I have many years experience performing in burlesque shows
Do you and the rest of the show’s cast perform to live music or pre-recorded music?
When we can absolutely live music. But a lot of the time the tracks end up being pre-recorded.
What’s your favorite dinosaur? 🦕
Triceratops
Spirit glue or wig tape?
Have you noticed a shift in style for performers that got into it post pandemic?
Any strange local laws that have impacted acts?
What percentage of shows do you do local vs traveling?
Spirit Gum.
Not a shift in style, just a major lack of performers since the pandemic and even before that frankly. Not as many of us as there used to be.
Nothing weird law wise.
Almost all the shows I’m a part of now are with a local venue. I have kids now so can’t be hitting the road too often.
Around here, newer performers are doing a lot less classic acts and I see a lot more kneepads, but that could just be one specific studio and how they teach.
There’s at least 3 main productions (shows long enough to have intermissions) that do monthly shows and a few more smaller ones that do occasional gigs like art shows and comicons. I’ve gotten a bit jaded to most performances, but still really enjoy outstanding acts. There’s never a shortage of new people, but a disproportionate amount are recently divorced and there are never enough men.
My partner’s been doing burlesque for about 10 years now and seeing the amount of work that goes into it and feeling the weight of the crystals on her outfits still impresses me. She’s getting back to travelling for shows after an injury that sidelined her for about a year and I’m really excited about that. It’s such a a great outlet.
Our production does monthly shows, but honestly we have less and less performers all the time it seems like. But it’s been a really wonderful group of people to be a part of.
What does your practice routine consist of? e.g. do you film yourself dancing at home
I do sometimes film myself, especially if it’s a new set I’m working on. But a lot of the time I trust my cast mates to tell me if what I’m doing is working or not. But I basically spend all week rehearsing my sets until the shows on the weekends.
Thanks for the reply.
Are you a pro?
Yes! I get paid to do this. Not a lot, but technically I get paid haha
Who are your influences?
Well Gypsy Rose Lee obviously is like, just THE hero. And I love a fan dance so I’ll have to say Sally Rand. And for the legends April March, Candy Barr, Jenny Lee, Dixie Evans, Blaze Starr, Tempest Storm.
From a comedy perspective, as I consider myself pretty funny, Penny Marshall is just the all-time great on Laverne & Shirley.
How do you deal with creeps?
Fewer creeps than you would imagine at a show, generally. The audience is usually encouraged to hoot and holler during the show, and we as the performers are encouraged to put down and make fun of the audience during the performance. And that creates a cool atmosphere that deals with that on its own.
But sometimes there will be some a-hole who decides to go out of their way to be horrible. Those people will get thrown out.
How has performing impacted your sexual attitudes and experiences outside of performances?
Good question. My body confidence definitely shot through the roof after I first started doing burlesque, and I think my confidence has remained high because the audience is very much encouraged to let the performers know they look good at these kinds of shows. At the same time, a huge part of my job is putting together outfits that accentuate my body and make me look good. So the excitement of that that a lot of people get to have in their personal life is something I just don’t even bother with because it feels like work too often.
It’s definitely made it easier to get a date, as there are no shortage of guys who find what I do to be attractive. It’s made it at times difficult to maintain a relationship because a lot of guys grow to be uncomfortable with it as time goes on. So there’s definitely a balancing act that has to be found.