All-Black Drag Show ‘Reparations’ Moves from the Internet to Oasis

“The sweats are back in the closet,” Nicki Jizz says of the return to live drag performances. “No more sweats.”

For the past year and a half, Nicki has organized and performed drag shows online, taking full advantage of green screen possibilities (“Your imagination can come to life … you can be at Hogwarts!”) and enjoying a newly broadened audience that includes fans from Japan, Argentina and Utah. But with venues reopening, the time has come to leave the internet behind. The heels have returned.

On Friday, July 9, Nicki Jizz will host the first in-person show of Reparations, which proudly announces itself as San Francisco’s only all-Black drag show. Started on Juneteenth 2020 in response to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the subsequent Black Lives Matter uprisings across the country, Reparations urges audiences to “put your money where your black square is.”

“Everyone put a Black Lives Matter message in their bio but immediately went back to posting thirst traps,” Nicki says of the performative solidarity that swept through social media last year. “This is not just a fad. This is not just a summer thing. This is a forever thing. We need to support Black arts every day.”

Reparations streamed on the Stud’s Twitch channel until Juneteenth 2021, highlighting Black performers near and far. Readers voted Reparations “Best Streaming Show” in 48 Hills’ 2020 Best of the Bay listings (and Nicki as “Best Drag Queen”). With the move to in-person performances, the show becomes a monthly fixture at Oasis (every second Friday, mark your calendars), which has shifted its programming over the course of the pandemic to include more diverse bookings.

“I’m excited for the future of Black queer nightlife,” Nicki says. “I’m excited to bring performers from out of town and celebrate ones from the Bay Area and give them a place to shine that isn’t just a Beyoncé or Nicki Minaj night at other clubs.”

The July 9 show includes performers Meatball, Bionka Simone, Militia Scunt, Sir Joq, Rahni NothingMore, KaiKai Bee Michaels and Madd Dogg 20/20; with a live set by Qing Qi; an episode of DolliVision; and tunes by DJ Kidd.

In keeping with Reparations’ theme, the night has a unique pricing structure: $10 for Black audience members, $15 for general admission, and $25 buys a ticket for yourself and a Black trans person. Nicki says: “Be there or be racist!”

Nick Jizz hosts Reparations at Oasis (298 11th St., San Francisco) on July 9, 10pm–3am. Details here.