a magical night
April 14, 2011
photo by Norman Blake. Jo Weldon interviews Bambi Jones, April 14th, 2011
Last night I attended Bambi and Bambi: Classic Burley-q meets the New Burlesque at Coney Island USA, the museum and theater that houses Burlesque at the Beach and Sideshows by the Seashore. It was truly an amazing evening that included talks about burlesque at Coney Island, in interview by Jo Weldon with Bambi Jones, a burlesque performer who started performing in 1949 and worked with many famous performers and hob knobbed with Errol Flynn (who said said was a “nasty man”).
The show also included 2 other Bambi’s: Bambi Galore a wonderful neo burlesque performer who plays a lot with gender and queer culture and Bambi the Mermaid who is one of the main neo burlesque performers who is responsible for the NY scene. This plus Little Brooklyn (a NY burlesque staple) doing her first performance since the birth of her son, Bunny Love (another NY Burlesque staple), current Miss Coney Island Lefty Lucy and the cutie with the booty – Kita St. Cyr made for a magical night.
It was an evening of fabulous performances, great lectures, and I’ll tell you, when Bambi Jones performered, I cried. The woman is 80 years old, and she was up there, shaking it and the crowd loved her back. Check out the video below to see the powerhouse that she is and check out her book My Journey Burlesque: The Way it Was for more amazing stories about her life
<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/9325669″>Bambi Jones Burlesque Hall of Fame</a>Also, the next two weekends I will be back in Pennsylvania, which means I get to indulge in
shoo fly pie, A-Treat Soda and vegan Girl scout cookies! I love PA!
some of my favorite PA goodies! Note: In the photo you seem me with Girl Scout cookies. Vegans – take note, there are two companies that make GS cookies. If you live in an area that has caramel DeLites (and not Samoas) your company is ABC (not to be confused with the vegan Alternative Baking Company) and there are currently 4 vegan friendly cookies: Thanks a lot, the new cinnamon ones, the Lemonades and Peanut Butter Patties.
The Trials and Tribulations of Becoming a Vegan Burlesque Performer 
We don’t have Girl Scout cookies on this side of the Atlantic. I expect that Girl Guides are jolly well expected to bake their own biscuits, cakes, scones and other snacks!