Life's A Drag

The unusual thing about Rory O'Neill is that he's an exceptionally good-looking man. Not particularly unusual in itself, I'll grant you, but Mr O'Neill is, also and occasionally, an exceptionally good looking woman.

His alter-ego, Panti, a six-foot redhead with a penchant for short skirts, long boots and very big hair, has been a fixture on Dublin's gay scene for almost five years, most famously as the face of Powderbubble, and also regularly appearing at the George bar. She also fronts her Casting Couch talent night at the Front Lounge. This year Panti will present the Alternative Miss Ireland pageant, a Miss World style competition that offers a distinctly queer take on the formula. Previous winners include Shirley Temple-Bar, a (supposedly) fourteen-year old schoolgirl gymnast with a fondness for Class A substances, Veda Bon Reve, a silver tongued femme-fatale who seems to be permanently attached to a wind machine, and Siobhan Broadway, who offers a Busby Berekely-esque take on the drag phenomena. The competition is open to all comers, yet Rory admits that it's mainly gay men who apply. As a novice, I've got to ask. Why?
"It's fun!" he beams. "When we originally organised a version of the show at Sides night club in the mid-eighties it was really just to entertain the regular customers. When we re-invented the show at the PoD in the mid nineties in aid of Dublin AIDS Alliance it was a much bigger production but even then we had to press-gang people to become involved. Declan, who does Shirley Temple-Bar was spotted at a party doing Tina Turner impressions with a towel on his head and we practically made him go onto the show. But the character is really funny and it's become a regular job for Declan. The purpose of the event is two-fold, we want to present a night of quality performance, plus we raise a considerable amount for HIV and AIDS charities. And none of the entrants are shy, retiring types, for some it's about art and the fun of performing, for some it's just a laugh, for some it's a chance to make a career in... actually in what I'm not quite sure. For the 2001 show I've received about fifty applications from all over the country, mainly from gay guys but we've also got a couple of lesbians and one straight girl. We've never had a straight man, actually..."
I shift uncomfortably as he fixes me with a distinctly piercing Panti-style predatory glare, but I tell him I don't have the legs for it. Sadly. Moving swiftly on, how did the Panti character evolve?
"I studied design in college, and I worked as a puppeteer to finance my studies but I realised early on that I didn't want to work as a graphic designer. I lived in Japan for a few years while I was doing my 'see the world' thing and I worked alongside this marvellous old queen who was obsessed with camp Hollywood movies of the Joan Crawford and Bette Davis variety. It was kind of like a Kiss Of The Spiderwoman thing except that we were in a restaurant instead of a prison. He used to do an incredibly elaborate drag show once a year, and when I saw that I thought 'Hmmmm... maybe I could do something with this'. And then Panti was born!"
For those unfamiliar with Mr O'Neill's alter ego a brief description might be helpful. Panti is a six-foot tall red-head with a faintly Southern Belle US accent and a dress sense that suggests an early 1960's NASA astronaut's wife. On acid. Her repertoire (slightly toned down from her show-stopping performances at fetish club Gag! some years ago) ranges from manic mime - including a hysterical treatment of Hot Butter's '70's hit 'Popcorn'- to stand-up routines that cover such topics as Panti's life as a Geisha in Japan to her take on TnaG soap Ros na Rún. She is also adept at hostessing open-mike and variety shows, displaying a scintillating blend of sexiness and sarcasm. She's also quite a political animal; hypocrites and High Court judges take note. I ask if Rory considers the character an extension of his own personality?
"Not really, in that I consider her somebody else entirely. It sounds bizarrely schizophrenic but I frequently don't know what she's going to come out with. Luckily she always seems to know what to say! I love going shopping for Panti and it's sometimes like I can't wait to get home to show her the outfits. It's quite odd when you say it, but it feels perfectly normal to me."
So, does she ever get hit on by 'straight' men?
"What, you mean like now", she drawls, appearing briefly before my startled eyes before Rory returns. "Panti trades on the long-leg, short-skirt, big-hair thing and men like that stuff so yeah, occasionally you get chatted up. Generally I find it flattering but it depends on the guy. The whole loved-up club thing was interesting for that, among other reasons, but you do get your trannie-chasers who I'm afraid I don't really cotton to too much. Actually the biggest difference between me and Panti is that she probably knows all about my sex life but I couldn't tell you a single thing about hers..."

Panti appears regularly at the George Bar's bingo night on Sundays and comperes the Casting Couch variety night on Tuesdays at the Front Lounge. She also hosts the pre-HAM Gristle Cabaret show in Chocolate Bar at the PoD