Venus Boyz

Framed by Drag King Night at New York's Slipper Room club, filmmaker Gabriel Baur's Venus Boyz introduces viewers to the denizens of a lifestyle that participant Del LaGrace Volcano calls “a life between man and woman.” Drag kings are the distaff version of drag queens: women who dress up as and assume the identity of men. Flamboyant costumes and outré characterizations are the order of the day when drag kings congregate, but while the documentary serves up plenty of colorful preening, it also delves into the more mundane, day-to-day existence of the drag king. Volcano (nee Della Grace), for instance, belongs to a group of transgendered Londoners who are “experimenting” with testosterone (Volcano and crew refer to themselves as cyborgs and see themselves as embodying a third option between the two traditional genders). Other luminaries of the drag king scene are also featured, such as Mo B. Dick (an MC at Club Casanova), and Diane Torr--longtime drag king and mother of a 16-year-old daughter--who talks about domesticity and the alternative lifestyle. Part Perry Mann's Exotic Erotic Ball-style party vid, part documentary on life at the edges of society, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Tribby)