It takes more than wigs, makeup and on-stage glam to flesh out a drag show, says Heklina. Try humor.

Heklina is the founder-emcee of the legendary San Francisco-based "Trannyshack" drag show for the past decade. So she knows.

"I'd say ours is a new school of drag — an alternative," said Heklina, who admits to being 39 ("for the last five years"). She's bringing her somewhat naughty show, in which boys will be girls, for a four-performance, two-night run at Hula's Bar & Lei Stand tonight and Saturday.

"It's not all about just being glamorous, it's about having fun," she said. "If you're a drag queen, you need a sense of humor about what you're doing. I don't like shows and queens who take themselves too seriously. Humorless is not fun."

The former theater actor arrived in San Francisco from Iceland nearly two decades ago and initially did incidental stage work.

Then she found her niche in drag in the early 1990s, where she gravitated to drag roles while doing legit theater.

So she founded, created and starred in "Trannyshack" — she just loved the sound of the name, although it has no particular meaning. In San Francisco, she draws folks of all genders and persuasions — men, women, gays, straights and everything in between — and has dodged arrests and closures in the City by the Bay. "Maybe the folks at City Hall love us," she said.

Drag shows should be entertaining — "people don't want to be lectured to, so we avoid politics," she said. "We don't do messages."

What her cast does is adult material, some titillating, some crude, mostly in the spirit of fun. In San Francisco, the show is known for its frontal nudity, blood, explosions — even couplings on stage.

For the 11-member cast's first Island visit, Heklina anticipates toning down the naughtiness a skosh; better to be safe than sorry. There will be two different shows each night with dashes of notoriety to uphold her reputation.

Her performers — with stage names such as Holotta Tymes, Landa Lakes, Holy McGrail, Renttecca and Veronica Lewinsky — lip-sync to tracks, instead of singing live.

"Personally, I'm a gal of the '80s, so I like Deborah Harry, Bjork, Stevie Nicks. But Gwen Stefani and Nelly Furtado are hot now," she said of folks who have provided the vibes for the show.

Heklina is a drag queen, as opposed to a cross-dresser. So she gets dolled up only for performances but not in her non-stage life. But she says her cast includes transgenders among the cross-dressers.

"This year is our 11th year in San Francisco," she said. "I really don't know why drag shows continue to flourish. I guess there's always going to be a need for drag queens to express themselves."

Last year, "Trannyshack" trekked to London and Ireland. Upcoming: Los Angeles, New York, Reno, Seattle. "We're doing more traveling than ever," Heklina said.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com.