A multi-talented artist talks about the importance of being local
We’ve all heard about the importance of eating local food, buying local products and supporting local businesses. Equally significant is the importance of being local as a drag performer. How drag is defined is often shaped by where a performer is from. This is true of Andy Pee, a multi-talented artist from West Dawson whose drag alter ego, Andyboy, was born from the eccentricities of that place.
Pee is “really excited about this idea of ‘hyper local’ drag and what that could offer the community, both as a celebration and a reflection of its own gender identity politics.” For Pee, drag can reveal a lot about the culture and the identity of a place.
“Andyboy, in particular, is very local to West Dawson,” Pee explained. “You know, they love snowmobiling and ATVs and their Realtree and their high viz and are very, like, working-class hero. So they kind of live in the space of Yukon male identity, in some ways, but they also kind of, ummm, bridge the gap between queerness and masculinity in some ways. So you know, not only does Andyboy do some sweet tricks on their ATV, but they also care and support women and listen to them, and they love to support their community and to, ummm, be a helping hand to trans folk and things like that.”
Pee uses drag to explore and re-define gender, using the Yukon as a backdrop but also as inspiration. “Can I have some of the symbols of masculinity without all the toxic aspects that come with them?” they asked.
Andyboy, was “born” in 2018 at a drag show that Pee organized at the recycling depot in Dawson. They lip-synched to a Bon Jovi song and never looked back. “I was kind of hooked, then, but it took me a while to envision what Andyboy could look like.”
Pee is interested in an approach to drag that blurs genders so that performers are not necessarily drag queens or drag kings—they’re “somewhere in the middle.”
They had the opportunity to introduce the emerging Andyboy persona at events such as Gwaandak Theatre’s Quick and Dirty Cabaret, at Wonderhorse, and at Lefty’s Well. From there, Pee got a little more ambitious. The idea for Drag Me North emerged from Pee’s interest in creating a showcase where artists from across the territory could come together in both solo and group numbers. The show, which took place in the historic Palace Grand in Dawson City, harkened back to the gold rush “where you would see a lot of these styles of performance anyway—like drag and burlesque and a lot of theatre, clowning acts, vaudevillian slapstick comedy shows, and that kind of stuff.”
Drag Me North is a partnership with Parks Canada, which manages Palace Grand Theatre, and with Queer Yukon, who topped up the funding so performers could be paid a respectable fee, plus accommodation and per diems. The drag show, which took place on June 3, during the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture’s Riverside Arts Festival, was a huge success.
“It was a wild show; people were hooting and hollering,” Pee recalled. “It really did feel like [the Palace Grand] was alive again.”
This winter, Pee is working to find funding to do Drag Me North again next year. “I’m a big fan of doing annual events,” Pee said, noting that most events take three to four years to take hold.
For the second iteration of Drag Me North, Pee would like to have more “newbie” performers. Emerging drag artists can follow @DragMeNorth on Instagram to keep up on what’s happening. Pee also encourages Yukoners to support drag performers by following them on Instagram. Even better, Pee says that drag performers can be hired for events such as festivals. They pointed out that it’s a great way to increase visibility for queer identities.
“Drag is about liberation and joy,” Pee said, “And drag artists bring a lighthearted and dynamic energy to the places where they perform.”
In their own drag journey, Pee is interested in doing drag outside of the Yukon—in Calgary, for example—but their heart remains in Dawson. It’s where they find their inspiration, including the classic rock music that Andyboy lip-synchs to music, which “bleeds through the floor” into Pee’s Westminster Hotel studio above The Pit tavern. Pee describes it as “music you might fix your car [to] or change your oil to.”
“I’m happy being a local artist. I love my community. I find it so, ummm, fulfilling being a local artist rather than constantly reaching for more and more. I’m happy in my studio in The Pit.”
On Instagram, you can follow Andyboy at @aaandyboyyy, and Drag Me North at @DragMeNorth.
