With a repertoire that includes a Hairy Bikers chef, a boxing champion and Lemmy from Motörhead, Lucy Evans is a woman of many faces. The former trainee nurse goes by the stage name Pixie Truffle and is spearheading a thriving scene of colourful male impersonators in Manchester, fast emerging as the UK's drag king capital.

Truffle believes drag kings could take female standup to the next level. "I certainly think it's a way for women to breach the gender imbalance," says the 42-year-old founder of burlesque group Lesburlesque. "A lot of female standups have relied on cakes, tampons, body image and the sexual inadequacies of men to express their comedy. I personally find this a bit wearisome."

Female drag artists are playing a major role in this year's Manchester Pride, an annual festival for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, with a Drag King and Drag Queen competition taking place in the city's Sackville Gardens on Monday. "The lesbian community is often mischaracterised as man-haters, when many of us actually feel a high regard for masculinity," says Truffle. "The essence of drag-kinging is the diminution of femininity but it works so much better if a trace of womanhood is left behind. Just enough to see behind the disguise."

Gizell Timpani, 47, who dons a tuxedo, top hat and goatee to perform as Valentino King, is also perfoming at Manchester Pride and is named as a role model and inspiration for many male impersonators. She cites Lady Gaga's adoption of male alter ego Jo Calderone as a defining moment in bringing drag kings into the mainstream, and estimates there are 80-90 in Manchester. "Some are performers, some like to cross-dress and can't do it at home," she says. "They haven't got the confidence to perform as females; they are more successful as males in social environments and on stage."

It's a view echoed by Lenna Cumberbatch, a 36-year-old Londoner who performs as used-car salesman Uncle Lenny and smooth operator Leon Daluva. She runs an annual drag-king competition called King of the Castle, hosted by Fiona King, AKA wheelchair-using soul legend Stevie Wonderful. "You feel different in drag, some ownership," says Cumberbatch. "Female comedians have problems getting into the same spaces as men. Male comics make money out of rape jokes; that's the environment we have to live in. But the best drag queens celebrate feminity, not mock it, and it's the same with drag kings."