So we pushed through with going to O Bar (again) last night because of the Monday holiday and we figured that it would be nice to get to experience a Sunday night again. We didn't book a table and had just made loose plans to join the owners at their table as a sort of lower investment night. I expected there to be more people than usual because of the long weekend but not too much beyond that.
One thing led to another and the owner's table turned out to be full that night because of some last-minute guests, and so we had no real space. There were other friends at night, but they had their own big groups and such, so we figured that we'd just stay near the owner's area so we could still chat with them between sets. So that had us at the left side of their area instead of the right because of the aforementioned guests.
I had not factored in the possibility of something happening, which is something I myself have written about in this blog. Sunday shows are solid, no doubt about that. But because of the nature of Sundays, it's also the day when random celebrities may show up unexpectedly because it's the only day they have free and such. And last night some of the queens who had participated in the Out, Loud, and Proud Drag Pride Fiesta were guests at O Bar. And instead of being secured at one of the VIP areas, they were at the table right beside us within the owner's cordon. So yeah, super random.
So our night included things like me potentially blocking Detox's view off the show but her later asking if my arm was okay from holding my phone up for so long. Hannah Conda totally freaked out when the O Divas started performing Six because she totally wasn't expecting anything like that. Marina Summers remembered that I had posted videos of her previous O Bar performances, and that's always nice. Tobie provided additional bartending support for the group including clarifying with the staff what they were ordering and acting as a sort of extra bouncer for that side of their table - and for me as well, of course.
And yes, I have a video of Marina and Hannah Conda joining Izzy Xtra and the O Boys on stage while they performed "Release Me", which was a truly iconic moment.
During times like this, Tobie and I always do our best to help make the O Bar experience for any guest as nice as possible. It's not any sort of paid duty (despite regular misunderstandings when people think we're somehow staff) but love the bar so much, so we're happy to support. I often joke that Tobie switches into GRO mode, which he totally did last night. Hence his helping to coordinate orders and always cheering the name of whichever O Diva is onstage to help build recall are all classic Tobie GRO moves. You'll hear some of that in the videos once I get them processed.
On top of that, we generally try not to bother them because we know they're there for a night out. We have a few photos with some of them, but that happened much later in the night after we had actually talked to them some more and warmed up. I'm just glad that some of the Playhouse girls (as I think of them in my head) still remember me for my video contributions more than anything else. It's not much, but I always appreciate the little nod that represents. And I'll just keep going.
And it goes without saying that we still got to hang out with other friends who were there last night including some Sundays-only friends that we never get to catch during other O Bar nights. But really we were just happy to have a good night out and spend time with our O Bar family. But next time...we'll make sure to get even just a small table regardless because it's hard to just stand all night. But then again, this crazy little Drag Race adjacent experience would not have happened had we been at our usual spot. So...life's just funny that way.
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