Hi! I’m Alastair (he/they), I’m a 4th year medic and also the president of the LGBTQ+ Medics society. However, in some ways I’m better known as my alter ego Ivy Infusion (takes some people a minute to get the medical pun). Here’s a little insight into what you can expect from Medics Drag Night plus a peak behind the scenes in the lead up to the big night at CC Blooms on November 16 2024.
My first time doing drag was back at Medics Drag Night 2022 and I clearly stole the show as the following year I found myself hosting it as a little second year. Drag Night 2024 will be my fourth taking part and my third hosting, and people keep coming back so I must do a good job! All three years of hosting I’ve also been the main person dealing with all the organisation of the cast and logistics, so I’m sure you can imagine September to November is a very busy time of year for me!
Ivy is known for her comedy, give me a microphone and there is no stopping me. My dancing…possibly not quite on the same level, however I make it work. I can promise an Ivy performance is entertaining at least, but not sure I’ll be getting scouted to be a backing dancer anytime soon.
I believe this year will be the sixth Medics Drag Night! Unfortunately we didn’t realise this last year so the fifth year celebrations shall be taking place this time!
What you can expect from Medics Drag Night
The core of Medics Drag Night is having fun, we don’t take it too seriously and anyone can sign up and do pretty much whatever they want. Drag has been an integral part of queer culture for a long time, however in recent years awareness of drag has increased and therefore so has its popularity. Starting drag requires a lot of dedication and time to create a persona that would be chosen to take part in ordinary drag shows. Medical School also requires a lot of dedication and time, so Medics Drag Night provides queer medical students an opportunity to try out drag in a more relaxed and low key environment, because we possibly don’t have the time to pursue drag in the same way as other people.
Anyway, I’ll explain a bit more about the logistics of how drag night works. We follow the same format of pretty much every drag show ever, in that we have a host (me) that introduces a variety of acts throughout the night. We mainly have individual performances but also some groups and we have everything from lipsyncing while dancing to live singing and comedy. We have no audition process, anyone is welcome and everyone who signs up, with support, is able to create any performance they want to do. This means all the acts can create and practice their performance in their own time.
It’s a big fundraiser too
Every year we choose a different LGBTQ+ charity to fundraise for, the last few years have been Terrance Higgins Trust (the UK’s leading HIV charity), Mermaids (supporting trans youth in the UK) and Scottish Trans (promoting trans equality in Scotland). This year we are supporting LGBT Youth Scotland. Last year we were able to donate £950 to Scottish Trans and hope to do even better this year!
Allowing queer people to shine
Medics Drag Night is genuinely my favourite night of the year and as soon as it’s over I start thinking about the next one (and not just because Ivy loves attention). It fills me with pride that we organise this night that allows queer people to shine and live their best lives. Having a sold out venue where every single person is laughing and cheering, whilst also raising money for a LGBTQ+ charity is amazing. Most of the performers come back year after year so I know they all love it as much as I do.
I think Medics Drag Night is so popular amongst Edinburgh medics because you come to this show and one minute you have a tear in your eye because someone is doing a sad emotional act and then the next moment you are laughing your guts up. I get told all the time how much people look forward to coming because you really get everything all in one evening and you never know what to expect next. Also, I think when you see someone come up onto the stage by themselves and they look nervous and then you cheer them on and watch them become more comfortable and relax into the performance, that’s a powerful thing and connects you to the performer you’re watching. Everyone is in it together, the cast and audience, because there’s a shared understanding of how much guts it takes to get up on that stage alone and I think that’s so special.
A diverse cast welcoming everyone
We have such a range of individuals taking part in the show, from first to sixth year of medicine. However, whilst pretty much everyone involved are medics, we occasionally have people from other courses too and we try to have as few restrictions as possible. Drag is and has always been a part of queer culture, and most of the acts involved are open and proud about their queer identities. However, we are open and accepting of everyone and whether you consider yourself queer or not, we are happy to have anyone involved, as long as they respect and understand the links between drag and queer identities.
Our cast is always very diverse, with most people deciding to either be drag queens or kings, however we do often have individuals take a completely different approach to their drag identities.
We try to have the minimum amount of commitment possible so that we can get the widest range of people involved, so they can work it around their lives and studying etc. My planning usually starts late August, and then in September myself and the rest of the team begin properly organising. A special shoutout needs to go to Cuebin who makes some incredible posters for promoting the night (and extra points for always making me look amazing).
But in terms of preparation it is fully up to the cast to plan and rehearse their performances, we have a full cast dress rehearsal a week before the show. It’s always an interesting evening where it becomes clear who hasn’t practiced in their heels and (usually only me) has no idea what they’re doing. However in my defence, my best work comes when I’m under the last minute pressure!
That may all sound scary, however there is lots of support on hand to assist with whatever people need. We have had brainstorming evenings for ideas and then last week I had most of the cast round to mine and gave a music software and makeup tutorial.
Behind the scenes, a few late nights and a trusty Google Drive later and we are ready to go. We have the night at CC Blooms, Edinburgh’s sole gay club, who obviously are very used to drag shows and we have a DJ to make sure all the tracks run smoothly through the night.
The looks
Whilst I wish we had the funds to pay for everyone to get custom outfits and wigs for their performances, the end goal is raising as much money as possible for our chosen charity so that is not possible. However, it has always been heartwarming how much support we have had from the wider Edinburgh community to help our event, we have had all sorts from makeup artists to professional photographers giving up their time for free to make this night a success.
And I can’t not mention the cast who should be admired for the time and money they put into their acts and buying outfits and everything else. Thankfully there is no better reward than being stood on a stage with a spotlight centred on only you, with 200 people cheering and clapping your every move.
However, I try my best to make Drag Night as affordable as possible for everyone involved. My drag collection has slowly taken over my room and I’d be terrified to add up how much I’ve spent on it over the years, but the benefit of that is I have an abundance of wigs and outfits that I give out to people to use for the night.
If I had to sum up Medics Drag Night in 3 words:
Celebration, impressive, thrilling.
If I had to choose an anthem for Medics Drag Night 2024:
Possibly a hint for our opening group number, but I think this year it has to be Chappell Roan’s HOT TO GO!
Come join us
We have something for everyone, I would genuinely challenge anyone to come along and not be smiling and cheering by the end. The cast is stacked full of insanely talented people, and when Monday morning comes and everyone on the ward or lecture theatre is talking about Medics Drag Night, you don’t want to regret not coming! (And also you get to hear some hilariously embarrassing stories of what I’ve been up to this year!)
Medics Drag Night 2024 is Saturday 16 November, 7.30pm at CC Blooms.
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