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Best known as a drag performer, Bob the Drag Queen cut his teeth in comedy. (Photo by Albert Sanchez and Pedro Zalba)<\/p>\nBob the Drag Queen wears many hats, both literally and figuratively. As an actor, novelist, podcaster, drag queen, reality TV competitor, and comedian, he refuses to be defined by a single role. And whether he\u2019s wearing a dramatically wide-brimmed electric-blue hat on the reality show The Traitors or a backward baseball cap while playing horror video games for his YouTube channel, he brings his authentic self.<\/p>\n
Best known as a drag performer, Bob the Drag Queen cut his teeth in comedy. (Photo by Albert Sanchez and Pedro Zalba)<\/p>\n
Bob\u2019s real name is Caldwell, though these days he goes by Bob. He grew up in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi and considers Atlanta his hometown. He was raised by a single mother with one older brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved to laugh,\u201d says Bob. \u201cI loved to make people laugh, singing and dancing. I had a mom who really believed in me. We were not wealthy, and I knew it, but I didn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was influenced by the comedy of Wanda Sykes and remembers endlessly rewatching comedy specials like Chris Rock\u2019s Never Scared on DVD. Bob moved to New York in 2008 at 22 to pursue theater, and for many years he found it to be an \u201cunrequited love.\u201d<\/p>\n
But his relationship with comedy was less fraught. \u201cStand-up comedy was my first mutual love,\u201d Bob says. \u201cI was seeing success in that much faster than I was seeing it in theater and acting. It took me about 17 years to get on Broadway, and it took me about three weeks to get onto a stand-up comedy stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
He performed in his first comedy show in the late aughts at the New York Comedy Club. Although he didn\u2019t have mentors in that world, he learned comedic timing from queens like Bianca Del Rio.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t know they were my drag moms,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I would go to their shows and take notes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite working as a comedian for decades, Bob says many people don\u2019t know he does comedy. In 2016, he was winner of RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race Season 8. The title propelled him to fame.<\/p>\n
For Bob, his drag, like his comedy, is built not on a persona but on his experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have a hard time realizing that I\u2019m being myself \u2014 I\u2019m just wearing different clothes,\u201d Bob says. \u201cWhen I started doing drag, I built a persona, but I was only able to keep up with it for like two weeks. It was too exhausting living in this character nonstop.\u201d<\/p>\n
Onstage, Bob often wears elaborate hats or updos paired with dresses ranging from the elegant to the avant-garde. In his recent comedy special This Is Wild, he wore an ombre multicolored gown and turban overlaid with sequined black animal prints designed by Joshuan Aponte. Underneath it all, Bob performed with his usual commanding stage presence \u2014 outspoken, with plenty of opinions to dish out on Shrek, Tyra Banks, and the Sims.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Bob returned to his first love: acting. He made his Broadway debut as Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge! The Musical in January and in November is set to star as King Herod in West End\u2019s Jesus Christ Superstar, one of his dream roles. He was offered the role without auditioning.<\/p>\n
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Bob the Drag Queen will perform at Provincetown Town Hall on Aug. 22. (Photo by Albert Sanchez and Pedro Zalba)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of crazy that I get to actually be in this show,\u201d Bob says. \u201cBut I also think that my desire to be onstage and my inability to get cast in things has kind of forced me into not seeing myself onstage anymore, which is why I\u2019m writing roles for myself instead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bob is working on a stage adaptation of his recent New York Times best-selling book Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert, which he also plans to star in. In the novel, Harriet Tubman comes back from the dead to write a hip-hop album and a show that documents her life.<\/p>\n
Bob has also starred in several TV shows including A Black Lady Sketch Show, and he earned a Peabody award for the HBO docuseries We\u2019re Here.<\/p>\n
When Bob isn\u2019t onstage himself, he enjoys serving as a mentor to other comedians and drag queens. He\u2019s built close relationships with people he\u2019s worked with, including Mon\u00e9t X Change, who co-hosts the podcast Sibling Rivalry with Bob.<\/p>\n
His mentorship skills are perhaps a trait left over from his teaching days. He studied theater education at Columbus State University but dropped out after three years and moved to New York. For a time, he also worked in children\u2019s theater at Climb Theatre in Minnesota.<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually thought that was going to be my career for a long time,\u201d he says, \u201cand then I started telling dirty jokes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bob still loves teaching. \u201cI love to be able to cultivate people\u2019s talent and help them get onstage,\u201d he says. \u201cI know how much theater and performance has done for me, and I love to be able to see that genesis in someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the future drag queens, Bob has a message.<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago, a drag queen named Hedda Lettuce told me, \u2018You want to be legendary in drag, you don\u2019t got to be good. You don\u2019t got to be decent. All you got to do is just stick around and refuse to leave, and you will become a legend.\u2019\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n
A Life in Character<\/p>\n