Porsche (Brant Kaiwi) | Fire Island & Cherry Grove Performer
 | Fire Island & Cherry Grove Performer&layout=none&ref=https://www.koitzphoto.com/blog/2026/8/porsche-brant-kaiwi-fire-island-cherry-grove)
PROFILE
Porsche: Brant Kaiwi and a Life on Fire Island
For more than two decades, gay photographer koitz has photographed Brant Kaiwi, known as Porsche, documenting a life deeply connected to the summer communities of Cherry Grove and Fire Island. Since arriving on Fire Island in 2001, Porsche has become much more than a performer on an island stage. She has become part of the culture, history, and mythology of Fire Island itself.
Porsche began performing at the now-defunct Sunsets on the Bay in Cherry Grove in 2001. After the venue closed, she found a new home at the Ice Palace, where she established a summer residency and spent entire seasons performing, becoming a beloved fixture of Fire Island's vibrant summer community.
Over the years, The Ice Palace became more than a stage or workplace. It became a kind of second home—a setting in which friendships, relationships, performances, and community unfolded season after season.
Porsche has also performed extensively in Key West, where she became known as the “Queen of Key West.” Her connection to Key West led to one of the most important professional relationships of her career: Chuck McTague, who became her DJ and production manager. What began in Key West grew into a decades-long creative partnership, with McTague becoming an integral part of Porsche Live and the performances that helped make Porsche a fixture of Fire Island's summer scene.
Over the years, koitz has photographed Brant Kaiwi, AKA “Porsche,” on Fire Island, documenting her deep connection to the island’s summer scene. Porsche began performing at the now-defunct Tides in Cherry Grove in 2001. After the venue closed, she found a new home at the Ice Palace, where she established a summer residency and spent entire seasons performing, becoming a beloved fixture of Fire Island’s vibrant community. Porsche has also performed extensively in Key West, and was referred to as the “Queen of Key West.” She currently performs at Cherry’s on the Bay.
Her connection to Key West also led to one of the most important professional relationships of her career: Chuck McTague, who became her DJ and production manager. What began in Key West grew into a decades-long creative partnership, with McTague becoming an integral part of Porsche Live and the performances that made her a fixture of Fire Island’s summer scene.
Brant is the person; Porsche is the larger-than-life creation. She arrived on Fire Island as a performer and, over the years, became woven into the mythology of the place itself. The Ice Palace was more than a stage or a workplace—it became a kind of second home, a setting in which her friendships, relationships, performances, and community unfolded season after season.
koitz’s photographs offer a glimpse beyond the spectacle. Rather than simply capturing Porsche in performance, he photographed her in the world she helped create—in the fleeting moments between shows, among friends, and within the rhythms of island life. In doing so, he documented more than a drag performer. He captured someone who had become, over time, almost a living emblem of Fire Island’s enduring performance culture.
Porsche became part of the institutional fabric of Cherry Grove. She wasn't simply someone who came to the island to perform; she became one of the performers people associated with the Grove itself. For many years, she was the host of the Miss Fire Island pageant alongside Cherry Grove legends such as Ariel Sinclair and Logan Hardcore.
The Girl with a Thousand Voices
For years, Porsche has been known as the “Girl with a Thousand Voices,” a fitting name for a performer whose repertoire seems almost limitless.
In her own remarkable voice, she has channeled everyone from Janis Joplin, Nina Simone and Judy Garland to Liza Minnelli, Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton, Pink, Billie Holiday and Celine Dion, along with characters such as Karen Walker and Bette Davis. But her impersonations are more than acts of mimicry. Porsche approaches each one as an homage, searching for the distinctive qualities, gestures and spirit that make each voice—and each woman—unique.
Film and Television
Porsche was a regular on The Wanda Sykes Show, Wanda Sykes’s late-night talk show on Fox, which ran from November 2009 to April 2010 for one season. She was not just a guest—she was part of the show's regular cast. She shared sidekick duties with comedian Keith Robinson, appearing as Porsche and serving up commentary and comedy alongside Sykes.
A quarter of a century after she arrived in Cherry Grove, Porsche’s story became the subject of a film shown at the very institution dedicated to preserving the Grove’s history. At the 2026 Cherry Grove Archives Collection Film Festival, the short film Love Porsche was screened as part of the festival’s Saturday evening shorts program.
The Fire Island News described it as “a tribute to one of Cherry Grove’s most beloved performers,” tracing Porsche’s 25-year relationship with the community—from her beginnings at a PAWS fundraiser to her long career as a performer and beloved fixture of the island.
Porsche’s Wedding in Cherry Grove
On August 8, Porsche married Kevin Patrick in Maine. A week later, on August 15, they exchanged vows once again, this time on the beach in Cherry Grove, surrounded by the familiar landscape that has been such an important part of Porsche’s life. The Fire Island ceremony was officiated by his friend comedian and actress Wanda Sykes, adding another memorable chapter to Porsche’s long history on the island. In charge of the music throughout the day was Porsche's friend and collaborator Chuck McTague. Once again, koitz was there to capture and immortalize another important chapter in her life.