The World According to Miss Coco Peru

Miss Coco Peru burst on the national scene with her cameo appearance in Trick, the 1999 comedy where she stole the movie as the cynical drag queen in the men's room with cum in her eye. Who could ever forget her delivery of the line: "You ever get cum in your eye Gabriel, HMM? It BURNS!"

Four years later she appeared in the cult classic Girls Where Be Girls where she played the much-abused straight man (so to speak) to Evie Harris, a washed-up movie star with whom she lives in a Hollywood bungalow along with a newbie-to-town Varla Simonds. For their performance in the film the actors who behind these drag personas - Jack Plotnick (Evie), Jeffery Roberson (Varla) and Clinton Leupp (Coco) - won the Best Actor Grand Jury Award at Outfest 2003 and "Best Actress" honors at the 2003 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival.

For nearly 20 years Leupp (as Miss Coco Peru) has performed eight shows, winning such honors as New York's MAC and Bistro Award for Miss Coco Peru: A Legend in Progress and a GLAAD Award for Miss Coco Peru is Undaunted. He has appeared on television in Arrested Development, Twins, Will and Grace, New York Undercover, Showtime's Rude Awakening, Bravo's Boy Meets Boy, Bravo's Sexiest Moments in Film, Bravo's Welcome to the Parker, and in an Orbitz commercial that was nominated for a 2005 GLAAD Media Award. Other film roles include To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, Nick and Jane, and Straight-Jacket. He also supplied the voice to the Mama Hippo in Disney's animated feature The Wild.

The critics have also raved about Miss Peru. LA Weekly wrote: "Hilarious, inebriating and elegant all at the same time... If there were an award for most girlish and glamorous, funniest, mouthiest diva/icon/trannie/comedian, the inimitable Miss Coco Peru would win hands down." "A composite of dozens of creamy homegrown femmes fatales," wrote the New York Times. And San Francisco's Bay Area Reporter summed Coco's comic gifts this way: "It is the brutal honesty behind the comic facade that makes Miss Coco Peru a special event."

Such a special event occurs on Saturday, October 9, 2010 when Miss Coco Peru joins Jackie Beat, Shangela, Lady Bunny, Heklina and Sasha Soprano for the Drag Queens of Comedy, which is being produced by Sasha Soprano as part of the ongoing series called Comedy in the Castro.
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EDGE caught up with Miss Peru last week for this Q&A.

Her biggest fan

EDGE: Girl, where do you come up with your humor? What inspires you?

Coco Peru: I'm inspired by everyday things. People always say that I have such crazy, funny or interesting things happen to me, but I think we all do, I just talk about them.

Also, I grew up in the Bronx around a lot of very funny people. I always preferred to be around adults and I remember when my parents had parties, I often felt like I was in a movie. I had an outrageous "aunt" Joan and I would pretend that she was my Auntie Mame. I would sit there listening to these people tell stories and I would literally be holding my eyes open trying not to fall asleep because I was so in awe of them. Of course, there was a lot of booze and cigarettes and I laugh now when I think that is was my job to go around and take the drink orders and empty the ashtrays!

EDGE: What influence does family have on your life now, work? You, compared to some other girls, have been more outspoken about your family.

Coco Peru: My family is a big part of my show and nowadays when I get together with my family my mother warns everyone to be careful about what they say around me because it could end up in a show. I've always been very close to my family and they have always been 100 percent supportive. My mother is my biggest fan, although she does wish that I would curse less.

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Watch this video clip of Miss Coco Peru:

Don't be a rude bitch!

EDGE: Brag a bit about yourself, what does it feel like to have won so many awards in your line of work? What does famous mean to you?

Coco Peru: Famous? What's that? I have been very fortunate to be working as Coco for 18 years. I think having gone to college for theater gave me a strong foundation. For me, it is very important to respect the people I am working with and to show my appreciation. Looking back now, I think that is a big reason I have been able to work for so long. Sometimes, when I'm traveling with my show, I meet other performers who are so disrespectful to the staff of the places they are hired to work, even to their fans, and I have to wonder how long they'll stay in the business. I would say to the up and coming drag queens that there is nothing "famous" about being a rude bitch. BE KIND!

EDGE: Tell us about the hair---it stands out---many people believe in changing their hair, what is your view?

Coco Peru: The bottom line is: I'm lazy. Years ago my hair was much bigger and every week it needed to be washed and set professionally and I thought it was too much work. Also, there was something about the flip that I always thought looked great in a silhouette and I just love a good silhouette. I always thought it was important to have a signature look that people would identify you with and that flip became mine. However, as I continue to "mature" I am contemplating a new look!

EDGE: Who are your idols in the world?

Coco Peru: Bea Arthur was and continues to be one of my idols and I was so lucky to have become a friend of hers. Not only was Bea an amazing actress and comedienne, she also loved the gay community. In fact, when she passed she left $300,000 to the The Ali Forney Center in NYC, which is a wonderful place where homeless LGBT youth can be safe and become independent as they move from adolescence to adulthood. For me, from the very beginning when I created Coco, I wanted to be an entertainer but it was also important for me to be involved in making our community and this world a safer place for our youth.

Having done many benefits for different organizations in our community I have had the opportunity to meet many unsung heroes who, day after day, work tirelessly to better the lives of those less fortunate. When I meet these people and hear of the work they do at places like the Ali Forney Center or right here at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, I am truly inspired.

If you are in San Francisco, you can catch Coco Peru as part of the Drag Queens of Comedy (along with Jackie Beat, Shangela, Lady Bunny, Heklina and Sasha Soprano) on Saturday, October 9, 2010 at 10:30pm at the Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA. For more information visit the