Drag hire in Australia: the complete guide

Drag has become one of the most reliable bookings in Australian entertainment because a working drag performer is usually three acts in one. They host, they perform, and they handle a crowd. A room that was politely standing around at seven o'clock is loud and involved by half past, and that turnaround is what people are actually paying for.

The category on this site takes in hosts, lip sync performers, live singers, comedians, bingo callers and brunch shows. The prices are live from the performers listed. What follows is about matching the right act to your room and briefing it well, which is most of the difference between a good booking and an awkward one.

Hosting is the most common and the most underrated. A drag host runs the evening: welcomes, introductions, the games, the timing, the microphone. It is MC work with a costume and a much higher tolerance for a room that needs waking up, and it suits parties, launches and fundraisers where you want somebody who can improvise when the schedule slips.

Then there are the performance formats. Lip sync numbers, which are choreographed and usually run in short sets. Live vocals, which some performers do and others do not, so check rather than assume. Comedy and roast-style sets. Drag bingo and drag brunch, which are hosted formats built around food or a game and have become staples for hen's parties, birthdays and workplace fundraisers. Most professional performers offer several of these and will tell you which suits your event.

Drag is a broad art form with an enormous tonal range. One performer's show is a polished cabaret with live singing and a costume change. Another's is a filthy, fast hour of insult comedy that a hen's party will love and a corporate lunch will not. Neither is better. They are just different products, and the mismatch happens when a client books a name without watching what the act actually does.

So watch the footage, read the profile, and say plainly who is in your room. Ages, the occasion, whether children will be present, whether it is a work event with people who did not choose to be there. Every professional performer has a version of their show for each of these and will pitch accordingly. The conversation takes five minutes and it is the single best thing you can do for the booking.

Adult material, audience interaction and who gets pulled up on stage are all things to settle before the day, in the same way you would with a comedian or an MC. If your boss should not be the target of a joke, say so. If there is a guest who would hate being brought up in front of everyone, name them. Performers would far rather know.

It works in both directions. A performer booked for a family daytime event needs to know that before they pack their set list, and a room expecting a late-night show will feel short-changed if they get the clean version. Tone is a brief, not a risk, and getting it right is a normal part of booking any act that talks to the audience.

A private changing room with a mirror, decent light and a lockable door or a staff-only area. This is not a comfort request. Getting into drag takes a long time and involves a lot of expensive equipment, and a performer who has to change in a public toilet is being set up to have a bad night.

Then the technical basics: a sound system that can take their music, a microphone, somewhere to perform with room to move and be seen, and lighting that is not a dark corner. Lip sync in particular needs a proper audio feed rather than a phone on a bar speaker. Ask what they need at enquiry stage and pass it to the venue at the same time, because these are easy to arrange in advance and impossible to fix at eight o'clock.

Most drag bookings are priced as a set or a hosting block rather than a whole evening, because a performance set is intense work in heavy costume and heels. A short number costs less than a full hosted night, and many performers offer a package that combines a couple of numbers with hosting between them, which is often the best value for a party.

Beyond the time, the usual things move the price: travel, whether there is a second performer, costume changes, and whether they are supplying their own sound or backing tracks. Performers who bring a full show with multiple looks and choreography sit higher than a single-number booking, for the same reason any production costs more than a spot.