Lady Bunny. (Photo by Steven Love Menendez)
International drag icon Lady Bunny will return to Florida with her raunchy, witty show “Don’t Bring the Kids!” March 25 in Tampa and March 26 in Orlando.
She heads down south on her nationwide tour of the show, with all the same big hair. Bunny, known for her extended residencies in New York, hails from the South and considers herself versatile and fluent in communicating with audiences from wherever they are on the coast.
“I’m from a red state,” Bunny tells Watermark Out News. “I grew up in Tennessee; I was born in North Carolina. So even though I am what some centrist Democrats criticize as progressive or far left, I know how to talk to people who are Republicans or in red states.”
As a talented comedienne, actress and singer, Bunny has graced TV screens on shows like “Sex and the City” and “RuPaul’s Drag U.” While she has not competed on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” as the host’s decades-long friend she is a frequent guest and favorite topic of discussion.
She is also the emcee and creator of Wigstock, the outrageous drag festival of drag and music which electrified New Yorkers every Labor Day for over 20 years.
Bunny’s comic genius can also be seen on film. She’s been featured in “Wig,” the HBO Wigstock documentary made in 2019 with Neil Patrick Harris, and “Hurricane Bianca: From Russia with Hate” from “Drag Race” winner Bianca Del Rio.
From headlining clubs to Pride events worldwide, Bunny has been lucky enough to share the stage or screen with many of her idols including Patti Labelle, Joan Rivers, Bea Arthur, Charo, Elvira, Lynda Carter, Chaka Khan, Grace Jones, Loleatta Holloway, Jocelyn Brown, Martha Wash, Margaret Cho and Christina Aguilera at Radio City Music Hall.
“Don’t Bring the Kids!” is a show for mature audiences ages 18 and over. Bunny, a comic whose material has always included raunchy and inappropriate humor, is committed to keeping her presentation as is.
“I mean, it’s tricky, there’s a little politics in this, and the reason I wanted to do the show is because of Drag Queen Story Hour, our issues,” Bunny shares. “Conservatives are saying that drag queens who read stories to children are grooming them sexually — which is nonsense.
“I mean, first of all, these are taking place in fluorescent-lit libraries when the kids are with their parents,” she continues. “It’s just a ridiculous idea. I don’t think that half the things that the Republicans are saying about Drag Queen Story Hour are true.”
Bunny suggests that, at the root of it, it’s the parents’ responsibility to monitor what their children are seeing, and that drag queens are not to blame, whether it’s not bringing the kids to her show, or keeping them out of storytime with drag queens.
“You’re in charge of your kids,” Bunny says. “If you don’t want them to see a Drag Queen Story Hour, then you don’t go to that little room in the library. You go to the other room where they’re having a macrame workshop, especially if you’re a lesbian.”
Bunny’s “Don’t Bring the Kids!” show features impressions of popular artists, including Bad Bunny, Billie Eilish, Pamela Anderson, Toni Braxton and what Bunny describes as “the world’s worst impression of Cher.” The entertainer is well known for what she calls her “demented song parodies.”
“Watching Cher growing up, I always dreamt of being like Cher,” Bunny says. “Little did I know I would grow up to be more like Cher’s son, Chaz Bono.”
“Don’t Bring the Kids!” includes political references and jabs that Bunny believes are fresh and humorous in the current administration. She says she’s straying away from the overdone jokes aimed at the president.
“At this point, I don’t want to hear another joke about Trump’s orange skin color or tiny hands. That’s all been done to death,” Bunny says.
Bunny’s show includes a song about Tesla and SpaceX CEO and former head of the Department of Government Efficiency for the Trump administration, Elon Musk.
“There’s an idea that since Trump and Elon’s bromance broke up early on, that Elon is out of the picture, but no,” Bunny explains. “Elon is the largest military contractor, so he’s not going anywhere, no matter who is elected.”
Passionate in her disdain for Musk, Bunny’s song takes jabs at the former head of DOGE. In response to her disagreements with the current state of politics, Bunny proposes her own presidential campaign as part of the show.
“I claim that I’m running for president and my platform is public assassination of any Uber driver who cancels more than one stop and rounding up everyone who was involved in the cast or crew of the dismal ‘AJ and the Queen,’” Bunny muses. RuPaul starred in the Netflix series.
Bunny, a longtime drag icon, finds that her confidence in her craft has not waned over the years. She’s toured in cities nationwide and has had sold-out shows overseas in Amsterdam and Australia. She’s still got it, Bunny tells Watermark Out News, while recounting a story from a recent encounter.
“I just did a show with Mistress Isabelle in Brooklyn,” Bunny shares. “I took off my wig and left when the show was over. And some man working at a hot dog stand tried to come onto me and pull me in between a truck and his hot dog stand and had me feel his erect member, and I was like, ‘You know what? You may be fat, you may be 63, your wig may be off, but looking at you made his penis hard.’”
Bunny says the show may not be for the faint of heart but for those that are ready to laugh and let loose, she hopes to see them enjoy themselves.
Lady Bunny’s “Don’t Bring the Kids!” comes to Funny Bone Comedy Club Tampa March 25, located at 1600 E. 8th Ave. C-112, and Funny Bone Comedy Club Orlando March 26, located at 9101 International Dr., Suite 2310.
For more information about the entertainer, her current tour and to purchase tickets, visit LadyBunny.net.
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