For those who aren’t familiar with Shirley Q. Liquor , she is the drag persona of Charles Knipp. She is the single mother of 19 children whose names are like a survey of Urban Legends 101 (KMartina, Lemonjello & Oranjello, Shithead [pron. “sha-theede”], etc.). IMHO it would be almost impossible to hear her routines “Ebonics Airlines”, “Titanic Review”, or “Twelve Days of Kwanzaa” without laughing even if you were Michael Jackson’s new minister; while these are not available for free, you can get a good idea of her humor from Bus Reservations and her other daily selections .
A nurse by trade (and a Quaker by religion), Knipp (who also does a white drag character, Pentecostal mental patient Betty Butterfield) is considered a good man who is free from racism and hysterically funny by those who actually know him. His comedy, which started with an answering machine recording, is insanely popular among many gays (Thom Felicia of QUEER EYE quotes him regularly on the show) and even some blacks, while one of his most ardent fans is fellow drag persona RuPaul. However, he’s also the subject of major growing controversy from those who consider the act militantly racist and a minstrel show. (I wonder if the same people found Lily Tomlin’s black male gospel singer offensive or thought Jamie Foxx’s Wanda as offensive stereotypes?)
What’s your opinion, particularly those of you who have seen or heard her shows?