Interview - Knuckle Sandwich

Knuckle Sandwich, hey girl, welcome to Spill the Tea!
You are a Queen of many talents but first, how did you get into Drag?
I had dabbled in drag with doing theatre and first did a full drag performance 10 years ago in sixth form college (now you can figure out my age…EURGH!). I loved it but other than a few one offs getting into drag for Halloween, I was afraid to take it a bit more seriously until about two years ago, where I decided I was going to enter a local drag lip sync competition and WON! Since then, I haven’t looked back!

How did you choose your Drag name?
I grew up in Essex, and hearing people use the term ‘Knuckle Sandwich’ always made me laugh. Even though it was used by uber-macho men in a very serious threatening way, I just felt like it was so camp. I think it kind of captures my drag perfectly, tearing apart the idea that something threatening can be camp as tits and feminine. Plus I love a drag name that when you hear it, it can make you smile or provoke a response. I can’t imagine being known as the drag queen called Sarah or Claire. I don’t think people would be getting a ticket to come and see that show!

Did you have any rejected names and if so, what were they?
Yes! I couldn’t settle between Knuckle Sandwich and Annie Conda for months, but Knuckles won out in the end. Maybe I’ll christen a drag child with that name in the future. Watch this space!

How would you describe your Drag style?

“ Loud, camp, colourful and a little slapdash at time! Ha! It’s fine for me to say that but I would probably give someone a slap if they called me out for being slapdash.”

What emoji describes your Drag?
The clown emoji. There can be no other!

What is your go to lip sync song?
Do I have to pick just one? If I can get away with more than one, my favourite to perform has been ‘Good As Hell’, but I have loved doing Heroes by David Bowie and What A Feeling by Irene Cara. I’m a sucker for some 80s bangers.

When on stage what do you love most about it?
I love being able to prance around like an absolute tit and entertain people but my biggest love in drag is probably interacting with an audience and playing off of them. There’s moments where you can totally just be in your element and then a little moment or look with them makes every performance feel different and fun. You never know how someone is going to react so it can make some moments pure CAMP.

RuPaul’s Drag Race has helped catapult Drag into the mainstream, but Drag goes beyond Drag Race, what one other Queen deserves a shout out from you?
Too many to choose from! But one Queen that I have had an undying love for and would watch absolutely anything they do is Seayonce. If you can get to one of their shows, you will be in tears of laughter, SO GOOD!

Out of drag you are also a writer and actor! What came first acting or drag?
Acting came first, and has been something I have done for just over ten years. Without it there would definitely be no Knuckle Sandwich! Being Knuckles allows me to use all the bits of acting I don’t often have the chance to express and be unfiltered and unashamedly queer!

You have acted in both theatre and short films, what do you love the most about each
Theatre is a passion of mine and is what started this journey for me as a performer. You are there, live in the room and you have to be able to command the space and tell a story, and there’s a wonderful tension of is everything going to work together smoothly; is the tech going to change when it needs to, is my scene partner going to remember their lines if they’ve struggled in rehearsals, are the audience going to laugh when they’re supposed to…and when it all works together, it is an amazing experience and feeling. Short films are a different beast, because you have the luxury of stopping and starting until you get the right take. So if I’m not happy with how I’m doing in one take, I can just try and try again but I don’t think it’s quite as spontaneous as working with a live audience can be.

You have also written a number of plays, where do you find inspiration when writing?
Everything I have written has come from personal experience, and led me to put on some autobiographical plays as well as ones that are pure fantasy, whether it is about becoming a superstar marathon runner or a crazed artist - I think I can relate strongly to one of those at least! I want to try and always incorporate a queer narrative in my work. I grew up not being surrounded by openly out and proud queer voices and I want to make sure my work, whether its writing or drag, carries a queer voice at it’s heart!

What does the future hold for you?
I hope to be a multi faceted queen and performer - I want to be someone that can excel in all sides of myself and my personality to be a one-of-a-kind performer. I like the fact that I can be on-stage one night, performing in a Shakespeare tragedy, and on the next, be death dropping to some 80s synth pop. I don’t quite know where the future is going to take me but I’m certainly going to enjoy the ride.

Any last shout outs?
Yes! I could easily have an exhaustive list and so many talents but big shout out to these 5 who are wonderful, supportive and talented humans:

Cake Boi, The Phoenix, Sweet Boy, Stealia Jobs and Paul Aleksandr. GO FOLLOW THEM!