As one of NYC's most high-profile drag queens, Linda Simpson is a renaissance kind of gal as a nightlife promoter and hostess, an actress, a writer, and the founder and editor of My Comrade magazine and its lively website, MyComrade.com. Known for her witty demeanor, fine-tuned camp sensibility and unique blend of sass and class, Linda enthusiastically embraces the role she was born to play—a reigning queen!
Linda's Timeline
1987 - 1992
Freelance writer Les Simpson founds My Comrade, "the revolutionary gay magazine," and soon after his drag alter ego debuts. Like the publication itself, Linda Simpson is lively and sharp and a hit with the gay cutting edge. Her first of many nightlife ventures is the weekly Channel 69 bash at the legendary Pyramid club. The party emerges as the hub of the campy East Village scene and plays a vital part in the early careers of such performers as RuPaul, Lady Bunny, Sweetie and Misstress Formika. Linda also becomes an annual headliner at the famed drag festival, Wigstock.
1993 - 1999
As drag takes pop culture by storm, Linda takes off as a multimedia queen. Her writing includes two monthly magazine columns—"Star Chat" for Out and "Drag Update" for HX. Also for Out, she covers the 1995 Academy Awards (in full drag!), interviewing winners in the press room. On television, she gains much attention as the co-host of the groundbreaking gay cable show, Party Talk, which is nationally broadcast. She also appears frequently as a drag expert on daytime talk shows. Her acting work includes A RuPaul Christmas TV special; the indie film, Postcards from America; and for stage, two black comedies at P.S. 122 that she also writes and produces—The Tranny Chase (which is brought back for a second run) and The Final Episode.
2000 - Now
Linda continues to enjoy a diverse career, while Mr. Simpson keeps busy as an editor and writer at Time Out magazine. In 2002, Linda is bestowed with a Legendary Award at the annual Glammys drag gala. In 2004, Linda revives My Comrade magazine, which is enthusiastically embraced by old and new readers alike. In 2006, Linda begins a year-and-a-half gig hosting the weekly party Slurp at the gloriously rough-and-tumble gay bar, the Cock. The party is such a hit that she's brought on to be the bar's promotional director. In 2008, Linda again makes her mark as a playwright and actress with The Bad Hostess, a dark Christmas comedy, that runs at the legendary La MaMa theater.
Currently, Linda hosts a totally hip version of Bingo every week at the Bowery Poetry Club with downtown It boy Murray Hill. She also writes and edits MyComrade.com, which has fast emerged as one of the Internet's most exciting queer websites. On the horizon for Linda are several book and theatrical projects, all of them incorporating—you guessed it—drag.
What They're Saying
About Linda:
"Linda Simpson quotes and quips for the quality-seeking queer in all of us." – Genre
"A worldly wit... A kind of mother superior of the New York drag scene." – The New York Times
"The thinking woman's drag queen." – Paper
Linda's for Hire!
- As a party promoter, she's renown for her fun-filled affairs. Need a drag queen, go-go dancer, DJ or other type of entertainer? Linda can supply you with the best! Her clients have included Exit Art gallery, Taharai fashion company and Sex and the City.
- As an MC, she's an engaging and delightful whiz on the microphone.
- As a hostess, she infuses any event with her outgoing and cheerful manner. And she always dresses for the occasion!
- As a television interviewer, she knows just the right questions to ask for an informative and fun-filled chat.
- As an actress, her specialty is comedy, but she's also excelled in dramatic roles.
- As a writer, her press-clippings portfolio is overflowing with magazine articles. She's also penned dozens of skits and two full-length plays.