Scene from the Sofa – Five minutes with… Lucinda Lashes

Lucinda Lashes, drag queen with the tongue of the devil and the voice of a fallen angel, is one of the south’s most outrageous drag acts, destroying the stages and abusing the punters of some of our top LGBTQ+ venues. Here, she chats to Graham Robson about what she’s been up to, hitting the bottle, and becoming a social media influencer (ha!) during lockdown…

Hey Lucinda, what have you been up to?

Oh I’ve been busy as a bee. Spring cleaning the caravan top to bottom, inside and out. Tending to the overgrown bushes in the garden. Jet washing the moss off my cat flap. Been doing lots of shows – twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 7.30pm on Facebook. Decorating two rooms, and still have more rooms to finish. I haven’t really stopped.

How are you finding performing online? 

The online shows are much harder than live audience shows. Probably ’cause there isn’t an audience there and I feed off crowds at work. It’s been extremely successful though, and I now have 11 friends on Facebook, lol. People have been extremely generous in donating on my go fund me. So I thank you all for all your generous support.

Does it differ much from performing to a sea of faces, or more accurately – one man and his dog? 

The main differences for me is the vocal and sound of a crowd. You can’t feed off people so much from a camera feed. But people are always emoji clapping and filling my feed up with hearts.

The drag queens have been busy online…

There are lots of performers doing regular shows. I see quite a few I know and some I don’t know online when I have a spare minute.

Any tips to keep us sane/busy during lockdown?

We are all in the same boat unfortunately. I’m not phased though. We all need to do what we can to get through this awful period. For me, distraction keeps me sane. Even though we are all at home, we can all do something if we look for it. You don’t need to be sat around in your own thoughts worrying yourself to death. Do the things we always put off. By the time you think you’ve finished you will have to start again.

Thank god for technology keeping us only a screen away from everyone we love. Catch up with people that have fallen behind on your priority spectrum. I’m lucky to have lots to do. Children of my own to chat too, as well as my family.

What are your plans for when this is over?

My god, when this is all over I want to get straight back into working. I want as much vodka and sambucca shots in me as I can possibly shove down my clacker. I’ve always been a busy person whether in my usual life or as Lucinda, so I’d like to get back to looking forward to my day off. The thing I miss the most at the moment is the noise. I’m always surrounded by noise. There’s not so much of it at the moment. Only when I’m doing a show in my own front room.

And any words of wisdom? 

For anyone out there looking for ways to cope: stay connected as much as you can. Be sensible, laugh, joke, cry. Keep it real, there will be a light at the end of the tunnel and boy when we get to that it’s gonna be one f*****g piss up!