Q&A | Jimbo the drag clown talks Canadian tour, her dream TV show and Ariana Grande DMs

Canada has had a steady stream of internationally renowned drag queens in recent years. 

The Ru Paul's Drag Race franchises are in part responsible for creating Canadian mega-stars in the drag world. 

There are now several seasons of Canada's Drag Race, and Canadian queens have been cast in popular spinoffs such as UK vs. The World (where internationally known drag queens compete against their British counterparts) and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, now in its ninth season. 

Now, Jimbo the drag clown is arguably Canada's most famous drag queen, after participating in all three shows (and winning All-Stars). During that time, she's generated a healthy buzz around her bizarre comedy and big-budget looks. 

And she's gearing up for an international tour, with shows across Canada this month. Below is a conversation between Jimbo and CBC's Teghan Beaudette. It has been edited for length and clarity.

TEGHAN BEAUDETTE: I felt kind of a groundswell of recognition when you did UK vs. The World, and I'm wondering for you when you felt like, "OK, I am now in the international drag celebrity club"? 

JIMBO: I think it was probably when I was messaging with Ariana Grande on Instagram and she started following me and she was like, "I love your drag. I love your message. I love your energy." And she said I was a star, and it just blew my mind. I love Ariana. I think she's such a little cutie pie. So that was definitely a big thing where I was like, "Oh my God," you know.

And other celebrities reaching out ...  when you have that, it kind of opens your eyes. There's a huge audience base around the world for this. 

TB: You have a really, really wide influence right now and —

JIMBO: Are you talking about my butt? 

TB: Yeah, we'll get to that part later. You have a really wide influence across drag. Trixie Mattel on The Pit Stop was talking about how Miss Plane Jane has a very clear Jimbo influence, and that there's this whole generation of baby drag queens who are really Jimbo-inspired. I'm curious what it feels like to see yourself emulated?

JIMBO: I am all about more weird, more fun — everyone feel your joy and find what's inside of you that you want to share, and share it. You know, I love Plane Jane, and I think it's f--king awesome. I love her fashion. It's awesome to be able to look at another queen or another performer and go like, "Oh, I would wear that," or "Oh, I really like that!" — so I think it's really fun.

Drag is all about individuality, but at the same time it's also about bringing people together through commonality, common joys, shared joy, shared aesthetics. I think that it just makes sense that drag's all about borrowing from each other and trying things on.

TB: I have to talk about the influence of your breastplates, because I've never seen bigger boobs in my life. How did that become a part of your drag aesthetic? How did you decide that was the thing?