about your new stand-up tour, “Don’t Bring The Kids!” What can fans expect from the show?
Hey! I do some stand-up in my shows, but it’s mostly me performing numbers: either smutty parody songs of everyone from Adele to Bruno Mars and Beyoncé, along with a few original tunes. A new crowd fave is a song about the weight-loss drug Ozempic. I’ve toured with this same show all over the US, UK and Australia, often in comedy clubs. I admire stand-up comics but, occasionally, my old ass needs to hear a beat!
What happens if you actually spot a kid sitting in the audience?
I’ll run over and try to read him a drag queen story hour! Actually, I perform in bars and clubs, so kids have never been able to get into the venues which I’m booked in. I assume that it’s the same in Canada. Nowadays, there are drag brunches, outdoor Pride gigs and Drag Race tours that do admit under-18s. Some drag is completely PG and fine for kids, but mine definitely isn’t.
Conservatives have been drumming up fears that drag queens are sexually “grooming” kids at these story hours. It’s so dumb! The kids are typically with their parent(s), and none of these drag queen story hours are even mandatory. So if you don’t want your brat to see a drag queen, then don’t go to the library on that day! Pretty simple.
Can I get a little preview of a gasp-worthy joke you’ll be dropping on stage this time around?
Taylor Swift has 300 songs about guys leaving her, and no songs about blow jobs. SUCK A DICK, BITCH!
There’s also a new parody of “Murder On The Dance Floor,” which I’ve turned into “Ru Struggles On The Dance Floor.” I goof on Trixie Mattel for stealing my look, and my new, original song about Elon Musk has had Americans howling – can’t wait to try it out in Canada!
What is your advice to any drag queens, or anyone else who may look to you as a role model?
“Give up! You’re not funny. You’ll never be me. Retire and go find Jesus!” And that’s just my advice for Trixie!
Who do you consider a role model?
I admired Larry Kramer’s AIDS activism because he told the truth, whether it hurt or not. Nowadays, many people are so desperate to be popular that they tell people what they think they want to hear. I’m 62 and have no time for anything but the truth.
Who is making you laugh these days?
Jackie Beat always makes me laugh, along with Bianca Del Rio and Margaret Cho. Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary! on Broadway is a knee-slapping experience that’s totally original. And I love trans stand-up comedians Flame Monroe and Tuesday Thomas.
You’re making stops right across Canada on this tour. Do you have a favourite Canadian city?
The delicious cheeses of Montreal have often brought me to my knees – in several Québecois bathhouses. I honestly don’t have a favourite city, but I’ve spent the most time in Vancouver and Toronto.
Since there is so much talk, on both sides of the border, about what separates and defines our two countries, I’m wondering what you think is the difference between the US and Canada?
That sounds like a question for a smart person, not me! Actually, we’re talking about Trump saying he wants to make Canada the 51st state. My impression is that few Canadians desire this, and they’d be crazy to give up Canadian health care for the USA’s overpriced system! That’s a big difference between our two countries right there: health care. Trump says a lot of crap that is meant to raise eyebrows, and then he sometimes walks it back. Or his actions are challenged by the courts. It’s best to look at what politicians are doing as well as what they’re saying. Often, they’re trying to distract us from them rarely keeping campaign promises.
We are seeing so much political hate and anti-2SLGBTQI+ legislation happening around the world right now.… How do you think the community can best combat the landslide of hate?
Sadly, in the US, our largest gay advocacy groups are a mess. A lot of the things which these groups, like GLAAD and HRC, have been pushing do not represent all or even most of the LGBT people I know. For example, we’re told by these groups to ask everyone’s pronouns. Yet doing so may well be an insult to trans people who’ve had extensive hormone therapies and surgeries to look like a different sex. If you meet a trans woman in New York City and ask what her pronouns are, you might get punched! Sometimes I wonder if these allies of the trans community actually know any of the trans community.
In the US, Democrats are much better on gay/trans rights than Republicans. But people aren’t just their sexuality – they also have bills to pay, healthcare and housing needs, groceries, etc. However, Democrats have lost two out of the last three elections to Donald Trump, largely due to economic issues. Women’s reproductive rights, civil rights and LGBTQ rights hinge on Democrats winning? That doesn’t sound like a sure bet to me. If you lose to Trump twice, your party needs to do like Jesus and spend 40 days out in the wilderness to regroup. Trump has a voter base, yet many who voted for him in 2016 and 2024 disliked the Dems more than they loved Trump.
Any messages for your haters?
I just tell Bianca that she’s drunk and then hang up on her!
What do you want people to know about you that they might not already know?
I parodied Chappell Roan’s “Hot To Go” and made it about Luigi Mangione, the Italian stallion who allegedly shot that healthcare CEO. Varla Jean Merman told me that Chappell’s uncle lives near her and sent her my video. She [Chappell Roan] told him she loves it!
Last question. After the tour wraps…what’s next for you?
I rarely focus on my non-comedic singing and songwriting, but I have a new dance track coming out for World Pride. It’s called “My Love (Is The Way It’s Supposed To Be),” and it’s produced by a Swedish producer named Petter Wallenberg. I’m joined by the voices of Uganda’s Rainbow Riots choir. In Uganda, there’s a death penalty for being gay. Even though I haven’t met the Ugandan choir, their calls to be free are haunting. I’m also excited to perform in Amsterdam for their Pride in late July.
You can catch Lady Bunny as she tours across Canada from Saturday, May 17, to Monday, May 26, 2025. The “Lady Bunny: Don’t Bring the Kids” tour has Canadian stops in Vancouver (Saturday, May 17, at the York Theatre, The Cultch), Calgary (Tuesday, May 20, at The Laugh Shop), Edmonton (Thursday, May 22, at Yuk Yuk’s Edmonton), Winnipeg (Friday, May 23, and Saturday, May 24, at Yuk Yuk’s Winnipeg), Toronto (Sunday, May 25, at Comedy Bar) and Montreal (Wednesday, May 28, at The Comedy Nest).
Tickets are still available for all dates, but selling fast. For tickets or more information, visit www.vossevents.com.
CHRISTOPHER TURNER is the editor of IN Magazine. He is a Toronto-based writer, editor and lifelong fashionisto with a passion for pop culture and sneakers. Follow him on social media @Turnstylin.
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