Wayland Flowers & Madam̄e were a roaring, unapologetic force of queer camp and comedy in the 1970s and ’80s. Flowers, a shy puppeteer from Georgia, transformed into a brassy alter ego—the sharp-tongued, sequined diva Madame. Their act exploded off the gay club circuit and into mainstream TV, from Hollywood Squares (where they took center stage after Paul Lynde) to Solid Gold, Laugh‑In, and a short-lived syndicated sitcom, Madame’s Place, which aired nearly 74 episodes in 1982–83 .
Madame’s campy one-liners—like “I’m no dummy,” or her cheeky take on the YMCA—offered coded sass that delighted queer audiences and flew over straight viewers’ heads. Flowers always insisted he wasn’t a ventriloquist but an “illusionist”—fuck the lipsync, the puppet owned the room.
Behind the scenes, it was more than humor: Flowers, one of the first openly gay entertainers on mainstream TV, brought authenticity to the screen—even if he’d never publicly say “I am gay”.His act began in the underground: the erotic puppet show Kumquats in 1971 and a breakout run in Provincetown in 1972 cemented his fame.
Flowers died of AIDS-related illness in 1988 at just 48, but his legacy and Madame’s legacy remain fiercely alive. Original puppets are now museum pieces, and their memory—golden blond hair, glittering dresses, sharp wit—continues to spark joy and rebellion in queer culture.
