Pomp! Jody Evans photographs the raucous drag event that always gets a little messy

While 17 seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race may have us all believing that that drag is simply about tucking, cinching and lip syncing, there’s a whole world of the artform out there paying homage to the messy, subversive and slapstick roots of the subculture. Take Pomp! for example, a raucous cabaret night where you can expect characters as varied as a carnivorous pig, a lonely fridge and a blue alien with three tits, to name but a few.

The photographer Jody Evans is a long-term fan of Pomp!. It’s hosted at their local London queer pub The Old Nun’s Head – “a haven for myself and a lot of my queer friends”, they say – and it’s an accessible, welcoming spot, offering low income tickets, something that stands in contention to the continued attacks on queer nightlife. Not only are hiking rent prices, underfunding of the arts and commercialisation of cities like London pricing out independent venues, Jody adds that “[Pomp!] also gives the stage to performers with a seated audience, which feels profound at a time where queer nightlife is being increasingly censored through Meta and mainstream media outlets.”

While the performer and founder of Pomp! Dirrty Harry affirms that “all drag is amazing, exciting” and worthy of attention, they do identify that some (less ‘palatable’ and commercial) drag is often underrepresented. Describing their own practice as “a bit more gross, DIY and haphazard”, Dirrty Harry’s own experience of drag and fellow performers has always been one of “insane” costumes made out of “weird secondhand material” and makeup that’s “bright and bold and tells a story rather than being technically ‘good’”.

And so Pomp! was founded to create a much-needed space for this branch of drag to flourish, offering a platform for passionate performers to share their craft, unfiltered. While the night brings in a host of familiar faces and drag aficionados, Dirrty Harry says it’s also always been about exposing people to something they’ve never seen before – “audiences are more hungry for this outlandish creativity than they realise,” they say. In fact, the audience is not what you might have been led to expect from your typical drag night. Jody tells us that it can often be something of a family affair, with Dirrty Harry’s parents, siblings and nan all regular attendees.

At Pomp!, Jody says that “you never know what’s coming next”, and they let this sense of unpredictability bleed into their “very uncontrolled” approach; mainly capturing acts mid performance, chasing them while they strut, trike and even crawl through the crowd. This sense of unpredictability is summed up in one of Jody’s favourite images, that of Dirrty Harry cleaning the stage after one of their performances. All sorts of fluids and foodstuffs make their way into Harry’s performances from the classic comedic gag of custard pies, to fake urine and “chocolate shit”. “It makes me crease with laughter every time I see them cleaning up their mess, commentating whilst they do to the crowd,” says Jody. “They have a witty sense of humour and they make what could be an awkward pause in performances, into a part of their act.” This sense of humour and unabashed, unfiltered creativity shines in Jody’s series – it’s colourful, rough-around-the-edges time capsule of the inclusive and playful potential of a radical art form.

While Jody’s photographs do a brilliant job of capturing the energy and spirit of Pomp!, there’s only one way you can really get a true taste of the magic, they say: getting yourself a ticket. But, “be warned”, they end, “if you choose to sit on the front row – I still have glitter on my shoes from the last event.”