I’m Alternative Miss World 2009!

And wouldn’t be without a magical team of people, coffee, cigarettes, booze, no sleep and some seriously long hours of work.

Wreckage built the time machine scultpure skirt thing, Rachel Freire made the costumes, Naomi Blume brought it all together, Maria Cork painted on the gore, Lucifire pulled me up by my hair and it all came together magically.  It’s a really amazing feeling to be acknowledged for our hard work…. if only there was a cash prize to pay for supplies!  Benefactors anyone?

The back stage situation was just about the best people watching, listening, communicating experience ever!  Cardboard ships, green ram people, little Morris dancing girls, queens from every generation, wigs wigs wigs, naked ladies covered in body paint, colored glass glued onto everything, mirror covered Irrepressibles, inflatable costumes, Zandra Rhodes’ mirrors and funny conversations.

I can’t wait for the wrap party/gathering tonight and am so grateful for some sleep!

I’m in the press!

I have my own page in Timeout London online!

Fancy Chance is classy in German trousers

click this, bitches.

Totally exciting.

I’m also going to be a guest performer in Dave’s Drop-In Centre at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern.  Here’s a great little article about David and his performance series coming up in May.  Last year there were lines around the block to see his show, so come early if you plan on seeing any of his shows.

Updates and such

Since I’m getting a little blurb in Timeout London, this will be the kick in the ass I need to actually BLOG.

I had a string of shows starting in Innsbruck and ending with several nights in a row at the Volupte Lounge.

Innsbruck was beautiful but I did feel like a family of VonTrapps we about to pop out at me around every corner.  The gig I had was with Lucifire, Vicky Butterfly, Roxy Velvet and Lydia Darling.  We were there for an  anual sex expo with a burlesque theme this year.  After two days of that, I hopped on a train to Milan via Verona.  It was a strange trip because the first leg of the journey was on an older train with compartments in the cars that seated six.  As I found my seats, I first noticed a little girl about 9 years old with her mother in the same compartment.  It was obvious that the girl had gone through some kind of chemotherapy as she was practically bald but both she and her mother seemed in good spirits.  I felt BAD though.  Bad for my friend who just lost his father to cancer and bad for my neighbor who just lost her husband to it – but shit… a kid!?!  A daughter.  When we got to Verona I found that my connecting train was cancelled due to a strike and had to catch the next train about an hour later.  On the platform I got to talking with the woman, her daughter and another expat business guy from the states.  The mother was from the US  had done a lot of charity work with develping countries and had been living in various regions of Africa, Germany and Italy.  Fortunately, her daughter’s chemo was working, the mother was mostly likely well aware of people far worse off and had the benefit of socialized medicine, instead of being medically bankrupt in the states.  The silver lining was thin but it was there.

I got to Milan with plenty of time to spare and performed at the Connie Douglas club with the Bees Knees and Madamoiselle Flo.  The show was fantastic and it was a pleasure working with them.  The club itself was AMAZING.  Like someone with an Eames/mid century modern design fetish was given all creative control of a club.  You can see pictures here.  The morning after the show, Aila and JoJo from the Bees Knees and I went to the antiques market just near the hotel but it was PISSING down with rain.  As our journey continued passing by the freezing wet vendors I realized that it was just like most festivals in the UK; we should have been having a good time but were really cold and wet.  Ho hum.

I’ve got to gig now!  I’ll reflect on the Volupte shows later….

And then I found my mind and it was slippery….

I’m being really boring and just going to let you know about some upcoming shows:

Sat 21 March 09

Divine Incest

I am Divine Incest, a monthly club night and occasionally an irregular gender bending sex mess.

Our next wet and wild debauch is on Saturday the 21st of March at The Slaughtered Lamb, 34-35 Great Sutton Street, EC1V 0DX, from 10pm-2am, £5 entry.

We have for your delight the lubricious KURT DIRT AND THE LOVE RATS,
the burlesque twirls of MISS FANCY CHANCE,
the musical archives of the legendary PAM HOGG,

and not to forget your hostess with the grossest FELICITY HAYWARD,
and your sound oscillation refigurist DEE FODOR.

http://www.myspace.com/divineincest

Sun 22 March 09

Ali McGregor’s Late-Nite Variety-Nite Night

Lowdown @ The Albany Hotel

Dates: Sunday 22nd March 2009
Where: Lowdown @ The Albany Hotel 240 Great Portland Street W1 5QU (Great Portland St tube)
Tickets: £10 To Book Call 020 7387 5706

Wed 25 March 09

(The Fun Of The) FAIR

Roll up! Roll up! Ringmaster NATHAN EVANS (VauxhallVille, 7 Deadly Sins) invites you, fair people, on a rollercoaster ride through
London’s back passages, plunging from high art to low comedy in the company of fair-headed, ebony-hearted DUSTY LIMITS (compere without
compare), fairest FANCY CHANCE (burlesque terrorist par excellence), &  fair-playing MICHAEL ROULSTON (pianoforte prodigy).

Song! Dance! Puppetry! And even a bit of history!

‘a high camp attack on high art’ - The Guardian

‘gobsmackingly filthy’ – The Telegraph

‘pure genius’ – Time Out

Fair’s fair. See you there.

Doors: 6.15pm. Show starts at 8pm

Tickets: £10 for a seated ticket. Dinner optional. Standing tickets £5

Thurs, Fri 26 & 27 March 09

Sex City, Innsbruck, Austria

Sat 28 March 09

Connie Douglas, Milan

(I haven’t had the description translated yet but I think they think I’m Thai? Oh well, we all look the same)

What happened to my mind?

I haven’t posted anything in a while as my world has whirled all around and I’ve been trying to catched the pieces swirling around me before they disappear in the atmosphere.

Some shows coming up are:

Club Smooch in Brighton on 7 March

Grind a Go-Go on 14 March

and

Ali McGregor’s Variety Night on 22 March

After that I’m doing a series at Volupte, Sex-po in Innsbruck, Connie Douglas in Milan and other stuff.

When will I sleep?

I miss you all.

Why is Sweden cool?

Stockholm rocks. I just did a strip tease as a nun and flogged myself with a rosary (I’m totally going to hell in a hand basket if Christianity in it’s present form actually exists), and then I did a balloon dance strip with condom balloons to “Springtime for Hitler” and changed into a popes outfit for the finishing touch. I was simply adhering to the “Vatican Secret” theme that the Hootchie Kootchie club came up with, as did the other performers. Many folks said it was one of the best Hootchie Kootchie nights and I agree after doing a few myself.

Taylor Mac was one of the special guests and was inspiring; I’ve got so much admiration for truly clever people with ukuleles

Back to why Sweden is cool – the audience loved the theme and dressed appropriately (I loved the hot female blonde jesus, complete) and they ate up the performances with glee. The show and even the poster could have caused the theatre to be closed if it were done in a different society but IT’S SWEDEN! Liberal, dark, beautiful, educated SWEDEN!!!!

Sweden is a place where underwear commercials look like this:

Upcoming shows

The Smoking Cabinet Festival of Early Cabaret Cinema 1894-1933:

“We have less than a week to go til this year Smoking Cabinet Festival of Early Cabaret Cinema 1894-1933 – playing at the Curzon Soho 12-14th December!

Do look out for press coverage of the fest including this week’s Time Out, The Guardian Guide, Vertigo magazine, an excellent article from Empire online (look here down on the right) and Women’s Hour – broadcasting this on Radio 4 Tuesday 9th December between 10 and 10.45 am

We have now also confirmed the wonderful Tim Redfern / Timberlina as a second guest on our panel discussion: Boom or Bust – which focuses on the cylcical nature of fashion and performance – and takes place after our On with the Dance screening on Saturday 13th December 6pm. Please note the that FREE CHARLESTON WORKSHOPS we are hosting at 4pm and 5pm before the screening are filling up fast – to book the last few places email info@thesmokingcabinet.com stating when you’d like to come.

Mat Fraser is to perform as Sealboy on opening night – in between Fancy Chance and MIlicent Binks – on what will be an excellent and unique Midnight Movies screening of Piccadilly (1929) (Friday 12th December, acts and dj from 9.30pm, film at 11.30pm, free gin cocktail for each guest). The film will be given a new score by the acclaimed Minima.

For more info see: www.thesmokingcabinet.com
To book tickets see: www.curzoncinemas.com

Look forward to seeing you there!x”

I’m really excited about this performance because I will conciously be using my ethnicity to do an homage to Anna May Wong.  As my UK performance years have progressed and as I’ve become more seasoned, I’m not longer hired for just my burlesque skills but for my abilities to come up with bespoke performances in the broader world of variety and cabaret.  I strive to infuse my performance with political dialogue whenever I can.  This homage to a woman who wanted “The woman who died a thousand times” engraved on her tombstone is especially important to me because of how she was treated by cinema and media from the 20’s to the 50’s.  She was constantly being knocked-off in every manner of way in the films she appeared in; there is no doubt that this is because she was a Chinese woman.  It will be interesting to see how I’m treated as a black market DVD “sales person” before I go on stage and then dragged off by immigration inspectors.

Burlescapades Mid Winter Ball:

Burlescapades!
Midwinter Ball
Assembly Rooms, George St, Edinburgh
December 13th, 2008. 9pm – 1am.

Slip off your furs and dazzle in your finest attire at Burlescapades’ spectacular Midwinter Ball.

Forget the chill, dark nights and wallow in the warmth and opulence of the Assembly Rooms’ magnificent ballroom on December 13, 2008.

There you can sip champagne under twinkling chandeliers whilst enjoying the finest burlesque and cabaret, before gliding across the gilded dancefloor as the heady scents of frankincense and myrrh tease your imagination.

Europe’s most fabulous jewel, Miss Lily White, will sweep her ivory velvet cloak before you as she unveils her spectacular Victorian Snow Queen show for the first time, leaving you completely spellbound.

Our Christmas belle Fancy Chance is preparing to gently tug at her satin ribbons until her sensual yuletide gifts are revealed, while Daiquiri Dusk and her troupe of temptresses long to squeal with delight as they unwrap their eye-popping presents.

Illusionist Colin McLeod will captivate as he seizes your mind and toys with your soul. Preening peacock Chris Wilson seduces with his magnificent plumage and Ryan Styles will leave you enchanted by his strange and heart-warming cabaret.

Dip in to our chocolate box of glamour and savour the sweet taste of joy and vintage romance. Our glittering Midwinter Ball will make you wish it were Christmas every day.

Jo King Presents – Get Me I’m a Burlesque Legend:

‘Get Me…I’m a Burlesque Legend’ is the ultimate show in Jo King’s sell-out West End trilogy.

Jo King aka Goodtime Mama Jojo was recently crowned the first ever ‘British Burlesque Legend’ at Las Vegas’s holy grail for bump and grinders – ‘The Burlesque Hall of Fame’.

This December, Jo celebrates 50 years of living life to the full and 30 years in the business of burlesque.

This final show at London’s Madame Jojos brings together a spectacular line-up, hand-picked by Jo, to reflect the very best of what the vibrant British Burlesque scene has to offer. This sensational assortment of popular burlesque stars will be appearing for this “One Night Only” event, together with anecdotes from Jo King’s life as a burlesque performer.

NOT TO BE MISSED!

Thursday 18th December

Madame JoJo’s, Soho

Doors open 7pm

Show starts 8.30pm

Tickets £30 + booking fee

We would love to have you join us.  If you can’t make it, please feel free to forward these event details to those you think may be interested.

To book tickets:

http://www.ticketweb.co.uk/user/?region=gb_london&query=detail&event=299423

To check out the Madame Jo Jo’s site:

http://www.madamejojos.com/cabaret/burlesque_legend/index.html

To check out other events and classes we offer:

www.londonacademyofburlesque.com

KUNST:

Winter Panto!!!!:

A brand new video from the Micca Club’s latest burlesque festival in Roma!

The Micca Club was fantastic and were such wonderful hosts for all of us involved.

Changing

As a U.S. citizen I have to post that I support Barack Obama for the next president of the United States of America.  The two terms of Bush and Cheney have been a horrific and deadly joke on the citizens of the US and the people of the world.  I know he’s not going to perform miracles on the economy or stop terrorism and extremism in it’s tracks, but I PRAY that he wins tomorrow.  No matter how much Obama may disappoint the left and the right if and when he takes office, he is a reasonable, intelligent and measured person who will hopefully get the US turning towards the right direction.

Go Obama!

This is a great clip about Anna May Wong

In this episode of Sexy Beijing, Su Fei explores the life of the sexiest Chinese American woman ever to grace the silver screen: Anna May Wong (黄柳霜).

Born to a Chinese laundryman’s family in 1905 in Los Angeles, she went on to become a Hollywood icon in a career that started in 1919 and went on till the 1960s.

Her career and personal life suffered because of California’s anti-miscegenation laws. Despite this, she had a mixed reception in China where many people criticized her for bringing shame upon Chinese people in a way reminiscent of the treatment Zhang Ziyi sometimes gets at home, despite her popularity abroad.

Graham Russel Gao Hodges is the author of a recent book about her called Anna May Wong: From Laundryman’s Daughter to Hollywood Legend. This episode of Sexy Beijing is an interview by Su Fei with Professor Hodges.

You can buy Hodges’ book on Amazon or at The Bookworm if you’re in Beijing.

A number of her films are available on DVD; search for ‘Anna May Wong’ on Amazon.

http://danwei.org

Sexy Beijing is now on its own website: check the latest episodes at
http://www.sexybeijing.tv