interview with vegan burlesque performer and a capitol lady, Missy Aggravation!

I found out about Missy on facebook as our vegan worlds combined. Based out of D.C. we made little vegan remarks back and forth before I realized I should definitely interview her for this blog!  

Vegan Burlesque: How long have you been doing burlesque?

Missy Aggravation: I’ve been doing it for 4 years now.

VB: What first got you interested in burlesque?

I’ve been performing all my life–I started dance lessons at age 3, did theater and sketch comedy in high school, and majored in Performance Studies in college where all my performances had to do with gender and sexuality. When I saw my first burlesque show in the early 2000s I thought “I should do that!” However, it took me a long time to get there since performance and I had a break-up after college– I just needed that fire in me to perform again. Once I got my groove back I hit up my local burlesque troupe and here I am 4 years later.

VP: Which burlesque performers inspire you?

MA: Delivering the effortless sensuality of legendary burlesque performers is my current goal so Jennie Lee is particularly inspiring me right now. The legends of burlesque have so much to teach that I want to learn, whether it is by listening to them speak now or watching their old (and new!) performances on YouTube. Everyone inspires me in their own ways though and I have learned something from every performer that I’ve watched or interacted with. Of the current performers… Julie Atlas Muz, Michelle L’amour, and Dirty Martini stand out as those who I’ve learned the most by watching.

VB: Do you have a favorite venue you perform at? Is it vegan-friendly (food/drinks/etc)?

MA: I mostly perform at the Red Palace, a music and burlesque club in DC, which is not particularly vegan friendly… but the neighborhood is! You can go to Souk, Dangerously Delicious Pies, Sticky Rice, Ethiopic, or Toki Underground and get a good vegan meal before you go see a show. I also really enjoyed performing at the Windup Space in Baltimore which has an awesome Twin Peaks Red Room inspired stage.
VB: Do you have a favorite routine you’ve done?

MA: This is like choosing children! I’m currently creating my favorite routines right now so I sadly can’t pick those. I think my Audrey Horne (from Twin Peaks) number to Lady Gaga’s Poker Face was particularly inspired.
VB: How long have you been vegan?

MA: I’ve been vegan for 14 years. Next year is a big anniversary!  (Vegan Burlesque side note: CONGRATS!)
 VB What made you decide to be vegan?

MA: I was vegetarian for 5 years before I went vegan. I wanted to be veg since I was 10 when it really hit home to me how meat was made but it took me a few years to realize I could defy my parents and become vegetarian. I created an animal rights group in middle school and everything. I was inspired to become vegan on a trip when I was in college and met this 16 yo runaway vegan and I was like “Damn! If she can do it, I can do it!” I went vegan as soon as I came home and have never looked back. It was the best decision I ever made.
VB: Favorite vegan drink/food?

MA: Hummus. Not like hippie hummus, but good Middle Eastern resto hummus with freshly baked pita bread.
VB: How do you deal with the non-vegan aspects of burlesque (such as boas/feather fans)?

MA: I think having to deal with this off the bat forces one to be more creative much earlier in your burlesque career than you otherwise would be. From day one we have to look outside the box in terms of our costuming (no silk!) and other traditional burlesque elements. I’m lucky because my costume designer is my best friend of 15 years and a vegetarian. She not only knows all the tricks of good costuming but respects my ideals. If I want a custom fabric boa or fan, she can do it, as well as her amazing knowledge of all the kinds of fabric out there and their properties.
VB: If you could change one thing about burlesque, what would it be?

MA: All the non-vegan elements. Fur and feathers in particular are so cruel and it makes me weep how common they are.
 VB:  Where can we see more of you?

MA: My website is http://missyaggravation.com and I’m performing next at Capital Tassels and Tease September 14th at the Red Palace. I’ll be doing my sexy librarian number for their Back to School special!

Also, a note to other vegan burlesque performers out there, Missy and 2 other vegan performers are going to BurlyCon this year and are looking for a 4th vegan performer to room with. Interested? Email her at booking@missyaggravation.com to figure out details!

promotion

Since the next D20 Burlesque show is fairly soon (Saturday, August 24th) I spent today walking around NY putting out postcards for the show.
Although this is a tedious task, it is fun because it gives me a chance to really walk around the city, find new stores, and get to eat delicious vegan food noms I don’t usually get to eat! Today consisted of checking up on the raffle prizes from the Compleat Strategist near Herald Square and then heading down to Union square/Bowery area and walking to various areas to drop off the postcards.  

The exciting part of the trip today was a stop at Atlas Cafe (on Bowery Between 4th and 5th ave) where I finally got to try Vegan Treats’ canollis! Danielle Konya, the head of the Vegan Treats Bakery , posted about this new addition to their list of delicious baked goods about a month ago, but since they are located in PA, and only have limited runs to NYC for certain  treats, I wasn’t sure when I would get a chance to try them.

Well, it was today.  Sitting in Atlas Cafe while reading, having just finished a vegan philly steak sandwich, sipping a Boylans root beer and then biting into one of these was definitely the pick me up I needed to finish the postcard placing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

side note: I want this

After a long night of performing, nothing feels better than a good shower to get the sweat and glitter off from writhing and grinding on stage. But what could make this experience better? Why, Magic Missile and Fireball Soaps!

Think Geek, a really really awesome store sells these charming soaps and really goes into the details to let you know that these soaps don’t contain any gross animal byproducts and are cruelty free. Here is the information they have on their page:

Magic Missile and Fireball Soaps are NOT tested on animals, and are Vegan safe.
Ingredients: Propylene Glycol (Comes from glycerol, a natural moisturizing material) Water Sodium Stearate (Natural fatty component to soap, vegetable base) Glycerin (Humectant, naturally produced during soapmaking process) Sodium Laureth Sulfate (Derived from Coconut Oil, natural cleansing agent) Sorbitol (Found in ripe berries from mountain ash trees, adds creaminess) Sodium Myristate (Foaming agent from vegetable fatty acids, natural organic acid) Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate (Coconut oil base, Mild surfactant) Triethanolamine (Emulsifier, made from vegetable fat) Vitamin E . No Artificial Preservatives

hufflebuff burlesque 2

Last tuesday I got to perform in NY Pinup Club’s second edition of Hufflbuff Burlesque which was a ball since this will be some of my last chances to perform Harry Potter themed burlesque.

Photo by Sean Patrick Hale

I got to perform my Dolores Umbridge act again, and came up with a new Partronus act which I absolutely love.  Hopefully the video of it came out well so I’ll be able to show it around in case I never get to perform it again.

vegan feather alternative!

In my last post, Ricky commented that there is an etsy shop selling vegan ostrich feather.  I was skeptical at first thinking this would be another seller saying “well, these came off my pet ostrich, so totes vegan, right?” but looking at the site, I can see that they are crafty renditions!

check out all the colors and sizes available!

See more at Montabahn’s shop here!

a reason I have been so distracted lately

This is our new kitten.  She is not named yet as we are having trouble deciding between Eartha Kitten or Sir Ian McKitten (pronounced Serina). We got her to help mellow out our original kitty, Catt Damon. It’s working, but she is also keeping me horribly distracted by all the cute pouncing and cuddling!

 

Next D20 show flyer!

Sorry I have been MIA for awhile.  Having a job plus doing burlesque is making blogging a hard priority to put first.  But, in happier news, here is the flyer, featuring Luna Chase, for the next D20 Burlesque show!

Happy 4th of July!

HAPPY (AMERICAN) INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Heat up the grill and break out the veggie dogs and vegan grillers!

This photo was taken courtesy of Hazel Honeysuckle backstage at the Rhinestone Follies’ Patriot Dames show. My vegan spin was a glittery tulle bustle (instead of feathers) and a faux feather hat ornament created using a stolen floral decoration from a party.

next D20 burlesque show flyer

 

wild at heart burlesque and a vacation

Reporting from Philadelphia for this post. It’s true the “Kitsch Bitch of Brooklyn”  has been out of the city for awhile now on a little mini vacation. But first, let’s talk about the Pink Room.

I had been attending The Pink Room – David Lynch Burlesque since it’s first show.  Franny Fluffer, the mastermind behind it all, has done shows Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet.  I was invited to perform in the Wild at Heart show as well as her pre-show, FRANNY’S FLICKS, which is a movie themed show.

I love themed show, one of the reasons I now run my monthly themed D20 Burlesque shows, so this was right up my alley.  I have been a fan of Lynch, but was unfamiliar with Wild at Heart.  Luckily for me, it was on netflix watch instantly, so after one viewing, I knew the act I wanted to do….but was scared of the cost and vegan-ness of it.

In the movie, Marietta Fortune, the mother of Lula, goes through a little bit of a freakout and slathers herself in red lipstick. Quirky, bizarre, strange – all the makings of the ideas I go for in an act! But how was I to find a vegan lipstick that I could buy several of to make sure I covered my face without breaking the bank? The kind I currently use, Urban Decay in Revolution red  is great, but kind of costly to use a whole tube on my hand and face.  Come to the rescue the veganpeople forums over on LiveJournal! For those of you who may not know of Livejournal, it was a sort of online journal/blog site that came out in 1999 and I used to use it  throughout college to post photos before facebook was a thing most colleges could even get.  But anyway, although a lot of the site has been taken over by russians, the vegan forums are still pretty active and a great sounding board for questions on all kinds of stuff. I ask for an inexpensive red vegan lipstick, and find out Wet n’ Wild is vegan, at least according to PETA, so I trusted it.  Awesome, act inspiration identified, supplies secured, and off to perform!

Diane Ladd in the famous lipstick scene from Wild At Heart

me doing my Marietta Fortune burlesque tribute. Copyright Monty Leman http://www.lemanphoto.com/

   So after that night (which was last Wednesday, May 25th) and the ridiculous sell out show of D20 Burlesque’s Lovecraft show (which will be another post), plus finishing the burlesque play I was in, it was time for a little vacation.  My partner and I packed our bags and headed down to Sea Isle City, NJ for a few days.  After living in NYC for so long, it felt strange to go to restaurants where there are no vegetarian, let alone vegan, menu items. It is a beach town, so everything was seafood packed, but I was lucky enough to talk to chefs and get things made and we even found an ice cream place that had a non-dairy rasberry sorbet which I devoured while my mild sunburn heals. It was great to spend time tanning, playing games and just walking along the beach at night.

yes that is (blackbird pizzeria's) vegan pizza and OMG it is as good as it looks!

Now we are in Philadelphia for a few days, and I am just waiting until the next meal.  Last night we dined at Horizons, one of my favorite places in Philly, because soon they will be changing locations and getting rid of some of our favorite menu items.  Today we visit Satellite cafe for some vegan bagel options, probably Kingdom of Vegetarians/New Harmony for lunch (omg, vegan dim sum!) and the blackbird pizzeria for dinner, my favorite vegan pizza and cheeze steak place!  That plus lots of board games and kitten cuddles at the house we are staying at, I am feeling totally recharged!