People

A Hot Minute With Canadian Drag Artists Brooke Lynn Hytes, PM, and Alma Bitches

By Alyssa Hirose /

Yes, inhaling popcorn by the handful while binge-watching RuPaul’s Drag Race using someone else’s OutTV subscription and critiquing the queen’s thousand-dollar garments when you can’t even properly wing your eyeliner sounds like a pretty good weekend. But if you don’t come through for you local queens, are you a real drag aficionado?

Some would say no, and—spoilers—I agree. There’s local live drag every night in Vancouver (if you’re not sure where to go, just take a stroll down Davie) and larger-scale special events a couple of times a year. One such event, It’s Just Drag by TFD Presents, is coming to Vancouver for the fourth time this weekend. “If you love drag, it’s the perfect night to come out and celebrate it,” says local queen Alma Bitches. “Because you aren’t just celebrating drag from television, you’re celebrating local drag— which is important if you want to call yourself a drag fan.”

Alma is one of the twenty local queens turning it out at It’s Just Drag. Born and raised in the lower mainland, this bearded queen is a 10-year vet of the local drag scene.”I don’t shave to create my illusion,” she laughs. “Alma’s just about having a good time, she’s funny on the microphone, she’s kind of a bitch.”

Joining Alma on the It’s Just Drag stage is PM, nonbinary queen, pro ballet dancer and winner of last year’s Vancouver’s Next Drag Superstar. “My drag is pretty experimental,” PM says. “I like skewing gender identity all together by sometimes wearing wigs and sometimes not—it’s very limitless what you can do with drag.” They agree with Alma that this weekend’s events are a great opportunity to check out all kinds of drag. “It’s a good representation of some of the strongest drag in the city mixed with commercialized drag,” they say.

Okay, okay, okay—maybe we’re still fangirling a bit that Brooke Lynn Hytes (RPDR Season 11 first alternate and the first Canadian queen on the show) and Monet X Change (RPDR Season 10 Miss Congeniality and RPDR All-Stars 4 co-winner) will be there. Since Season 11 finished, Brooke has been touring and performing non-stop, only spending a couple a days a month at home in Toronto. “It’s a pretty intense schedule,” says Brooke. “Not in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be living the life I am now.” Just like the local queens, she’s pumped to share the Commodore stage.

It’s Just Drag is an evening drag spectacular on the 24th of January followed by It’s Just Drag: Brunch on the morning of the 25th. The evening show is one of the biggest opportunities of the year for local queens. “We’re so used to performing on bars on Davie Street, and they treat us so well,” says Alma, “but at the best of times, it’s just over 100 people at your show.” The Commodore has different vibes—over a thousand people from Vancouver and beyond will be there to cheer on the queens. There are tons of Canadian drag artists in the mix, PM points out. “RuPaul’s Drag Race has really impacted and changed drag in general, but I think it’s really nice to bring it home this year and have it be made up almost completely of Canadian talent.” Expect ballads, big group dance numbers, custom outfits, and over-the-top fabulousness.

It’s Just Drag: Brunch is a more casual event, with more talking and games between musical performances (and food—we see you). “I think daytime opens it up to a completely different audience,” says PM. Maybe you can’t stay up past 9:00 p.m. to drink G&Ts and support local drag, but we bet you can come out at 11:00 a.m. and do the same with mimosas.

I’ve always wondered if there’s any beef between the local drag queens and RPDR stars. But chatting with these three queens, I didn’t get that impression. “[The RPDR queens] will hang out with all the local queens because they all used to be one,” says Alma. No tea, no shade—this is Vancouver’s Best Friend Race, apparently. Brooke agreed: “I spent several years hustling and trying to make a name for myself, so I absolutely love to have the chance to meet local girls from different cities getting the chance to perform on big stages like this, they deserve to be seen!” 

And seen, they will be: both events are almost sold out, so if you don’t yet have tickets, get them now. And, for the love of all that is tucked, support your local drag artists. Now’s the time. “I think Canada is very underrated in drag, and this is the year to become obsessed with Canadian queens instead of all of the people we’ve seen on TV,” says PM. True north, strong and fabulous.

Here are some upcoming shows:
Man Up: Astrological Drag, January 25
Drag Me to Hell, January 26
Storytelling with Drag Queens for Adults, January 31
Vancouver’s Next Drag Superstar, February 6 – 28