Upcoming show: Wilde May Productions

 If you've been following the news, things are bad in Texas.  I haven't had to deal with the power outages, and the water shut-off in my apartment was brief.  I always have lab to escape to.  That being said, I've delayed writing a difficult post, but I will promote an upcoming virtual show.  Thankfully my video was shot before the weather got really bad, and I hope that people who aren't dealing with bad weather can enjoy it.  I am debuting a new act that I've worked hard to bring to life, and the theme is one that I really love.

K-Pop That Pastie premieres on February 20 at 8 PM Eastern Standard Time.  It's $10 for the live show and $5 for the recording that will be available at a later date.  Click here for tickets. I'll be donating my profits to Feed the People Dallas.

Update: If you mised the original ticket sales, the recording will available for purchase for the next weeks.  Click here to buy the rewatch.

Upcoming shows: Magical Girl Burlesque and Zircus Erotique

I've got two shows coming up, and thanks to the flexibility of the virtual format, they are both premiering on Saturday, January 23.

The first is a celebration of Magical Girl Burlesque's Raina Sinclair.  Her birthday show is a throwback to Tumblr, and I'll be doing something a little different.  It's a bit reminiscent of my panels at conventions except I'm focusing specifically on Thor and Loki.  Click here to purchase to a ticket for live Zoom premiere of The Tumblr Tassels.

Over to the west of me, I'm making a guest appearance in a group act in Zircus Erotique's Virtual Variety show.  I've been taking classes with Mena Domina, and the routine we learned together will be featured in the show thanks to some computer magic.  Click here to rent or buy the show, which will only be available for 2 weeks.

Upcoming shows (including a festival!)

I know I resolved to not do multiple shows a week, but the virtual format has given me flexibility to where I can even be in two places at once!  The best part is that you don't have to necessarily choose, as some shows offer an on-demand option.  Anyway, here's where you can get me doing my thing.

Tomorrow night on CUNextTV, I return to the Encore drag show.  This time I'm debuting a new (censored) burlesque number in celebration of certain tropes and the movie Burlesque (which isn't really burlesque but that's another story).  Encore! presents Burlesque starts 9:30 PM CST and the cover is $10.

Now if you prefer geek to glam, catch Ruby's Burlesque Cartoons Show on November 21 at 8 PM CST.  Purchase a $10 ticket at www.rubytix.com and get a link to the Google Meet.   Use my special code "ROSE" to get 10% off!

The show will also be available on demand for the following week, which is good to know because the Identities and Expressions virtual trans and non-binary festival is also November 20 and 21!  The shows start 9 PM CST, and I will be performing the second night.  However, your ticket, which is a donation between $5 and $30 to the crowdcast link, will get you in for both nights.

When to End an Act: a Contemplation on Problematic Faves

This post isn't about the final note or move of an burlesque routine (although my teacher Ginger Valentine had some things to say about fade outs in music).  Rather I want to talk about an act's longevity and when it's time for them to stay in the closet permanently.  Burlesque acts don't live for eternity— at least in the form they started with.  They evolve, or they retire.  Some acts do become a signature and live in people's minds, but there comes a point where a performer decides to move on.

Sorry James Dean, I still don't
know what to do with you.
Photo by Mr. Photopix

 

Sometimes we don't have a choice.  A costume no longer fits, or a prop breaks.  You can always alter and repair, just as you can modify the narrative or perspective of a routine that isn't working the way you had envisioned.  I have a couple of numbers that are on the backburner because they were created before I started doing drag, and I'm wondering if Tony Fo-Hawk could do more with them.  I haven't exactly found the answers or the motivation to figure out how to improve them so they'll sit in the closet. 

Other times we are forced to make a decision about the act.  Burlesque is supposed to be provocative, but sometimes we get blinded by privilege.  Although I haven't experienced being called out for a burlesque act, I do know what's it's like to be guilty of cultural appropriation and not realize it until later.  I made the decision to stop coming up with my own steampunk versions of yukatas because I'm not Japanese.  People may think that I'm being too harsh on myself, but it's a decision I made based on feedback from Japanese people and research.  We're told that we have to take criticisms about our performance so what's to keep us from considering criticism about contributing to oppression.

Nowadays, we have to look even closer at whether we are indirectly complicit in oppression through promoting a problematic individual.  One example—the one who inspired this post—is J.K. Rowling and the world of Harry Potter.  It's easy to say that fandom has outgrown the creator, but until Harry Potter becomes public domain a la Cthulhu (although let's not forget how horrible Lovecraft was), we have to remember that Rowling remains associated with and profiting off the character and his world.  Even if she doesn't see a dime from nerdlesque shows or we actually have a trans Harry, we are still getting people excited about her creation.  Some of them will go to the latest Fantastic Beasts movie or buy a set of Harry Potter books to give to a family member who's just started to read.  This is why I'm retiring Cho Chang for now even if she was created out of criticism for Rowling's racially insensitive portrayal.  Let's find another fantasy series (preferably by a trans writer) to get excited about.

Holiday at Hogwarts is a nice way to end Cho Chang's run
(for now).  Maybe she'll come back some day...
Photo by Saraphimart.

You might be asking if I'm going to do the same for Kaylee Frye or Mantis since Joss Whedon and James Gunn are problematic people who are still making lots of money (and I know Gunn apologized for his offensive posts, but I have issues with his treatment of Nicole Perlman).  Neither of them have a similar place in our cultural zeitgeist.  Firefly is long finished even though there are comics, and I don't hear people rave about it as much as I did in college.  Guardians of the Galaxy has a life beyond the movies, as I reveal with my transformation into Mantis' earlier incarnation.  I also feel like those acts are more explicit in their critiques, which happened to be the artistic choice I made.

Ultimately each of us has our own line to draw over where we can split artist with creation.  And it can move.  As a producer, I have to not only look at my acts but others as well.  I have to think about the message the show broadcasts, and yes, I do think about whether you have music from a problematic artist or are extolling a character of questionable morals.  Sometimes it's harmless fun, but just as the rule (guideline? ideal?) of comedy is to "punch up", I'd rather we all promote and pay homage to the marginalized voices who deserve just as much, or even more, recognition as our "problematic faves".

On the subject of my Original Kaylee number, the quarantine version of it is available in the on-demand recording of Magical Girl Burlesque presents: Comic Con-solation Prize.  Sent producer Betty Brash $10 in one of the ways below with "MGB Con" in the subject to receive the video link:
Cash app - $BettyBrash
PayPal - bettybrashburlesque@gmail.com
Venmo - @BettyBrash

Upcoming show: Magical Girl Burlesque

 I've got some posts in the works, but I wanted to promote my next show.  It's inspired by all the conventions that we've had to miss during the pandemic so expect fantastic nerdlesque and some bonus content in between.

Click here for tickets to the Zoom premiere.  Sales end at 8 AM EDT (and show starts at 8 PM EDT), but you can rent it for later on Vimeo OR Venmo @bettybrash all the way up to an hour before the show to get the password.  Hope to see you for the show!

Upcoming show: Encore! presents American Idiot

 If there was something to reignite my creative spark, it would an American Idiot-themed show.  Tony Fo-Hawk and I have joined forced to create a new collaboration (if it can be called that ^_~) for Encore!, a musical drag revue. 

The show goes live on Tuesday September 1, 8 PM CDT on C U Next TV.  There is a $10 suggested cover (payment information will be available on the stream), and tipping is encouraged.

 Hosted by Nitrix Oxide
Produced by Cassi

Starring:
Jimmy Diamond
Martin Vore
Herman Wishes
Luke Modelo
Scroto T. Bagginz
Peter Fromage
Tony Fo-Hawk/Hana Li
Degrassi Knoll
Marius the Faerie Bear
Salem Moon
Vera
Jenni Del Rio

Back when the world was our oyster

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller

We're entering the 5th month of this pandemic (based on my schedule and location), and I'm almost back to working full-time in lab.  My performing career remains mostly in stasis although I'll have some exciting news at the end of this post.  Since I had traveled and was actually struggling to stay on top of many events prior to lockdown, I haven't gone stir-crazy.  There was disappointment at the cancellation of a trip.  It wasn't burlesque/drag-related, but I was keeping the possibility of a new gig open, especially with new contacts in that area.

Honey Moonpie and I brought
video game realness.

It's these missed opportunities and connections that I mourn.  Of course, I enjoy venturing out to new locations, but I'm also not great at traveling.  Adapting to new places stresses me out so I had avoided many out-of-town gigs for a while, especially if my partner or a friend could not accompany me.

 

With the exception of BHoF, which was carefully planned with a friend, my travel was contained in Texas in my early performing years (I can't believe I just typed this, but 2014 seems so far away).  I got lucky that Helena Isis got booked in the 2016 Oni-con show and I knew Honey Moonpie as well.  Even if I had to fly solo, I was used to the trip with Dallas, and Kiki Maroon had arranged everything wonderflly to get the cast and crew to Galveston without a hitch.  I wound up rooming with Red Snapper, whom I had seen perform but had never met, and she later moved to Dallas so that was a nice connection made.

In 2018, I finally took the big leap to apply for a cross-country gig when I saw a casting call I could not ignore.  Plus I was tired of all the FOMO and the dry spell I was experiencing at that point.  Cherie Sweetbottom's Wronged By Whedon show was perfect for my style of nerdlesque.  I already had my Black Widow act that was dedicated to all the ways her character had been wronged by various people involved in the MCU.  Since I could submit a second act, I brainstormed something I could do for Firefly, a series I love but also resent for the utter appropriation of Chinese culture.  I learned that Kaylee Frye was originally supposed to be a Chinese character, and that's where my "Original Kaylee" act was born. 

Original Kaylee
Photo by Ryan Gerbino

Despite having both acts accepted, I was nervous about joining a show where I knew nobody.  On top of that, I might have had the worst traveling experience ever since the Jerkface-in-DC cancelled my first flight and delayed my second, which led to me arriving 12 hours later than planned.  However, Cherie and Danny Cavalier's hospitality was top-notch, and the reception of both of my numbers, particularly Original Kaylee, was so good.  I had the loveliest time with my fellow socially aware Whedon fans backstage and after the show.  My experience in D.C. taught me that I should travel more, as it reinvigorated my desire to perform and create.

Nashville was another fantastic trip with much credit to producers Gogo Incognito and Miss Jenna Beth and hostess Luvina Ladyplace.  I also stepped out of my comfort zone to inquire about a photoshoot in a cabin with La Photographie.  While it wasn't the easiest experience with me getting up at 6 AM the day after a show and driving an hour (or two?) out to Mt. Juliet, it wound up being a cool experience.  The connections I made in Nashville made me realize how small the world is, as Luvina did a convention with a former on-line friend I made on an anime fansite and castmate Pixie Danger was on King of the Nerds with a guy I went on a date with in college.  Maybe there should be a Six Degrees of Hana Li.

Of course, out-of-town gigs aren't always possible with the time and financial restrictions we might have.  I had to decline a festival spot after I couldn't make travel plans work.  I am fortunate enough to have vacation leave and savings, but there are thrifty ways to go about traveling.  Plus most producers are willing to help with transportation and housing if they can't cover your trip to their city.  It's good to see how burlesque is different in other places, and for me, I've found that I meet people better in a setting that isn't as hectic as a festival.

Cabin Fever shoot by La Photographie
(www.laphotographieboudoir.com)

Right now, traveling isn't as feasible, and most shows have yet to resume.  It sucks, but the world has opened up in a different way, as more virtual productions are forming.  I could do another post about those (and probably will).  Even though there isn't the excitement of being in a new venue and making new friends in person, the world has opened up.  It's up to producers to take advantage of new faces and truly diversify their shows, just as it's up to performers to snag the opportunities to branch out. 

I've started to do that, and I would like to end with an announcement of my return to the "stage" with Ellie Quinn presents: You're Gonna Need a Bigger Couch.  The show premieres on August 21 8 PM DST with the video being available on demand for a week.  There will also be a Zoom meet-and-greet with the cast for VIP ticket holders.  Click here to buy your ticket.