“I do a song-for-song rendition of the Eras Tour in drag”: Meet Tay BoBo, Toronto’s Taylor Swift impersonator

Tay BoBo is Toronto’s preeminent Taylor Swift–impersonating drag queen. She’s been serving up Swiftie drag since 2020, but her bookings have skyrocketed over the past year as Eras-mania has taken hold of Toronto. Over the next two weeks, the 34-year-old former data entry worker will be bringing her act—a full-length, song-for-song, costume-for-costume rendition of the Eras Tour—to venues around the city, including the Drink and concert after-parties at the Rivoli. “Pride is normally the busiest time of the year for drag queens, but this is next level,” she says of her newfound status as a highly in-demand Swift proxy. Here, everything you need to know about Tay BoBo’s version.

Let’s start with Tay BoBo’s origin story. Was your drag always centred around all things Swift? Not originally. I was always a performer—I played Link Larkin in my high school production of Hairspray. But, for the most part, my teenage pop star dreams were realized alone in my basement. It’s not like I didn’t know about drag. I’m a ’90s baby, so I grew up with RuPaul, but it just didn’t feel very accessible for a kid growing up in Toronto. Then, about six years ago, I started spending more time in the Village—at Church Street Garage, the Drink and O’Grady’s. I saw performers like Tynomi Banks and Scarlett BoBo, who really inspired me. I spent about a year working on my act and improving my makeup skills before performing my first show at Church Street Garage. Most of the tracks were from dancing pop star girls like Britney and J.Lo.

Related: This Swiftie spent over $5,200 on the Eras Tour

So why Tay BoBo? Scar BoBo, who went on to compete on Canada’s Drag Race, saw my act and was really supportive, so she became my drag mother. And then my legal name is actually Taylor. I had been a fan of Taylor’s music, but when she released Folklore, Evermore and her version of Red during the pandemic, I became a lot more invested. Performing as Taylor became really cathartic. Do you remember the first time? It was at Woody’s, at a weekly drag show that I co-host. The first look I put together was based on the opening of the 1989 tour, so the sunglasses, sequin jacket and tiny shirt. I ordered a blond wig and chopped it into the bob that she was wearing at that time, and then I did the same medley that Taylor performed at the American Music Awards: “The Man,” “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Trouble” and then “Lover” at the end. People were really enthusiastic, but it was nothing compared to the reactions my act has been getting more recently.

Was it a gradual shift or did everything explode around the Eras Tour? The launch of the Eras Tour in the spring of 2023 was definitely a big deal, as was the concert movie last December and then The Tortured Poets Department in April. The idea to start performing my own version of the Eras Tour was something I came up with when I went to see it in New Jersey in 2023. Like I said, I grew up putting on shows alone in my basement. I always had a dream of doing a concert-length drag performance, and watching the show it was just like, Wait, I could do this. There were a lot of logistical hurdles in terms of getting all of the looks together and figuring out how to do all the quick changes, but it was nothing I couldn’t figure out.

The Eras Tour is three and a half hours long. Is your show the same? Three and a half hours, 44 songs, nine costume changes. We call it marathon drag.

It sounds like a pretty intense workout. Did you have to build up your endurance? People always ask me that, but the truth is, when I put on the 1989 costume, which comes near the end, I can’t believe it’s almost over. My friends have called me the Energizer Bunny of the drag world.

Are you fully booked for the next couple of weeks? Oh, definitely. It’s a lot of different types of shows: brunches, corporate events. The other day I did a show at a travel agency and then another one for a major pension company before they did their big Eras Tour ticket giveaway. I also did a bachelorette party at a private residence, which was a lot of fun.

Related: The Eras Tour Effect—a dollar-by-dollar breakdown of Taylor Swift fervour in Toronto

Great drag is often sexy and hilariously raunchy. How do you map that onto Taylor given that she can be a bit vanilla? What I love about Taylor is that the version of femininity she presents is not about the male gaze. She’s confident but also kind of a theatre kid. Her moves are more Broadway, with a lot of static poses, smiling and joy. Performing as her is empowering, plus her fans have such a deep emotional attachment to her songs. The energy they bring to it is amazing.

Is there a particular song that the crowd goes wild for? People’s jaws drop when I wear the Reputation bodysuit. There’s a lot of gasping. And there’s always a huge reaction to "...Ready for It?" I’m backstage changing when the intro starts, with the snake rattle, and the energy in the room really changes.

Do you do the “Vigilante Shit” chair dance? Yes. I know I said it wasn’t about sexy, but that is the sexiest moment in the show.

Do you have a favourite outfit? Oh, god, there are so many. I recently bought the Tortured Poets dress online—the white one with all of the lyrics on it—and that is pretty epic. I love everything from Folklore, which is just very flowy. The “Lover” bodysuit is great, but it’s very tight—it can feel like armour sometimes. Definitely the most annoying wardrobe item is the hat from “22.” It doesn’t want to stay on.

All of this Taylor-inspired fashion can’t be cheap. It definitely isn’t. I recently spent just under $500 on the newest Midnights bodysuit. I think this is the fourth or fifth version. It’s hard to keep up.

Have you been able to raise your rates? I have. But that is mostly based on how much more extensive the show has become in terms of the wardrobe and adding backup dancers.

So, if I wanted to book you to do the full tour at a private event, what’s the price tag? $1,200

Mick Jagger has famously said that he’d be happy never to perform “Satisfaction” again, and you hear that sentiment from a lot of artists who get tired of playing the same hits. Is there a Taylor song you’d just as soon retire? What I love about doing the full Eras Tour show is that you have such a great mix. I guess if I’m just doing a couple of songs at a shorter gig, I don’t love when I only get to do the big singles. Like, I’m doing “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” when I just want to do “August.”

Taylor famously writes songs inspired by her relationships and exes. Do you have a favourite? Or a least favourite? She gets a lot of attention for the break-up songs, but I love the ones that come from the times when she’s been happy in her relationships. The period when she was with Joe Alwyn led to so many great love songs on Lover and Reputation. I associate them with falling in love with my fiancé. We actually got engaged last spring in New Jersey after we saw the Eras show there. It was amazing.

Will there be a Swift component to your wedding day? Oh, absolutely. I’m sure she will be very present in the music and decor. I love the idea of having each table be a different era, instead of just Table 1 or Table 2.

What era are you? A lot of people say 1989, but I think of myself as part Red and part Reputation.

Are you going to the show in Toronto? I am. I was one of the lucky ones to get a pre-sale code last year. I’m going with my fiancé and a couple of friends. I’m still deciding on my outfit. Right now, the front runner is the Tortured Poets dress, but we’ll see.

And if Taylor were to pull you up on stage, what would you love to perform with her? It would never happen in a million years.

But if it did? If it did, I think my song choice would be either “Cruel Summer” or “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” which I am hoping she might do as the surprise song at the Toronto show. We are the same height, so we’d look great on stage together.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.