Posted in: Games, NYCC | Tagged: anime, drag queen, erika klash, LGBTQ, new york comic con, NYCC, video games

Erika Klash – New York's Video Game/Anime Drag Queen

Published Fri, 30 Oct 2015 08:45:02 -0500

By Joe Glass. Photo by Fwee Carter of Fwee Photography

Whilst enjoying the world of New York Comic Con, I found myself stumbling across a drag queen with a difference – Erika Klash, who pushes herself as a video game and anime drag queen in New York. When I asked what exactly this meant, I'm told she takes inspiration from video games and anime, and these have resulted in a series of looks inspired by them.

Nintendo's work has always had a very profound impact on me, especially Super Mario and the Pokemon games. Magical girl anime series have also inspired me a great deal. Growing up I would also enjoy Batman, horror movies, both old and new, and the entire Godzilla universe (I even have a Mothra cosplay that I do regularly)

Her style, which is also inspired by Japanese fashion trends like lolita, ganguro and gyaru, certainly lends itself well to geek events in the city, as seen at the SkinTight USA event during NYCC. Her drag act also takes inspiration from modern legend London drag artist Meth, making for a memorable, varied and talented performance.

Remarkable given Erika has been performing for just over a year and a half, but already she finds herself performing and hosting events all over New York and recently she's started taking it even further.

Erika keeps herself busy, and you can next see her staging her own invasion of legendary, historic LGBT venue the Stonewall Inn on November 1st, featuring herself and a host of NYC drag talent. She will also be an Ambassador of Goodwill at the 2016 Austin International Drag Festival in April, with a fundraiser hosted in December at Stonewall too. And that's just the beginning.

Erika left a striking impression on me as an emerging drag talent and a geek-inspired one at that, so if you fancy something a little bit different, check out one of her shows now! You can follow Erika on twitter, tumblr and Instagram.

Joe Glass is a Bleeding Cool reporter and comics creator, creating LGBTQ superhero series The Pride, which was one of the Top 25 Best Selling Comixology Submit Titles of 2014. It's available on Comixology or here. He also co-writes on Welsh horror-comedy series, Stiffs, available on Comixology and here.

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