Jack McCrory (Baby Holliday)
This audio documentary was created during the summer of 2020, where it was still unsafe to travel and do fieldwork during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a graduate student in a documentary program, waiting for the pandemic to end was not an option for me. I started reaching out to several drag performers who may be interested in a remote interview. Using Zoom as an interview platform and their iPhone's voice memo app to record the interview, I was able to capture a compelling story hundreds of miles away.
In this audio documentary (2020), retired drag queen Jack McCrory (formerly known as Baby Holliday) recounts his experiences growing up gay in Tremont, Mississippi. From talking about subjects ranging between his coming out story all the way to why he chose to retire drag, McCrory welcomes us into his journey as a Mississippi drag queen.
While speaking on the importance of family and relationships, McCrory also talks about his relationship with Eric White, (GoDiva Holliday), which adds another layer of the story and the history between the Holliday drag family in Mississippi. Here, the audience gets a taste of how drag families form and why they are important for up and coming baby drag performers.
Lastly, the audience listening to this audio documentary gets a unique perspective of someone who was a drag performer who retired because they wanted to get to know themselves as Jack McCrory instead of Baby Holliday. In this piece, the listener understands how involved and tiring drag is.