Spotlight on: Drag Bingo at the A-House

by Brent Persun

Every Wednesday evening in the winter, the hearty Provincetown locals pack into the Little Bar at the A-House to hear one of the town’s most famous (infamous?) drag queens squawk out Bingo numbers. Each week behind the rolling cage of balls, players can find headliner host Tiki Bronstein (the Bingo-loving character of Scott Townsend aka Thirsty Burlington) or her brassy compatriot Liza Lott, who makes numbers like “B-13” as exciting as that drag Bingo classic “O-69!”
Have you ever spent a winter evening in a warm, crowded bar full of (mostly) gay men when a drag queen pulls out that magic ball and screams “O-69!”? It’s a near spiritual experience as the whole bar erupts in manic hoots and hollers, definitely something for your bucket list.
Players can get a free card to start, or pay extra for extra changes to win big. Games run from the traditional (a line of 5) to the unusual (round robin, a complete outer circle) to the whimsically raunchy, like “Cock ‘n’ Balls” (a vertical line with two spots at the bottom). Winners can expect to walk away with a neat bundle of cash, though usually that cash ends up poured back into drinks for the evening. Win or lose, you’re sure to have a raucous good time at Drag Bingo.