Drag queen bingo offers steamy fun, raunchy jokes at That Pop Up Bar
NORTH CANTON – Nothing was unusual outside Twisted Citrus restaurant on a weekday.
Cars were parked in a lot for area businesses. Vehicles buzzed along North Main Street.
Twisted Citrus was closed because it doesn't serve dinner. Behind the front door, however, it was anything but quiet on drag bingo night at That Pop Up Bar, the restaurant's nighttime spin-off attraction on select dates.
Two flamboyantly-attired drag queens preened as they called out bingo numbers in between sips of gin and tonic. Raunchy jokes and blush-inducing doses of sexual innuendo were interspersed amid laughs. Some banter was risqué enough to trigger humorous gasps from bingo players.
"How many first-timers do we have in the house tonight?" Peach Fuzz asked the crowd of mostly women, her voice booming through a microphone.
After several arms shot up in the air, the drag queen perked up: "Oh ... a room full of virgins! I love to see it."
Fellow queen Anhedonia Delight quipped: "I feel right at home."
Peach Fuzz laid on the snark: "I bet you do – so virginal and young that, girl, like the Mother Mary herself."
"Shut the (expletive) up," the fellow drag queen countered sassily with a thrust of the hips.
The irreverent schtick is among the reasons drag bingo nights have been selling out routinely at That Pop Up Bar, where pedestrian bingo meets punk rock.
"We have a good time every single time we do it," Peach Fuzz said before the event. "Every time is different; it's always a new adventure, so we never know what we're walking into, and they never know what they're walking into, which is always a blast."
Tickets for fall drag bingo dates go on sale June 15 through Eventbrite
Kim Shapiro, co-owner of Twisted Citrus and That Pop Up Bar, 1649 N Main St., said she was inspired to try drag bingo when she saw a show in Baltimore about four years ago. "Nobody else was doing it," she said of the Canton area.
Drag bingo started in January, with some nights selling out online within 10 minutes.
"I didn't think it would flop, but I didn't think it would pick up that strong," Shapiro said.
Tickets for drag bingo dates for August through November go on sale at 8:30 a.m. June 15 at www.eventbrite.com/ by searching "Drag Queen Bingo Show" for Canton. Tickets are $10 each, and must be purchased for an entire group at the same time to guarantee seating at the same table.
Bingo nights start at 7 p.m. (doors open at 6:15 p.m.). Drag bingo is going on hiatus at That Pop Up Bar until Aug. 12.
Top prize at a recent bingo night was a Michael Kors purse. Other goodies were hidden in bags — wine glasses, body lotion, candles, beach towels and gift cards. Cash is never given out.
"We're just an entertainment show," Shapiro said.
Drag bingo players include teachers, nurses, first responders
On a recent night, the vibe was infectious, and the games were more about fun, acceptance, food, drinks and general revelry than serious competition.
Drag bingo is pure spectacle, from the sparkling gowns, bejeweled outfits and wardrobe changes to purple wigs and spurts of pulsating dance music. Every second, the mood is jovial, prankish and full-bore enthusiastic.
Games started with a ceremonial toast too edgy to print here. Announcing the first combination of B-11, the drag queen duo broke into a cheerleading-meets-rap music chant to giggles from onlookers.
Other fun moments included Anhedonia Delight teasingly chiding a bingo competitor for gawking at her posterior. "I'm jealous," the admirer confessed. "I have no butt!"
The queen politely offered a tip for gluteus enhancement: "If you have a couch that you're getting rid of, just take out a turkey cutter and cut out the shape of Africa and slap it on your hip — that's literally what it is."
Laughter erupted at nearby tables.
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The best friends host bingo nights at That Pop Up Bar as well as in the Cleveland area, performing as the "Dauber Divas" at wine bars, breweries and art galleries. They also host a sausage-stuffing class titled, "Pigs and Wigs" at a butcher's shop.
"We've had a lot of nurses, teachers and first responders," Peach Fuzz said of the events. "It's just a good stress reliever, and a lot of laughs."
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Personable, comedic and engaging, the tandem was perpetually high energy. More hijinks ensued when bingo winners tied, forcing a dance-off.
During the recent show, a man and woman took to the floor, dancing both provocatively and playfully to raucous applause from spectators.
"I don't know what to say," Peach Fuzz retorted, the audience chortling.
"Oh, I do!," Anhedonia Delight shouted suggestively.
Glitter-bearded drag queen works construction in the day
Both drag queens have day jobs. The glitter-bearded bingo host works in the construction industry. Anhedonia Delight is a server who has a degree in social work.
"I think for me, drag is more my artistic sensibilities and my art project rather than my day job that pays the bills," said Peach Fuzz, 28. "And this is a blast for me."
Drag events help pay the bills, the 29-year-old Anhedonia Delight admitted. But connecting with the audience is why she really does it.
The drag queen counterpart agreed. She said it's exciting when people are "coming in and seeing us and wanting to get to know us, and just to change peoples' lives in that way keeps us day and day again coming back to it – it's an amazing feeling."
Players said they are drawn to drag bingo because it's a hoot. Twisted Citrus also offers a menu of creative dishes and drinks, sometimes playing on holiday or pop culture themes.
For the recent bingo night, That Pop Up Bar was decorated in a 1980s motif in homage to video games, television shows, movies and music of the era.
Just like the vivid decor, Jennifer Triplett, 50, of Mogadore said drag bingo "is fun, and it is so colorful."
"Just everything is accepting," she added. "You just seem so welcome and so at home no matter what."
Dancing for dollars, baby!
Even intermission was wildly fun when both drag queens performed showy dance numbers.
Peach Fuzz went first, dazzling and amusing the crowd when she kicked off a gown, revealing a colorful one-piece swimsuit.
Anhedonia Delight then strutted and twirled in a robe. The loudest cheers came when she gracefully turned a cartwheel.
Both drag artists also snagged tips from the women in the audience, thanking them repeatedly.
Drag queen bingo is a 'no-judgment zone'
Drag bingo attracts moms and daughters, too.
"I love it because they are who they are," 21-year-old McKenna Kramer said. "They're beautiful; they always have cute costumes."
Added her mother Debbie Kramer: "It's a nice night out – where else are you going to get entertainment for $10?"
Brody Horn, 21, said regular bingo is a snooze in comparison.
Of the dance-offs, the New Philadelphia resident said: "It's just cool because you feel like you're in the spotlight."
Horn was seated at a table with Jamie Goedel, a 45-year-old dispatcher at a commercial trucking company.
Drag bingo puts her at ease because it's a "no judgment zone," she said. "Just be who you want to be and dress how you want to dress."
Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com. On Twitter: @ebalintREP.
Drag queen bingo
WHERE – That Pop Up Bar (at Twisted Citrus restaurant), 1649 N. Main St. in North Canton
WHEN – Fall dates are: Aug. 12, 26; Sept. 9, 27; Oct. 11, 25; Nov. 2, 11
WHAT – Drag queens Peach Fuzz and Anhedonia Delight host bingo nights
TICKETS – $10 each plus fees, purchased at www.eventbrite.com. Search for drag queen bingo shows in the Akron-Canton area. Tickets go on sale at 8:30 a.m. June 15.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Drag queen bingo is salacious fun at That Pop Up Bar in North Canton
