Drag performer Danny Beard can trace their stage persona back to the outrageous, flamboyant Leigh Bowery, friend of Boy George, who delighted and shocked audiences in Soho and New York in the 1980s.
And now they’re bringing their UK touring show Straight Expectations to Brighton’s Komedia in September.
In an exclusive interview Danny told me: “I was 10 or 11 when I played Joseph in the school musical: my first ever stage performance and the bug had bitten, I always knew I would be a performer – I was always drawn to showing off. As a child I put shows on for my parents’ friends. Like most little gay boys, making people laugh was an escape for me. And now it’s an escape for both me and the audience.”
After two years as the target of school bullies, Danny’s mother moved them to another secondary school. ”We moved to the Wirral: it was a real fresh start. My mum said that I could be anything I wanted to be.”
“I’m not a female impersonator, I’m a creature, a living piece of art – it felt like a superpower.”
Lots of stage roles followed, including Danny in Grease and John Proctor in The Crucible. Then followed studying contemporary theatre practice at Salford University, and the beginnings of their love of the alternative drag of Leigh Bowery: “It felt like a first, even though it wasn’t, but in 2010 no-one looked like I did.”
Danny says their distinctive look – stark white mask of face make-up and glittery beard – is a drag clown, harking back to Bowery and Club Kids of ‘90s New York. “I’m not a female impersonator, I’m a creature, a living piece of art – it felt like a superpower.”
Danny is perhaps best known for three things: Britain’s Got Talent in 2016, where they reached the semi-finals; Drag Race in 2022, which they won; and being a guest DJ on BBC Radio One for 4 months this year.
But they also appeared in soap opera Hollyoaks, the Traitors: Uncloaked, Channel 4’s Comedy Roast, to name a few. “TV was a platform which took me to a whole different level, and now I have my own theatre tour. It says to the world: this is what I can do, and I get messages from around the world because of the TV appearances.
“My mum said that I could be anything I wanted to be.”
“I’m so lucky as a queer artist to be living in that space. I’m pursuing two careers – Lily Savage/Paul O’Grady was a great inspiration to me that I can be in and out of drag and have a career.”
Their new show – Straight Expectations – is very traditional camp drag cabaret but for today’s audience. “We have a band, some anecdotes but it’s also an interactive experience – like the Royal Vauxhall Tavern – and there are songs I love, put in for me as well as pleasing the audience. It’s a good night out.”
And their favourite song in the show? “It’s a mash-up of Simply the Best, but Danny Beard’s version. Big camp songs are a must, and it goes into three-part harmony.”
So, what next for this multi-skilled performer? “I want to present my own cabaret TV show interviewing guests.” With the independent production company Mirador behind them, what could stop Danny – as their mother told them years ago: they can be anything they want to be.
Straight Expectations is at Komedia, Brighton on 19 September – tickets HERE
