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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

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!

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!

my first burlesque play

This has been a very hectic burlesque  couple of weeks.  Besides gearing up for D20 Burlesque this Friday and a double performance at last night at Franny’s FLICKS/The Pink Room – Wild At Heart (this one I’ll post about in the future!), I have been in a burlesque play.

the burlesque act I'm in during the show

It’s true, I have already done half the performances. I wanted to update about this earlier but I lost track of time and now I only have tonight, friday and Saturday left,  but oh well, now I have some production photos to show!

This is my first burlesque play and it has been an interesting experience.  The show consists of two parts, a full on play with a few burlesque acts mixed in and then the second part (after intermission) is a short burlesque show.

The show is a modern take on Hansel and Gretel and includes things like sex trafficking and sweatshops.  In the show I play the character of “Mom” which is pretty funny since a good amount of my lines have to do with disliking vegetarians! This becomes especially funny when I discovered that I am the only veg*n in the cast!

The show has been a lot of work, but not in a bad way.  Between practices and the amount of time it takes to do hair and makeup so many times over, it really adds up to a lot of time.  I’m really proud of the show though, and hope the remaining 3 productions go well.  And for fun, here is a picture of what I look like when I get home from the shows at night, usually around midnight!

If you are interested in coming to see the play, here is the information:

Location	WOW Cafe Theatre 59-61 East 4th Street New York, NY
Created By	Jasmina Jz Sinanovic
More Info	Ticketing link http://fabnyc.org/calendar.php?month=5&year=2011&ctype=month&type=event&mids[0]=17 A light and exciting new comedy that lampoons the politics, questions our complacency and brings this old tale to life. A night of laughter and bawdiness! Who said adults couldn’t enjoy fairy tales? Starring: Anja Keister, Jessica Cermak, , Lorraine La Prade, Nicolette Dixon, Sir Real, Sweet Lorraine

talk nerdy to me…….plus another burlesque legend

My burlesque show, that had it’s first show in March (A Night of Role Playing Games)  has ballooned on the internet, catching the attention of many blog, geek websites, and even more mainstream sites.

I am of course delighted, though this constant promotional work I am doing has become my life.  I can’t complain too much though as it allows me to spend days on the internet looking for new websites that match the theme, that are also my own interests,  that I can promote the show on.  In this process I have found many new sites that I love, especially NerdNYC, a forum based site for self proclaimed nerds to get together and discuss news, but also organize game nights and RPG campaigns! It is like a dream come true for me and some members of the NerdNYC group have really helped me and D20 Burlesque out! This past weekend I unfortunately missed the NerdNYC picnic but I look forward to more events in the summer, though I’m finding many gigs are conflicting.

An example of this is happening tonight, where I am missing NerdNYC’s game night at Think Coffee  (at 248 Mercer street) because of my participation in the Rhinestone Follies’ Benefit for April March. Of course I would love to see you at this benefit, but if games, coffee, and delicious vegan desserts are your thing, the game night is a great evening as well.

This Benefit, put together by the Rhinestone Follies, is to help raise funds for April March, the First lady of Burlesque,  to attend the Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend where she can perform in the legends show.  This is a similar sort of thing to the evening I went to with Bambi Jones at Coney Island.  I am extremely lucky to get to perform in this benefit which includes many of NY’s top burlesque performers.  This show is tonight from 8pm-10pm at the R Bar (218 Bowery, LES, NY), $15.

wow, okay, a lot is going on….

So, yeah, I have been slacking a lot when it comes to blogging. In my defense, I have been super busy.  Just last week I had 5 gigs in one week, one of which was the second installment of D20 Burlesque. I even got to perform twice out of state last week, once at Hell’s Kitchen Lounge in Newark, NJ and another time down in New Hope, PA at John & Peter’s, a wonderful little bar right near where my partner grew up.  This gig allowed me the cash flow to go visit my family for Easter where my mother had made me vegan peanut butter eggs, chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate dipped strawberries!

But back to D20 Burlesque.  The second show, which is a ‘curse’ in the burlesque world via sophomore slump, but we did really well and pulled off another great show.  This show also allowed me to work out fun new vegan friendly versions of burlesque staples: the feather fan and the feather headdress.

James Koroni, a talented dancer, vegan, and all around sweetie pie, came out to the show to help support my vegan burlesque work!

Check out James’ coverage of my event and check out the rest of his site to learn more about vegan friendly dancers!

D20 rpg video recap

Amazing video by Mister Khon!

photo shoot with wayne herrschaft!

These photos were taken by the ever so wonderful Wayne Herrschaft. I had a great time doing this photo shoot which was to get promotional shots for the next 2 D20 Burlesque shows.  Here are some of my favorites from the shoot, and you should definitely check out some of his work on his new website: http://www.headlampdigital.com/  as he updates it with new work.