Talulah's Hollywood Glamour Party, the After Party!

The second half went without a hitch! Yippee! Ginger's magic act was spellbinding! (see what I did there?!), the audience loved it. Valerie's 'Afterdark' routine was literally mesmerising, I couldn't take my eyes off her. And Sophia's finale, well, u saw those pics. That's the kinda performer I wanna be! She was really amazing. This was me, hanging out with Wynston in a rare unbusy moment!



My maid outfit didn't really work out! Maybe next time. My time as a maid was relatively easy, but thats because no one gave me any complicated instructions! I did find it had not to try to steal the spotlight when I was on stage picking shit up though, I wanted to break into a cheeky routine. One time, involving a magic wand, I heard a slight titter in the audience.. It was all I could do to stop myself from milking it. Now we're letting our hair down in Firebug, hurrah!


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Tallulah's Party! Part what are we on? 4 now?

It's the burlesque final.. In crouching by the side of the stage watching the AMAZING Sophia St Villier.. Why do I feel like David Bellamy suddenly?!
Here's what I can see...









Wowsers!!!

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Talulah's Hollywood Glamour Part 3!

So the band, the Boucaneers, are on again now, they're playing GoGo Bordello's Start Wearing Purple :)
Then the girls are on for their second acts.. I'll be ready this time, I will! As soon as I hear the band do their last song.. In fact, they've only just started their 2nd set but I might just go hover now... We don't want a repeat of earlier....!
This is Talulah Blue btw, she got through to the second round of Britain's Got Tallent! (She's got talent in spades!) Look out for her on telleh!


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Talulah's Hollywood Glamour Party Part deux...

Nooooo! Disaster! Failed at my first stage maid duty!!! First act, Valerie, needed a chair on stage, that's all, one chair! I was at the back of the room, on the door, all of a sudden Valerie's on stage - no chair!! I ran, but wasn't fast enough, the poor girl had to enlist the help of her photographer friend to get a stool! There was a slight mix up you see, there was supposed to be a gap between the band (The Boucaneers pictured!)


& the burlesque, but there was some back stage panic and the compere announced Valerie a little too soon. Valerie dealt with the mishap like a true pro though and rocked the stage. See, the perfect peach :)



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Talulah Blue's Hollywood Glamour Party

Tonight I'm helping Talulah at her Hollywood Glamour Party! I'm stage maid. Luckily none of the girls performing have very complicated staging requirements like mine often are!!



To my delight Ginger la Rouge turned up just after me, she's performing tonight with Valerie Vegas and Sophia St Villier. I'm on the door stamping people right now, will post again once the show starts!


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Testing... Testing...

I'm testing a new blog app, BlogPress.. If it works, I'll live blog from tomorrow nights show. I'm not performing this time but stage maiding.

Oh, ps, I had a haircut! Like?




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Claude's back!!

Here he is! Claude mark II!

Gerard (the cardboard cut out of Gerrard Butler I snagged from work!) was a bit..stiff, and didn't have Claude's movable arm. So, he got the chop! Literally, I cut him into a Claude shape. He's better than the first one now and stands up easily, yippee!

I had a show last night, Sunday, at a cute little cafe/bar in Leicester town centre called The Crumbling Cookie, organised by Talulah Blue. I did the Boodles act and Hard Heated Hannah.

It was a great night and had a really cozy atmosphere despite being super cold in the 'dressing room' (read disabled toilet!).

The wonderful Paul Needham was there to take pictures, as you can see they are super!

Next.... I'm planning more acts; I have one super dream style way out budget act I literally dreamt up, one totally do-able cute act, improvements on Boodles, and of course the secret show girl style act I posted pictures of my costume for.

And.. I'm applying for a pretty big show next year.. We'll see..!!

Costume making and tassel twirling..

Ta-da! Ok, it might not look like much, yet, but this is literally hours of gluing and stitching! I think I've added about 100 pearls and a thousand sequins! Wait till I've added more sequins, more pearls and loads of rhinestones! It'll be beautiful, and imagine how it will sparkle on stage under the lights! Ooooh!

This is all for my new act, I'm going for all out show girl. I'll add more pictures as it develops, but I'm pretty excited about it!

Also, I bought a new AP corset... oops. But, I do need one, and it will fit beautifully with this act! Honestly! ...see? Mmmmmazing isn't it!?

The girl in the picture is not me, I must clarify, that's from the AP online catalogue ;)

Also, today I've been practising shimmying and tassel twirling... Yeah, I'm really not good at it! I can only do the graceless jumping up and down at the knee style of twirling, not the effortless-looking shimmy style. I think I'm gonna need some better pasties with heavier tassels to master that... Maybe I need to go do a class and learn from an expert!

A new act..

It's Thursday night and I'm in bed, kinda, it's 9.30!! And I'm doing research.

I'm working on a new act. This one is gonna be all out! I'm making the most amazing costume, well, hopefully! I am sewing pearls, sequins and gluing rhinestones on to some pretty white lacy underwear (no, it's not AP, unfortunately), and I made some new pasties. Ta-da! Cute huh?!

And this act is going to be funny, a little, and poetic, kinda. I shan't say exactly what the act is yet, but I will soon!

So, I'm researching how to be more graceful, because this act calls for it, in parts. Basically my 'dance' will be made up of a series of poses that make the female form appear its most beautiful, for the act is about beauty and femininity, be it in an abstract way. Ha! I'll keep y'all posted on how that goes! But in the mean time, enjoy looking at how its really done, by Michelle L'Amour..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTOlblz_xjE&feature=related

I had to cancel a show... and I have a fan!

I really hoped I'd never have to pull out of a show at the last minute, but this weekend, I had to do just that.

This weekend was due to be my busiest (and most exciting) ever! I had 3 shows booked, Lincoln Thursday, London Friday and Liverpool Sunday, all Halloween shows, my favourite time of year! But on Thursday I got ill.

I did the Lincoln show Thursday night, as I posted below, Friday I was sofa-ridden. I couldn't face the train journey to London, let alone actually performing. I felt dreadful, about having to cancel. The promoter understood, luckily I was a last minute addition anyway, so wasn't on any of the posters etc, which would have made me feel worse, but I still felt really lousy about it.

Sunday I was doing a show in Liverpool with Phoenix Snow and Frank Lebeau Diaablo. Later on, Phoenix would tell me that if I had pulled out she would have to have cancelled the whole show!

I tried to make sure I was better by Sunday.. and, well, I wasn't worse, but I still felt awful! But the show went ahead, and it was a great success. I did the Corpse Bride act, and it was 400x better than the debut at the Lincoln show on Thursday, the audience were seated, and giving their full attention, and this time I managed to get my dress back on before the track ran out haha!

I did Hard Hearted Hannah too, messed up the timings a little and did a sloppy stocking removal that I was annoyed about afterwards but on the whole it all went well.

And the best thing about the whole night? As I was running, robed, back to the dressing room after my vamp act, I was stopped by a nervous looking audience member, "Miss Lola?" she said, "You were amazing!" Ah! Miss Lola! How quaint! "Thank you!" I breathed. The dear, sweet, adorable girl went on, "I saw you at the Canary Cage.. I'm a big fan!" A fan?!?! A big fan!?! Wow! I was floored! I gushed a thank you, I think I blessed her! And disappeared up the stairs! I have a fan!!!!!

I forgot my teeth!!!!

The other day, when I was packing my things for Birmingham, I was worrying that I'd forgotten to pack something. I hadn't, but it's the same old niggle I have everytime I go somewhere. P said to me "What's the most important thing you need to have packed?" I said "My teeth".

Yesterday, after work we drove to Lincoln to do a Halloween themed show at a night called Break your Socks. I did two acts, my new Corpse Bride act, and the Hard Hearted Hannah act. My Corpse Bride act came first, it was the first time I've ever done it. I wasn't completely happy with it either. It went down ok, but it needs work. It didn't help that I was super nervous (and feeling ill!), I could actually feel my legs shaking!

Hard Hearted Hannah was much better, I wasn't nervous at all, it feels like coming home, I know it so well. I love to do that act. However.. about 10 seconds in, all going well... shit! I forgot to put my teeth in!! This was the thought process in my head (whilst on stage actually performing); Oh no! My teeth! I HAVEN'T PUT THEM IN! They're still in the box backstage... I wonder if I could go back and get them...? Have I got time..? No. Could I stop and start again..? No! Would the audience would notice if I just nipped back for them..? Um, yes! Ok.. I'll just carry on as if they are there and there's no problem. Ok.
It was all because I had a backstage panic about 30 seconds before I was due on, I couldn't find my fan! I found it, I was so relieved I forgot to put my teeth in! Haha! It didn't really matter. Once I'd drank the true blood the audience got what was going on, just the couple of teeth reveals before then didn't really work quite as well as usual!! :s
Thanks for having me Jamie!

Phew!

I've just spent about an hour in the bathroom scrubbing, conditioning, waxing and generally cleansing after a really hectic weekend of shows!
I had so much fake blood stainage on me in needed a good scrub! And next weekend is gonna be even more manic!
On Friday night I had a show in Birmingham, Saturnalia at The Jester, a great venue and an absolutely amazing show. The cast were all wonderful, Felicia Noir was there (yay!), Lexi Sexx, Delilah Lilac (the best catwoman I've ever seen!), Mr Kiss (SO cute!), Candy Carnival and all skillfully compered by the truly amazing Fred Bear - I actually love him!
The night was great, but my act went off with a slight hitch... I did 'Hard Hearted Hannah', my True Blood parody act... All was going well until the music started to skip! I took it in my stride, as much as I could, even when it began to loop over and over! But when it completely stopped mid way through I was left standing in silence on stage...! Eeeek! THAT was not fun! Luckily the DJ had the Jace Everett 'Bad Things' track on cd so a quick switcharoo and I was able to carry on with my act!! I hope that NEVER happens again!!!
So... that was supposed to be my only show this weekend, however, an urgent plea on MoB for emergency acts to step in to do an Oxjam charity show in Leicester (3 acts had dropped out last minute!) sent me off course on my way home to help out. I had all my Vamp kit in my case so I went straight there. Here's a pic of me mid act! See why I'm pleased to finally have some edible blood..? That stuff tastes yukky! The show was great, and I met some super lovely gals so I'm glad I went. And I managed to stock up on some more fake blood (edible yay!) from the amazing fancy dress shop in Leicester on the way home.
Next weekend... it's a mini Halloween Tour!
Thursday: Lincoln ,Kind Bar
Friday: London, Dirty Dicks
Saturday: Nottingham, Bopp @ Spankys (for fun!)
Sunday: Liverpool, Philharmonic
I'm tired already!! :s

This is the one I've been worrying about....

I have another show tomorrow, in Birmingham, it's Felicia (who helped me book my very first show!) Noir's Cosplay Burlesque show in West Brom, and it's a big deal.

You may wonder why this one is any more a big deal than any other.. Well, I'll tell you...

As I mentioned, it was Felicia who I approached, back in April, via the Ministry of Burlesque, about my very first show. And the show I asked her about was this one! Yep, that is a long time to be planning a show!! There's reason to be fearful #1.

#2 Felicia didn't book me for this show (Robin of Black Country Burlesque did later on), but she did point me to BCB's newbie shows, which became my actual first show back in June. Which kinda makes her my Burlesque Fairy Godmother, she gave me a big leg up, whether she knows it or not.

#3 Referring back to point 1, Felicia has put some seriously hard work into this show, and has been uber excited about it for months. Originally I was intending to do a Tank Girl act, but I just couldn't work in out the way I wanted so I ditched it and decided to do the Tru-Blood act. Now, after the success and positive feedback from Hard Hearted Hannah's first outing at the Canary Cage I have some confidence in the act, however, as it's a Cosplay show (with most acts being comic book based), I am worried it's gonna stick out a little. Yes.. I'm scared my act will be the crap one. Which leads me to reason #4, it's at The Public in West Brom... it's a fucking great massive theatre!!! Eeeeeeeeek!

Anyway.. I'll update after the show.. Gulp. In the meantime, here's a preliminary pic from the Zak Tyler Liverpool shoot... Cool huh?! :)

First ever real life photo shoot! with a real life photographer!!!

So yesterday I did many many fun things, taking what feels like a huge step forward towards being a real burlesque performer, one of which was a photo shoot, in an actually studio, with an actual photographer!! In Liverpool!

Zak (Tyler, the photographer) was so lovely, I was completely at ease, not even slightly nervous, not at all tense like I was with my boyfriend the time I made him try to shoot some promo pictures. We spent a good couple of hours in Zak's Liverpool studio doing lots of different photos, but all pin up style. I got to wear some of my favourite AP underwear (whoop!), and did my hair in an (almost) perfect rockabilly fringe roll. Now just fingers crossed at least some of the pics turn out to be not too grotesque ha! Not that I doubt Zak's ability behind the camera, far from it, its the other side of the lens things may fall down! The results should be back in a couple of weeks, So we'll just have to wait and see....

I took my boyfriend along for moral support, he took some back stage shots, so here's a sneak peek...

I'm back!!!

Gosh, how time flies when you're super busy!! In real life, I got a promotion (yay!) and have been supremely busy!

In the time since I last posted, I've been to lots of burly shows, including Delicious @ Derby, which was A-MAZING!!!

This is a picture of Natsumi Scarlett closing the show in spectacular fashion, all the performers were absolutely astonishing and I left feeling completely inspired.

Somewhat unbelievably I actually took this picture myself, I tend to be about as good behind the camera as I am in front! :s

Beatrix von Bourbon was awesome, as ever, and when it snowed on stage in her Winter act I got goosebumps!

Joe Black was hilariously macabre, Roxy Velvet was breathtaking and Mademoiselle Lili La Scala was like nothing I've ever seen before - stunning! Oh! I want go back! The whole night was magical!

Unfortunately me & the mister missed most of the newbies, which was the part I was actually looking forward to the most and only caught the final two, which just happened to be Bella Donna Berry and Jeu Jeu la Foille, my two favourites for the title of Delicious Newcomer of the Year. Neither Bella nor Jeu Jeu won, but both of their acts were great and I got to see Jeu Jeu's wildly imaginative Mary Poppins act from the front, unlike at the Dirty Dicks show where I had to watch from backstage!

The winner was Elle Amour, who won a bucket of prizes, with her sexy cake act.

So.., the plan is, next year, I'll be on that stage competing for the Delicious Newcomer Title 2011!

Next show - SATURDAY!

So Saturday will be my 2nd show.. and this is no newbie show, BEATRIX VON BOURBON will be gracing the very same stage that I will be performing upon! OMG!
It's at Dirty Dick's, London, AND, I didn't even have to beg to be allowed to perform, they asked me! Yay!
http://www.timeout.com/london/cabaret/event/194154/elysian-nights

In the meantime, since my last post I've been looking for shows here there and everywhere! I have another in Liverpool in September and I've been planning lots of other exciting acts!
I'll be performing my Boodle's act on Saturday, unfortunately none of the others are quite right yet, as always, they require near-impossible props!!
Hopefully I'll have some wonderful new pictures from Saturday to post, but in the meantime, check out Beatrix in action... http://vonbourbon.com/?page_id=26 ....Gulp!

C x

The Tournament of the Tease!

I am SO excited! I just booked Tournament of the Tease! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=360957&id=112157078799481#!/pages/The-Tournament-of-Tease-2010/112157078799481

TotT is a monthly burlesque show/competition, held on the 1st Thursday of every month at Bethnal Green Working Men's Club. The winner of each month's heat goes on to the final in December. My show is October 7th. There is also a male Tournament, held the last Thursday of the month, and the standard, for both, is set super high by the likes of previous winners Felicia Noir, Betsy Boudoir & Lucy Long Legs.

I think I'm gonna do my Boodles act but I'm gonna have to seriously polish it up to be in with a chance of winning! Gulp!

Meanwhile, I'm looking to book as many other shows as possible. My next one, so far isn't until September, at the Public in West Brom. I'm a little worried that with 3 months in between my 1st and 2nd shows, it'll feel like my debut again!

So on that note, off I go to trawl the internet for upcoming shows that may have a space for Claude and I...

My first show was a great success!! Yay!

I was on 3rd, but actually ended up being 2nd as the first act didn't turn up! I didn't win the competition, but I really couldn't have asked for a better night.

My act went without a hitch, my corset came undone, my pasties stayed put (more than can be said for some acts...!) and my trousers fell down! I did find myself somewhat too naked too soon, as expected though, but all that practise paid off as I knew my song so well I knew how much time I had to 'fill' till the finale.

The audience laughed when they were supposed to, mostly, whooped when clothing was removed and clapped at the end... what more can a gal ask for!?

The best part of the night though was the support from my friends, and their friends! No less than 12 of them turned out to witness my debut and all of them (if their compliments were to be believed!) truly enjoyed the show. Two of my friends were even inspired to give burlesque a go themselves!

Yay! A successful first show indeed! Now... to start planning the next one... : )

Tonight's the night!

So... It's finally here! My 1st ever show!!! Eeeek!

4 girls, one camera...

Another photoshoot, but this time, with slightly more professional results!

I used my big bumper book of Elvgren pinups as a starting point, basing my poses on some of his, this definitly helped!

Thanks to Steph (make up), Joh (photographer) and P (lighting) these pics turned out much better, after a small amount of editing, than the 1st lot.

Now fingers crossed I win the newbie comp on Friday (oh god, I do NOT like that its so close I don't have to use the date anymore!) so I can do a professional shoot!

A problem solved...

Claude!

I've spent much part of today making props for my upcoming show, and I've (kinda) solved the problem of needing a second sign half way through the act, and his name is Claude!
No, my act hasn't turned into a double act, he's a prop. I made him from foam board. He's almost finished, but like all cut-out men he's proving to be quite complicated. See, I need a speech bubble to pop out of his mouth at just the right point... I think I've figured a clever way to do it, but I don't have the most logical of all brains so it might not work out... He also needs some stablisers as he's not too steady on his feet, but I didn't do 5 years of Art school for nothing! Now I just need to solve how to take my feet out of my trousers without getting them caught and falling over... Perhaps not as simple as Claude!

My trousers won't fall down!!! (that's a bad thing btw)

I've been running through my routine, trying to iron out the kinks.. There's a lot of kinks!!
Firstly, there's still the signpost issue.. How do I put up signs to explain the setting of the act.. Music stand? Poster I hold up? Tiny airplane with a banner..?Secondly, my trousers refuse to fall down without being forced, which just doesn't work for the act! So I've had to construct an elaborate series of pulleys and sewn in strings to try give gravity a helping hand..!
However, some good news.. I have mastered the lacing of my corset!! Thanks to a very useful article on the Internet (link below) the step by step instruction have now made it possible to lace myself into my corset! AND... more importantly, take it off easily with a little more grace than David Blane trying to struggle free from a straight jacket. Ta-da!

www.waspcreations.com/howtol.htm

Eeeek!!!! 4 weeks to go!!!

Seeing the poster (above) for my debut night prompted a nightmare last night that, subtly, had me performing in a burlesque competition that I was completely unprepared for!! As I was about to go on stage I realised I hadn't given the CD with my music on to anyone!! It literally instilled the fear of God in me!! I woke up with a desperate urge to work on my act! In the comforting light of day however I have done no such thing, yet... I shall however, endeavor to fix all my props/costume problems this weekend though.. Now.. where can I get a pipe and false moustache on a Sunday....

London Burlesque Week!

I went to 2 shows as part of LBW on Friday (23rd, before my holiday), the Battle Royale at Islington Academy and the Speakeasy show at Proud Cabaret.
Battle Royale was so good, the acts were amazing, though some were so much better than others. We couldn't stick around for the whole weekend, more's the pity. The winner of Battle Royale was the amazing Ginger Blush (pic) who did a hilarious and wildly imaginative Laurel & Hardy act. An absolutely well deserved win!
I thought I'd do a bit of research into other 'newbie' acts. I say newbie but seriously, some of them were so polished, and imaginative, I could hardly believe they had been performing less than a year!
So here's what I learnt:
1) Don't mouth along to your music! Unless it's part of your act.. it looks weird!
2) The audience loves an unexpected trick.. When one performer's Marie Antoinette style act pulled a stacked tray of champagne glasses from her underskirt..followed my a bottle of champagne..! Genius!!
3) The face is everything - the audience look at your face for cues to the direction of your act, if you look stoic, your act is.
4) Make sure your music fits. Some acts finished before their music ended, which is bound to happen occasionally, but some girls' music choice just didn't sit well with their act. I guess your music has to tell part of the story, and if the audience don't like the music, they won't like the act.
5) An act needs some comedy, otherwise you're forgettable, in my opinion at least. There are some girls I don't even remember what they did on stage. Them there were some I couldn't forget. A gimmick, or a joke definitely helps you be remembered!
6) Spend money on props and costume, or at least get creative. The acts that wowed had clearly laboured over their props, and you could tell, they stand out a mile from those acts who cobble together an outfit from random items in their wardrobe. Not that that doesn't sometimes work, but if your costume and props look profession, so will you!
Now I just have to try to remeber all that when I'm on stage....!

I have my costume!

Yay! My AP corset is wonderful! Although I am going to have to practise hard taking it off... And the rest of the outfit all works, although there are a few potential trip harzards! Eek!
I need to engineer my trousers to 'fall' off just at the right moment, which has worked in rehearsals, but there's no pressure there. Hmm.
Anyway, I have my song... I have my costume... I just need my routine! I really don't want anything too chorographed, I'll only forget part of it and finish before the music ends! Or my face will be horribley contorted from concentrating so hard on remembering which foot goes where, left left right right...1..2..3..shit. I have an 'essence' of a routine, an outline. But is that enough? I mean, I don't want it too look structured, but to achieve that, maybe I need... A structure..?! Hmmm.
I think the best thing is to practise it so many times I can't possibley go wrong.

I wanna be THAT good!

I went to PPC last week, a local burlesque night that never fails to deliver. Every month they have AMAZING burlesque performers that are always nothing short of awe-inspiring! Millie Dollar was gracing the stage this month, and boy, was she graceful! The look on my face watching her perform could probably be described as open mouthed awe! I think I clapped the loudest and longest when she'd finished, even watching from a 'professional' point of view, she was incredible, holding the audience's attention from start to finish. Though I could tell she missed the beat at the odd point, it didn't matter, she was captivating. Every bump and every grind made my eyeballs pop! Now THERE is a sex bomb!
And even though 'sex bomb' isn't what i'm aiming for, wow, do I hope I could be that enchanting on stage one day!

Why do all my show ideas require ridiculously elaborate props!?

One of my favourite things to do is to daydream scenarios for new acts. I imagine myself on stage in all sorts of fantastic guises, but unfortunately they will probably remain no more than extravagant dreams, as when it comes to actually working out a practical reality, they all involve impossible or unattainable props! Such as giant teapots, antique chaise lounges... all the kind of things that would mean taking a small removal van to each show, a troupe of stage hands and a dramatic lighting set!
Oh well, maybe one day.
The act I'm working on right now isn't quite so grand, although it does have a couple of tricky prop questions that I haven't quite managed to answer. There's a theme beginning to appear here.. Uh-Oh.
I have my costume sorted at least... Well, almost. My Agent Provocateur corset is so close I can almost feel the cinch! A serious of misdeliveries and hostage taking by the post office have kept us apart too long. But we are due to be united at last on Friday and I'm so excited I could squeal! Black satin... Steel bones.. It ought to be the perfect fit, for me and my act!
Ah! Who needs ornate props when you have an AP corset!?

I've got 12 new friends!

On facebook I mean, well, 10 if you discount my 2 actual real life friends. But they feel like real friends!
Everyone in the shiny happy world of burlesque is so super sweet! They really have welcomed me with open arms. It seems to be a case of the sum is greater than its parts in the burly world, everyone is so supportive to each other, there's no competitiveness, no cliquey-ness , no-one looks down on you because you're new or 'amateur' because almost every one is> It's not easy to make a living from being a burlesque performer and only a few super stars manage to do so.

And speaking of which... I just bought my tickets to Delicious Burlesque in Derby! I'm totally excited about seeing some of the UK's best burlesque performers... Kitty Klaw, Natsuni Scarlett and Vicky Butterfly to name but a few. Hopefully I'll pick up a few tips from watching their shows...

Unfortunatley it comes a little too late to help me with my stage debut in June. Gulp! But, luckily the London Burlesque Festival is but weeks away and I have tickets to the Battle Royale, where future burlesque stars battle it out for the ultimate prize of best newcomer! Maybe I'll be on that stage next year...!? Then again, maybe I should just concentrate on trying to win the Newbie show in June first..!

I've already accrued two perves!!!?

I was quite happy to see that I had my first friend request on facebook! Yay! A somewhat random polish sounding guy wanted to be my friend. Yippee! Right? Well..! I figured this guy must be a burlesque fan, since he was a mutual friend of another performer I was friends with on there (probably my only friend at this point I must add). I had a bit of a snoop around his FB page, just to try to understand why he might want to be my friend, I mean, I'm sure there's nothing untoward going on here, but I have only existed in cyberspace for one day! Ah, he has a wife, he can't be weird! Ah, a picture with a kid, how sweet! Oh, he's a film maker? He's arty! Well that explains it! He appreciates the arts, that's all. Oh.. Hang on a minute, his friends all seem to be girls, with little clothing... What's that girl doing!? Ugh!!! Who does that on their profile picture?!?! Oh. Oh I see. THAT kinda film maker are you!? Well. B-Bye now!
The next guy I haven't snooped. I daren't. Is this what I have to expect now? Odds?weirdos and perves?! I mean, I like burlesque and I'm not a perve! Plenty people do! Is this the image that burlesque has to some people? We're the same as porn stars?!? I mean, I have no problem with porn stars, hell I even admire some of them! But I don't wanna be one! I don't want to be considered a 'sex worker'! IT'S REALLY NOT THE SAME!!! Is that what people think?

Perhaps this wasn't such a good idea...

I am beginning to wonder what on earth I'm getting my self into... I decided to set up a facebook page, which of course, required at least one picture. So, I set my boyfriend the ominous task of photographing me on a home made photoshoot. I set up the kitchen for a tea party and styled my self as a 50's housewife with the desire in my heart to create a Gil Elvgren style pin up shot. Well... the results were no oil painting I'll tell ya!
Feeling somewhat... naked (I wasn't) and exposed I was less than nice to my poor boyfriend, who though is no David Bailey was super sweet to try. Being somewhat UNphotogenic, posing doesn't come naturally to me so I definitely wasn't in my comfort zone. The whole thing made me wonder if I was really cut out for this...?

And so it begins...

I have long been a burlesque fan. I have admired and appreciated the beauty, wit and creativity of burlesque performers and loved being part (albeit as an audience member) of the increasingly popular, but still somewhat underground, burly world.

Even during a brief fling with the idea of becoming a make up artist, and assisting on a photo shoot of upcoming starlets, I never thought I'd want to be one of them. An admiring assistant, that's what I thought myself to be. Yet, a couple of years later, I just booked my first performance slot... in less than 2 (2? oh shit, I hadn't even counted till now- June seemed much further away! Fuck!) months time. Eeek.

Just to make it clear, I have never, not in all my 30 years, taken my clothes off, or even put them on, on any kind of stage, or in front of any more that one person at a time. Eeek again.

I did for about 6 weeks go to Burlesque evening classes, and although my house mate, P, and I had fun, and learnt the basics of Burlesque movement and posing, the class was somewhat amateur and unproductive. Saying that, the hour long sesion every Monday at the YMCA did definitely make me fantasise that this could be something I might do. And up until yesterday, when I emailed someone I'd never met before to request a slot in an upcoming 'newbie' show, a fantasy was all it was...! Eeeeeeek!!!