Finding Joy in Drag: Dick Von Dyke’s Playful Take on Performance and Purpose

Drag king Dick Von Dyke grew up in St. Louis, Mo., in a Southern Baptist family where music and church played a central role. He attended church regularly, playing the French horn, while family members filled the orchestra and choir, and his uncle led the orchestra.

“It was very cultural from a young age,” Von Dyke reminisces.

Although the church was a strong presence in his upbringing, Von Dyke says he did not enjoy the experience but credits it with sparking his love of music.

He traces his first experience with performance to the fifth grade, when he was assigned the role of welcome minister at church.

“I borrowed a suit from my grandma, and I think I even wore a wig,” Von Dyke says. “I was really committed to looking like the welcome minister. They handed me a microphone, and I thought, ‘Well, this is fun.’”

It wasn’t until college, however, that he first began to learn about drag and about LGBTQ+ history.

“In college, I learned about Stonewall and about drag,” he says. “I remember a group of us piling into a car and going to a drag show in Kansas, with trash bags taped to the windows. From the moment I saw drag on stage, I knew I wanted to do it.”

He later moved to the Twin Cities, drawn by its thriving drag community.

“I moved here because there is so much drag, and we are really lucky for all the different spaces where drag exists right now,” Von Dyke says.

He says drag continues to evolve, shaped in part by changing audiences and the influence of social media.

“I feel really committed because I also think that drag is changing, and I think that it needs to,” Von Dyke says. “The economy plays a role, but so do changing audiences, especially in a world of social media where attention spans are shorter than when I started over a decade ago.”

Von Dyke’s current work includes themed drag brunches with Flip Phone Events, where he creates original music mixes tailored to each performance.

“The role extends beyond simply getting on stage and performing a number,” he shares. “For themed brunches, it involves creating original music mixes of songs audiences will enjoy while aligning with the character being portrayed.”

With a background in theater, he enjoys building character-driven performances, sometimes imagining what a character like Gimli from “The Lord of the Rings” might sing.

He also works at the Black Hart of Saint Paul, an LGBTQ+ soccer bar that hosts drag and burlesque shows.

Von Dyke is currently collaborating on a television project, “Detective Dick Quick,” created by Isaac Quick and Alex Tennyson.

“Detective Dick Quick was the brainchild of Isaac Quick and Alex Tennyson, who have worked on many projects together,” he explains.

“What I like about them as filmmakers is that they feel strongly about telling goofy queer stories, which is important because queer people are often represented in media by their worst experiences,” he continues. “It can be really empowering to show a queer person’s goofiness.”

He says the filmmakers began developing the project after seeing his performances and started writing with him in mind. He has since collaborated on a pilot featuring several local performers.

Von Dyke described the show as a playful concept, drawing visual inspiration from “Columbo.”

“I’m interested in portraying a lead character who doesn’t have everything figured out, using drag to both explore and parody traditional ideas of masculinity,” he says.

Von Dyke’s role as a performer is rooted in creating joy.

“I see my role as a drag artist as giving people joy,” says Von Dyke. “I think that happens in the bar and at brunch. I’m inspired by the ways that could happen in a more accessible way in film.”

“Drag feels especially empowering right now. Performers have always taken on a role similar to a rodeo clown, protecting others while creating space for joy.”

He referenced the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who describe drag entertainers in that way, and says that amid global pressures, war and immigration enforcement, joy can be difficult to find.

Von Dyke says he and collaborators have paused fundraising for the project to prioritize community needs.

“We’ve put fundraising on the back burner because there are so many other important organizations we’ve been supporting instead,” he says. “Our community has shown that we will protect and support each other — whether that means paying rent or covering utilities.”

“I think it’s hard to ask people for money at a time when people are just trying to have a place to live,” he says. “So, it’s on pause for now, but joy is still valuable. I don’t want to downplay that.”

In addition to television work, Von Dyke performs in “Divas and Drag,” an opera theater production that pairs live opera singers with drag and burlesque performers.

This year’s show will also feature baroque musicians. He describes the performance as a uniquely immersive experience and says it is scheduled for August.

Von Dyke also praised the Twin Cities’ broader performance scene.

“I’m really becoming a fan of the Twin Cities’ clown and puppet scene,” he shares. “There are a lot of really cool shows, like the Bug Ballet, which recently had a sold-out run. That shows theater can still be relevant.”

Looking ahead to Pride, Von Dyke highlighted several events, including “Two Dykes Walk into a Bar,” which he co-created with Queenie Von Curves at the Black Hart of Saint Paul.

He described the event as “intentionally created as a space for dykes.” Von Dyke is also collaborating with One Voice Mixed Chorus for a Pride weekend performance featuring queer and trans singers alongside drag.

He says live music can be deeply unifying.

“Live music has a uniquely unifying and liberating quality,” he says. “Combining it with drag can be even more powerful.”

After what the city has experienced in recent months, Von Dyke says events like these can offer healing, and he encourages people to attend and support local performers.