The larger-than-life Bob the Drag Queen will grace students’ computer screens on Friday, Oct. 2 as this year’s second Cornell University Program Board speaker, giving the Cornell community a look into her life and a drag makeup tutorial.
Bob was the season eight winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the five-time Emmy-winning reality TV series meant to find “America’s next drag superstar.” She is also an actor, comedian and long-time LGBTQ activist.
Bob was introduced to drag early on — her mother owned a drag bar in Columbus, Georgia, and would bring Bob on the nights where she couldn’t afford a babysitter.
After graduating college in 2008, she moved to New York City with $500 and two suitcases, intending to pursue acting or comedy.
“No one told me that if you can’t sing, you probably won’t be on Broadway,” Bob told NPR. “No one told me that!”
Bob soon found her calling — she started doing drag a year later after watching the first season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” In May 2016, she was crowned the winner of the show’s eighth season, claiming a $100,000 cash prize.
Since winning Drag Race, Bob has been featured in the HBO series “We’re Here” and “High Maintenance,” and has recorded two comedy specials.
Moderating the event will be the New York City-based comedian Matteo Lane, named one of The Advocate’s LGBTQ icons, innovators and disruptors in 2018.
This is the second virtual event hosted by CUPB and the Multicultural Concert Funding Advisory Board this semester; the first was a comedy hour with SNL co-head writer Michael Che and comedian Sam Jay.
Registration is open to all students through CampusGroups.