The largest show I do every year is Frolicon. This year was no different! Two shows and five classes kept me busy all weekend.
First up was Secret City Burlesque, my home away from home. We opened the convention with a Thursday night show dedicated to all things dreams and nightmares. I built a new act around the concept of a seer that included a floor length gown that was leopard print with a burgundy lining covered in eyes. I performed the entire act with a lace blindfold on and a chain lead that I whipped around to great effect. This is the kind of crowd I can really let loose with and, being a fetish convention, they were very appreciative of the realism when I performed self flagellation. The bruises lasted for over a week but the reaction was well worth it.
After that there were five classes on Sensory Bottles (used for anxiety attacks, ADD and children on the spectrum, but in this case I have found them to be very useful in aftercare), earring building (I used the lock and key combo because of our specific setting), a class on fascinator building (this time it was black ostrich, peacock eyes and red roses), found jewelry assembly (where we used a ton of broken and mismatched jewelry pieces to build new pieces), and a class on basic pin up makeup (and let me tell you, teaching that puppy after a night of partying when you’re still at least a little drunk on a model who is in the exact same boat was a Herculean effort).
My show with Subterranean Cirqus was an amazing amount of fun as per usual. I love working with them so much! I am the only burlesque performer usually, but it’s a return to the roots of sideshow that makes me feel like I am really stretching my art. This year I brought on my bestie on stage once again, this time in a far more active role. We revamped my tongue in cheek tribute to Doms everywhere but this iteration with D as the submissive and myself as the dom. It was a lot of fun and he did so well! I actually used live steel on stage for the first time in a while. I usually don’t because of the risk to myself, despite my ability to use a knife in a knowledgeable way, and more importantly the risk that an uneducated performer might decide that the idea of using live steel on stage is an easy thing to incorporate into an act without a lot more experience and care. But the act went wonderfully! Next up I did a new Prince song (I just can’t seem to stay away from them!) to Darling Nikki, a shorter one but still following the basic pattern of my Prince numbers: throw all the choreography out of the window and fuck the stage. It just happens. I’ve learned to work with it over the years.
It was a wonderful weekend made even better by the addition of our pack girlfriend, who is a very spunky, kickass individual from LA who attended her very first Frolicon with us this year.
