We were lucky to catch up with Kyle Crouse recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kyle, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a fun one – what’s something you believe that most people in your industry (or in general) disagree with?

I think it’s the stigma people think of drag queens or female illusionists etc. groups in the gay community. A lot of people just react to what they see and don’t actually see the art and passion we put into our work. In my line of work/experience in the community with gay, straight, all types of bars, and I’ve worked in some rough places and actually got greeted pretty well and never had an issue, but i know some other queens have had negative altercations. But i came to realize when i got to most places and just be myself and be nice to people and try and find a common ground with jokes, drinks, music or even little things like my laugh people tend to be positive around me. It’s just people automatically thinking the negative things from tv, politics, word of mouth or just plain ignorance from not learning about our trials and tribulations from years of being battled and fighting, just to show our expression in the world esp now with so much hate in the world and US. And I’ve seen some people or customers with different “views” I’ll say and they actually came around to seeing us and seeing what we do isn’t criminal or inappropriate.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Well as you can see and read I am a Drag Queen/Female Illusionist living in Florida. I’ve done this now for 11 years and I’m tired lol No i love what i do and i actually do it for the art, meeting new people, traveling, my mental health, and of course the money, because what people don’t realize is what I do and my image is a little pricey so from the tips i get from shows and working it goes back into my craft, so always grateful for everyone’s support.

Let’s see I was born in Lakeland, FL and left when i was 7 to Upstate NY to an Indian Reservation to be with my family. So yes i am an indigenous drag queen and proud of it, but i didn’t see a lot of gay people or even drag queens, it wasn’t until i visited FL for Spring Break and went to Pride and saw my first show and experienced my first drag show in 2010. That is where i met my drag mom Rachael Valentine Lords and BOOM a queen was born lol i went back to NY played around in makeup and tryin to find nearby bars to go on stage and begin the Journey.

And in the beginning it was deff rough lol we all start kinda bad but took me some time and learning from people and eventually YouTube, because I’m a visual learner so i had to see it being done and i would copy to my best knowledge.

At the start if you had good connections you could get paid doing it but i went place to place doing talent contest after talent contest, just dressing up to practice and go out and honestly feel beautiful but get “read to filth” by others and random people but it was brutal some people had no filters and it kinda struck a nerve a few times, but i used it to make myself a better character I’m giving or presenting and look at me now. I’m happy with my evolution and growth I’ve had it can only get better or worse depending on what path i wanna take.

The best thing i could say is it doesn’t hurt to go watch a show even if it’s for the first time, if your enjoying the show then please show the entertainers some support with a tip, some of us that get enough work do this full time and still gotta pay bills and put our tip money back into our Art, even the ones who don’t do it full time still deserve a tip as well because you never know how much that person might need it or like that sense of appreciation from whoever is watching the show.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

What helped me was going out and supporting the bars and shows, then hopefully getting the chance to speak to the show director and try and get a chance to be on stage either paid or even just to show them what i got. From there i would show them what i got and for the most part gained some positive feedback and just stayed humble to being able to work at the venue. Some entertainers don’t realize back then even before me that it was cut throat to even just get on a stage that wasn’t a talent contest. And the queens from then till now still like the queens, kings, any type of entertainer to come to the Bar, restaurant, brunch, bingo, or wherever would have openings to support the event first and be approachable. It shows volumes for someone to go do that and be seen that you can be liked and friendly to staff, patrons even the host of the even as well.

Have you ever had to pivot?

For me to pivot in my career would be me moving from NY to Florida then making my way around Florida, so I’ve always having to work new areas and meet all new people esp other drag artists as well. I do put myself in those moments so i know i can do it if i push myself enough and not be socially awkward lol i did recently move to Naples from the Tampa area so like i said doing it again with a new area and new types of people but I’ve taught myself how to be well liked and fun to be around.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Bmyavalentine
• Facebook: Bmyavalentine

Image Credits
Black Rose photography