Caldwell Tidicue, known professionally as Bob the Drag Queen, is an American comedian, actor, recording artist, activist, personality, and drag queen.
Bob is best known for being the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 8 in 2016. While on the show, Bob had one of the top trajectories of any contestant up to that point, only having to lip sync once after several challenge wins. He is also notable for being one of few Drag Race contestants that uses masculine pronouns while in drag.
After Drag Race, Bob has appeared in film and television projects like High Maintenance, Rough Night, and Tales of the City. Alongside Shangela and Eureka, Bob is one of the hosts of the Emmy-nominated HBO docuseries We're Here, which follows the queens as they give drag makeovers to small town citizens throughout the USA.
Bob's drag family is fairly well-known and successful throughout the Drag Race franchise. His drag daughter Miz Cracker finished fifth in Season 10 and then as a runner-up in All Stars 5, while his drag sister and close friend Monét X Change won All Stars 4 after finishing sixth in Season 10.
Selected filmography:
- RuPaul's Drag Race (2016) as himself
- RuPaul's Celebrity Drag Race (2020)
- High Maintenance (2016) as Darnell
- Playing House (2017) as himself
- Rough Night (2017) as DJ
- The Trixie & Katya Show (2018) as himself / co-host note
- Tales of the City (2019) as Ida Best
- A Black Lady Sketch Show (2020) as Basic Ball Emcee
- We're Here (2020 — 2022) as himself / co-host
- Ziwe (2021) as himself (Guest)
- Dimension 20: Dungeons and Drag Queens (2023) as himself / Gertrude
- Bait-and-Switch Comparison: When asked how she came up with her drag name, she jokes that she's named after her father..."The Drag Queen."
- Big Applesauce: One of three bombastic queens from New York City, along with Acid Betty and Thorgy Thor.
- Catchphrase: "Walk into the club purse first!" Now available on iTunes!
- Chewing the Scenery: Bob is not one for a demure performance, whether in the challenges, workroom, or Confession Cam. Between her portrayals of Uzo Aduba and Carol Channing, the Snatch Game had her teeth marks all over it!
- Fashion Hurts: Claims this is the reason she normally does "ratchet drag", she's not a model or a 'look queen' but an entertainer on her feet for two hours at a time during a show. She says if she were to wear a heavy gown, huge hair, and giant lashes it would hurt her performance, and by the end of it all her fashion would have drooped or fallen off anyway.
- Fun with Acronyms: "Bob" stands for "Big Old Bottom".
- Gender-Blender Name: Although it's not her real name. See Fun with Acronyms above for what it stands for.
- I Call It "Vera": She has named her gaudy curtain clutch "Purse-Purse Imfurst".
- Improv: She's been shown to be a master at ad libbing when it comes to acting challenges and live comedy.
- Iconic Item: Purse Purse Imfurst! See I Call It "Vera" and Signature Move.
- Large Ham: Is a master of Chewing the Scenery, whether in challenges or just in the workroom. Case in point, her first win of the season was for the overacting challenge, which really showed her in her natural element.
- Motor Mouth: Bob was never at a loss of words on the show, and would constantly be telling non-stop jokes in the workroom. Some of the other queens would accuse Bob of never shutting up, and telling 100 jokes with maybe 2 of them actually being funny.
- Nice Girl: While she is definitely one of the shadier girls of her season, she is quick to sing the praises of a fellow cast member if they have to work together and the other queen manages to pull through. She would even give out advice during Untucked on how to approach the lip sync songs when other girls would receive a harsh critique and know that they will be lip syncing later.
- Promoted Fanboy: She was actually inspired to do drag from watching the show and won the season which she took part in. Now is also employed as the host of the official after-show "The Pit Stop".
- Recorded and Stand-Up Comedy: Is a stand-up comic queen, so she's very confident about slaying the comedy challenges.
- Sassy Black Woman: While in drag she's downright ghetto, flashing gang signs and tossing (fake) cigarettes. Used to hilarious effect in the Empire-themed challenge which earns her a win.
- Signature Move: Leaning back with her purse arm extended is her trademark pose.Bob: Lead with the clutch!
- Spell My Name with a "The": In the music video for "Purse First," another character says, "I am so sorry, Ms. The Drag Queen!"
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Bob wins the Snatch Game by—in a first for the series—impersonating two celebrities and completely stealing the show. However, Michelle warns her against showboating.
- Take a Third Option: Bob had several ideas for Snatch Game but ultimately it came to a choice between Uzo Aduba or Carol Channing. She ended up doing both of them.
- Vocal Dissonance: Bob has a rather deep, masculine voice, so when he's in full feminine drag, the contrast between how he looks and how he sounds is pretty jarring.
