Junk Male is jumping into the spotlight with a mish-mash of positivity, seduction, and gut-hurting laughter. This non-binary bean lights up every room they walk into and has become one of the top producers to work with on the island.
“I’ve been involved with the drag scene since 2018. [I] watched a couple friends in various King Fling shows and my mind was blown,” says Junk. “These friends became my drag family and Junk Male was born.”
Pre-pandemic and with more stage space, Junk Male decided to take matters into their own hands and become the king of comedic and sultry queens by birthing drag show For the Love of Drag, now known as Brick and Lavender Productions. The aim of this show was to take over stages and fill them with the love and identities of the varying performers.
“The focus is taking up space, including more queer performers, such as burlesque, and making shows outside of the mainstream,” they say.
Inspiring others and connecting family with performance art has introduced a variety of ideas to create the weirdest performances, shared or not.
“My [inspirations were] sweet drag angels Nyx and Candy Boxx,” says Junk. “After seeing them on stage, I knew I wanted to be a part of that, and we started creating weird and wonderful magic together as Misterpiece Theatre.”
While the passion has been driven by watching others, Junk—who describes themself as “a human form of a muppet”—always wants to make sure there are laughs to share and have everyone in on the joke.
“I love creating wacky, nerdy, and silly performances, usually with an unexpected audio cut or costume reveal,” they say. “I really just want folks to laugh along with me and the ridiculousness.”
Drag has offered so many pivotal realizations and chances for people to create a persona that can express how they truly feel. It allows the opportunity to explore and become comfortable with all aspects of their sexuality, gender fluidity, and even help with gradual transitions, says Junk.
“Getting into drag helped me a lot with my gender journey. I didn’t even know the spectrum of gender diversity that existed until I was involved in the scene,” they say.
While in these spaces, they shared opportunities and struck a chord within themselves.
“Seeing fellow drag performers living authentically and also discovering themselves through the art was super inspirational,” says Junk.
The drive and passion that Junk has shown over the last six years translates into being highly sought-after to work with, and the community is well aware that they have become a safe and inclusive person that they can reach out to. Creating shows from scratch and working their way up has been a ride that they are happy to have been on.
With multiple closures of local inclusive event spaces, Junk says that one of their dreams in life is to “open a free-to-low-cost, fully equipped performance space” offering barrier-free spots to highlight the diversity of the community.
“My passion has shifted from just drag to encompass more performers, but I’d say it’s always been a passion to help as many folks take the stage as I can. Truly a labour of love,” they say.
Junk says that certain words of wisdom can be translated through all different communities and beings and should be a way to live life.
“[Remember] to show kindness to each other. Keep fighting for our trans siblings.”
And what does the future look like for Junk?
“I feel like I’ve made most of my contributions over the last six years. I’m definitely still creating spaces and taking up space, but at a slower and more manageable pace.”
Find Junk Male at @brickandlavender and check out some of their upcoming shows and a fundraiser to support Eves of Destruction.