Whether competing on Canada’s Drag Race, UK vs The World or winning RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 8, you get the most authentic version of Jimbo at all times. Now, Jimbo is bringing JIMBO’s Drag Circus to stages all over the United States and Canada to deliver his own brand of baloney filled comedic goodness. I sat down to get all the details from Jimbo about the new tour, what the fans can expect, and we looked back at his career so far and what this whirlwind experience has been like.
Michael Cook: We have spoken for each and every iteration of your RuPaul’s Drag Race journey and now seeing you headlining your own tour, JIMBO’s Drag Circus, is truly surreal. Can you believe your own life at this moment?
Jimbo: It is so awesome that you have gotten to see the journey right along with me. From Canada’s Drag Race to UK Vs The World to RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 8 to now headlining my own show; it is really a dream come true. I am just so excited. I started out working in theatre, making sets and props and dreaming that I might be the one on stage, the star of the show so to speak. Going to Drag Race and becoming a professional drag queen and now having this platform where I am able to weave back in a sort of my theater and put together this full show based on my character is such a dream come true. I can’t wait to share it with everyone.
MC: What can fans expect to experience at Jimbo’s Drag Circus?
J: I love the aesthetic of the circus. I love that feeling that anything can happen and I love the variety show and the different acts. I want people to come with an open mind and expect to laugh, and I want them to leave saying “What the fuck was that, that was crazy-and I want to see that again”! I’m a clown and I love breaking the fourth wall and inviting the audience in. I also love improv, that was my start in improv theater and performing as a clown. I love just having a good time!
The show is also music that I have written with my friend Andrew. I sing and recorded all of the songs, and I did the set with my friend Marshall. Our friend Cat Dirty did some some of the artwork, so it really is a whole collective of people. I worked with my clown teacher Britt, who is also a director of some really amazing theater. I worked with a choreographer, Anthony Garza and it is really going to be amazing. I am going to be singing, dancing, making people laugh and blowing your mind I hope.
MC: Many of your fans may not realize that you actually trained to be an actual clown…
J: That’s right. My director and clown teach teacher Britt Small, we started working together doing improv and then I did her clown workshop. That is really where I started to do clowning and really where fell in love with it. It’s really about having a dialogue through laughter and physicality and performance with an audience and that is one of my favorite things. That magic and spontaneity that makes weird things happen that are funny.
MC: Do you think going through clowning school and having that very unique skill set has given you an advantage and helped you throughout your career?
J: Yeah. Clowning is all about dealing with what is actually happening and your mistakes and things that go wrong, you turn them into gifts and they become opportunities for things that you didn’t anticipate or you didn’t plan. Those are sometimes the most funny and engaging things. When that happens, everything becomes a gift and it’s about how you react and deal with that. A lot of performance on Drag Race, the improv, is really about being open to the moment and being fully invested. Being over the top and being extra. That is what clowning is all about, bigger, better and dialing all of that energy up. I think people really love those performances that are really big, unpredictable, and crazy.
MC: Is your clowning and improv background part of the origin story of your enhanced bustline?
J: I have always been attracted to feminine energy, sparkly things, pretty things. My mom loved high heels, fur coats, fancy dresses, and makeup and long nails and she had big boobs and would get her hair permed. I grew up in the 80’s and there was a certain aesthetic there. I am also a Scorpio and I have that sort of sexy energy in myself and it translates into my drag. I am also a clown so it’s all about bigger, bigger more, more. I’m also about proportion, and when you are a person of my size with the broadness, tallness ,waist, in order to get the proportions you need to get the big tits!
MC: You have reached what many would say is the pinnacle after not only winning All Stars 8, but now having your own global show with Jimbo’s Drag Circus. Is anything else after this just gravy or do you want to just keep elevating from here?
J: I want to keep elevating doing more and more. I am a storyteller and I love people and connection. I am just starting really, I am so excited to have the opportunity to create this show and I hope that it creates more opportunities. I hope to expand, grow it and involve more people and have more collaborative aspects of it.
MC: Are you watching the current season of RuPaul’s Drag Race now. Is it kind of like looking back at a different time in your life?
J: I watched the first episode on The Pit Stop with Trixie (Mattel) and it is trippy when you watch and you can recognize that place and you recognize this or that. I think it is like any story or movie you are watching, you forget about all of that and you just invest in the story. Some of it can be a bit triggering depending on the music that is playing, like the music of the runway or something like that. Sometimes it can take me right back and give me all of the feelings of being there and I love that. It is fun to see how the show evolves each year and how each year the contestants become a little bit more self conscious of the process, but then you see people like Amanda Tori Meating who are very real and open have that naiveté that is kind of fun seeing someone at the start of their journey.
MC: Having JIMBO’s Drag Circus is a blank canvas of sorts and you can craft the show into whatever you want to make it for the audience. What do you love that people get the most from the show?
J: I always want people to be just a little bit more weirder, just a little bit more themselves. I love that when I am traveling around touring and meeting people at meet and greets or just out in the world they thank me for being myself. They thank me for being weird and representing for the weirdos. For all of those people that have followed along on my journey, I had that story where I tried my hardest, and I was the underdog and I got eliminated early. So many people invested in my story and my point of view and that was such an epic feeling.
Going into All Stars I felt like I had this community around the world behind me rooting for me. When I won, it felt like win for me and a win for my community. It felt like win for so many weirdos and people around the world that have been told no, they were not good enough, they were too weird or didn’t have a place. They saw a little bit of themselves in me and saw that it is possible to be yourself and be a winner. That is is possible to define your own sense of reality and sense of being.
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