Drag Race Down Under finalist Vybe promises glamour, campery and a taste of the golden age of drag when she makes her Palmy Drag Fest debut this October
When Vybe arrives in Palmerston North for Palmy Drag Fest, she knows exactly what she wants to give the audience.
“I’m going to give you drama. I’m going to give you campery, and I’m going to give you an absolute experience,” she tells YOUR EX.
The Sydney queen describes her performance style as “extremely camp, extremely glam”, although anyone hoping for an evening of acrobatics may need to look elsewhere.
“I’m not trying to do backflips, trips, flips and dips,” she laughs.
What she may bring, however, is inspired by her current run on Drag Race Down Under vs the World.
“You can expect to see what Vybe is best known for,” she tells us. “Extreme glamour, camp theatrics and a dramatic lipsync that will have you screaming from start to finish.”
Now in her 15th year of drag, Vybe is a product of Sydney’s celebrated showgirl tradition.
“As a gay kid in Australia, you’re exposed to Priscilla very young. My family was also a big fan of The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” she says.
“The drag I first started with was very alternative, very kooky, very butt ugly, let’s be real!”
It took seeing a Sydney production show in all its extravagance to inspire more.
“Just seeing the magic of drag at 100 per cent acceleration, full tilt, clam to the wall, it clicked something in my head,” she recalls. “I had to grow into the glamour. As soon as I figured out that was where I’m at my best, I’ve never really left there.”
By the time Drag Race Down Under came calling, Vybe had already spent years building her reputation in Sydney and had achieved several long-held career goals, including winning DIVA Awards.
She ultimately reached the final of season four, filmed in Auckland, before returning to the franchise for Down Under vs the World, which was filmed in Portugal.
While neither season was screened in New Zealand, both have given international audiences an introduction to the queen Sydney had known for years.
Her current season has also reunited her with Coco Jumbo, Vybe’s flatmate of more than a decade.
Their friendship made headlines in 2017 when Vybe, Coco and fellow queen Ivy Leaguee stepped in after New Zealander Ivan Flinn was violently attacked in a homophobic incident on Sydney’s Oxford Street.
Vybe says she still remembers the night vividly, calling it an honour “to actually have the opportunity to step in, help someone and make it known that Oxford Street is not a space for anything but love, respect and positivity,” she says, before adding a typically Vybe warning: “We may be gorgeous women, but under the wigs we’re butch men. So come correct or don’t come at all!”
Vybe tells us she has watched Palmy Drag Fest from across the ditch through the socials of friends and fellow performers and says it has always been a bucket list gig.
“Seeing this gorgeous theatre with this incredible crowd, it’s one of those things where you’re like, ‘I need to do that!’”
And for anyone still deciding whether to buy a ticket, Vybe has an important final message.
“Be gay. Be as queer as possible. Go out. Support your local venue. Support your local drag. If you’ve been considering doing drag but you don’t know how, just fucking do it. Get out. Be in the scene. Be present. Be visible. And buy a goddamn ticket to Palmy Drag Fest!”
