Rory O'Neill AKA Panti

But then I went off to Japan and I had no intention of doing drag.

I didn't know what I was doing.

I was going off on a nice adventure with my friend Helen, my best friend Helen, who, again, I'm still absolutely... I've just been visiting her in Valencia there last month.

And we arrive in Japan.

I also had no idea.

You know...

Again, before the internet, what the fuck did I know about Japan?

Nothing.

You know, when we went there by land, I remember 7 Helen, we got a boat from Shanghai to Kobe in Japan.

And on the boat, we're trying to learn the numbers 1 to 10 in Japanese.

That's how unprepared we were.

And so we arrive, and I didn't even know there was even going to be a gay in Japan.

Well, I assumed there was going to be gays, but I didn't know what kind of scene there might be or whatever.

And like so much things in Japan, it's all very hidden and underground.

But once you find it, you know, the lotus flower opens.

Oh, whatever.

Anyway, so yeah, and I had an absolutely wild and wonderful time.

And one of the very first people I met there and became friends with was an American guy who was from Atlanta, Georgia, one of the spiritual homes of drag, and had been doing drag in Atlanta, Georgia.

He was now a university professor.

And we just started doing a drag double act together.