You're listening to Comedy Central. Drag dates all the way back to the world's most ancient civilizations. I'm talking the Incas, the Aztecs, the Egyptians. Basically, anyone that could build a pyramid also had a fierce walk. I mean, why do you think every man, woman, an eagle in ancient Egyptian art had a smoky eye. Now, drag was originally done in these ancient civilizations for tribal and religious ceremonies. It's
pretty much how priests got started wearing moon movies. It wasn't until modern times to drag played a role in entertainment, and not just any entertainment. I'm talking about the bad bitch Bard himself, Shakespeare. Back in this time, men dressed and dragged to play women's roles, although that was really less about drag and more about keeping women out of acting. Me sinks that doc be some bullshit Horatio. So for a long time, the stage was pretty much the only
place rag was acceptable. It wasn't until the eighteenth century in England that drag performers started to express themselves outside the theater. They met at private residences where they could safely dress as their female alter egos, and those places became known as molly houses. And it was at these molly houses where the first prominent drag queen was born, Princess Sara Fina. She was the first drag queen to take her drag out of the provacy of the molly
houses and into public events like masquerade balls. And it was a big deal and incredibly brave because it meant volunteering to deal with cat calling. Now, while eighteenth century England gave us drag queens, nineteenth century America gave us drag balls. It's the only time queens colonized the country and made it better. One of the most famous drag performers at that time was a former enslaved African named William Dorsey, the Queen Swan. Dorsey slaved so hard he
went on to become a pioneer of modern ballroom culture. Now, there are no existing photos of the queen herself, because how dare you she was too glamorous to have her image captured by you peasants now, but for reference, historians believe her look was probably something like this. Now, that is fashion come through Richardson. America's drag balls brought the
culture to the next level and Harlem. They became so popular that men and women would come from all over to present their looks to a panel of judges pageant style. And you know, there's something comforting and knowing that even hundreds of years ago, people were telling someone to their face that they were a messy bitch whose outfit is drashed the circle of life. In the early nineteen hundreds, one of the top drag performers was William Dalton or
better known by his drag name Julian Eltage. Damn, look at those outfits. They can play both leads and kinds of Lanka. Just look how good her makeup is. And that was before went and wild. She pulled that off with house paint and beat juice. Julian was able to take her drag mainstream by performing on Broadway and even in front of King Edward the Seventh. I mean, of course he liked it, that Duke of Rocker Cat. In fact, the King was so impressed gift to Julian with a bulldog,
which personally, I don't think of a great prize. I prefer trophies that don't need to ship three times a day. Drag balls then exploded throughout the nineteen twenties and thirties. But like with most things, popularity brings out the haters. Mainstream actors started linking them to homosexuality, and soon masquerade laws were passed prohibiting cross jesting in public. And you know what that meant. That's right, The Harry Styles World
Tour was canceled. Due to these laws. Drag went underground again and it wasn't until the late eighties that it returned to the mainstream. But when it came back, oh, it came back in a big way. Drag performers were featured in major motion pictures, including one of the best known sisters of the silver screen, Divine, who starred in the movie Hairspray and was the inspiration for the Disney character Ursula Damn Kirby incredible singing voice and impeccable taste.
Are you sure we're not talking about me? Thanks to all the brave drag performers, today we have hit shows featuring drag queens, and we have a good reason to eat a meal as beautiful as brunch. So to all the outrage conservatives trying to drag drag through the mud, open a history book now. I know you hate those, but now they have pictures. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at eleven tent Central on Comedy Central, and stream full
episodes anytime on Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast