With all props and enthusiasm for RuPaul and his Drag Race, this is my idea of a true female impersonator and night club performer. Charles is unequaled in his talent and ability to carry an entire show single handed. There are not many Queens out there today who can claim that. Charles was, is and always will be the best! I saw this show at the Dottie Chandler Pavilion and let me tell you, the place was packed and had been sold out within one day of opening ticket sales. Hollywood celebs and studio moguls were all there, laughing along with the rest of us. I love you Charles and always will. Those were the days when being gay was a celebration of our uniqueness, and not our ability to 'blend in'.
I'm a modern drag queen (and have been for the past 25 years) and couldn't agree with you more. For all the influence Drag Race has had on pop culture, I do wish the producers (or at the very least RuPaul herself) felt a bit more obliged to educate the youth about the real legends that paved the way for them. Alas, she won't even have one of HER OWN contemporaries from the real golden age of drag (the late 80's and early 90's) sit next to her on that panel. Lypsinka, Varla Jean Merman, Charles Busch, Coco Peru? Not a one of them. They could be excellent mentors and appropriate judges that could offer real constructive criticism, but the powers that be at Drag Race apparently think that's a job better left to the most recent Disney Channel stars to turn 18 or the UA-cam "celebrity" du jour. Even worse? The "RuGirls" are more often booked and are so high-priced that the clubs and venues have no entertainment budget left over for anyone local or better known to the "mature" audiences.
So true. Though I'm glad for the gains made, I really miss the days when the gay bar was out second home, with lifelong friends made. It was a much more underground, mysterious experience. Old drag was SO much funnier, and I miss the more "homemade" costumes and props. Wouldn't trade the memories for anything, including a chance at present day youth.
The difference back then was the drag acts were more about being funny and glam and having talent. Now it’s a bunch of thirsty femme gay dudes trying to live out some female stripper fantasy. It’s lost most of the camp. Drag is funny because it’s a man dressed up. Now it’s a bunch of gay dudes who are claiming “trans” and trying to be sexy. Even they aren’t the same as the actual transsexuals of the past!
Pierce was simply the best. His job wasn't to nail the person he was impersonating...Jim Baily did that...but to give us the essence of the person and then build on it with jokes, which he did perfectly. You can't call someone 'second-rate' when they managed to pack the Ahmanson in LA, which is where this video was filmed, or clubs and theaters around the US and not be on top of your game. He was a professional at what he did and he did it well.
Bob Anderson Actually it was the Dorothy Chandler- (ahem) my name is inscribed in gold on the wall above the middle elevator on the West side.... ta dum dum.
For thos of us who remember Charles Pierce this one is still one of his best. It shows he was a real trooper and a pro when it came to entertaining. Whenever I'm down in the dumps this video never fails to make me laugh my head off.
If you ever were lucky enough to catch Charles Pierce's act in a club you know the accuracy of his impersonations was not important. It was the fun, the jokes, and the laughs that were important. Sometimes Pierce would tell an old one and the audience would still laugh, and he'd look at us with his big smile and say something like "I can't believe you laughed at that ancient gag." But he knew, it was the way he told it.
I knew Charles, what an absolutely incredible person. Saw this show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles in I think it was the mid 1980's. He called it his third final farewell performance...If memory serves.
Pierce was and is one of the very best there was or is! Period. This isn't about looking like, nor quite sounding like anyone but their essence. It's also but the gags, and Charles had so many gags a lot of these no-talent queens would kill for Charles' career and as long as he did it. He made female impersonation what it is today. Anybody that questions that doesn't know their ass from their elbow.
Very well put, an artist of this calibre captures exactly the essence of the star that is being being portrayed. Thank goodness we have recordings, I never tire of listening and looking at this brilliant artiste
My first job as a waiter was at Bob's Big Boy in LA. The place was on Wilshire off of Highland. One day I noticed Mae West sitting in the back of her limo, I found out that her driver had bought her a Bob's Big Boy hamburger "DP'. DP means divided portions, she liked it cut into four pieces. I actually saw her about three times I guess she loved her Big Boys. I'm not sure but I think she lived in that area Wilshire near Hancock Park. This was back in 1977.
Ernest Castro She lived in the Ravenswood apartments overlooking the LA Country Club. I was offered her surprisingly small apartment for $550 in the 80s.
@@neilcowan6789 "I can't understand that with all the money she once made and the caliber of artist that she was she did not own a house and that she had to pay someone else rent, month to month to have a roof over her head?
@@soul2soul429 when u own a home it's basically still rent.. property taxes and mortgage payments, upkeep.. ugh.. plus old Hollywood wasn't t paid what they are paid now.
Everybody in the LGBT community better get a hold of the new book " Mae West and the Count- Love and Loss on the Vaudeville stage " ( Amazon, B&N etc.) to learn the full truths regarding Mae's acceptance and promotion of alternative life styles. She should be everyone's poster girl.
I do! Saw Charles Pierce at Gold Coast on my first trip to SF, in 1973 or 4. His impression of Mae West appeared prerecorded on a black and white TV screen as if she was on Sesame Street, counting to 10, in a very suggestive way, while doing a quick costume change. He swung on a swing right over the audience while doing Jeanette MacDonald. Wonderful fun, lots of great laughs!
i can't believe what a comic delivery Charles Pierce had i was turned on to him by coworker this is a must to watch tell a friend anyone here for Charles Feb 2020
Oh!Oh! Goodness has Nothing to do with it, Dearie! Come Up and See the QUEEN 👸 of CAMP celebrating the ORIGINAL QUEEN of CAMP. 💎 🌹 🎉 🌹. RIP both 🙏💪 🏳️🌈 😎
THIS is what DRAG is: a talented man entertaining adults. Instead what we get today are semi-freaks pole-dancing and lap-dancing for children. RIP Charles.
Pierce doesn't do a very good West impersonation, fails at doing Crawford as well, he was better at impersonating Davis, due to her unique speech pattern and mannerisms.
He gets her essence and magnifies it to a hilarious plateau. It doesn't matter whether he does a "very good " impression because he gets her down in a short hand cartoon manner...like when he sings Frankie and Johnny spitting out syllables....who cares if he sounds like West at that point !
It's never been about "being" the person you impersonate. You exaggerate the mannerisms. Besides, I'd like to see those who find Charles Pierce "second rate" do what he does and make people laugh. I bet if anyone of you try it, the only sound you'll hear, besides the crickets, are the snores of the audience falling asleep. Enough said. And yes, hunty, I am entitled to my opinion.
you are talking shit here, the "guy" was a lousy female impersonator, "second if not third rate," through and through, the only one "he" did well was Davis, but to impersonate her, doesn't take much drive
@Elaine Bundy............. Don't be an imbecile........ And by the way, she did act like that and often wore a strange Bun on the top of her head......... Lighten up, you dumb fuck.
With all props and enthusiasm for RuPaul and his Drag Race, this is my idea of a true female impersonator and night club performer. Charles is unequaled in his talent and ability to carry an entire show single handed. There are not many Queens out there today who can claim that. Charles was, is and always will be the best! I saw this show at the Dottie Chandler Pavilion and let me tell you, the place was packed and had been sold out within one day of opening ticket sales. Hollywood celebs and studio moguls were all there, laughing along with the rest of us. I love you Charles and always will. Those were the days when being gay was a celebration of our uniqueness, and not our ability to 'blend in'.
Couldn’t agree more ❤️ Charlie is incomparable! The best
I'm a modern drag queen (and have been for the past 25 years) and couldn't agree with you more. For all the influence Drag Race has had on pop culture, I do wish the producers (or at the very least RuPaul herself) felt a bit more obliged to educate the youth about the real legends that paved the way for them. Alas, she won't even have one of HER OWN contemporaries from the real golden age of drag (the late 80's and early 90's) sit next to her on that panel. Lypsinka, Varla Jean Merman, Charles Busch, Coco Peru? Not a one of them. They could be excellent mentors and appropriate judges that could offer real constructive criticism, but the powers that be at Drag Race apparently think that's a job better left to the most recent Disney Channel stars to turn 18 or the UA-cam "celebrity" du jour. Even worse? The "RuGirls" are more often booked and are so high-priced that the clubs and venues have no entertainment budget left over for anyone local or better known to the "mature" audiences.
So true. Though I'm glad for the gains made, I really miss the days when the gay bar was out second home, with lifelong friends made. It was a much more underground, mysterious experience. Old drag was SO much funnier, and I miss the more "homemade" costumes and props. Wouldn't trade the memories for anything, including a chance at present day youth.
The difference back then was the drag acts were more about being funny and glam and having talent. Now it’s a bunch of thirsty femme gay dudes trying to live out some female stripper fantasy. It’s lost most of the camp. Drag is funny because it’s a man dressed up. Now it’s a bunch of gay dudes who are claiming “trans” and trying to be sexy. Even they aren’t the same as the actual transsexuals of the past!
This is an irreplaceable force. Hysterical, talented, an triumph of stage performance.
"I walked past the sailor, and his wings fell off. Then, when he bent over to pick them up, the Marine's wings fell off."
What a legacy Mr. Pierce has left behind. Even today, FABULOUS!
Ru Paul ain't got a look in .THIS IS DRAG . THIS IS TALENT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are so fucking right
He looks a bit like Madonna ! I've not laughed so much in ages !
OMG you're right, he does look like Madge! 👍 We need laughter more than ever today in these times of everyone getting offended by everything.
Pierce was simply the best. His job wasn't to nail the person he was impersonating...Jim Baily did that...but to give us the essence of the person and then build on it with jokes, which he did perfectly. You can't call someone 'second-rate' when they managed to pack the Ahmanson in LA, which is where this video was filmed, or clubs and theaters around the US and not be on top of your game. He was a professional at what he did and he did it well.
Bob Anderson Actually it was the Dorothy Chandler- (ahem) my name is inscribed in gold on the wall above the middle elevator on the West side.... ta dum dum.
@@neilcowan6789 you go gurl!
we need the laughter more then ever watch all his videos this what Talent is all about -march 2020
For thos of us who remember Charles Pierce this one is still one of his best. It shows he was a real trooper and a pro when it came to entertaining. Whenever I'm down in the dumps this video never fails to make me laugh my head off.
Jim Very true. I remember it in real time. The whole concert is a hoot.
God, I miss Charles Pierce! I was fortunate to see him several times in different venues. Truly a classic!
Still spectacular. Nobody can even come close. RIP Charles Pierce.
Camp at it's best.
Looks like Madonna in about 5 years.
😄😃😂
😂😂😂👏👏👏
This is what a real true legend looks like! 👸🏼 this is the kind of diva they should be celebrating on drag race!! GOAT
Madonna with, all of her plastic surgery, has turned into Charles Pierce as Mae West! 🤣🤣
I love this every time I watch it
nobody can match mae west. she was one of a kind
If you ever were lucky enough to catch Charles Pierce's act in a club you know the accuracy of his impersonations was not important. It was the fun, the jokes, and the laughs that were important. Sometimes Pierce would tell an old one and the audience would still laugh, and he'd look at us with his big smile and say something like "I can't believe you laughed at that ancient gag." But he knew, it was the way he told it.
The true Divine Drag Goddess! RiP Mama. 🙏😇💖🎼👍💋
I knew Charles, what an absolutely incredible person. Saw this show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles in I think it was the mid 1980's. He called it his third final farewell performance...If memory serves.
Absolute mastery of live comedic revue. Layered, cerebral, with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Pierce was and is one of the very best there was or is! Period. This isn't about looking like, nor quite sounding like anyone but their essence. It's also but the gags, and Charles had so many gags a lot of these no-talent queens would kill for Charles' career and as long as he did it. He made female impersonation what it is today. Anybody that questions that doesn't know their ass from their elbow.
Charlie Dale ....... 'IN A NUTSHELL' -
As the Saying goe's
Very well put, an artist of this calibre captures exactly the essence of the star that is being being portrayed. Thank goodness we have recordings, I never tire of listening and looking at this brilliant artiste
And watching the musicians cracking up is part of the fun. We miss you Charles ❤️
The whole thing is funny if you know the stars he is impersonating. He is very talented.
My first job as a waiter was at Bob's Big Boy in LA. The place was on Wilshire off of Highland. One day I noticed Mae West sitting in the back of her limo, I found out that her driver had bought her a Bob's Big Boy hamburger "DP'. DP means divided portions, she liked it cut into four pieces. I actually saw her about three times I guess she loved her Big Boys. I'm not sure but I think she lived in that area Wilshire near Hancock Park. This was back in 1977.
Ernest Castro She lived in the Ravenswood apartments overlooking the LA Country Club. I was offered her surprisingly small apartment for $550 in the 80s.
@Aifric Brennan I don't know about her height. She was sitting in the back seat of her car eating her hamburger. I never saw her standing.
@@neilcowan6789 "I can't understand that with all the money she once made and the caliber of artist that she was she did not own a house and that she had to pay someone else rent, month to month to have a roof over her head?
@@soul2soul429 when u own a home it's basically still rent.. property taxes and mortgage payments, upkeep.. ugh.. plus old Hollywood wasn't t paid what they are paid now.
@@GohAhweh 😘
great performance
Best material ever!
Oh I wish I could have witnessed this in person!
8:36
i watch this every few weeks and it always cracks me up!
This is sensationell... funny, intelligent, and en pointe!!
I love how the background music goes from slow and just in piano and goes on tempo and full orchestra
She was scandalous brilliant way over the top what a body She defied the rules and boundaries and created her life her way she was everything
I'll take this over Ru Paul any day 🤣
Absolutely hysterical...
He is hilarious 😄and done a good job impersonating may 👍
He is amazing at this
Loved it!!!💃
Wonderfully talented Mr Pierce
Everybody in the LGBT community better get a hold of the new book " Mae West and the Count- Love and Loss on the Vaudeville stage " ( Amazon, B&N etc.) to learn the full truths regarding Mae's acceptance and promotion of alternative life styles. She should be everyone's poster girl.
i love this made me laugh out loud so funny and right on with all his impersonate
is anyone here January 10th 2020 Happy New Year
it's not only very good, it's cruel!! I love it ❤😱😆😆
Simply excellent.
How wonderful!
He was one of the GREST IMPERSONATORS. 😂
At least, Charles Pierce is 💯% better than Alaska!!
amazing!
Excellent!!
omg i adore him
So amazing ! This is genius!
Génial! Incroyable!!
There will never be another xx
Very funny. Thanks for posting. Bravo!
Thank you
I saw him with my parents on Geary Street a long time ago.
legend
Great Great star and never forget his Designing Women!!!
Female impersonators can't do this type of show anymore because nobody knows who these people are.
Brilliant
love it ! so damned funny!
This was really good shows. Not today 2021 any more ..they fall on the floor and they take off the wig👎
HYSTERICAL ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Madonna, is that you?
he did play long time in San Francisco he was the best
wonderful xoxo
Bloody brilliant lol 😂
fukn the best!!!!!
Who remembers GOLD STREET in San Fran??
I do! Saw Charles Pierce at Gold Coast on my first trip to SF, in 1973 or 4. His impression of Mae West appeared prerecorded on a black and white TV screen as if she was on Sesame Street, counting to 10, in a very suggestive way, while doing a quick costume change.
He swung on a swing right over the audience while doing Jeanette MacDonald. Wonderful fun, lots of great laughs!
As I'm watching this Charles was around while The Real Mae West was alive I wonder if she ever met Charles.
Hilarious
this is everything love it
Funny. I remember my grandma use to sung that song when I was just a kid. And we use to say. Ohhhhhhhhhh grandma
funny stuff
i can't believe what a comic delivery Charles Pierce had i was turned on to him by coworker this is a must to watch tell a friend anyone here for Charles Feb 2020
Incredible talent!
The consummate performer!
No comparison to todays’s drag people.
Great Mae West impersonation... but he looks like he's chewing gum when doing her....LOL.
No way. He's good.
Lucky history book show that this is Mae West
Funny in itself --doesn't capture Mae West's voice, manner or humor--but the content is still entertaining, thanks.
You must be fun at parties
Lo Fernandes : I applaud your sparkling cleverness and originality. Remarkably inventive
False news
Omg looks just like her
😂😂😂
Oh!Oh! Goodness has Nothing to do with it, Dearie! Come Up and See the QUEEN 👸 of CAMP celebrating the ORIGINAL QUEEN of CAMP. 💎 🌹 🎉 🌹. RIP both 🙏💪 🏳️🌈 😎
Go to 9:58 for the best impression of someone off chops on amyl ever. So damn funny I near wet myself!
😆😆😆😅😁
👍👍👍👍😘
he does bette better
Lol
😉 George Santos is such a DRAG! But will NEVER begin to compair with CHARLES or MAE who could easily PIERCE him 💋. And DON'T say DeSantis!
THIS is what DRAG is: a talented man entertaining adults. Instead what we get today are semi-freaks pole-dancing and lap-dancing for children. RIP Charles.
Mae was a man to
GREAT TRY...YOU DONT HAVE THE MAE WEST TIMING & VOICE.
His Mae West is not on point..the voice is easy to do and he isn't trying.. Mae moved slower
Not when she snorted coke off a microphone! 😆
Pierce doesn't do a very good West impersonation, fails at doing Crawford as well, he was better at impersonating Davis, due to her unique speech pattern and mannerisms.
He gets her essence and magnifies it to a hilarious plateau. It doesn't matter whether he does a "very good " impression because he gets her down in a short hand cartoon manner...like when he sings Frankie and Johnny spitting out syllables....who cares if he sounds like West at that point !
Pierce, and may he rest in peace, was pretty second rate, sorry, everybody is entitled to their opinions here.
totally agree.... gay bar act
It's never been about "being" the person you impersonate. You exaggerate the mannerisms. Besides, I'd like to see those who find Charles Pierce "second rate" do what he does and make people laugh. I bet if anyone of you try it, the only sound you'll hear, besides the crickets, are the snores of the audience falling asleep. Enough said. And yes, hunty, I am entitled to my opinion.
you are talking shit here, the "guy" was a lousy female impersonator, "second if not third rate," through and through, the only one "he" did well was Davis, but to impersonate her, doesn't take much drive
AWFUL!
Not funny. MAE didn't act like that or look like that
@Elaine Bundy............. Don't be an imbecile........ And by the way, she did act like that and often wore a strange Bun on the top of her head......... Lighten up, you dumb fuck.
Terrible impersonation. Mae never walked or talked like that. He blew it. But he’s dead now so what does it matter.
I don't mind impersonations if the artist is respectful about it, but, this, was insulting. lmo.
I am surprised at how vicious it was. Funny and vicious.
Terrible, terrible, terrible. Even her Bette Davis sucks. Watch Alfred Lewis instead.
You poor thing
Christine Parker Bette herself didn't think so. She called Pierce supremely talented. So, you're on your own here.
I prefer victimless humor. It's sad to see a man degrade himself so badly.