Bob and Barbara’s Lounge on South Street has been Philadelphia’s one of many cherished dive bars. Founded by Robert Porter and Barbara Carter in 1969, they’re most notably known for launching the “Citywide Special”: a combination of a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and a shot of Jim Beam’s bourbon for just four dollars. But the bar is also home to the city’s longest running drag show. Every Thursday night, a rotation of local drag queens put on exuberant performances during two different time slots, one show at 7:30 p.m., another at 9:30 p.m. And Miss Lisa Lisa, also referred to as “the girl so nice they named her twice,” has been hosting the show weekly since 1995. She also opens and closes the drag shows with her own performances.
You have been the host of Bob and Barbara’s weekly drag show for 29 years. Can you give me a brief background of how you came into the position of being a host, and your experience with Bob and Barbara’s Lounge?
I came as a performer. There was another person hosting the show, her name was Renee Cockateau and I got booked through them. Then she left, and then the owner Jack was taking over the show, because he was bartending and trying to run the show. So I came in one Thursday night. I asked him “Do you want me to put the show together?” That’s how I started hosting the show, because he [Jack] was behind the bar and I put the show together.
What do you find special about these drag shows that you’re hosting that maybe you don’t get at other places in the city?
It’s old school. We’re bringing the younger girls in, but when we started, it was a little different. We had to wear certain things. We couldn’t just come out and do any old crazy number. Back in the day, if you wore a gown, you have to have a gown on. You couldn’t come out with what this generation is wearing today, which is fine, because it’s a different generation, but we couldn’t do that back then.
What does the drag community mean to you? What are you grateful for?
The drag community means to me that we get to express ourselves. We can have fun living our little fantasy, if you want to call it that. The bars have been good to me. The drag community, sometimes we can get a little fussy. But the bars itself gave us the opportunity, but this bar mainly gave me the opportunity because, remember, I’m a Black trans woman, and back in the day, they didn’t have Black trans women hosting the show. Jack, the owner, gave me the opportunity to have this show for 29 years.
Is there anything I didn’t touch on that you would like to bring up?
I always close out my show saying that we might not be in the Gayborhood, but we are still part of it. I want people to know that we are a part of that. Since we’re outside [of the Gayborhood] that sometimes gets lost and they forget that.
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