The B-Girlz are a Canadian drag comedy trio, based in Toronto, Ontario. [1] The troupe's core members are Michael Boyuk, who performs as Kora Harcourt (Hard Kora) [2] and Mark Peacock, who performs as Barbara Quigley (Barbie-Q); [3] while the third member has varied at different times, with performers including Robert Windisman as Conchita Castillio [4] and Shawn Hitchins as Ivana. [5]
The troupe have created a number of live cabaret shows, including B-Girlz Gone Wild!, B-Girlz on Thin Ice, [6] Vegas Bound... and Gagged!, [7] Dragged Across America, [8] Attack of the Killer B's, Thoroughly Modern Girlz, The B-List [9] and The Girlz Most Likely to B. They have toured in Canada and internationally, both with the cabaret shows and at LGBT Pride and fringe festival events. [10] [11]
They have also hosted regular events at Buddies in Bad Times and other venues in Toronto, including the Homo Night in Canada comedy show [12] and the amateur talent show Goontown. Peacock, Boyuk and Hitchins have also performed with the comedy troupe Queer Comedy Collective. [13]
The troupe have also written, created and produced a number of short films, including B-Girlz Gone Wild, Canada's Next Top Showgirl, Degrassi B-Girlz High, Ice Skate Canada, The Elevator, The Dress and Toronto! Toronto!!, which screened at the opening gala of the 2004 Inside Out Film and Video Festival in Toronto. [14]
John Scott Thompson, known professionally as Scott Thompson, is a Canadian actor and comedian, best known as member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall and for playing Brian on The Larry Sanders Show.
Church and Wellesley is an LGBT-oriented enclave in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is roughly bounded by Gerrard Street to the south, Yonge Street to the west, Charles Street to the north, and Jarvis Street to the east, with the core commercial strip located along Church Street from Wellesley south to Alexander. Though some LGBT-oriented establishments can be found outside this area, the general boundaries of this village have been defined by the Gay Toronto Tourism Guild.
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a Canadian professional theatre company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, and founded in 1978 by Matt Walsh, Jerry Ciccoritti, and Sky Gilbert, Buddies in Bad Times is dedicated to "the promotion of queer theatrical expression". It is the largest and longest-running queer theatre company in the world.
Paul Bellini is a Canadian comedy writer and television actor best known for his work on the comedy series The Kids in the Hall and This Hour Has 22 Minutes. He has worked on several projects with Josh Levy and Scott Thompson, and has appeared in small parts on television shows and films.
Supporting Our Youth (SOY) is an organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which runs programs and events geared to supporting the special needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual and intersex youth. SOY gets support and involvement from local youth and adults that volunteer their time to help improve each other’s lives. SOY’s main focus points are helping the youth create healthy arts, recreational spaces, culture, supportive housing, and employment.
This is a timeline of notable events in the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Canada. For a broad overview of LGBT history in Canada see LGBT history in Canada.
Michael Venus is a Canadian artist, actor and producer.
Keith Cole is a queer Canadian performance artist and political activist. Originally from Thunder Bay, Ontario, he is currently based in Toronto, Ontario. An alumnus of York University's Fine Arts program, Cole has worked in film and video, dance and theatre performance, both as himself and in character as drag queen Pepper Highway.
Ivan E. Coyote is a Canadian spoken word performer, writer, and LGBT advocate. Coyote has won many accolades for their collections of short stories, novels, and films. They also visit schools to tell stories and give writing workshops. The CBC has called Coyote a "gender-bending author who loves telling stories and performing in front of a live audience." Coyote is non-binary and uses singular they pronouns. Many of Coyote's stories are about gender, identity, and social justice. Coyote currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia.
We're Funny That Way began as an annual charity comedy festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1996. Launched in 1996 by Maggie Cassella, the festival featured stand-up and sketch comedy shows by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender comedians. It ran until 2012 when it took a five-year hiatus, returning in 2017. The festival has grown to a broader performance festival and now includes musicians, story-tellers, burlesque artists, plays, drag performances, generally following the genres associated with live cabaret.
Videofag was a storefront arts space that operated in Toronto, Ontario's Kensington Market from 2012 - 2016. Founded and run by couple William Ellis and Jordan Tannahill, who converted it from an old barbershop, the space became an influential hub for queer counterculture in the city. A flexible multimedia space, Videofag was designed to serve as a cinema, art gallery, nightclub or theatre space depending on the needs of any individual event. It also doubled as Ellis and Tannahill's home. Videofag often acted as a laboratory, in which artists were gifted residencies to explore new ideas. The space helped develop and premiere several shows that went on to high-profile presentations at major theatres and festivals internationally.
Rusty Ryan was the stage name of Robert Brian Timbrell, a Canadian actor and drag queen. He was a founding member of The Great Impostors, a long-running drag troupe in Toronto, Ontario, whose members included Ryan, Tammy Autumn, Michelle DuBarry, Danny Love, Jackie Loren, Terri Stevens, Christian Jefferies and Dale Barnett at different times.
Tawiah Ben M'Carthy is a Ghanaian-born Canadian actor and playwright. He is best known for his 2012 play Obaaberima, a one-man play about growing up gay in Ghana.
Kim Katrin is a Canadian American writer, multidisciplinary artist, activist, consultant, and educator. She was formerly credited as Kim Crosby and Kim Katrin Milan. She speaks on panels and keynotes conferences nationally, and facilitates radical community dialogues. Her art, activism and writing has been recognized nationally.
Shawn Hitchins is a gay Toronto-based comedian, author, and actor. He is known for his red hair and for sharing his experience as a sperm donor to a lesbian couple.
The Pinco Triangle is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Patrick Crowe and Tristan R. Whiston and released in 1999. A profile of LGBT life in Sudbury, Ontario, the film mixes interviews with past and present LGBT residents of the city with vignettes depicting aspects of the directors' own childhoods in the city, acted by a cast including Michael "Bitch Diva" Fitzgerald and Lorraine Segato. The film takes its name from blending the pink triangle, a common LGBT symbol, with the INCO Triangle, the former employee magazine of INCO's mining operations in Sudbury.
Peter Knegt is a Canadian writer, producer, and filmmaker. He is the recipient of four Canadian Screen Awards and his CBC Arts column Queeries received the 2019 Digital Publishing Award for best digital column in Canada.
Queer Pride Inside is a Canadian television special, which aired June 24, 2020 on CBC Gem. Created by CBC Arts and Buddies in Bad Times as a response to the cancellation of Pride Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, it presented a video cabaret of performances by LGBTQ-identified Canadian musicians, actors and drag artists.
Brandon Ash-Mohammed is a Canadian stand-up comedian, whose debut comedy album Capricornication was released in 2020.
