Bonus Drag: Miss Coco Peru and RuPaul Charles in To Wong Foo

If you know me, then you know just how much I love a good comedy queen. Topping that list for nearly two decades is Miss Coco Peru, an actress, comedian, and all-around queen.

I first noticed Coco playing a bit-part in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (which, again, was my introduction to drag at the tender age of 8). The lead character, Vida, shares a tense moment with a fierce drag queen in yellow. Said queen had one line and took up very little screen time, but she had incredible stage presence and absolutely embodied the bitter rival. I was young, though, and the world wide web was still new to me, so I didn't think to look up a cast list and figure out who this badass was.

Several years later, To Wong Foo was playing on cable TV, and my interest was rekindled. Now totally acclimated to internet search engines, I figured out that Badass Queen in Yellow = Coco Peru, and I've been a fan ever since.

If you recognize her signature hair-do in these photos, but you've never seen To Wong Foo, then you may recognize her from one of her YouTube performances, like Let's Play Grand Theft Auto 5 With Coco Peru. And if you haven't watched that video, then you need to watch it right the Hell now. My totally heterosexual, not-really-interested-in-drag brother heard less than a minute of the video and immediately started quoting it, it's that good. WATCH IT WATCH IT WATCH IT HAVE I CONVINCED YOU YET?!

 And RuPaul? Heh. To Wong Foo was also my introduction to the legend...and my reaction when I first saw her is the stuff of legends as well. As she slowly descended to the stage in a form-fitting gown and a wig high enough to hit Heaven, I sighed to my friend, "I want to be as pretty as her some day."

"That's a MAN," my friend shot back.

Without missing a beat, and with every ounce of honesty pouring from my heart, I replied, "Then I've got a lot of work to do."

Bonus photo! Recognize any of these faboosh people?