Software Engineer by Day, Drag Queen by Night: The Dual Life of Pat N. Pending

29 June 2025

Drag Queen Pat N. Pending. PatNPending

By day in Brooklyn offices and remote workspaces, Pat N. Pending emerges as a mobile software engineer with a focus on logical systems and precision coding. With a firm footing in mobile app development, their work is meticulous and structured, a world of pixels, algorithms, and disciplined problem-solving that demands clarity, organization, and methodical thinking. Yet as evening settles, Pat transforms into an electrifying drag performer whose stage persona radiates vibrant creativity, high-energy entertainment, and emotional expression that stands in thrilling contrast to their daytime routine.

Their journey into drag began unexpectedly during the COVID–19 lockdown when Pat, then pursuing a master’s degree in engineering, reconnected with their artistic inclinations. A ‘non‑theater theater kid’ growing up, they had always been drawn to musical theater and visual art, yet never had the chance to formally engage in performance. Inspired by RuPaul’s Drag Race and the emergent drag scenes at Pride events, Pat began exploring makeup and self-expression. "I was obsessed with Glee, obsessed with musical theater, and used to love to draw and paint as a kid," they recall. Armed with online tutorials especially from drag icons like Trixie Mattel, they applied their scientific training to the craft, analyzing countless makeup looks, collaging photos, and refining each element with the rigor of an engineering lab.

The stage name Pat N. Pending nods to Pat’s technical roots, they even had a patent pending for a medical device sketched during an internship. It serves as a clever through line connecting their daytime precision work to their nocturnal exploration of persona. “It brings a little of that software engineering, engineering skill into the drag,” they explain, emphasizing that the same logic which structures their code also shapes costume design, performance timing, and stagecraft.

Once their laptop shuts at five, Pat begins the transition. The hours between work and showtime are a whirlwind of makeup application, wig selection, outfit assembly, and mental transformation. Shows begin at around 11 pm; many stretch past 2 am. Crowded rooftop venues, open call nights, and recurring run with comedian Jaboozy for their fringe drag-and‑comedy showcase offer platforms for a performative identity that’s equal parts "high energy" and curated unfiltered silliness.

Despite the exhaustion this lifestyle demands, Pat describes it as deeply fulfilling. “Drag allows them to showcase their creative side that they’re not able to fully utilize in their day‑to‑day,” they say. Their technical job requires structure and logic; drag offers the opposite, a space to lose control, to experiment, to surrender to the audience’s response.

This balance of discipline and freedom is at the core of Pat’s artistry. Their performances are not built on flashy acrobatics or gravity-defying splits, but on storytelling and theatrical presence echoing influences like Sasha Velour, Alaska 5000, Brita Filter, and Rosé. For Pat, lineage in queer performance comes from emotional connection, narrative clarity, and carefully curated stagecraft rather than athletic spectacle.

In the fast-paced Brooklyn drag circuit, professionalism is non-negotiable. Pat emphasizes punctuality, courtesy, preparedness and networking. “Show up on time and be nice and be courteous,” they counsel aspiring performers. “Make it work and be a good sport. Practice” whether hair, makeup, or choreography. Their advice echoes an engineer’s ethic: iteration, analysis, and continual optimization yield excellence.

They also offer etiquette tips to fans: tipping is essential, as is respect for the performers’ space and art. “If you use the hot‑dog method and fold it long when tipping, the performer can grab it,” Pat notes. No judgment, no wig-pulling, just enthusiastic support. That energy exchange is at the heart of live performance culture.

For Pat N. Pending, drag is more than performance, it’s identity, expression, and community building. Their science-of-makeup approach reflects a creative ethic grounded in reflection and refinement. Their stage presence transforms that method into magic. As one performer among many, they bring unique duality to drag culture: the engineer’s meticulous logic and the artist’s exuberant color.

Their narrative speaks to broader themes at the intersection of art and technology. As remote and technical professions dominate 21st-century daily life, Pat’s story illustrates the power of re-engaging the creative self outside digital boundaries. Night after night, in rooms filled with applause and laughter, Pat shows that fulfillment need not fit a single template. Creativity adapts and thrives, whether in code or costume.

Looking ahead, Pat is committed to building their brand performing regularly, continuing their stand‑up drag shows, honing their act, and deepening their ties to the local queer arts scene. For them, there is no single identity: they are both engineer and entertainer, coder and creator. The venue may change, but the logic remains: practice, performance, feedback, adaptation.

By morning, Pat returns to debugging code and refining algorithms with fresh eyes. Each day bridges worlds once thought distant: the rational, pixel‑perfect realm of mobile software and the electrifying uncertainty of a drag stage. Each world informs the other, resulting in a life richer and more authentic.

In a culture learning to celebrate multiplicity, Pat N. Pending captures the zeitgeist: life need not be contained by a single role, a single persona, or a single expectation. They are proof that duality is not distraction but harmony, that fulfillment lies both in structure and spectacle. And in Brooklyn’s drag-filled nights, they thrive by day an architect of systems, by night a magician of presence.