The Drag Enthusiast: Annie B Frank: Providence's Humorous Jewish Queen

Annie B Frank is a performer who currently resides in Providence, Rhode Island and has quickly garnered a name for herself in her local drag scene. She recently started hosting a club night of her own called "Genderfuq" while teaming up with another Providence performer, Pulp Friction. She believes that drag has mainly helped her bring out her artistic side which she never thought she had, and she also really enjoys the attention she gets while performing.

1. Who is Annie B. Frank?

Annie B. Frank is a mess. All of my clothes come from thrift stores… or were gifts. I have been told my eyebrows (which more often than not are made of glittery card stock) invoke feelings of pure ecstasy mixed with jealousy and a little gas. Like many human beings (still no proof I am one) I have created defense mechanisms to help me deal with other people. My biggest one is my humor. I learned at a young age that if I can make people laugh it makes the world a better place. Oh and I’m Jewish.

2. When and why did you start doing drag?

I started doing drag a little over a year ago. I’ve always been interested in drag, at 18 I was always at the club in DC early so I could see the queens perform. I started watching RuPaul during the 3rd season, but quickly caught up on the other two. I always thought that I couldn’t pull off being a queen because I can’t dance, and because I’m so fucking hairy. Then one of my best friends, Kiki La Roux, did drag for the first time for our school’s charity drag show. I’ll be honest…. He got a lot of attention and I was pretty damn jealous. I love attention. So I finally had the drive to try it. So my local club was having a talent competition and all the queens were lip syncing so I decided to try some standup. I ended up winning and then getting third in the finals for my second time performing.

3. How did you come up with your drag name?

Well, I always knew my schtick would be that I was a Jewish drag queen. So myself and a couple of my friends were trying to come up with a name and someone suggested “Anne Frank”. Which of course I thought was too offensive. So I decided to make it “Annie” and add the “B.” because I am a frank person.

4. How has drag changed your life?

Well of course it’s let me meet so many wonderful people. I’ve gotten to travel up and down the East Coast to perform. It’s an artistic outlet, when I really didn’t think I was an artistic person. It’s also added so much fun into my life, before drag my boyfriend would complain about going out twice a week. Now it feels weird to be at the club for less than 3 nights a week.

5. Favorite and least favorite thing about performing?

My favorite thing is the attention. Just kidding… Or am I? I love being able to make people laugh. I love leaving a positive imprint on those around me. The worst part is how nervous I get before hand. A year into it and I still get butterflies.

6. How is drag from Providence, RI different from drag everywhere else?

Drag in Providence is…. amazing. There are certain cities that do not have a lot of amateur nights. This results in a lot of the same queens doing the same thing. It doesn’t allow room for new queens to come and challenge the established thoughts on what drag is or could be. Thus, the older or established queens are pressured to evolve or develop anything more than they have. Providence doesn’t have this problem. There’s an outlet for new drag artists at every club. Providence is also really small and everyone knows everyone, which is both a blessing and a curse. It creates this feeling of community where the different “generations” of queens are helping and teaching the younger ones, while also enforcing queens to take responsibilities for their actions and to remain politically correct. However it also has caused some rifts, where bad blood between a few people affects everyone. The one complaint I would have is this feeling that queens can’t bar hop. Though that also could be because everything closes at 2am on the weekend.

7. On a typical night, how long does it take you to get in face?

It really depends. Generally I have 30 people over at my house… Queens getting in face, twinks trying to learn, my roommate making sassy comments, etc. So it gets quite distracting. If I really tried I could get my face done in an hour and dressed in 20. Generally the whole process takes 3 hours.

8. What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?

My biggest accomplishment was actually my goal when I started drag. I wanted to be able to host a night at a club. Being the MC is the best job for me and I actually got it, less than a year doing drag. I’m incredibly proud of myself.

9. What would you like to accomplish with your drag in the future?

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to make a living doing drag? Isn’t that something every queen wants? That’d be great and my end goal. But until then I really want to unite all of these amazing queens from all these cities. I think we should start a queen exchange program.

10. What should people know about your night with Pulp Friction, "Genderfuq" and what should people expect from you two?

GenderFuq is the brainchild of Pulp Friction and I. It’s still a baby and still growing but we are hoping it will be a force to reckon with. GenderFuq wants to challange the standard “gay club” and “lesbian night” that you so often see going out. We want this to be a space for anyone and everyone, no matter how you define your gender or sexuality. We want a space where people feel comfortable being themselves and letting their freak flags fly!

*****(Side note: Annie B Frank and Pulp Friction have put together a gofundme to get some money together to travel to LA for Rupaul's Drag Con 2016. Please donate and make their trip happen, or at least share! Here's the link: https://www.gofundme.com/anniebpulp )

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11. In your opinion, what is your best quality?

My humility. I’m so fucking humble. I’m like the most humble person I know…. Yeah I don’t think anyone who writes this much about themselves can be humble huh? My best quality is my ability to find humor in everything. Without it I don’t know if I would have survived middle and high school.

12. If your last performance were to be tomorrow, what number would you choose to do and why?

“Who You Are”, by Jessie J. Mostly because I actually know all the words. Also, because the song really speaks to me.

13. If you could work with anyone in the future, who would you work with and why did you choose this person?

Oh god. I don’t know. I want to work with everyone. I mean, I get to meet so many of the RuPaul girls and it’s amazing. I would really love to be able to work with local queens from other cities around the country. I wish that we could bring girls in and it would draw in crowds. So I guess my answer is everyone.

14. What is the most disturbing thing anyone has ever said to you? How did you react?

“Your Holocaust joke offended me, I had family die in the Holocaust”... Bitch we’re Jewish, we’ve all had family die in the Holocaust. Calm down. I’m all for respecting other’s feelings and political correctness but when you’re making fun of your own religion and culture it is different. Some people claim that my name is offensive. However, I always tell them the same thing. The Jewish people have had it very hard for a very long time. From being slaved, to kicked out of countries, to the Holocaust, to wandering the desert for 40 years, etc.. The way we always deal with this is with humor. If you can’t joke or talk about something it holds power over you. I’m a descendant of Holocaust victim and survivors and Anne Frank has become more than just a person, she’s a symbol. This is why I am allowed to make light hearted jokes about the Holocaust and others aren’t.

15. Marry, Kai Kai, Kill: Phaedra Phaded, Complete Destruction, Ari Ola

Kill: Phaedra cause I’m sure she owes me rent

Marry: Complete cause I know she’s going to be famous and I’ll need that alimony when we get divorced

Kai Kai: Ari Ola, because she’s completely smooth down there like a barbie