02F3D: The Mic Stand Ballad

O Divas: Eken, Manza, Izzy Xtra, Ruby, Amanda Vu

As an offshoot of my previous post about the types of O Bar performances, here's another essay about my musings about drag.

Recent O Bar nights have had me repeatedly thinking about instances when the drag artists perform with the aid of a microphone stand. So allow me to coin the somewhat appealing phrase of "The Mic Stand Ballad" to refer to these types of numbers, even in cases when the song isn't a ballad per se.

One can argue that a microphone stand can become a crutch - it's a very visible prop that keeps the performer anchored to one spot. Maybe it's an "excuse" not to have more complex choreography that would have the performer move around the stage more. It's potentially more static than just a performer walking around with a mic (dare I say, The Walking Ballad?) since at least they get to walk around. Others can only stand to start with the mic stand, but at some point, they abandon it and go back to using more of the stage.

I'll contest that the Mic Stand Ballad, when done right, is a brilliantly challenging type of drag number to perform. It is often said that constraints provide creatives the pressure needed to come up with some novel ideas. Committing to the mic stand does the same thing in a drag number, because now the artist needs to make the performance compelling while staying in a single place.

There are many approaches. Many try to come up with gestures and motions that complement the song, work with the stand, but have enough variations that don't make it feel very repetitive. Others take on very challenging lyrics, and the focus becomes the lip-sync - how well they keep up with the song, including the ad-libs for drag numbers that use live performance recordings as the track. My personal favorite will be those numbers where they really tap into the message of the song and find a way to convey that emotional truth. The hand gestures help, but more often than not, it boils down to their facial expressions. The strongest performances that have the drag artist stand in one circle of light on the stage are anchored on the stories their faces manage to convey.

My recent frozen shoulder has had me shift to using a stand of my own to hold my phone while I record different numbers. But it has also given me more freedom to just enjoy the shows and really watch the performers work their magic on the stage. And recent Mic Stand Ballads have me really studying every twitch of their fingers, the quiver of their lips, and all the thousands of little things that make up the number. What really sells me are the eyes - when the drag performer finds that emotional core inside them and drag from it, then the song takes on another level. I can get lost in such moments, and the performance can feel just as thrilling as a more dynamic number with elaborate tricks and dance moves.

Don't underestimate the Mic Stand Ballad. It's really hard to resist the urge to drum up more of a response with larger motions across a stage. Trying to command an audience from behind a microphone using the sung words of another artist is a most formidable challenge. If you scoff at this notion, it just means you haven't been blessed with a truly powerful performance of this nature. I really hope you get to experience it at least once in your life - it can be quite breathtaking, especially for a performance art that involves "pretending" to sing a song.