New York City drag queen Sierra La Puerta has gone viral for a hilarious ‘twink switch’ stunt during her performance at the queer bar ICON. La Puerta swapped places with a twink dressed as her, who pulled off the more challenging choreography, and a video of the routine has gained over 1 million views on X in less than 24 hours.

Taking part in the Pantheon, Queens’ biggest drag competition, La Puerta twirled away mid-performance into the corner, while for her twink stunt double, played by fellow drag performer Spice Diamond, took her place. Dressed the same but not quite a believable stand-in, Spice Diamond went straight into performing a series of daring moves, including a death drop.

Posting the video online, La Puerta included the caption, “Normalize hiring twinks doing your dance breaks for you”.

 

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However, this stunt has an interesting history. Long before digital effects were used to disguise one actor as another for physically demanding stunts, and before digital cuts were used to blend one scene to another, a process was used called the ‘Texas Switch’, sometimes known as the ‘Cowboy Switch’.

It involved the actor ducking out of the way, either under a table or behind a corner, and then being replaced by their stunt double to take the hit, whether it was a fall through a table or jumping through a window. This in-camera effect was used for stunts, done in one continuous take, and is still used today. Although it hasn’t been proven, the name most likely originated in the Western movie genre. 

The Texas Switch wasn’t always as subtle as the filmmakers had hoped, leading to some very funny, unwanted comedic moments when the stunt double didn’t match the actor’s look at all. This didn’t just happen during the Texas Switch; it also happens in many Hollywood scenes and has been parodied many times, as seen in the Naked Gun series and RuPaul’s Drag Race sketches.

Now, it is safe to say La Puerta has turned the Texas Switch into the Twink Switch, with many commentators taking to social media to praise the performance. 

La Puerta had this to say on the routine, “This was the first time using Spice, or anyone, as a body double. The idea of having a dance body double had been in my head for a while after getting cast in Pantheon, Queens’ biggest drag competition.”

She added, “But then the idea came to get someone who was comically a different size than me. That’s where Spice came into the picture. She was sadly eliminated from Pantheon a few weeks earlier, and I had always said I wanted her in the finale with me. So when she said yes, I was thrilled!”

Watch Sierra La Puerta perform her Twink Switch below.

 

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