_■ _
Now Serving....
JUMBO SOFT
PRETZELS!!
✓-— ’ \
New Winter Hours
10am-6pm Mon-Thurs
9am-10pm Fri-Sat
L * Also open after all Lied performances^
130 N. 13th - Lincoln, NE 68508 (402)477-2177
An Evening of comedy with
PAULA
POUNDSTONE
I- "1
NOV l6 in the lovely LIED Center
$10 for UNL Students, $15 for Public 8 P.M.
Reserved Seating (so get them fast)
Tickets available at: UNL Union info desks, Lied
Center, and Pickles.
Black tie not required
Big money
main perk
for drag
By Laura Ray
Diversions Contributor
Jeff is a man who maintains two
jobs and once had a hobby most
men probably wouldn’t consider.
Jeff was a drag queen. His stage
name was Peaches La Rue, and he
was very popular in Midwestern
towns and surrounding big cities.
- 44
It took him about 2 1/2
hours to get completely
done up. The makeup
and the wig took up
most of his time. He
shaved his face, arm
pits and chest for the
Peaches role. But he
refused to shave his
legs.
-99 “
Hut for now, Jeff has decided to
take a break from female imperson
ating. He has retired, “at least for*
awhile," he said.
“It was like a job. It wasn't fun
anymore.”
When he was a major leader in
the drag queen circuit, Jeff hati a
costume wardrobe that ran into the
thousands of dollars — not to men
tion all the makeup and wigs. Hut
it paid off. Female impersonators
Covert
Continued from Page 6
I those in the group, and he plans to
continue indefinitely in the future.
“After every raid, we come back
and try to learn from it,” he said. “I
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Courtesy or peacnes LaHue
Jeff as “Peaches.”
make big bucks.
When Peaches played ihe big
'ger cities cither by himself or with
a show, he could earn about S700
for four or five hours of work.
A show’s producers would pay
all expenses, minus food and
pantyhose. Hut Jeff didn't .want to
lose himself in the Peaches role.
“I’d been in the business for
13 years.... We used to do it once,
maybe twice a month. Now it's built
up to be such a big thing . . he
said.
“The audience expects you to
put everything into a show, every
time you do it. It’s so draining
Jeff never limited what Peaches
could do. I lis routines varied from
Whoopi Goldberg characters w ith
now make notesafter raidstostudy
them.” The notes may also develop
intoabook about raiding, he added.
He has never been injured while
raiding, but one time a companion
fell off the side of a building they
were climbing when his hands went
numb in the cold weather.
Winter raiding is the hardest for
a number of reasons: slippery ice,
crunchy snow, tracks and sound
traveling farther in the cold.
When going on a raid, Don says
he thinks it is better to pack lightly
than to become encumbered with
unnecessary equipment. A Swiss
Army knife, a flashlight, matches
and material forcrealingdiversions
or evading other persons are all that
are typically carried, although par
ticular missions may require special
equipment.
After a raid, Don slips back into
sta nd-u p rou t i nes to choreogra phed
lip-sync numbers.
It took him about 2 1/2 hours to
get completely done up. The
makeup and the wig took up most
of his time. He shaved his face,
armpits and chest for the Peaches
role. But he refused to shave his
legs.
"1 did shave my legs opce, but it
felt... it itched sobad!!: he said with
a laugh.
Jeff said he would wear four
pairsof pantyhose before he’dshave
his legs.
Jeff wanted to make it clear that
drag shows were entertainment,
not a sexual thing.
“Pantyhose do not turn me on,"
he said. "1 think they’re uncomfort
able as hell."
his normal life but remains wary.
“People look at you like you are
psychotic when you talk about this
kind of thing,” he says.
The two lives — normal and
secret — seem to be well inter
mixed. Raidingskillscanbeusedin
real life, and everyday concerns
inform actions while raiding, so
neither realm can be wholly di
vorced from the other.
Don realizes certain aspects of
his raiding activities may not be
considered typical by most people,
but he sees the activity as an essen
tial part of his everyday life, a part
which offers excitement and chal
lenge like nothing else can.
Bryan Pe'erson is a senior Knglish. psy
chology and philosophy major and Daily
Nebraskan art sand entertainment reporter.
227 N. 9th Street (Basement Level)
438-3808
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