Kilmer-Purcell, Josh 1969-

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KILMER-PURCELL, Josh 1969-

PERSONAL:

Born 1969, in Albany, NY. Education: Michigan State University, B.A., 1991.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY. Agent—Andy McNicol, William Morris Agency, 1325 6th Ave., New York, NY 10022-5299. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Advertising copywriter, Atlanta, GA, 1992-1996, New York, NY, 1996—. Drag performer under name Aquadisiac or Aqua, New York, NY, 1990s.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Has received advertising awards.

WRITINGS:

I Am Not Myself These Days: A Memoir, Harper Perennial (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Josh Kilmer-Purcell first performed in a drag show in Atlanta, Georgia, where he worked as an advertising copywriter. When he moved to New York City, he began a nighttime career as a drag performer that would last until 2000. The young man who had grown up in rural Wisconsin performed as Aquadisiac. Standing more than seven feet tall in heels, clad in black leather, and sporting see-through bubble breasts filled with water and goldfish, he performed in nightclubs in New York and beyond. In his I Am Not Myself These Days: A Memoir, he recounts his double life and how his work as a performer eventually took its toll on his advertising career and his life in general. Mark Alan Williams wrote in Library Journal that the memoir is "filled with witty dialog, confusing awakenings, and extraordinary situations."

Kilmer-Purcell writes of his addictions to alcohol and cocaine and his relationship with Jack, a good one in spite of the fact that Jack worked as a male escort to pay for his luxurious lifestyle and crack addiction. The author relives the pain of their relationship and the danger involved with his lifestyle choices. Booklist contributor Jack Helbig noted Kilmer-Purcell's rich dialogue and commented: "Parts of his autobiography are as tart and funny as a Noel Coward play." A Kirkus Reviews critic described the memoir as "a stellar debut in this genre.… Effortlessly entertaining yet still heartfelt: the romance of life as an escape artist."