“Oh, hello!”
Certainly most of the “Coco-puffs” living in the hilarious wake of Miss Coco Peru’s genius are familiar with this lilt of a welcome, whether by way of misscocoperu.com or just the random noises jangling in their heads on those really rough walks of shame. Miss Coco is actually Clinton Leupp, a drag performer with that odd hint of humility not typically ascribed to our favorite ladies of the night.
Over the phone, Peru – or Leupp – is exactly as you would expect: congenial, seemingly surprised, loving and down to earth. After two decades of blessing the stage and the screens (whichever ones fit in your small apartment), Peru is making her way to Florida. She’s been here before, so she’s not in for any big surprises. She’s excited!
“Yes, I actually love Orlando because my grandparents moved to Casselberry probably in the very late ‘60s or 1970, I used to go to Orlando at least once a year, sometimes twice a year,” the lady divines. “Growing up in the Bronx, not only was Disney World a total fantasy, but Orlando was a fantasy because my aunt and uncle also moved there. My grandparents lived by a lake. The roads back then were all sand – there was no pavement – so I’ve always had this romantic thing with Orlando.”
Oh, Sandy. At any rate, following the fame that was achieved through cult films like Trick and Girls Will Be Girls, along with a host of standup accolades, Peru will bring her perfected red bob to Parliament House for a night among the celebratory gays of June. We’re excited. So is Coco. We should Coco.
Somebody get the phone.
Oh, hello.
Watermark: Have you been to GayDayS at Disney World before?
Coco Peru: No, I’ve been to the one in Disneyland, but never to the one in Florida.
Are you excited to come to Florida?
I’m sure it’s changed quite a bit, I’m sure when you live somewhere you probably see all the problems. Back then, Florida was like dipping into another world. Now there are strip malls everywhere, and it’s just like everywhere else, but back then it was before Disney World and all these really weird independent little stores: As a weird little kid, I just fell in love with it.
Let’s delve back into your history. How did you come into the character of Miss Coco initially?
I had studied to be an actor in college and realized pretty quickly after graduating that I was never going to be cast because I was just too gay at that time, and there were really no gay roles in theater or TV. In the early ‘90s, things had started to change, activism was really popular, gay people were finding their voices. I met a drag queen in Peru and I was so impressed with her ability to sort of become the RuPaul of Peru and be celebrated in that very homophobic country at the time. There’s something powerful about drag, and once I said that to myself, it was like the whole world opened up to me and I finally had a path. It really felt like a religious calling to me, and I think on some level it was really healing for me, finally embracing what really had been a torture my whole life, which was being effeminate and being made fun of in the Bronx. Nothing could stop me.
You bring up the RuPaul mainstream drag evolution. The way that drag culture has grown into television – are you inspired by that? Do you think RuPaul’s Drag Race is an effective communicator?
I cannot believe that a show like RuPaul’s is on TV. Not because it doesn’t deserve to be, but because coming from where I came from, you always think, “I chose a career that is going to be, you know, underground for the most part,” although it was always my goal to bring drag into the world not just for a gay community, but for anyone who wanted to listen to my story. At the time, no one was really doing what I do, which is autobiographical storytelling onstage. So it’s just amazing to me how much drag has become a part of, I don’t wanna say mainstream society, but it’s on TV and that’s really amazing!
It’s also the go-to affair for drinking ladies at bachelorette parties. Does that get to be a bit much?
I’m not crazy about that, I have to be honest. They’re kind of annoying and screechy. And every once in a while when I perform at Parliament House, those bridal parties want to come see my show, and I encourage them not to because my show is not for them.
What has your performance evolved into at this point? Your stand-up or your presentation?
Well, I’m still doing autobiographical stories, but with this show in particular – just as a reminder, I think when I started doing the YouTube videos (and not that I do that often; I don’t have time to make them and I often get kicked out of the stores I go into) – I think having done them introduced me to a whole new generation of people. People who don’t have the opportunity to come to a bigger city to see my show, so that when they finally do they’re getting a whole new side of Coco that they’re like, “I can’t believe what you do!” They find it not only funny, but they find it inspirational and even moving.
I feel like that’s such an amazing place in the drag world: To not be offensive for the sake of the joke.
When I started doing drag, it was so healing for me and it was so much fun, but on a deeper level for me, like I said, it just opened up the world to me, and it really taught me – and this is what I wanted always my message to be –that we not only get to create. I not only got to create Coco as a drag queen, I realized that Coco was really just a metaphor for my whole life. I got to create my whole life, and we do that every day we wake up. So many people feel put upon or stuck, and drag taught me that we have this gift to create. That’s always been something I wanted to share. And I’m not preaching; I need to constantly remind myself of that because if there’s anybody complaining about life, I’m like everybody else. I always feel like my shows are a chance for us to all, kind of, connect and just talk about what’s great about living and what sometimes sucks about living. But in the end there’s always gotta be that payoff of triumph.
I just finished watching 20 Steps to Making Tea online and laughed and laughed and laughed. I heard you just finished making a TV pilot. Is that something that’s actually happening?
Yeah, we were actually at a meeting last night just with some friends at my house talking about how to proceed because, honestly, it isn’t easy to sell a show that’s hosted by a drag queen. Unless something sounds like a moneymaker, I don’t think Hollywood is banging at your door; they’re usually just closing it in your face. So we’re trying to figure out what would be the best kind of show. It’s basically an interview show with my guest, and like my show, it’s funny, and it can also be moving. I’m always interested in people’s stories of how they got from their childhood to where they are and the choices that they made, and I find even with my shows that’s what connects us all. We all have a story.
How much involvement do you have in the presentation of your Coco in other people’s work, in the film and TV appearances? Do they write those parts for you?
Well, as far as Trick, that came about in a very weird way. I got to be in that movie because I did a reading – I did a friend a favor – and I did a reading of this movie so they could start to raise money, and I played the starring role. And everybody said, “Oh my god, she’s so funny. Keep her in the movie.” They wrote a scene for me, and then they were nice enough to let me re-write it with my own take on that monologue, so that really came from me.
So the cum-in-your-eye-it-burns thing is your genius idea? I still say to everybody every day. Not that there’s everything wrong with that.
I was so happy when that got a laugh because I was, like, “Oh my God, I wrote that!” I remember the first time seeing it at Sundance, and people were laughing through the whole monologue. It was so satisfying, because they were laughing at things that I wrote, and the performance. I cried myself to sleep the night we filmed that, because I thought I did a terrible job, but that movie was a great experience. And then Girls Will Be Girls: Richard Jay, who directed that, he knew of me, he had seen my shows, so when he included me as that character, he wrote – I think he tapped into that part of Coco that is always frustrated and put upon. I remember filming that and thinking, “I’m not funny in this movie!” I was insecure for a couple of days, but then I decided I was going to play it for real. I was going to play Coco as if she was just a real woman.
Are you still sporting the same glorious red wig?
Oh yes, of course. Every time I try to change it, people throw a fit.
Have you thought of working outside of the drag world again?
Oh no, no. If something came along, obviously. At this point I think it would be a big challenge, but I would be open to that. I’m not pursuing it actively, because my mother once said to me when I was thinking about quitting doing Coco, my mom said,“Oh you better be good to Coco, ‘cause Coco’s been very good to you.”
What can Florida expect from your current show?
This new show is A Gentle Reminder: Coco’s Guide to a Somewhat Happy Life. I’ll tell you what inspired it. As I said before, I do all these videos now, and I have this new audience of young people and, of course, their parents. So I’m getting all these emails from people asking me for advice. And I find it fascinating that teenagers – gay and straight – their parents and gays, lesbians, trans people, are writing asking me about serious life advice, not joking around. So I thought maybe I could write a show about somewhat leading a happy life, because my thought is that we can never be fully happy. My feeling is, if you’re really 100 percent happy, I probably don’t wanna be around you. You’re annoying me.
