The Canada’s Drag Race alum and most recent All Stars winner talks to IN about her current tour, which characters she’s most excited to play on stage, and what city she’s most excited to perform in when she brings her tour across Canada…
By Bianca Guzzo
We first met Jimbo when she brought her larger-than-life drag to the very first season of Canada’s Drag Race in 2020. She came in fourth place but proved to be a fan favourite. She made a guest appearance in the show’s second and third seasons before competing on RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs. the World in 2022, and in 2023 she made her first appearance on the American franchise, bringing home the crown during Season 8 of All Stars. Currently, Jimbo is busy taking her talent on the road with a world tour of Jimbo’s Drag Circus. She’ll kick off the Canadian leg of the tour on May 16 in Toronto before making her way across the country from British Columbia to Nova Scotia bringing her spectacular show all over Canada. IN Magazine had the chance to chat with Jimbo hot off the heels of the American leg of the tour about what fans can expect from a show, her dream special guest, and who inspires her.
How would you explain Jimbo’s Drag Circus to somebody who has never been before?
I would explain it as a hilarious cacophony of looks, characters, jokes and chaos. People who have come to the US leg – I’ve done 37 cities – most people say it’s the best drag show they’ve ever seen in their life. They say it’s incredible that they come, that their mind is blown, that they had the best time beyond all their expectations, and that they wish they could see it again.
And it’s a one-person show where you play all the characters?
Yeah. So, what I play is six characters and I have two backup dancers and then I have a musical sidekick accompanist.
What character were you most excited to embody or revisit and bring to these performances?
Well, I would say it’s a toss-up between Joan Rivers and Shirley Temple, just because I love doing my glow-up of Shirley. I’ve written a new song for her where she’s a rap star instead of a tap star. And then when I’m Joan Rivers, I just have the best time reading the audience and telling a whole bunch of nasty jokes and reading my sisters and just being crass and fun.
If you could share the stage with anybody as a surprise guest, and they could be alive, dead or even a fictional character, who would it be?
I guess, maybe Charlie Chaplin and maybe do some weird silent film?
You said you’ve been touring the show all over the States. What has surprised you the most about performing this show live on the tour so far?
That I picked up my choreo and I can do all of the dancing for the whole show! When you’re a drag performer, you typically do numbers within a set. And so, this is my first time performing for an entire show, carrying the entire show myself. I usually perform in a vaudeville-style troupe or in a variety-style show, so this has been incredible to see that I could take on doing my own 90-minute full show and be on stage the whole time. And it’s, it’s so fun.
Starting in May, you’re going to be taking Jimbo’s Drag Circus all across Canada. Which city are you most excited to visit and perform in, and why?
I think I’m most excited to visit and perform in one of my hometowns of Kitchener-Waterloo, close to London. I’ve got a lot of support from my friends and family who were there right at the very beginning of me as an artist coming out of university, and they really encouraged me since I moved out west. Since everything’s happened, I really haven’t been able to come home and perform for my family and friends that often, so this will be the first time some of my family and friends get to see me perform in this way, so I’m really excited for that.
When I spoke to the queens of the most recent season of Canada’s Drag Race, the overwhelming majority of them mentioned you as an inspiration or wanted to embody you, especially when it came to comedy challenges and Snatch Game specifically. Your drag style is so unique and now it’s so iconic as being Jimbo. Who do you take inspiration from?
I would say I take inspiration from Elvira, from Pee-wee Herman, probably from RuPaul, and my other sisters. I would say, in some way, Brooke Lynn Hytes, because she judged me so intensely on that series. And Alyssa Edwards, you know, I love her ability to just be absolutely on and hilarious at all times. She’s just so entertaining and just so fun to watch.
We met you in Season 1 of Canada’s Drag Race. We watched you compete in RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs. the World, and then we got to watch you win Season 8 of All Stars. What has it been like to be a Canadian queen competing on the world stage of drag?
It’s so exciting! It’s everything I ever dreamed of. I always told my partner that I was going to be a world-famous clown. So, it’s my dream come true and it’s incredible to travel around the world and to have this network of friends and bands and sisters through Drag Race in all different franchises. It’s really been absolutely life changing and I love people, and I love connecting with people. So, it’s just all this perfect dream of everything coming together.
I think your magic lies in the fact that you aren’t afraid to push the envelope when it comes to your performance style, especially with comedy, which a lot of the other queens actually also mentioned. In 2024 I think it can be so easy to shy away from taking risks on performances that could be considered absurd or edgy. How do you make the call between an edgy joke or bit, and then one that maybe goes too far?
Well, I guess you just try your best to kind of listen to people and also not listen to people. You’ve got to know where your intention lies and that’s really at the root of it. What’s the intention of it? And if the intention is good and the intention is an expression of joy or whatever it is that you’re trying to do, it’s not trying to hurt someone or take anyone down, then I would say feel free to do it. I like pushing the envelope, but I also like listening to people and I do try my best to hear what people are saying. Even if I don’t agree, I try to listen and hear their point of view.
Once the curtain closes, what do you want people to take away from one of your shows?
I want people to feel free to express themselves and to be weird and to take chances and to just really feel awesome and just live their best life.
Since we first saw you on that first season of Canada’s Drag Race back in 2020, you’ve accomplished so much. What would be your wildest dream project you would want to take the lead on or participate in?
I would like my own full TV show, a sketch comedy show, and I would also like a full feature film, and a Broadway show, so that’s three things. Oh, and a Vegas residency. So that’s four.
One last question. Aside from Jimbo’s Drag Circus, what’s next for you that you’re allowed to share with us?
I have no idea! I’m recording the music from the show. I want to put out an album, writing more shows and basically just doing more badass stuff. Yeah, nothing crazy that I can say right away, but just more awesomeness.
You can get tickets to see Jimbo’s Drag Circus World Tour 2024 at dragfans.com.
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