Birthday charities

With things up in the air for me at the moment (no, not my legs, for all those who have their minds in the gutter), I was unable to make the trek down to Castro’s last weekend to perform with the always fabulous Hillary Eternity. Stuck at home like an old maid, I decided to make an unplanned visit to Diamonds and Pearls out in Moorebank to celebrate my dear friend Beverly Buttercup’s 40th birthday and surprise her with a performance. Yes, I know Bev really does look older, though to confirm her age I was told you had to read it much like aging a tree: count the rings. As there were no volunteers to do that, we all just decided to take her word and call it an even 40.

Beverly Buttercup is a sort of living legend out in Western Sydney, who never seems to stop talking. Not only has Beverly been performing for what seems like a thousand years, but her work for many charity organisations has raised thousands of dollars. So it was not a surprise for me to hear for her 40th she was going to turn it into a huge fundraiser for the Western Suburbs Haven.

With Tora Hymen and 2006 Big Brother‘s Rob on the mic, it was set to be a huge night of drag. Hiding up the back so as not to spoil the surprise, I rallied the help of Ida Slapda to act as my human shield. Ida said, Hide behind me -“ the bitch can’t see around corners. After many performances from some of Western Sydney’s finest, it was my turn. The sound system was very shithouse but, all in all, it didn’t really matter. I think for once in her life Beverly was surprised and didn’t expect my performance. It was great to see the old girl beam with delight.

But that was not the end of the night -“ two more huge shows were to follow, with a headlining performance by the newest singing sensation Brielle Davis belting out two fabulous songs. To quote Tora, Damn, that girl must be able to sing -“ she sounded great even with the shitty sound system.

After what seemed like a thousand shows and me eating about a kilo of cheese and Jatz crackers, it was time to count up the takings and head back to the city. Beverly’s birthday bash raised $2,200 for the Haven and turned out to be a hoot of a night.

And so, my dear friend Beverly, I hope you had a fabulous birthday and a great night at Diamonds and Pearls.

Readers can hear Beverly and me on Queer Out West on 89.3 FM from 10pm every Monday night -“ I’m on at about 10:45pm-ish, so you will have to stay up till then to catch me.