🎙️ What’s This Episode About?

Kyle Clarke is a talent manager, producer, and the founder of DFIU Events, a drag and entertainment events company that has been putting on shows across the UK for five years.

Kyle joins John to tell the story of how DFIU came to be: born in lockdown, built on relationships forged through interviewing RuPaul's Drag Race queens online, and grown into a touring events business with genuine industry clout. He talks about what it actually takes to run shows, the logistics, the contracts, the stress behind the sequins, and why the nighttime economy is in a more fragile state than audiences realise.

They get into the realities of the drag events world: last-minute ticket buying culture, the financial risks promoters carry, and what it means to rebuild audience trust in an industry that's taken knocks. Kyle is candid about the hard moments too, including the times he's had to cancel shows and why protecting the business is what keeps it going.

There's also the personal story: a wee gay boy from North Belfast, now two years into life in Manchester, with a coming-out story that wasn't his to control and a family that surprised him. Kyle reflects on identity, ambition, and what it means to build something on your own terms, with the chaos, the laughs, and the receipts to prove it.

It's sharp, funny, and refreshingly no-nonsense, a conversation about what it really takes to put queer joy on a stage and keep it there.

🗣️ Why Listen?

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