We were lucky to catch up with Jizzuhbell Johnson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jizzuhbell , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

As an LGBTQ+ person, much of the world is already against us. Add pounds of make up, glitter, & sequins and the world becomes even darker once you step out of the spotlight.

The first Drag show I ever produced was an all-ages family-friendly show. We are approaching the 2 year anniversary, amidst rising gender politics and a controversial presidential party switch. Concerns for the safety of myself, my performers and audience members are now heightened as scenes of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, and countless other queer history tragedies, loop in the back of my head. I’ve unfortunately had to deal with threats of protests over one of the drag brunch shows I produced. Luckily, the outpour of community and local business support allowed for the show to go on.

When I was first offered the opportunity to produce and host my Cabaret, I was very hesitant to put myself and others in the situation of an all-ages drag show. I do not like the censorship of art, but figured I could “clean up” my act and see where life takes me. After fully selling out my first 3 shows, I had the privilege to witness just how revolutionary a show like this is, and how much there’s a need for such a show to exist. Not only seeing the beaming faces of our youth waving their dollar bills for a closer performance but, more-so, hearing their testimonies, their hearts, spill over with feelings of being accepted for their chosen gender, or their fears for wearing something that they would otherwise be mocked for outside of this space that my friends and I had created for them. That’s something that I and too many others never got the opportunity to have. How dire the need for positive, healthy, queer representation is for today youth.

I see myself in these gleaming little faces aging from 4-17. I am able to finally heal some of the most damaged parts of my inner child that I have had to shrink or outright hide from the world for self preservation. I do not measure my success from the number of sold out nights or the costumes I hand-crafted myself. The success is in the impact I’ve had, from a show I thought would be shut down at any moment, a show that would put “limits” on art. I’ve gained healing for myself and others. I’ve been able to expand my art into scripted holiday specials full of camp and laughter. I’ve found community and strength from my queer family and our allied communities. A gift and promise that things really do get better as long as we stick together.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My Name is Jizzuhbell Johnson, I am a drag queen and producer based in Seattle WA. I began my drag journey in a small town in Michigan, around 2010 at the age of 20 . Though the beginning of my journey was short-lived, I reentered the entertainment industry again near the end of my 20s after a friend expressed interest in learning the craft of drag. She became my first drag daughter Jolene Granby, and had the side-effect of pulling me out of my many-year hiatus. Truly a gift, self expression, one of the things missing in my life and inner being. The first few years I had to relearn a lot of skills in makeup, and grabbed every tip spot and open stage nights I could to find my bearings in Seattle’s Drag scene. Any pay or tips was immediately put back into the craft in order to grow and expand. I have also been self learning wig-styling, sewing and/or detailing my own costumes. Drag Queens and Kings are often folx of many trades! My performance style ranges from the child friendly tame pop star through punk rock princess to the deranged and not for the faint of heart. I’ve never liked being put in just one box but rather strive to be more of a chameleon, since we are all more than just one title.
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I entered my first competition and while I did not win the night, I was later asked to be part of a main cast at one of the oldest drag cabaret venues in WA. A few months after that show began, I found an opportunity to create and produce a monthly all-ages drag show at Kenyon Hall, a non-profit music and event hall in West Seattle. Through producing Kenyon Hall Cabaret I have gotten to know many talented artist and made some close and highly creative friendships. These connections have helped me build a more theatrical production experience, where I now produce Holiday Specials. These scripted shows have consisted of Halloween tales involving seances and dueling witches, Christmas specials full of family shenanigans, a Valentines Day dating game show called MxMatch, & even putting on our own version of The Wizard of Oz during Pride month. My creative team, or rather drag family, often create our own sets and costumes for these productions.
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I feel so blessed to provide a safe and free environment full of diverse representation for todays youth and their families. I have also produced drag brunch shows at restaurants like Harry’s Fine Foods, host a monthly free bingo for adults with The Locol Bar & Restaurant. I have even done shows at cycling and rowing gyms. I’ve had the pleasure of working with one of the local schools to host and perform for parents at a silent auction fundraiser, baby shower parties, and child birthday parties where myself and my drag daughter taught the kids some basic drag dances, as well as how to pose and walk the runway. I’ve modeled for company products such as Seattle Cider Co. & Real Fine Coffee. I’ve helped organize and hosted Kenyon Hall’s most recent fundraiser “Keep the Wurlitzer Mighty,” where we liv- streamed with an in-person studio audience, raising over thirty thousand dollars.
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Making an LLC for my drag business was one of the best pieces of advice I got early on, though it was hard to navigate when drag still lives in the fringes of the business world, at least for those who haven’t been on TV. Get yourself a good accountant who can also speak ‘performer’.
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My goals have always been to keep improving, to keep experimenting, and to continue trying to expand. I pull inspiration from everywhere and often just from the people I have encountered through out life. One of my favorite parts of drag as a performance art is how we can highlight and create caricatures of every-day people. Films created by John Waters or TV shows like Sally and Ricky Lake provoke the human experience and our social experiences are so rich with feeling and absurdity. The art form also lets me explore and embrace femininity in a lot of its beauty and horrors. Movies like Romi & Michelle’s High School Reunion and Drop Dead Gorgeous, in which the ditsy underdog gets her long-deserved dues have always inspired me. Being in Seattle I am surrounded by so many amazing talented drag artists that its hard not to be struck by a muse for the next performance or outfit. Such power and grace radiates from my fellow drag artists that is hard not to walk away with focus and determination to show the world who I am, who I could be, and even more-so who I am under a microscope and then projected for all to see.
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I’ve always followed the opportunities no matter how intimidating some of them have been. I’ve also had to learn how to create my own opportunities and how to ask for help and support when I’ve needed it. I’ve been left speechless by the community that has materialized around me over the last handful of years through this journey. A lot of my accomplishments were hard work and would have been even harder if it weren’t for my community. As I continue to create and share my art form, my focus and mission changes regularly, but what doesn’t change is my desire for my audiences to have walked away feeling something powerful that means something to them and inspires them to bring feeling and empathy to their little piece of the world.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

The best this society can do to support artists is to show up. Go to the show. Buy their merchandise. Display what you see and experience on social media and tag the artist! A lot of art, especially performance art, is successful because people show up and bring friends or spread the word. Helping promote a show or artist is helping their reach. Follow their socials and be a part of the community. In the world of social media interacting with your favorite artist is going to be the most helpful aside from money.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think many would struggle with the choice of making drag a career. It doesn’t always pay well, its often uncomfortable, the hours are chaotic, and most don’t see the value in performance art (and sadly sometimes in art at all). But you know there is a child – or an adult’s inner child – that needs to see and feel the power of performance art in order to heal or feel validated for simply existing. There are people everywhere hiding their true selves or being told by their piece of the world that they are freaks and weirdos, Drag gives those people a chance to see a version of their self that they didn’t know existed or that could exist. To be able to give that gift to even just one person, to allow a space for even just one person to feel alive and seen, and inspired to be alive and seen, makes that choice for me. The loneliness I had to go through before discovering others like me is a curse no one should bare. So I do it for the people and I do it for my inner child that was told by the world that I shouldn’t exist. So, I created a place where my inner child wanted and needed to be.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @JizzuhbellJohnson

Image Credits

Keith D Johnson/paradeimage
Kristina Conrad/thefuneralparty