Today we’d like to introduce you to Luna Pierrot.
Hi Luna, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Luna Pierrot started out as a character for a steam-punk-fantasy comic created with my best friend from high school. Luna is the child of two circus owners. They ran away to the big city to start their own cabaret after the death of their parents. Luna’s character was a later addition of mine that I made shortly after the end of the COVID lockdown. I was entering a new retail job at my local mall, and I needed something to keep me excited and passionate about drawing again. At the same time, I discovered the Boulet Brothers Dragula and became completely enamored with the art of drag. That was also when I got the idea for Luna Pierrot; a clown that was a little jazzy, a little sad, a little cartoony, and over the top: all themes I had not seen explored together in drag very often. Thus, I began obsessively drawing Luna in my sketchbook every day during my breaks at work; enthralled with drawing stories and looks for this fabulous drag clown in my head.
The more I drew Luna, the more I realized that I wanted them to exist as more than just a comic character: I felt the need to bring them to the real world someway. I decided to start experimenting with cosplay and clown makeup in my bedroom using an old suit set and my stage makeup kit from my college theatre days. Fortunately I happened to create Luna around the same time my local Lgbt+ bar started hosting Drag 101 classes hosted by my community’s local drag diva. It was through these classes that I was able to learn about the art of drag and its history, as well as giving me the opportunity to make my debut on stage in September of 2023. Since then, Luna has been performing in monthly shows at The Korner Lounge in Shreveport as well as performing in the Tyler Pride Rising star showcase. When I perform as Luna Pierrot, I try to make my message clear: I aim represent the poor and disenfranchised, the heart broken, the underdog, the Everyman. I aim to tell the stories of people who cannot tell it themselves and uplift those around me to make my community a safe and happy one in whatever way I can.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Shortly after I debuted as luna Pierrot, the only LGBTQ+ friendly bar my area shut down for almost an entire year. This left many of us without a safe place to meet with other queer folk and many performers without a space to express ourselves. Fortunately, a few months after, I was contacted by the show coordinator from The Korner Lounge in Shreveport, Louisiana and invited to partake in a spotlight for their 4/20 themed drag show. I’ve been consistently performing at the Korner ever since and I am happy to say that I’ve found a wonderful supportive community with the people who frequent the bar. Unfortunately, ETX is still left without a business dedicated to LGBTQ+ night life, but I’m continuing to talk and work with my fellow drag artists to find venues and events that will give us more opportunities to spread joy and tell our stories through the art of performance.
While I was struggling to find my footing after the shutdown, I was given unfortunate news that a family member who was a pillar of support in my life, had tragically passed away after a decades long struggle with addiction. I was absolutely heart broken by this loss and the grief made it extremely difficult to focus on anything creative. It was so devastating that I had to take time away from drag to focus on my own mental health, as well as supporting my family financially. It took an entire year to recover from this loss, but I was fortunate enough have a strong support system to help me through and a community to welcome me back. I feel like Ive come back stronger since then and I’ve been able to express my grief through my drag in ways that have now become part of my creative voice.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
After many years of research and experience in drag Luna Pierrot has since evolved from their 2D comic book counterpart. My official lore for Luna Pierrot: “they are a jazzy genderfluid drag clown from the moon! They were once just a 1920s rubber hose cartoon but now, through the work of their mysterious queer creator, they are a living breathing person like you and I who is only trying to find their place in the world and express the depths of their heart!”
The main inspiration for Luna Pierrot was of course The Boulet Brothers Dragula. The 3rd season happened to be streaming during the COVID lockdown in 2019 which was the perfect thing to fuel my creatively and socially starved brain at the time. Dragula taught me that drag can look like anything or come from anywhere and that you don’t need to fit yourself into a box to make great art. I truly wouldn’t have started my journey if I hadn’t discovered this show.
The 2nd main inspiration is in my name which is the Pierrot clown. They are a n archetype from an old Italian form of theatre dating all the way back to the medieval period called ” Comedia Del Arte”. Comedia is a type of theatre that is often wordless with the actor relying more on grunts, exaggerated body language, and traditional archetype masks. Pierrot is a French derivative of the Italian character Pendolino, a variant of the Zanni archetype in Comedia del Arte. Pierrot has historically been a symbol of the poor and disenfranchised, the everyman, the working man, and heartbroken; all values that I personally hold as someone who has always been quite outspoken online about my humanitarian beliefs. I look to the Pierrot clown as a symbol to rally behind as well as a figure to draw aesthetic inspiration from.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I think drag can be very high-risk high reward as we see in the media, but I think it has a lot to do with how much you decide to put into it. A lot of artists start small in their bedrooms often referred to as “bedroom queens”, a label you often drop once you get your first chance to perform on stage. Once you secure a consistent spot on stage there is a whole laundry list of things to keep up with weather that be make up, costumes, wigs, joining dance classes to improve your performances, music mixing, or even finding venues to host your own show. Each aspect can take a lot of money, time, hard work and dedication just to pull off one look, even then it’s not guaranteed that your idea will land with the audience. In the words of Dolly Parton herself “It takes a lot of money to be this cheap!” But it’s always worth it to me, at the end of the night, to talk to people after the show who admire your spark and go home inspired to create their own art. I would consider that one of the biggest pay offs.
Pricing:
- Performance fee; $30 per number/performance/act for live event and shows
- Hosting fee; $120 per show
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lunapierrotdrag.carrd.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lunapierrotdrag
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lunapierrotdrag
- Other: https://ko-fi.com/lunapierrotdrag
