A hush falls over the crowd gathered in the back patio of The Zephyr Pub — the show is about to begin. Jade X, a familiar face at Zephyr’s monthly drag show, steps forward to introduce the main act. 

“Without further ado,” she says, “I introduce to the stage, Anonymous Cvnt.” 

Ariana Grande’s “Touch It” echoes through the string-lit courtyard as a figure emerges from the second level of the patio, decked out in a voluminous ruffled black coat with scarlet gloves, a matching boa and a Cruella de Vil-esque salt and pepper wig. Her long coat parts to reveal a sleek white dress with intricate black cutouts. 

All eyes are fixated on the performer as she begins her slow but powerful descent to the main floor. The crowd, dollar bills at the ready, holds its breath. Anonymous Cvnt has taken the stage. 

Discovering drag

For Silver Alexander, 33, discovering drag was like finishing a video game for the first time — they just had to keep going back in for more. They had to understand what they were missing out on. 

Alexander attended their first drag show in Dayton, Ohio, at a club called Masque, where they witnessed a performance from a local drag queen by the name of Amaya Sexton. They spent the next few weeks after this initial taste of drag returning to the Masque, adamant on soaking up more of the culture. Alexander took their first leap into drag during their freshman year of college at a Halloween party, but the stage was still calling their name.

Their first drag performance took place at The Highball Tavern in Columbus, Ohio, where they performed “Out Tonight” from the musical “Rent” under the alter-ego Chanel #13, sporting high-waisted denim pants, a plain white tee, a black leather jacket and pumps. 

Alexander eventually moved on from this persona, setting the stage for Anonymous Cvnt’s debut. 

Becoming anonymous

Behind the curtain, there are many steps that need to be taken before going on stage as a drag queen. For Alexander, the pre-show process typically takes about three hours. They describe their makeup process as almost mathematical, with each step helping to calculate the next: eye makeup providing the shape for eyebrows, eyebrows going into the nose and the contour, and the rest falling into place from there. 

They often spend their entire first hour dedicated to their intricate eye makeup, blending, cutting and treating each eyelid as a canvas for which they are the artist. Once they finally lay their lashes down, they know it: They are Anonymous now, and they feel unstoppable. 

Once the makeup is finished, the next step in the transformation is the outfit. Toward the beginning of their drag career, Alexander was a self-proclaimed “thrifty queen,” purchasing most of their drag attire at thrift stores and altering the clothes as they saw fit. Nowadays, Alexander constructs their wardrobe pieces by hand. 

In an effort to bypass the norms of drag culture, Alexander decided to lean further into alternative drag styles. They have since experimented with many different styles, including but not limited to their recent handlebar mustache, use of oddly shaped bedding as costume pieces and their notable use of blinder contact lenses that forever ingrained them as the “Blind Beauty of the Midwest.” 

“Drag, when stereotypical, means traditional pageant, big hair, everything stoned, nails, earrings, jewelry,” Alexander says. “I don’t feel that makes a drag queen.”

Alexander believes that authenticity is what makes one a true drag queen, which is reflected in their portrayal of Anonymous, who is as unapologetic on stage as Alexander is off it. Anonymous’s personality draws not only from Alexander’s interests, like Japanese culture and anime, but also from bits and pieces of the Black women who raised them, including their authenticity. 

“It’s supposed to be not just political, but it’s supposed to be intrinsic to who you are as a person,” Alexander says. “I want to go out, and I want to laugh. I want to cry. I want to see something that makes my stomach turn. I want to see things that make me feel.”

Ryen Hupp, better known as Ruelynn Morgue in the drag scene, recalls her first time seeing Alexander in drag, in which they were wearing a comforter shaped to appear as a starfish.

“They are one of the best performers I’ve ever seen in my life. They take their time, and they just let the audience look at them,” Hupp says. “They get everybody just in the palm of their hand.”

Drag-ged into a family

Hupp, 22, first met Alexander at The Drag Master, a local competition at District West in Downtown Columbus. The two clicked right away, and from there a budding friendship blossomed into what would eventually become a found family, with Hupp now referring to Alexander, or rather, Anonymous, as her “drag mom.”

For Hupp, a drag mom not only offers guidance, but also sees your potential and helps you rise to it, which Anonymous has done for her. 

“We’ve just grown so much closer and everything, and they’ve been a big help to me, helping me find my confidence in what I perform,” Hupp says. 

As much as Alexander’s guidance has helped others, the love and support within their drag family have been just as transformative for them. 

“I could say winning a competition is fun here and there, but I really do love being able to look back on memories that I made with my drag family,” Alexander says. “I don’t have a really good blood family, so my chosen family is kind of like everything to me.”

As the final beats of “Touch It” ring through the courtyard, the crowd at Zephyr erupts in cheers. Tonight’s show is more than just a performance. It’s not even just a celebration of Alexander’s 33rd birthday. It’s a celebration of found family, artistry and transformation.

Sharing the stage with members of their drag family, Alexander stands in the center of everything they have built.

Connor Nagy is a web writer. Contact him at [email protected].