Naked Snake Revealed

Sigint: "Snake, what's up? Why are you naked? I know there's a 'NAKED' option under 'UNIFORM' that lets you take off the upper part of your uniform. But without a shirt on, your camouflage sucks, and your stamina goes down faster. You don't get any advantages whatsoever."
Naked Snake: "Sure there are."
Sigint: "Like what?"
Naked Snake: "It feels good."
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

Back in August, I finally got to perform an act that has been brewing in my head since 2013.  Yes, it existed before "Black Glasses", which I chose to focus on because I wanted my solo debut to be more representative of me.  I even blogged about working on it.

When I became familiar with nerdlesque, Metal Gear Solid popped into my mind.  I had seen my brother and one of my friends in college play through Snake Eater, and the theme song was on Karaoke Revolution (a game I did play a lot).  It was sultry and dramatic, which just screamed "burlesque" to me.  The game was full of femme fatales, but I thought it would be more interesting and entertaining to portray the uber-masculine protagonist, Solid Snake.  Or since I'd be referencing Snake Eater, which was a prequel, his predecessor Naked Snake—yes, that is his codename.

AnimeFest 2015
Photo by Julio M. Photography

Since I approached the costume from a cosplay, rather than a striptease, perspective, I wound up getting real BDUs with the exact same camo that Naked Snake used.  They were not easy to work with, and I have to thank my friends Ramon and Radha, as well as The Companion, for helping with the construction.  I had more costume pieces and gags in the initial concept, but they just distracted from the performance.  Plus the most recent Metal Gear Solid heroine's lack of clothing gave me inspiration—and motivation to give Snake the same treatment.  I did keep the cardboard box though.

The act kept getting put on the backburner, but I never stopped thinking about how I could make it better because the opportunity would come one day.  And it did—with Tuesday Tease.  We decided upon a Super Smash Brothers video game theme.  Vivienne Vermuth helped me co-produce so that I could perform as well.  One thing you have to know, however, is that The Companion is a competitive Smash Brothers player so I did have to put a lot of work into the rest of the show.  It made me glad that I had most of my Snake act ready to go.  The Companion took time off to go to the show and invited his friends.  I was happy to get the support since Snake is not the most popular of characters.  I loved the reactions I got when I came out with the box and then revealed myself from underneath.

Tuesday Tease: Super Smash Tease
Photo by KWN Design

This act was made for a geeky audience, but I still wanted to reference classic burlesque in my choreography.  I'm constantly finding this balance in many of my acts.  It's tricky, and doing this a couple months later at Oni-con made me realize that I need to be flexible with my numbers.  In any case, I am really grateful for the opportunity to make Naked Snake a reality and show it off to two different audiences in two cities.  Hopefully those weren't the last missions for Naked Snake.

I've got a completely different mission this week: help produce the last Tuesday Tease of the year.  It's also our farewell show for Alissa, who has managed the bar and been our liaison with the higher ups.  So come join us for this special evening!

Upcoming Tuesday Tease appearances

Not too long ago, I reached my anniversary with the Tuesday Tease Team.  I've learned a lot working behind the scenes and gained more responsibilities.  The experience has introduced me to many wonderful people who inspire me to come up with new acts (and get Tony Fo-Hawk to do the same).  I never thought I would be where I am at, but I'm thankful for it.

The Tease Team
Photo by KWN Design

Basically you'll be able to see me at every Tuesday Tease in the coming weeks.  I may not be performing, but I want you to support all the shows we do because it is a group effort.  However, here's my schedule if you wanna say "hi".

12/20/16 - Drag Me to the Future - performing

Drag Me to the Future line-up

12/27/16 - 2016 Best of Tease - co-producing with Tasseled Squirrel

1/3/17 - Tease of Color - Tony Fo-Hawk performing

1/10/17 - PokGAYmon (Redux) - producing

Remember, Tuesday Tease starts at 10 PM.  The venue is Sue Ellen's on 3014 Throckmorton St., Dallas, TX.  There's no cover for 21+, $5 for 18-20, but bring some dollars to tip the performers.  Hope to see you around!

Upcoming shows: Tuesday Tease and Nerds in Technicolor

I was planning on making an actual blog post today, but I became preoccupied with the next show I'm producing, Tuesday Tease: Dungeons and Drag.  I got a little over enthusiastic and wanted tell a story with the line-up.  (This is what happens when you give me control over a show.)  You can see the final result tomorrow, and we've added a special guest, Roxxy Reckless.

I also want to give you a sneak preview of what's going down in 2017.  One of the shows I'll be doing is Nerds in Technical, a POC nerdlesque show, on February 18.  There are a lot of out-of-town guests so there's a fundraiser to help out with funds and to ensure that there will be more like it in the future.  Check out the link below to donate!

Fo-Hawk Rising: From Beach Bum to Headliner

"I've always had a mental wish list of tricks, such as the 900, varial 720, kickflip 540, ollie 540, and slowly over the years I checked them off one by one until the 9 was the only one left.  Everything else now is purely for fun." - Tony Hawk, Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder

I'm finally getting back to my recap of various shows and experiences.  Tony Fo-Hawk is on break to enjoy some snowboarding so this is a good time to discuss the hell of a summer he had (fall was good as well, but I'll cover that later).  I had already talked about the creation of his Airship Pirate number.  Before that, he was working on another new act for the Wet 'n' Wild Tuesday Tease.

Photo by KWN Design

The arrival of summer meant surfing for Tony.  I had planned a surfer act of my own, but this seemed more like his thing (although I reserve the right to return to the idea).  The Companion's favorite song is "Surf Wax America" by Weezer so I really wanted to use it.  However, the song is actually sarcastic, which made me take pause.  Could Tony lip synch these words when they're supposed to mock? The tune was catchy though; I couldn't get it out of my head.  Thankfully there was a solution: Jack Johnson.

Before he became known as a musician, Jack Johnson was a pro surfer—the youngest to make finals at Pipeline Masters.  His songs are a bit too mellow to do an act to on their own, but I found a song he wrote about the waves and mashed it up with "Surf Wax America".

My breasts are too sensitive and large for me to be comfortable with duct tape binding.  Therefore, I knew the illusion was going to be compromised because who surfs with their shirt on?  I thought about buying a wetsuit, but they weren't in my budget and my binder would still show through.  I decided that the audience could suspend their disbelief, especially if I went even sillier with the "nudity" down below.

See what I mean?
Photo by KWN Design

"Going Surfing" provided a much needed lightness since I had been working on two ambitious numbers for the SteamTease.  In August, Tony and I teamed up to do our "Jesus of Suburbia" act for a Broadway-themed Tuesday Tease.  I'll never get tired performing because it's so cathartic.  That same week, Tony continued with the musical-inspired acts and did Hamilton for Mustache Envy.

Not throwing away his shot
Photo by Cher Musico

Since seeing them at my bust-out, I've admired Mustache Envy.  I've performed in their Panty Raid shows a couple of times, but I didn't think Tony would be in a Mustache show.  Nevertheless, I submitted his two most ambitious—and uncharacteristic—acts: the Airship Pirate and Hamilton.  I was so honored to find that not only was Tony hired on to do Hamilton, but was named a headliner alongside the amazing Patrick Mikyles!

Because it was my most PG of acts, I took the opportunity to invite my co-workers along to experience a drag show.  Some of them may have been in for a culture shock, but I think—I hope—they had a good time.  I sure did.  It's always great to see fans of the musical rap along.  There were these two girls who knew every lyric, and they approached me with excitement afterwards, telling me that they were blasting the soundtrack earlier in the day. 

One of the reasons I love doing nerdlesque so much is because I can reach those people who may have obscure interests.  Tony isn't really a nerd (unless you count his action sports obsession), but I'm glad he can reach out to people too.  I’ll cover some of his more recent shows, but I’m really proud of how far he has come in less than a year.

As I said, he's currently on a break, but you can catch me in a brand-new nerdy act tomorrow at Tuesday Tease!