It’s kind of a drag to be in this quartet.

Not that it’s bad to be in the Kinsey Sicks. Butit’s a drag because, well, that’s what they do.

The Kinsey Sicks are an award-winning a cappella”beautyshop quartet” who dress in drag for theirover-the-top comedic performances.

The four members – Ben Schatz (“Rachel”), IrwinKeller (“Winnie”), Chris Dilley(“Trampolina”) and Kevin Smith Kirkwood(“Trixie”) – will strut their stuff in their acclaimedhit “Dragapella!” at Sacramento State Dec. 1. Ticketsare on sale now at the CSUS Ticket Office and at Tickets.com.

“If you haven’t done drag, you need to, you’llfind out things you never knew about yourself,” Dilley saidin a phone interview.

Witty musical parodies, like the Celine Dion riff “WhyDoes Celine Go On?”, the fellatio ode “I Will SwallowHim” and the soon-to-be Christmas classic “A Lay in aManger,” have garnered acclaim from critics and fans alike.San Francisco Guardian readers named them “Best of theBay” this year and they’ve been nominated for a DramaDesk Award for outstanding lyrics for “Dragapella!”

Their material focuses on what they call the sorry state of U.S.politics, the gay community and what Dilley said is the”silly and the gross.”

But these queens aren’t like the ones who lip-synch toCher – they are genuine a cappella talents. Sometimes peopledon’t take them seriously, said Keller, but that’sbecause they’ve only seen the Kinsey’s andhaven’t heard them.

The Kinsey Sicks got their start in 1994 after attending one ofBette Midler’s San Francisco conerts in drag. The crowd lovedit, and the Kinseys formed soon after when they realized they allhad musical backgrounds.

The Kinsey Sicks’ name comes from sexual behavior authorDr. Alfred C. Kinsey, who developed a scale of human sexuality from0-6, six being “exclusively homosexual.”

The Sicks have performed all over the country and have touredseveral college campuses over the years because students are one oftheir favorite audiences to perform for, Dilley said.

“The students are so, what’s the word …nubile. They’re just so appreciateive and excited about thematerial we’re doing. Their minds are open to so manythings,” he said.

Two of the Kinseys, Schatz and Keller, weren’t veryladylike when they were in college.

Schatz is a lawyer with a degree from Harvard and was theexecutive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association untilhe left the post in 1999 to devote himself exclusively to theKinsey Sicks. He also wrote gay rights and AIDS policies duringPresident Clinton’s administration.

Keller has a law degree from the University of Chicago and hasgiven legal assistance to HIV patients in the Bay Area.

Even though they’re now in skirts instead of suits, themessage of equality hasn’t changed.

“In a certain way, it’s an extension of our advocacywork. When you’re a professional spokesperson for the queercommunity, it’s limiting because there’s a partyline,” Keller said, “We have opinions and beliefs aboutthe world and the queer community. Doing it in drag makes peoplepay attention in a way that being a talking head on the newscan’t.”

Their 10th anniversary celebration is coming up next month.After awards and albums (including their most recent “Sicksin the City”), there isn’t much the ladieshaven’t conquered.

“Except French kissing Arnold Schwarzenegger,”Dilley said, expressing regret at not being able to attend the newCalifornia governor’s inaguration Monday.

But Keller said they still need their own TV show, and have beenin talks about developing one.

Dilley said he developed his character “Trampolina”as an extension of himself. “I don’t know what it saysabout me but I’m ready to accept that the extension of myselfonstage is a ditzy kind of ho,” Dilley said.

Being a woman isn’t easy, he said. He really hates puttingon make-up and shoes, but he does it for the love ofTrampolina.

“The most difficult part about being a woman is when yourfake boobs fall out of your bra and onto the floor, it’sembarrasing,” Dilley said.ill be girls in drag show