LIPS Service - Drag is back!



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Ginger Snapt gets some audience participation
during her closing number on
 BITCHY-BINGO
 night





Ariel Sinclaire breaks from
waiting tables to wow
the crowd

 I was called a whore, a bitch, and a slut - and that was just during my drink order. 

Formerly Lips of the west village, the relocated posh digs on the eastside of midtown Manhattan comes alive. Complete with trashy mouthed drag queens in six inch stilettos, sequins, and spackled with the best make-up jobs this side of the Manhattan.

But the decor extends far beyond the fishnets and faux lashes. Proprietor Mark Zchiesche, known in drag as Yvonne Lame has be-dazzled his flagship location by giving it a facelift fit for a drag queen. Inside Lips the mannequin legs adorned in high couture shoes protrude from black and white striped walls. Crystal shoe-shaped chandeliers sway overhead, sparkling curtains sweep the floors and gold goddess statues guard the stage.
The crowd is a mixture of birthdays, corporate office parties, bachelorette entourages and a few curious tourists.
The main attractions, stuffed into sparkling cat suits, drowning in shimmer and swathed in feathers, these trannies aim to entertain and if you are lucky you'll even be donned with you very own Drag-identity.

The drinks have catchy names like "Drag-O-Ritas" and "Blojitos" & meals are named after notable drag queens like the Ru Paul chicken breast. The wait staff also doubling as the on-stage talent entertains with quit witted, sexually charged insults, re-vamped song and dance numbers & a bit of audience participation - which is optional unless you are told to "Get your ass on stage," by your raunchy but ever so gracious host.



Paying homage to The Lion King


Nearly a dozen of us are pulled on-stage for a cat-walk contest where the three finalists battle it out over a lip-sync to Whitney Houston's " I Wanna Dance With Somebody." Afterwards, we play a few rounds of Bitchy Bingo in tandem with a Best gay joke contest. Prizes range from free drinks, sex toys, and tickets to Webster Hall. The last act in the show features all the Queens paying homage to the Broadway musical The Lion King complete with stuffed animals and one rather eager young man who chauffeured our hostess to the stage - on his back.
Ginger later thanks us for being good sports and treats us to a few Frankie's made by the bartender Frankie Cocktail! She then knights me with my new drag title which I amiably accept. The drinks are over-priced the food is underwhelming but the talent is worth the trip. This a place for New Yorkers and Tourists alike and that's not LIP service.

Sincerely,
Candy cane