Jimbo is the stage name of James Insell, a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
designer and
drag queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...
who is known for competing in the
first season of ''
Canada's Drag Race
''Canada's Drag Race'' is a Canadian reality competition television series based on the American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and is the Canadian edition of the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by Blue Ant Studios. In a similar format to th ...
'' (2020)
[Mike Devlin]
"Victoria's Jimbo seeks drag-queen crown"
''Victoria Times-Colonist
The ''Times Colonist'' is an English-language daily newspaper in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It was formed by the Sept. 2, 1980 merger of the ''Victoria Daily Times'', established in 1884, and the ''British Colonist'' (later the ''Daily C ...
'', July 2, 2020. and later the first season of ''
RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World'' (2022).
Early life and education
Originally from
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Insell and his brother Jeff were both interested in creative pursuits from childhood, including early drag play.
[Mollie Kaye]
"James and his giant peach add sparkle to Victoria"
''Focus on Victoria'', September 6, 2019. Respecting his father's wishes that he pursue a career-oriented education, he studied biology at the
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames Ri ...
; following graduation, however, he opted not to pursue employment in the field and instead moved to
Victoria,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...
, where he began working as a costume and production designer.
[
]
Career
Insell has worked predominantly in local theatre, including productions of ''James and the Giant Peach
''James and the Giant Peach'' is a popular children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of i ...
'' and ''The Rocky Horror Show
''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a Musical theatre, musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the Science fiction film, science fiction and Horror film, horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the ...
'', but has also had credits on a number of television films produced by Front Street Pictures for the Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies ...
,[ and on the children's television series '' Pup Academy''.
He appeared in the music video for Victoria musician Adrian Chalifour's single "Open Heart".][Don Descoteau]
"Chalifour bringing Joy to Victoria this weekend"
''Monday Magazine
''Monday Magazine'' is a free arts and entertainment magazine in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Contrary to what the name suggests, ''Monday'' was distributed throughout the greater Victoria area every Thursday until July 2013 when it became a ...
'', November 25, 2019. He also appeared as the drag mother to British Columbian rapper bbno$
Alexander Leon Gumuchian (; born June 30, 1995), known professionally as bbno$ (pronounced "baby no money"), is a Canadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for his 2019 single " Lalala" with producer Y2K, which has reached over ...
for the music video for his song "imma".[Bryen Dunn]
"Canada’s Drag Race – and then there were three!"
''The Buzz'', August 2020.
He appeared on the first season of ''Canada's Drag Race
''Canada's Drag Race'' is a Canadian reality competition television series based on the American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and is the Canadian edition of the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by Blue Ant Studios. In a similar format to th ...
'' in 2020, emerging as a popular fan favourite and winning the key Snatch Game
Snatch Game is a challenge on the ''Drag Race'' reality competition television franchise. Beginning with the second season of the original American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', the challenge has taken place on every season since. It has also o ...
challenge for his performance as Joan Rivers
Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...
, but was eliminated from the competition in fourth place behind finalists Priyanka, Scarlett BoBo
Scarlett BoBo is the stage name of Matthew Cameron (born December 1, 1989), a Canadian television personality and drag queen most noted as a finalist in the first season of the reality competition series '' Canada's Drag Race'' in 2020.
Career
...
and Rita Baga. For Fierté Montréal
Fierté Montréal, also called Montreal Pride, is an annual LGBT pride festival in Montreal, Quebec. The event was founded in 2007 at the initiative of Montreal’s LGBTQ+ communities after the city's prior Pride festival, Divers/Cité, repositi ...
's special online edition of its annual Drag Superstars show, which featured all of the ''Canada's Drag Race'' queens in prerecorded video performances, Jimbo performed a drag recreation of The Buggles
The Buggles were an English new wave band formed in London in 1977 by singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes. They are best known for their 1979 debut single " Video Killed the Radio Star", which topped the UK Singles Ch ...
' 1979 hit "Video Killed the Radio Star
"Video Killed the Radio Star" is a song written by Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes and Bruce Woolley in 1979. It was recorded concurrently by Bruce Woolley and the Camera Club (with Thomas Dolby on keyboards) for their album '' English Garden'' a ...
".
Following ''Canada's Drag Race'' he toured the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
as part of the Klub Kids show with Rock M Sakura
Bryan Steven Bradford, better known by the stage name Rock M. Sakura, is an American drag performer most known for competing on the twelfth season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race''.
Early life and education
Bradford is Filipino and Vietnamese. They we ...
and Erika Klash, and was the only queen from the season not to appear at any dates on the Canada's Drag Race Live at the Drive-In tour; however, he did participate alongside Priyanka, Scarlett Bobo and Rita Baga in an online panel discussion as part of the Just for Laughs festival.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...
, he also created a line of face masks through his design studio, with every purchase matched by a donation of a free mask to a homeless or low-income person,[ and launched a ]Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, K ...
campaign to fund the production of ''House of Jimbo'', a comedy and variety series he hopes to launch in the future.[Graham Cox]
"Local brewery collaborates on new beer with popular Vancouver Island drag queen, Jimbo"
CHEK-DT
CHEK-DT (channel 6) is an independent television station in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, serving Vancouver Island and Greater Vancouver. The station is owned by the CHEK Media Group, a consortium made up of station employees and local inv ...
, October 8, 2020. Insell has described ''House of Jimbo'' as "the framework of a kids show, but really made for adults", comparable to ''Pee-wee's Playhouse
''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's ...
'' or '' The Hilarious House of Frightenstein'', and the show reached its Kickstarter goal by the end of October 2020. At the same time the Chemainus
Chemainus is a community within the municipality of North Cowichan in the Chemainus Valley on the east coast of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Founded as an unincorporated logging town in 1858, Chemainus is now famou ...
-based Riot Brewing Company introduced Jimbo, a boysenberry
The boysenberry is a cross between the European raspberry ('' Rubus idaeus''), European blackberry (''Rubus fruticosus''), American dewberry ('' Rubus aboriginum''), and loganberry (''Rubus'' × ''loganobaccus'').
It is a large aggregate fr ...
-flavoured craft beer whose profits will go in part to funding ''House of Jimbo''.[
In 2021 he made a return appearance in the second season of ''Canada's Drag Race'', appearing in the third episode as the killer in the ]slasher film
A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...
-themed acting challenge "Screech".
In January 2022, he was announced as one of the nine contestants on '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World''.[Joey Nolfi]
Lynn Hytes reunites with Werk Room crush Miss Vanjie on Canada's Drag Race season 3"
'' EW'', June 29, 2022.
Filmography
Television
Music videos
Internet series
Discography
Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
References
External links
*
House of Jimbo
{{Canada's Drag Race
1980s births
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Canada's Drag Race contestants
Canadian costume designers
Canadian drag queens
Canadian gay actors
Canadian production designers
Canadian theatre designers
Male actors from London, Ontario
Male actors from Victoria, British Columbia
University of Western Ontario alumni