Juno Birch on drag bans, trans rights and why she hasn’t done Drag Race: ‘I like being the odd one out’

Juno Birch is having a moment. She’s back in the UK for a limited run of shows in the next few days, before heading back over to the US to do it all again on an even larger scale. 

Manchester-born and outer space-based, Juno, has promised The Juno Birch Show will be a joy, leaving no-one feeling blue.

Fans can see the deadpan drag queen expressing her delusional self love through non-stop slapstick song and dance. 

She’s bringing a collection of puppets and wild costumes along for the ride too, including puppet daughter Judith Louise, who she describes as a “horrible bitch.” Stunning, indeed. 

There’s lots to discuss, anyway. So Attitude caught up with Juno Birch ahead of her tour to chat being a theatre kid “at heart”, why Drag Race UK has still helped her career, despite not appearing, and being transgender in the UK in 2023. 

Attitude: Hey Juno! How excited are you to be on tour again in the UK?

Juno: I can’t wait. It’s a lot less shows than last year because the production is different. Instead of it being like a club show, which we did last year, it’s more theatre this time. There’s a lot more production. We decided to do less nights and bigger capacities because of the amount of props and that sort of thing. It gets a nightmare when you’re touring loads of dates!

What can fans expect from The Juno Show tour?

Juno: It’s a big step up from last year, that was a lot of lip syncing, one after the other, with a little chitchat in the middle. This is more a proper stand up comedy show with puppeteering. There’s lots of Puppets, lots of props, things like that. I’m singing as well! I’ve got dancers, it’s all a big gorgeous production. I’m so excited. A lot of people know me from the internet and YouTube, but my passion lies always on stage. That’s a comfort to be on stage. I’m at heart a bit of a theatre child, it’s just what I love doing. 

You’re off to America after this too. You’re pretty jam packed!

Juno: We go to America at the end of July, and don’t come back to mid-September – we’re on tour for a month and a bit. I don’t know how it works, I don’t really usually decide where I’m going, it’s usually up to tour producers. I knew I really wanted to go back to America as well [as the UK] because the shows always fill out over there. I’m a bit of a cartoon character over in America…

What differences do you see between US and UK audiences when you’re performing?

Juno: There is a big, big difference in drag from UK to America. UK drag was born in the pantomimes, whereas America was born in the ballrooms and the pageants; they stem from different things. It’s different in different parts of America, too. West Coast drag is completely different from East Coast drag, which I love. It’s the same in the UK, actually. The humour is different [in the US], but I’m lucky. I get away with it, because I’ve got a very British tongue. When I go over, they already know me from being stupid and telling jokes on YouTube, and know what humour to expect. Sometimes British humour won’t work over there, and vice versa, but I feel I’ve got the grasp of it. 

You’re spending a lot of time in the US this year, while a lot of horrible things are happening, such as drag bans. How does that all make you feel?

Juno: It’s definitely scary. I’m trans as well as a drag queen, so, sometimes I can’t hide it out of drag. It’s almost scary being in public. When you go on these tours, you’re almost protected, you’ve got the tour bus etc. I’m not gonna lie, it is scary. No matter how illegal they make drag, no one’s ever going to stop a drag queen from dressing up and looking glamorous. That’s all we’re doing at the end of the day.

We’re entertaining people, making people happy. No drag queen is harming anybody. It’s an absolute load of bollocks. In the 90s, they had Dame Edna advertising chocolate fingers, no one batted an eyelid, but now it’s all a problem? They think they’re clever when they say things like biology, man, woman and all that shite. Really they’re just idiots. We’re just trying to have fun, just having a laugh. This is people’s lives, you’ve got to have a laugh. 

It is scary to see a lot of that harmful rhetoric come here too. How do you feel being a trans person in the UK at the moment?

Juno: I’ve identified as a woman since I was 13 years old, and I’m now 29 years old. Only in the past, what, three years? Have I started to feel uncomfortable going into the women’s toilets. I’ve been using the female toilet since I was 13. Only recently have I started to feel a little bit uncomfortable thinking, ‘Oh, is someone gonna jump out and tell me to get out if they hear my deep voice?’ It does cross my mind, and has affected me in my day to day life. I’m privileged because I’ve got family that supports me. There’s so many other transgender people who don’t, and don’t have the access to medical care and that sort of thing. If I’m feeling like that, now, I wonder what other transgender people are feeling like? 

Generally speaking, do you feel that people are more accepting now than when you started your transition journey?

Juno: I feel like that’s why it’s so good now. When I was transitioning when I was 13, people didn’t even use the word transgender. It wasn’t even a thing that was seen on television. I didn’t know what it was. I knew how I felt, I could describe it in words, but, I didn’t know what the word was to describe it. It’s definitely more supportive now. However, because there’s more support and more pride, with that follows with more hate, because we’re more proud. We’re not embarrassed to be transgender anymore. We’re proud of our journey. So that’s why the hate comes in.

How do you feel the popularity of shows like Drag Race have changed drag in the UK in recent years? 

Obviously drag is way more popular now. Sometimes, it feels like there’s too many drag queens, we’re all fighting for work! I have to thank Drag Race in a way because I feel like if Drag Race wasn’t so popular, I probably wouldn’t have been able to build and compile the career that I do now, even though I haven’t been on Drag Race. That show is what’s made drag popular. It’s helped me even though I’ve not been on the show, but I kinda like being the odd one out! The one that’s not on Drag Race. I play around with that a lot when I’m on tour and tell jokes about it. I’m an alien. I’m an outcast, but a gorgeous one.

And finally, apart from your tour, what else are you really excited for this year, plus anything fun that’s happened in 2023 already?!

I can’t even remember what’s happened this year. My memory is awful. Glitterbomb was fabulous. I’ve done a few things that aren’t out yet. I went to America! I’ve got such a bad memory. London Pride is coming up on the first of July. I also found out that Idina Manzel is in Heaven on that night, so I need to like try and get there to see that because that has to happen.