Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!
If you’re using something with words on it in your act, make sure they can be read in the back of the house.
It would be a shame if your punchline was lost because the letters were too small or there wasn’t enough contrast between the printing and the background.
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 17 Patrons. I appreciate you all so much!
Dear Constant Reader,
Since she moved out west, Ava has been seeking shows a bit closer to her and thus has been a regular at KimBurly’s Tittie Tour. She, Devastasia, and Betty performed their ridiculous banana number there over the summer, but I had not joined them… yet.
When Ava told me Kim was looking for some additional performers for Halloween, I applied and was thrilled to be accepted. It turned out Betty and Devastasia were also performing. Ava was performing up in Gloucester at a…
Read moreDear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!
When creating a headdress, make sure it balances properly on your head at every stage of construction.
If it’s off-kilter or top-heavy, you can correct as you go instead of panicking at the end. And you have the fun of trying it on and making faces in the mirror.
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 17 Patrons. I appreciate you all so much!
Dear Constant Reader,
I was surpised and delighted to get a call from Ember Sky looking for a couple of performers to round out a show in Fitchburg (notable as the home of both a college and the kitten who would become Bartholomew A. Cat). She and her producing partner, Mistress Neon, were debuting a burlesque show at a bar-arcade. Betty, Scratch, and I headed west.
The venue is pretty fun. There was a small stage in the middle of the space, surrounded by video game machines. Our dressing room was…
Read moreDear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday!
If you know your dressing room is going to be a restroom, bring something to put on the floor.
I recommend a beach towel. Something you can put your gear and your feet on and you can throw in the wash when you get home.
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 17 Patrons. I appreciate you all so much!
Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! I’m about to have a rather burlesque-filled weekend. I hope yours is lovely as well. Here’s your tip!
Write it down right away!
Ever get hit by a great idea for an act, a costume, &c and then a little while later you realize you’ve forgotten what it was? It happens to the best of us. Write it down when you think of it, whether that means scribbling a note on a napkin, texting yourself, recording a voice memo, &c. I cannot tell you how many Friday Tips have…
Read moreDear Constant Reader,
This is one of the first books I acquired about burlesque and it’s been sitting on the shelf, unreviewed. Get ready for a trip back to the early days of the burlesque revival.
New Burlesque by Katharina Bosse, 2003.
This is a collection of 38 portraits of neo-burlesque performers taken when the burlesque revival was heating up. In all of them the performers are in costume, but the settings are not performance venues. The dancers are posed mostly outdoors. I recognized some…
Read moreDear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday all! If you happen to be in the Fitchburg area tonight, you can see me at Nocturna!
Here’s your tip!
Avoid looking directly at the stage lights.
They can be very bright and can make you temporarily disoriented, which is not a great place to be on stage.
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 17 Patrons. I appreciate you all so much!
Dear Constant Reader,
No tip this week. A story instead.
Before I discovered burlesque, I performed with a commedia dell’arte troupe. For those unfamiliar, commedia is a form of theatre that developed in Italy in the 16th century. It’s the great-great-grandmother of burlesque, opera, ballet, pantomime, &c. We stuck to commedia’s roots, wearing 16th-century style costumes, most of the male characters wore masks, and rather than using a script we had a scenario, a plot outline from which we improvised…
Read moreDear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! You almost didn’t get a tip this week because WordPress was being weird and wouldn’t let me log into my account. But, crisis averted.
Before we get to your tip, I want to remind you that Introduction to Burlesque and Burlesque Your Way: Halloween Edition start this Sunday!
And now, your tip!
Black fabric comes in different shades.
Sounds kind of crazy, right? But black dyes have different undertones, which may not be readily apparent under standard…
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