Sad news everyone. The legendary club and drag performer Jojo Baby, who for decades entertained people onstage and in every stage including everyday life with their makeup, costumes and puppets died from complications with cancer, they were 51.
Today we repost one of our earlier shows from 2007 “JoJo Finds a Skull” when JoJo made the evening news upon finding a skull rolling in a boiling pot of water when shopping for mannequin parts in a strangers home they met on Craigslist.
Coming of age in Chicago, JoJo was a big part of our scene in the nightclubs and the Radical Faeries.
For many people of our generation JoJo was one of the first entertainers people met in the 90s and early 2000s when they first moved to town.
Jojo is survived by his brother Jay Jay Arguellas and so many club performers, artists and drag queens he helped mentor and inspire. Jojo’s own mentor was puppeteer and trans pioneer Greer Lankton, whose work with Andy Warhol laid the foundation for a lot of great art, including building the first Big Bird puppet for Sesame Street.
Big Bird’s mother was a trans woman, and JoJo Baby was Big Bird’s sibling.
Queer art is a huge part of everyone’s DNA, and although they may be gone in body, JoJo’s creations, creativity and love is still very much alive. Thank you JoJo for being a part of my life and all our lives. You live on in all of us.
You live on in all of us.
Please enjoy this encore presentation of Feast of Fun: “JoJo Baby Finds a Skull.”
Thank you for all the glitter, glamour and guts. But most of all thank you for the fun and friendship. ❤️
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