Billy Francesca Talks Pride After Dark, WeHo, and The Perfect Cocktail

Hi friends! It is finally Pride season!! And this Wednesday, May 31st, Fleshbot Gay will be sponsoring Pride After Dark at Rocco’s in West Hollywood! This will be a WeHo Pride kickoff party where you can come and mingle with some of your favorite adult entertainers! Pride After Dark will be hosted by the fabulous Billy Francesca, so you know it’s going to be a hoot!

I got to interview Billy Francesca about the event, but also about Pride and nightlife and a dream dinner party! How fun! So check out Billy’s answers below, and we’ll see you Wednesday, May 31st at Rocco’s WeHo for Pride After Dark at 9 pm!

You’re hosting WeHo Pride After Dark on May 31st, sponsored by Fleshbot Gay! What can people expect?

Well, first off I have to say I LOVE The idea of “Pride After Dark”. I think it’s a great idea! I love the concept of featuring our adult entertainment friends and having a playful, sexee (that's how I spell it) good time! I think people see adult stars as often unapproachable, and I want to help them have a good time, and enjoy their FAVE stars!  I think the idea is so fun, so much so, I started an Instagram page so we can share pics and info on the event, and share the love with the Fleshbot Gay team! I’d like to think of my hosting as a provocative Aunt who is out to cause trouble!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Billy Francesca (@billyfrancesca)

Pride has evolved so much over the years. What does Pride mean to you?

I have been hosting Pride for over 10 years! But I’m still 36… Please don’t do the math. I love bringing people together, I love having those moments onstage with thousands of people and great energy, and it’s like we’re all having fun in my backyard. It is such a magical time, and it is so electric, to experience that. And over the years I have really gotten to see it grow, and become more inclusive, more people, and more LOOKS! The kids come out ready and I love it! 

You are a legend in West Hollywood nightlife! What is it about West Hollywood’s nightlife that sets it apart?

I don’t think the word “legend” means what you think it means if you are calling me that. I love WEHO so much, and I love when I leave WEHO to visit venues in other parts of LA or even out of state. So many people have FUN stories about being in WEHO, or meeting me, or hearing me yell. I think it is such a super condensed area, that it’s like we all go out to a giant club, and there are these wonderful venues all over town. And if you want to visit another scene, you can head out to another club. I think that since LA is so spread out, to have one area where you can walk around and have so many choices, we are just lucky. 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Billy Francesca (@billyfrancesca)

Making it in nightlife is no easy feat! What advice would you give to anyone looking for a career as a nightlife personality?

No easy feat is RIGHT! Have you seen my FEET? I tell this to so many performers whom I meet at my events or other events, and I get asked all the time, “How do you work so much” and it’s not a secret, I talk to EVERYONE! So many performers, hosts, tend to stay with their group, and my group is everyone! I talk to everyone, yell at everyone, laugh with everyone! When you work in nightlife, you are part of an industry that helps people to leave their day-to-day work, lives, family, whatever it may be, and have some time to just have fun. And I love doing it! 

What is your favorite thing about Pride season?

My favorite part of Pride (and it never changes) is when Sunday night hits and the festival closes down, all the guests are leaving the park, the entire JJLA  production crew, and workers, and staff, we all meet on stage for a group picture, (and maybe a cocktail, or two) and just shout and toast and laugh, and look over a tattered park, and I always love it! These are the people that make the magic happen and I love being a small part of that and getting to share that moment with them. 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Billy Francesca (@billyfrancesca)

Who were some queer icons for you growing up?

Obsessed with Miss. Piggy! "HIIII YA, karate chop!” I thought she was the most glamorous model in the world. I’m not sure if that counts as a "Queer icon”, but growing up for me, there wasn’t that “OUT” vibe. You didn’t have celebrities and singers, and artists OUT. I mean I loved, George Michael, but it wasn’t like, “Here is a gay role model;” it didn’t work that way. For me, it was like, “Oh you love Diana Ross...OK, You’re good people."

My first memory of gay nightlife was going to Rage Nightclub when I was 18 years old. Can you share your first time experiencing gay nightlife?

Oh lord, I joke that my first gay nightclub was NOAH’s ARK, the place was full of animals and Chi Chi LaRue was DJing… It was a small bar on Cape Cod called “The Mallory Dock” and I would get there early before they started charging and I would wait for it to fill up so I could dance and hang out! I didn’t even drink then if you can believe that! But there was this bitchy queen who looking back now was clearly jealous. She worked security and made it a point to throw me out. But it didn’t discourage me, I would come back the next night and hide in that bathroom…You can’t keep a good dancing queen down! 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Billy Francesca (@billyfrancesca)

What is your cocktail of choice?

My fave cocktail is, very simple… Fill a shaker to the BRIM with ice, pour in four fingers of Ketel One, squeeze some lemon, SHAKE that shaker like a crying baby on an international flight, pour it over a short glass filled with ice and a splash of cranberry…as usually I am working through a UTI. 

You also host Dragged Out! A weekly drag competition every Wednesday at Rocco’s. What do you look for in a winner?

Dragged Out! 7 years and over $77K in cash given away to up-and-coming performers! I actually don’t look for anything… TWIST! Each performer signs up, and the audience votes to see who stays and goes. If it's a weekly event, they win the weekly cash prize, if it's a longer competition like last year's $7,500 prize, guests vote weekly. The entire concept is to let the people vote and see who/what they like, and the performers and the talent and the originality is AMAZING! And the May 31st Pride After Dark is on our $1,000 finale night! So get ready!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Billy Francesca (@billyfrancesca)

If you could host a dinner party with anyone, dead or alive, who would you invite?

Oh, that's easy! Bootsie & the Pirate (my parents, they are so friggin fun); I would want Leona Helmsley, I love an original mean bitch! Willy Nelson, my dad & I love him. I would have to have Johnny Mathias. That man's voice is IT! Madame and Waylon Flowers, because, sweet Christ that would be a trip. And Bea Arthur, but then we would HAVE to serve Lamb…because she loved it, but I don’t think I could eat it. Maybe Elvis for after-dinner drinks, just to even out the night.

For more information on Pride After Dark, click here!

Follow Billy Francesca on Instagram!

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram,  Twitter, and TikTok!