Terri Larder set up Club West in 1990 with his long-term partner Ernie Madden. However, if you ask him when it all started, he’ll tell you it was much earlier. ‘The first hard on I ever got was over the actor Steven Boyd in the film The Fall of the Roman Empire… My first drag show was with the Polly’s in Sydney at 19, and I chose Estee Larder as my drag name. I was a makeup artist for Lancôme at the time and the name fit my surname. It’s still my drag name today’.
However, some may say Terri was destined for the drag stage well before his, uh, heart did a little leap at the sight of Roman soldiers. ‘I was born with man boobs. People often ask how I get my cleavage. Some have even asked if I got them in Singapore. The reality: gaffa tape and Sponge Bob socks. Gaffa tape is my best friend-never answers back and always gives me a lift’.
Terri and his man boobs are legendary in Perth’s drag scene. Co-founder of Club West and one of just three performers in the first ever Club West at the Royal Commonwealth Hall in Subiaco back in August of 1990, Terri has led the event’s growth with the Club West team to create the huge ball it is today. As he told OUTinPerth, ‘Club West is very unique in Oz. We have people coming from the Eastern States because there is no barrier for age or sex. It is the largest production of its size and professionalism in Australia’. The show is also special because it is the only show that is Auslan signed.
Though Terri puts a lot of time into his performances, rehearsing for 6 weeks before a show, he is not in drag 24/7 and has never earned so much as a cent for a performance. ‘The greatest reward is when you are a performer and the crowd is quiet and respectful of the performer on stage and then there is wild applause. It seems worth all the heartache and hard work’.
Club West donates all of its proceeds towards charities, including the Bear Care Project (see inset), which will receive proceeds from all three shows this year.
Terri and Club West will next take the stage again at the Italian Club for Club West’s ‘2 Pink Balls’.
Q & A:
OiP:What does Club West and drag mean to you?
TL: There is a proud history in drag. Stonewall, on June 28, 1969 (the week after Judy Garland died), was the start of the gay rights movement in North America. That is something that can and should continue.
OiP:What has been your favourite Club West show?
TL: The Angel Ball or the Sound of Mucus, Fight 69 to Nowhere. Prison Bitch was pretty good.
OiP: What has been your favourite Club West outfit?
TL: Most fabulous outfit has to be the Teletubbies made by another of our fabulous entertainers Arpi. The crowd just ached for it.
For more info on Club West events or becoming involved check out www.clubwest.com.au
