RIP LuLu LaRude

I remember the first night we went to LuLu's show. It was a cold, damp Thursday and we had heard we should head out to our favourite bar at the time, Club Vortex. There was this talent show thing that was a fun time. Several friends were there, and this would come to be the most reliable way to find friends to hang out with on any given Thursday.

First, some slight trouble with the microphone switch. "Hello?" (tap tap) "Hello?" (tap tap tap) "HelloooOOOHMYGOD HELLOOOOO!!!"

Five Minutes of Fame with LuLu LaRude had only been going for two weeks so far, and was already hitting its stride. Anyone could sign up to perform whatever they wanted, however they wanted, for their so-called "five minutes of fame." Now in a Halifax gay bar four years ago, "talent show" = "drag show". (Which is fine, said the author, envisioning letters to the editor from the amazingly talented and not at all intense Halifax crowd). But somehow this show was different. LuLu and her erstwhile foil and (ahem) straight man Sandy gathered performers of all stripes and forms. The first show, if I recall correctly, had two drag queens, along with a folk-singing guitarist, a country-rock blaring regional sensation, and a physical comedy sketch to boot.

After each five minutes -- which when truth be told ranged from 49 seconds to 6-7 minutes on occasion -- the judges would chime in. Judges were gathered from the crowd, and their role was not only to provide some scores but also to comment, Idol-style, on the performer's work. Catty, bitchy, flirty, confused -- and that was all just the first one! The judges also provided fodder for LuLu to express her opinion on the performer’s work – or on her suspicion of who was sleeping with whom that night.

Anyone who ever attended Five Minutes of Fame knows that the first marks were for (yell this part out loud) "TECHNICAL MERIT!"

The second set of marks was for Autistic Impression. That's not a typo. LuLu even had a little hand-seizure and funny face to go with it. Politically correct she was not. In later weeks, then months, then years of watching Five Minutes of Fame, probably one of my favourite sights was the looks on the new audience members' faces when they heard that for the first time.

Based on the scores from the first round, three performers would be invited to the second round. They could perform another number, which some actually had to frantically pick out, so convinced were they that wouldn't get that far. LuLu always had encouragement for new performers and people that were breaking out of their shell, but for her, words of encouragement might be something like, "did you see that shoelace she calls a dress?! God love 'er!"

Not that LuLu herself couldn't find the most stunning outfits to sparkle in. Her favoured way to describe an outfit included the likelihood of a button firing off it and blinding someone in the audience.

We always sat well back just in case.

I moved away from Halifax over two years ago, but Five Minutes of Fame is the one thing I couldn't miss if my visit included a Thursday. It changed locations, upped the prize money, LuLu even tried to quit last summer -- she loved the dramatic events. She left in a blaze of love from her friends and family too.

LuLu's alter ego Chuck Gillis died after a long illness February 8th, 2007. An audience regular said it best: "What a bright light in our lives, even those of us who only saw it in glimpses."

LuLu's final blog entry finished off as follows: "I will be back soon, till then much love and thanks for the Love, dont know what i would do with yu". Located at www.lulularude.com, the entry quickly became a place to leave your respects for Chuck and his husband Billy.

How we'll remember her best: "Wig out!"