Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central. Drag dates all the way
Speaker 1: back to the world's most ancient civilizations. I'm talking the Incas,
Speaker 1: the Aztecs, the Egyptians. Basically, anyone that could build a
Speaker 1: pyramid also had a fierce walk. I mean, why do
Speaker 1: you think every man, woman, an eagle in ancient Egyptian
Speaker 1: art had a smoky eye. Now, drag was originally done
Speaker 1: in these ancient civilizations for tribal and religious ceremonies. It's
Speaker 1: pretty much how priests got started wearing moon movies. It
Speaker 1: wasn't until modern times to drag played a role in entertainment,
Speaker 1: and not just any entertainment. I'm talking about the bad
Speaker 1: bitch Bard himself, Shakespeare. Back in this time, men dressed
Speaker 1: and dragged to play women's roles, although that was really
Speaker 1: less about drag and more about keeping women out of acting.
Speaker 1: Me sinks that doc be some bullshit Horatio. So for
Speaker 1: a long time, the stage was pretty much the only
Speaker 1: place rag was acceptable. It wasn't until the eighteenth century
Speaker 1: in England that drag performers started to express themselves outside
Speaker 1: the theater. They met at private residences where they could
Speaker 1: safely dress as their female alter egos, and those places
Speaker 1: became known as molly houses. And it was at these
Speaker 1: molly houses where the first prominent drag queen was born,
Speaker 1: Princess Sara Fina. She was the first drag queen to
Speaker 1: take her drag out of the provacy of the molly
Speaker 1: houses and into public events like masquerade balls. And it
Speaker 1: was a big deal and incredibly brave because it meant
Speaker 1: volunteering to deal with cat calling. Now, while eighteenth century
Speaker 1: England gave us drag queens, nineteenth century America gave us
Speaker 1: drag balls. It's the only time queens colonized the country
Speaker 1: and made it better. One of the most famous drag
Speaker 1: performers at that time was a former enslaved African named
Speaker 1: William Dorsey, the Queen Swan. Dorsey slaved so hard he
Speaker 1: went on to become a pioneer of modern ballroom culture. Now,
Speaker 1: there are no existing photos of the queen herself, because
Speaker 1: how dare you she was too glamorous to have her
Speaker 1: image captured by you peasants now, but for reference, historians
Speaker 1: believe her look was probably something like this. Now, that
Speaker 1: is fashion come through Richardson. America's drag balls brought the
Speaker 1: culture to the next level and Harlem. They became so
Speaker 1: popular that men and women would come from all over
Speaker 1: to present their looks to a panel of judges pageant style.
Speaker 1: And you know, there's something comforting and knowing that even
Speaker 1: hundreds of years ago, people were telling someone to their
Speaker 1: face that they were a messy bitch whose outfit is
Speaker 1: drashed the circle of life. In the early nineteen hundreds,
Speaker 1: one of the top drag performers was William Dalton or
Speaker 1: better known by his drag name Julian Eltage. Damn, look
Speaker 1: at those outfits. They can play both leads and kinds
Speaker 1: of Lanka. Just look how good her makeup is. And
Speaker 1: that was before went and wild. She pulled that off
Speaker 1: with house paint and beat juice. Julian was able to
Speaker 1: take her drag mainstream by performing on Broadway and even
Speaker 1: in front of King Edward the Seventh. I mean, of
Speaker 1: course he liked it, that Duke of Rocker Cat. In fact,
Speaker 1: the King was so impressed gift to Julian with a bulldog,
Speaker 1: which personally, I don't think of a great prize. I
Speaker 1: prefer trophies that don't need to ship three times a day.
Speaker 1: Drag balls then exploded throughout the nineteen twenties and thirties.
Speaker 1: But like with most things, popularity brings out the haters.
Speaker 1: Mainstream actors started linking them to homosexuality, and soon masquerade
Speaker 1: laws were passed prohibiting cross jesting in public. And you
Speaker 1: know what that meant. That's right, The Harry Styles World
Speaker 1: Tour was canceled. Due to these laws. Drag went underground
Speaker 1: again and it wasn't until the late eighties that it
Speaker 1: returned to the mainstream. But when it came back, oh,
Speaker 1: it came back in a big way. Drag performers were
Speaker 1: featured in major motion pictures, including one of the best
Speaker 1: known sisters of the silver screen, Divine, who starred in
Speaker 1: the movie Hairspray and was the inspiration for the Disney
Speaker 1: character Ursula Damn Kirby incredible singing voice and impeccable taste.
Speaker 1: Are you sure we're not talking about me? Thanks to
Speaker 1: all the brave drag performers, today we have hit shows
Speaker 1: featuring drag queens, and we have a good reason to
Speaker 1: eat a meal as beautiful as brunch. So to all
Speaker 1: the outrage conservatives trying to drag drag through the mud,
Speaker 1: open a history book now. I know you hate those,
Speaker 1: but now they have pictures. Watch the Daily Show weeknights
Speaker 1: at eleven tent Central on Comedy Central, and stream full
Speaker 1: episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy
Speaker 1: Central podcast