This Montreal drag artist ties clowning and harm reduction into their sensual performances

CBC Quebec is highlighting people from the province's Black communities who are giving back, inspiring others and helping to shape our future. These are the 2024 Black Changemakers.

Walking to a bus stop from the studio they rent in downtown Montreal, FrankieB Lambert stares down at the GPS on their phone screen. 

"It says Saint Patrick's Basilica," Lambert says. Most bus stops are labelled by their closest street corner, but this is Montreal after all, and there is a church on most streets. 

Lambert was born in Haiti, but grew up in Rouyn-Noranda, a city 630 kilometres northwest of Montreal, where they were adopted by a white Québécois family and raised Catholic. 

"I do think church and all those things are so beautiful," they said. "I find the concept of sin fascinating. The fact that someone one day was like, 'You know, all those things that should be enjoyed in life? I'm gonna make you feel guilty for them and then you're going to pay me.'"

Lambert is familiar with complicated and layered histories. By night, they are a burlesque drag clown artist. By day, they work for a Montreal non-profit supporting drug users and sex workers called Cactus. The program they help run at the organization assists trans people with everything from accessing health care, to housing, jobs, food and legal name changes. 

Lambert began performing during the pandemic after they started experimenting with makeup out of boredom and a need for self-expression. They were also beginning to transition, using hormone therapy medication and documenting that process on Instagram as a kind of personal project.

Combining the clown-inspired makeup with the increasing amount of testosterone in their body became a way of subverting gender norms, and it caught people's interest. 

"Someone contacted me and asked if I ever performed and I was like, 'no, but now you planted a seed,'" Lambert said. 

They went to an open mic variety show at Notre-Dame-des-Quilles, a queer bar in Little Italy with one bowling lane, signed up day-of and that is how EnvyTheClown was born — and just in time to join a growing community of queer performance artists in the city. 

"I loved it so much and I just kept going after that, " Lambert said. "I've always been, you know, what they call a theatre kid."

In the years since, Envy's act has taken on new meanings and become a vessel for their activism as well. Last year, it brought them to Paris alongside the likes of legendary street photographer Nan Goldin at the Natalie Seroussi modern art gallery, where their work took the form of seven photographs representing the seven deadly sins. 

Some of their acts have touched on the history of slavery, while others address racism, gender, fatphobia and sex work in both literal and abstract ways. 

One recent burlesque performance involved Envy covering their body in fake blood. 

"I know that for some people, it's like, 'whoa, that's pretty intense,'" Lambert said, noting the number touched on themes of slavery and racism. "I don't shy away from bringing this up even though it may invoke a lot of emotions." 

Rosie Bourgeoisie, a queer performer who started a burlesque show for gender nonconforming artists called Them Fatale, says the fake blood scene was featured in one of the shows. 

"It was like so messy and disgustingly beautiful," said Bourgeoisie. "I feel like they were expressing their Blackness and being unapologetic about it." 

Some acts are lighter. The first time Bourgeoisie saw Envy perform was at a Shrek-themed show where Lambert was putting on a Puss in Boots-inspired number. 

"It was super, super cute, but also super sexy and provocative and kinky and I really liked it," Bourgeoisie said. 

The art of burlesque

Lambert incorporated burlesque into their work, nearly from the start. 

"As someone who has done sex work for a really long time, it just made sense to me to have an aspect of burlesque," Lambert said.

Shortly after Lambert moved to Montreal at 20, they lost their job around Christmastime and were looking for a way to make money. A friend they met online showed them how they could get into sex work by posting their services online in ways that could make it as safe as possible. 

"She really helped me understand what the industry was about and helped me remove all the preconceived notions I had about sex work and helped me realize that sex work is work, and it is a job like any other," Lambert said. 

They've done it for nearly eight years on and off, at times as a side hustle and other times as a way to make ends meet full time. They help oversee a Slack channel where sex workers post tips, rates and ways to stay safe. A Facebook group was shut down after laws changed in the United States. 

"It's been very empowering actually, to be my own boss, to be able to reclaim my sexuality and my body," they said. 

Burlesque itself has a history of challenging societal and gender norms. The root of its name comes from the Italian burla, as it was practised in the 15th century, and means to joke or make fun of something. Though burlesque involves teasing and elements of striptease, it is also a self-aware and almost self-reflexive art, while remaining sensual.

This type of wink and nod humour while exploring dark themes and dark histories is part of Envy's signature.

Their interest in clowns, they explained, stemmed from the joy associated to the form and their genderlessness. The roots of clowning embody contradictions, though. While making fun of people in power, such as police officers and politicians, clowns were tied to minstrel shows and blackface makeup in the 19th century. 

"It was kind of like reclaiming something that used to be dark and negative toward the Black community and being like, I'm going to make it fun and use that to empower the Black community," they said. 

Having a direct impact

Growing up in Quebec's remote and mostly white Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, Lambert said they regularly experienced racism at school and felt the need to educate their family and health-care providers about racism.

"Everything I talk about comes from a place of my own lived experience. And I have been affected by systemic racism in the past," Lambert said, noting Quebec Premier François Legault's continued refusal to acknowledge the presence of the phenomenon in the province.

"So for me, it's important to talk about it so we can as a society and as a community find solutions so it doesn't keep happening to people."

After moving to Montreal and working in marketing at a non-profit advocating for drug users amid the opioid epidemic, Lambert realized they didn't just want to promote counselling work, they wanted to do the work. 

Their experience with gender, racism and sex work helped land them positions at a few organizations before they started working at Cactus seven months ago. 

Carlin Holmes, who created a drag showcase for Black performers called Afro Drag, nominated Lambert for CBC Montreal's Black Changemakers series.

"Frankie is a very marginalized person within the Black community and the kind of work that they do isn't necessarily recognized," Holmes said. 

"The work that they're doing is so important and their art is just beautiful. I want more people to see it."

Finding beauty and joy

Lambert appears to embrace their presence in opposing worlds — finding beauty in the concept of sin within a sometimes oppressive religion; finding joy in clowns despite their dark past and mixing humour with sensuality. It's the dance of their existence. 

Being Black in a white family wasn't always easy, Lambert said, but the family is tight-knit.

"My mom is one of my best friends. We say everything to each other. And I'm really close with my dad and my sisters," they said. 

After Lambert was adopted, their parents were able to have two biological children, though they'd struggled with fertility before. "My mom calls me her lucky charm," they said. 

Their mother worked for school boards and their dad, at a copper mine.

"They've always been willing to educate themselves and learn about my experience and the way I see the world," Lambert said.

"My dad always told me, 'I'm always gonna be proud of you no matter what you do.'"

The Black Changemakers is a special series recognizing individuals who, regardless of background or industry, are driven to create a positive impact in their community. From tackling problems to showing small gestures of kindness on a daily basis, these Changemakers are making a difference and inspiring others. Meet all the Changemakers here.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.