Video: Just Clowning Around with DRAG: THE MUSICAL's Jimbo

Hello, I'm Richard Ridge for Broadway World

Jimbo, who was known to millions of fans from Rupol's Drag Race and who snatched the crown on

RuPaul's All Stars Season 8 is currently starring in Drag the Musical through February 7th

And I'm with Jimbo here at The Legendary Sardis. Welcome. Thank you for having me

This is so exciting to be here at Sardis. So much history and I'm just honored

All right. You are starring in Drag the Musical. How exciting is this

It's my off-Broadway debut, and as a musical theater fan and a fan of New York City and the whole community here is such a dream to be here off-Broadway and to be in a show, drag the musical, which is just so important right now and something so close to me, so I love it

You started in musical theater when I looked at some of the shows you did

Yeah, I started actually behind the scenes more in the production side doing props and sets and costumes, and I always kind of wanted to be on stage, but I found my place kind of behind the scenes in the creative

side of storytelling before becoming a performer on stage through my clown

training in drag got me on stage. So yeah. Well, let's talk about your

first performance on stage in drag here in New York, Drag the Musical. What do you remember

Well, I remember just being so excited and also terrified with drag and a lot of

drag performances. We do lip syncing. And so this was my first time

doing a musical theater production where I'm actually singing live and, you know, there's nowhere

to hide. You're either singing or you're either singing or you're not. And so I think it's just so exciting. It brought a new energy and it brought a new

sense of sort of excitement and fear and adrenaline, adrenaline, which I love. So what a great cast you get

to perform with. Talk about your cast. Yes, I get to be with my sister, JGB. We competed on UK versus

the world together. And we had our time there, which was just so funny. And so it's so fun to be back

together again. And Jan, who I love dearly, I've toured with Jan on Christmas tours and Lux. I've

I toured with before as well So it just so fun to be with my drag race sisters and then to meet some really other cool people like Laguna Blue and Nick Laughlin and Nick Adams and Tom Nick Adam Pascal

So, yeah, I remember his show name, but it's just so exciting to be working with so many different people

that are successful and famous in so many different ways and I'm learning so many different things from people

So it's really cool. Let's talk about the fans that fly in from all over the world

to see this show. And the impact, what that means, to personally. Well, it's so important. I love that people feel like they are seen. I love that people

feel like they have their own family. The show itself is a lot about chosen family and the queer

community is a lot about chosen family. So I think it's important for people to know there's a community

of artists and people that are celebrating uniqueness and individuality and self-expression and that

there's a place for everybody. You wear so many wonderful hats because you have the house of

Jimbo, tell me what that is. Well, the House of Jimbo is my design studio and my brand, my merch brand in Victoria, BC

but it's also my partner and I, Brady. We have worked on many different productions and parties and events

And so we produced my own sort of musical Jimbo's Drag Circus, which we've toured across North America

and I'm on my way to Europe. I'm doing 14 cities in Europe

And it's all original music. And so, yeah, it's really exciting. There's lots of staging

It's a very ambitious show with backup. dancers and the sidekick. And so yeah, I'm just really excited to keep weaving all of my love for

storytelling together. That's really what at the root of it. It's connection through storytelling

So I love all facets of it. And my show Jimbo's Drag Circus really weaves together my love up

costume and storytelling and create character work. I love doing impressions. I love doing Joan Rivers

And I do my Shirley Temple. And so it's also very a surreal show. So yeah, it's a really fun blend

of drag and musical theater, very much like drag the musical Okay so millions of fans know you around the world from your seasons on RuPaul Drag Race How life was that show for you to do

It is so life-changing. As a fringe artist and a weirdo and a queerdo

I was doing my thing on my island back in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and a lot of people around me really supported me

and really told me that they loved my take and my point of view

And so being put onto the world stage and finding my people around the world is one of my greatest gifts and dreams of my life

I made a wish that I would have friends around the world. And that wish came true

I literally have a community that's global. I can go to small villages and towns around the world and I'll see people and they'll go

Jimbo, what the hell are you doing here? Where's the show? Where's the fun

You know, what do we do? And that's just everything to me. I love people

I love connection and I love people hearing how my work and my art affects people

makes them feel free or makes them feel more, you know, able to be themselves in their own way

You snatch the crown on season eight of All-Star. I mean, what do you remember about that night of All-Star

I'm winning. I remember the pressure being on. I remember sitting, being on stage with my sisters, the other sisters, you know

that I had competed against being like, holy shit, I'm that . I'm that girl that's on the stage right now

I could be the one sitting over there, but I'm the one here. And I'm like, holy shit, I have to do this

And I really just really looked into myself and said, what do I want to show

What do I want to? How am I going to take all of my strengths? And what have I heard from the judges and from Rue about what they're looking for

And how do I apply that to my final presentation in order to win

And I did it. So it was so exciting, I dream. You mentioned House of Jimbo

And you're also a songwriter, which I think is amazing, which is part of your show that you toured the world with

This is like your second or third world tour you're going on, right? Yeah. Yeah and I actually have a show coming up here at the copper room where I would be singing live I kind of put it out into the universe this year that I wanted to start singing live more because I love singing And so my first opportunity is drag the musical which has been incredible And now I been

recording music and releasing music, but I haven't really started foraying into performance

of my live music. So, yeah, I'm really hoping to do that this year and put out an album

Jimbo's Drag Circus. It's an album, I think, of 28 songs I wrote with my friend Andrew Taylor

And so it's a really fun album that I want to put out this year

And yeah, I just love making music. I love singing and connecting with people through song and laughter

And finally, what do you love the most about spreading the joy that you do

to millions of people around the world and maybe a kid that hasn't found themselves yet

And they find themselves of what you do, what that means to you. Well, I think right now more than ever, the world needs artists

The world needs people that are fighting back in the only way that we know how is artists

which is through self-expression, through us going, this is how this is making me feel

and this is how I want to be seen in the world. And this is my message through my art to other people

to let other people know that they are safe or that they're seen or that there's a place for them or that they're not forgotten

or that they are valid. And so I think now more than ever

the artist needs to come together and represent our communities and be the voice out there in the world saying that we're here

we're visible, we're queer, we're cool, we're amazing, we're doing things, we're valid. We have a place. We have rights. And that's true for so many groups right now that are

losing their rights and are being called into question. All of our trans brothers and sisters

for example, right now there's huge attacks on the trans community. And it's devastating. It's a step

backwards for so many communities and the world in general. And I really hope that all of us can

just band together and keep being visible and keep celebrating and keep showing the world that

queer people are beautiful people, that trans people are beautiful people. and that we all deserve a place in a space to thrive and live