New Jersey drag queen Marti Gould Cummings has gone viral for performing the popular children’s song “Baby Shark” much to a toddler’s and the internet’s delight.
Cummings performs regularly at the weekly “What’s the Tea” drag brunch at Talde, an Asian-American restaurant in Jersey City. It was already a popular event, but after this past Saturday, it may have a packed house.
According to Cummings, they were doing “drag roulette” where the audience gets to pick songs for them to perform. He said that while typically there are a few kids at the drag brunch, they tend to not be very engaged in the show, instead focusing on their electronics. However, on March 16, Cummings noticed a toddler who was paying close attention.
“I asked the little boy what he wanted to see performed, because he had been paying attention when I got to their table,” Cummings said to NBC.
Like so many 2-year-olds, the young boy only had one song in his heart: “Baby Shark.”
Cummings did not hesitate. “The DJ quickly found the song online, and we added it to the playlist for him,” he said. In the video clip of the performance, the toddler can be seen rocking and clapping along with Cummings and smiling ear-to-ear. The video has so far been shared over 626,000 times.
When a 2 year old comes to brunch you perform baby shark for them!!! pic.twitter.com/Ikx94mlTxO
— Marti (@MartiGCummings) March 16, 2019
As always, there are some people who don’t think drag performers have any business around children, but Cummings is quick to shut down their criticism.
A place that is welcoming to everyone. Where joy is spread and hate isn’t aloud through the doors.
— Marti (@MartiGCummings) March 17, 2019
“Anyone who thinks drag isn’t for children is wrong,” Cummings told NBC. “Drag is expression, and children are such judgment-free beings; they don’t really care what you’re wearing, just what you’re performing.” Cummings said they often hear the same thing about drag queen story hour, an event done at libraries across the country in which drag queens read to kids, but the kids “don’t care that I am a gay man in a dress; they care about the story.”
H/T PinkNews