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Wigstock is the world famous drag festival that got its start in 1985 in Tompkins Square Park, back when the East Village was full of fringe element performance artists and every other assortment of freak. In 1995, Wigstock: The Movie debuted and the event became even more infamous. In years past, the world's only drag fest moved from its East Village home to Union Square, then to the west side where thousands of people packed the pier. There was even a year of "Wignot" when the producers failed to secure proper permits and wound up entertaining hardcore drag fans in the now-defunct Palladium.  Through the years, Wigstock has served as an inspiration to aspiring "hair-hoppers" and other many-hued lip-synching hopefuls with off-color comedy, ribald musical numbers and politically incorrect performances. This year was no exception!For the second year in a row, Wigstock was a part of the East Village Howl Festival, eight days of art, poetry, dance, film, literature, music, performance, politics and theater designed to celebrate the East Village as a cultural- and counter cultural- hotbed, spanning 70 venues and featuring over 1,500 artists. This year Wigstock snuck up on me. I was expecting it to be on Labor Day weekend, as it always had been, and all of a sudden it was upon me. I trundled down the block to Tompkins Square Park on a rainy Saturday afternoon and was instantly glad I did. Under the umbrellas were wigs of every color, virtually impervious to the rain. Soon the precipitation stopped and the show started! Lady Bunny took the stage in towering platforms and an even higher wig. She actually changed costumes a bunch of times, each costume and wig more ridiculous than the last. But even better than her ensembles were her catty remarks. No one was immune! She traded barbs with all her co-hosts: Murray Hill, Linda Simpson and Flotilla Debarge, among others. There were hilarious jokes at everyone's expense, but of course the impending RNC and George W. inspired the most scathing insults.  There were musical numbers by a star-studded line-up. Ru Paul spent her day off from an LA shoot flying in to debut a few new tunes. Also traveling cross country to entertain us was the legendary Warhol Factory member Holly Woodlawn, who sang Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side," which was written about her and her drag cohorts. Boy George sang one duet with Miss Guy and another with Cazwell. Kiki and Herb performed their last east coast appearance before leaving for LA. Jimmy James was genius as well, channeling Cher. And Lypsinka treated us to an off-season "Twelve Days of Christmas."The comedy was better than Saturday Night Live! In addition to Lady Bunny's witty repartee, Jackie Beat had me rolling with a psychotic song shtick, The Ladies of Lips did a Laugh-In inspired joke and punch line number, Barbara Patterson-Lloyd came out of retirement for some offbeat standup, and Murray Hill's rendition of "I Will Always Love You" was enough to shatter the glass in the Chrysler Building. Linda Simpson emceed a politically charged and almost naked fashion show by Machine Dazzle. And the Dazzle Dancers gave us even more nudity with the star spangled finale: Murray Hill paraded with them to Neil Diamond's "America."  While the trees dribbled on me, I was distracted by the action side-stage. I watched all afternoon as assorted Dazzle Dancers splattered themselves with white paint, naked. Mike Albo seemed to be especially enjoying parading around naked, his impressive shlong out for all to see. Village Voice and E! Channel entertainment maven Michael Musto was sporting an extensive extension himself, but it was only a long red ponytail. Photographers took advantage of the waiting talent trying to get a peek at the shows, as did the rest of us. It was a nice little preview of what was to come.Once the show got started there wasn't a second of down time, with emcees offering cutting commentary between acts and not one moment of intermission. It lasted over two laugh-filled hours, and when it was over, the thousands-strong crowd filed out of the park in a surprisingly orderly manner. Later, those whose spirits hadn't been dampened by the rain continued their celebration of all things drag and wig-errific with not one but two after parties, one at Crobar presented by QueenMother.tv and another at Opaline, right on Avenue A, for those who couldn't make it out of the East Village on their platforms.
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