From King, Queen to Thing: Denver performer with Three Drag Personas Conquering Local Scene

I initially booked TOKYN on a recommendation from a friend, and I thought I booked a drag king. Walking into the venue for our animal-themed iteration of Super Tacky Dunce Pageant, I was shocked to meet an ethereal drag queen dressed as a jellyfish. Equipped with a bubble machine and a well-rehearsed lipsync of Float by Janelle Monáe, they ate the competition, no crumbs were left behind, and they were crowned the rightful STD of September 2024. At the show’s season 2 finale, I met ToeKING, and his energy was very different from TOKYN. What was previously etherial was now powerfully masculine. Their ability to completely flip between masculinity and femininity with an equal level of polish was really impressive to me. ToeKING received the show’s one and only perfect score, all while doing a serious number in a comedy competition. It was a powerful way to become the Season 2 winner of STD. I was quickly hearing their name all around the scene with nothing but positive things to say. In my eyes, this is the breakthrough artist of the year, and I haven’t even met their third persona yet. 

I sat down with Nicari Lipscomb, the brains behind these powerful characters, and I was eager to dig deeper into where these distinct characters came from and learn more about their rapid rise in the scene. Their story begins with TOKYN, their feminine persona who debuted when Nicari was in college in 2021. “I was transitioning, and I was having this weird feeling that I was losing my womanhood, in the way that I want to, but that was something I was looking forward to as a little girl. As I got older, I wanted to figure out how to find that femininity again and be comfortable with it, and that was drag.” While that debut may have been in 2021, it was a one-off performance at the time. Years later, after moving to Denver, TOKYN reappeared in our local Denver scene at an ongoing open stage show called Stage Fluid in November 2023. This is what Nicari considers the real beginning to their drag career.  While they noted that their drag has changed dramatically since that time, the foundation of their art has remained the same: “I feel like the base of everything I do is like, is it Black? Does it come from my culture; does it feel like me; does it make me happy and want to dance?” As the vessel for Nicari’s femininity, TOKYN in many ways is a love letter to Nicari’s mother, who inspires so much of this character. Despite transitioning and becoming a more masculine version of themselves, Nicari noted that they still see a lot of their mom in the mirror and didn’t state that as a point of dysphoria. There was a sense of pride behind that sentiment. 

The Birth of ToeKING

As Nicari continued to navigate the Denver Drag scene, they jumped on opportunities that challenged them and pivoting their art to fit into different shows has shaped who they are as a performer today. They were invited to perform in Coffee With Kings, an all king drag show produced by local drag king, King Vaugnz. This booking birthed ToeKING and expanded the realms of Nicari’s drag forever. This new persona also went on to be featured at Denver Pride Center Stage in 2024, for the first all-king set at Denver Pride in over 10 years. Led by King Vaughnz, the cast was able to raise awareness about the longstanding history of drag kings in this city and let folks know that kings are not going to sit in the shadow of drag queens quietly. 

While TOKYN takes a lot of influence from their mother, the inspiration for ToeKing has little influence from their father. They described growing up in a single-parent household with their mother and having an absent father. Their father’s influence on ToeKING is more-so in the lore of the character than anything else. “I always say at the end of my bio that I’m avoiding child support,” sais Nicari in reference to their father. “I’m playing into my own stereotypes. When I think about a Black woman in my family, what do I think about? When I think about a Black man in my family, what do I think about? Even though those stereotypes can be negative, that’s my life, and that’s the shit that I had to go through.”

Are You TWEAKYN Kidding Me?

I was most curious to learn more about Nicari’s third drag persona, TWEAKYN, as I had yet to experience this character firsthand. “TWEAKYN is honestly an embodiment of Doechii, low key. She has been the biggest inspiration for my drag this past year. Her queerness radiates through all of her music and it just really carries me … That’s the role model I really wanted when I was figuring out my queerness.” Nicari recalled receiving backlash for listening to punk bands and exploring alternative styles in their youth because these interests were deemed to be “white people shit.” Nicari describes TWEAKYN as “an outlet to explore and showcase Black alternative music and media … they do all of the things I’ve been scared to wear, listen to and embody … quite an indescribable thing that scurries around screaming devilish, smutty proverbs.” I mused that these three characters are Nicari’s holy trinity and without missing a beat, they swiftly assigned the roles. “You have the Lord, that’s like TOKYN … and you have Jesus, who is ToeKING, not technically the Lord, but the son … still the Lord though, then you

 have the holy ghost because TWEAKYN is a spirit of the night.” The analogy had us both laughing.  Not only did Nicari win Season 2 of Super Tacky Dunce Pageant, they also snagged wins in The Boulder the Better, as well as The Haunted Dolls Pageant. With this success, I was curious to hear their thoughts and insights on competitive drag in Denver. For now at least, they said there will be no more drag competitions in their foreseeable future: “I would love to compete again, but I also don’t want to do it ever again … It’s so intense. Competing felt very live or die.” Despite the stress, they shared details of their win in The Boulder the Better competition with pride. Wearing 50-inch braids and nine more feet of hair coming from their underwear, TOKYN began the number in the rafters: “I popped out … said ‘Rapunzel let down your hair,’ threw my leg up, and threw the pubes down … it was a ki.” 

  Nicari’s pro tips for competing in drag:

1. It’s not life or death 
2. Be serious about whatever you are doing
3. Have a concept that is so vivid that it shows through in every aspect of the show
4. Gag ‘em

As much as I love the Denver Drag scene, it has it’s pain points. I was curious to know if there was anything Nicari would like to see change. To start with, they noted having weird interactions with people while in king drag and referenced show attendees calling them a queen repeatedly while clearly presenting as a king. In addition, they noted regularly seeing people turning away when kings walk on stage. It’s unfortunate kings are still feeling less respect in our scene, especially considering we have such a diverse and talented cast of kings in this city.  Nicarli also calls for more events surrounded by people of color, and noted that some of the larger queer clubs have even failed to bring in all Black casts for Juneteenth. White performers are also still performing songs rooted in the Black experience far too often. Nicari said they take no issue with white entertainers performing music by Black artists, so long as that music isn’t directly about the Black experience: “I heard someone say that they did a song that literally talked about them having chocolate skin  … and they just didn’t lip sync that part, and that’s crazy.” Nicari noted that they prefer to only utilize music by Black artists, as it helps ensure they are being true to themselves regardless of the theme and added, “I don’t feel like appropriating white culture, so y’all can keep it.”   What’s next for Nicari’s Drag Career? The future is looking pretty good for TOKYN, ToeKING, and TWEAKYN. They’ve recently joined the iconic, all-Black House of 666. In September, they are also performing out-of-state in two major upcoming events: the Emerald City King’s Ball in Seattle, and the Boombox Burlesque Festival in New York. They also have plans to produce all-Black burlesque shows and produce album parties where every performer does a track off the same album. If you want to stay tuned on what’s coming up for this performer, you can follow tokyn666 on Instagram. Photos courtesy of Tokyn