P.J. Idaho

Written by Patrick Costello | Performed by Patrick Costello and Travis Sehorn | Music co-written by Patrick Costello and Travis Sehorn

Originally conceived in 1994, P.J. Idaho is my gymnast country singer alter ego. 

Descending from white, working-class, religious people -- Mormons from Idaho and Irish Catholics from New Jersey, my family drove trucks, worked for the railroad, served in the military, and farmed. Idolizing my grandparents and their “All-American” lifestyle, I grew up coveting my grandmother’s homemade square-dancing dresses, hoping that one day, I too would be a rodeo queen. A child gymnast and avid singer, I conjured P.J. Idaho as a one-way ticket to fame and fortune. I wrote yodel-tinged country tunes, memorized intricate tumbling choreography, and designed fringed western-wear ensembles.

P.J.'s revival in 2016 has resulted in a series of performances involving song, dance, and gymnastics. Grounded in an understanding of P.J. as an early attempt to articulate a personal sense of queer identity (before accumulating language to describe it or experiences to give it context), the more recent shows use humor and autobiography to present complicated conversations about my continually evolving understandings of masculinity and the construction of whiteness in the US.

Performances:

• P.J. Idaho’s Double Tuck, 100 Rochester, Brooklyn, 2017

• P.J. Idaho: With Love to Kerri Strug, Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, 2017

• P.J. Idaho: We Do This With Our Tongues, Hunter College, NYC, 2016