So thrilled to bring back Bechdel Test Burlesque this year with co-producers Jo Jo Stiletto, Scarlett O'Hairdye, Sophie Maltease and associate producer Sin De Le Rosa!

Naked. Nerdy. Feminist. This is Bechdel Test Burlesque. The superpowered byproduct of the intersection of feminism and pop culture returns for a sequel! This year, fourteen performers join forces to build a more feminist world through smart, sexy, nerdy burlesque.

Headlined by NYC's Miss Poison Ivory and hosted by The Showgirl Scholar, Sailor St. Claire, this year's edition of Bechdel Test Burlesque celebrates a banner year for women in pop culture with performances by Bolt Action, Boom Boom L'Roux, Cafe Au Lait Ole, Hyacinth Lee, Kiki Mustang, The Lady B, Sara Dipity, Satira Sin, Scarlett O'Hairdye, Sin de la Rosa, Sophie Maltease, and Verity Germaine. 

Produced in association with GeekGirlCon, the country's foremost convention celebrating the female geek, Bechdel Test Burlesque will be the geekiest, most feminist burlesque show in the history of burlesque shows. Bechdel Test Burlesque will offer convention attendees, Seattle burlesque fans, and geeks of all stripes two chances to experience this epic event with shows on Friday, October 9 and Saturday, October 10 at 7:30 pm at Re-Bar in Seattle (1114 Howell St). Tickets start at $20 for general admission. VIP tickets, which include a seat in a reserved section closest to the stage, are $35.

Black Widow may not have her own movie yet, but she will get to host her own burlesque show. Your move, Marvel.

Official Sponors: Ugly Baby (Shower Art - waterproof art you can hang in your shower), Espionage Cosmetics, Northwest Press, Skydottir Epic Cookies, Archive Six, and Official Media Sponsor The Nerdhole Podcast.

Details:
Date: Friday, October 9 & Saturday, October 10
Times: 7:30 PM (Doors 7:00) 
Cost: $20 General Admission, $35 VIP. 
Place: Re-Bar (1114 Howell St.)
Accessibility: Re-Bar is wheelchair accessible.


Tickets go on sale 9/2, so get those trigger fingers ready and get yours!

I am honored to have been nominated for Mayor of Seattle Burlesque. Not sure what the hell that means? Let me tell you a little bit about it.

Three years ago, Miss Kitty Baby, who is a geneous and kind-hearted supporter of burlesque community and history, put together a fundraiser for the Burlesque Hall of Fame Legend's Challenge. Her idea, The Seattle Burlesque Games, was a fun, community-oriented "atheletic" competition in which performers created weird and unusual 2-minute numbers in pursuit of medals and glory over their fellow performers. I won "Most Consistent Assel Twirl" last year, besting two-time champion Lady Drew Blood. Other categories include things like "Best Interpretive Fan Dance Without Fans" or "Most Dramatic Glove Removal." As an additional fundraising component, Kitty invented the Mayor's race in which candidates collected direct donations from patrons, and whomever collected the most money won the title of Mayor of Seattle Burlesque for the year.

While in actuality, becoming the Mayor of Seattle Burlesque would mean that I get to wear a cool sash and represent my community wherever I go, the position also comes with a continued commitment to fundraising for the Burlesque Hall of Fame, and specifically the Legend's Fund, which supports travel expenses to bring Burlesque Legends from all over the country to the Burlesque Hall of Fame every June.

My fellow mayoral candidates are Cherry Tart and The Shanghai Pearl. Together, we have decided that we would like to raise $5,000 in the Mayor's Race this year. ($1,300 more than last year!) Voting for any of us helps us reach that goal, but if you place your money in my coffers, here's what I can promise you I will do if I am elected Mayor of Seattle Burlesque:

A Cocktail in Every Hand. I recognize that our ability to continue performing our fringe artform in this community comes from bar sales at our venues. If we make them money, we keep spaces to perform alive and thriving, which means that we get to continue to traditions our Legends have set out for us. If I am elected Mayor, not only will I personally support or venues by buying drinks at any show I produce or attend, but I will also use my position to increase visibility for shows in town, and share tools with other producers to build lasting relationships with venues. #acocktailineveryhand #nodrinkleftbehind

Share a Drink with a Legend. Burlesque is unique because we honor the history and stories of the women (and men) who tread the boards before us. We make our Legends visible, and that is truly incredible in a world where older women are forgotten about and devalued. I am committed to helping these women tell their stories. If I am elected Mayor of Seattle Burlesque, I will interview Legends whenever I can, share a drink with them, and podcast it for the benefit of the worldwide burlesque community, and the world at large. While it may seem that my entire platform is based on the consumption of alcohol, it is actually based on the notion that sharing a beverage with someone -- no matter what kind -- is a tool for creating connections. Connections with our venues. Connections with our audiences. Connections with our Legends. By sharing coffee, tea, or Tanqueray with these women, and recording our conversation, I hope to help those connections grow. #drinkwithalegend 

If you want to support my bid for Mayor because you believe in the value of community, convivality, and connection (and because you want to see me wear a cool-ass sash), please donate as you see fit. Every donation helps our Legends -- even if they aren't for me. So please, click below and #votesailor for Mayor of Seattle Burlesque! (You can also buy your tickets to the 2015 Seattle Burlesque Games via the same link!)

Next weekend, I'm heading up to Canada to participate in two nights of the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival! On Thursday night, my troupe, Sinner Saint Burlesque, has been invited to perform a 40-minute showcase version of our show Inheritance: Maiden, Mother, Crone. The original show was just over two hours long, and the showcase version has been a wonderful creative push to re-evaluate our content and pare down the show's content to its most evocative, emotional moments. 

On Friday night, I get to sit back and watch my sister Jesse Belle-Jones perform her solo in the Friday night showcase, and cheer on my friends Stella D'Letto and Jesus La Pinga in their duet!

Saturday evening, I have been given the immense honor of hosting the second set of that evening's showcase, which comes with the privilege of introducing living legend Miss Toni Elling. I can't wait! 

Tomorrow night, the little live band show I created back in 2012 turns 3 years old! We've worked with a lot of beautiful dancers and many talented musicians over the years, and I am proud to say that the show has it a really solid groove. It's a lot of work to get live music shows off the ground, and maintaining them certainly has its peaks and valleys, but I never get tired of showing up at LUCID on the third Tuesday of the month and hosting with my band behind me and Miss Huney Bush keeping things tidy.

For our third anniversary, we're featuring quadruple threat Octavia Sexton, comedy cutie Maggie McMuffin, and sensual striptease by Ms. Briq House. Tickets are still available at www.tuesdayteaseseattle.com, so pick up a pair and join us in celebration tomorrow night!

Ohmigod! Ohmigod, you guys . . . looks like I've really won the prize! If there ever was a perfect show to host, this one qualifies! Ohmigod, you guys!

If you recognize that lyrical snoclone, then I know that you know the joy of Larry O'Keefe's musical adaptation of Legally Blonde, a show I totally hated at first but really grew to love over the years. My college bestie and I watched the MTV reality series to cast the next Elle Woods after the departure of the original Elle (Laura Bell Bundy), and then actually went to see the winner of said dumb reality show kinda do an okay job playing Elle on Broadway. I now own a pair of official Legally Blonde: The Musical yoga pants that have "Ohmigod!" emblazoned across the ass in hot pink letters.

I went to my first professional musical when I was 5. It was Man of La Mancha with Raul Julia in the role of Alonso Quijana/Cervantes/Don Quixote and Sheena Easton as Aldonza/Dulcinea, and theatre, especially musical theatre, has been an important part of my life ever since. I've collected every program and Playbill from every show I've ever been to since 1999 or so. I have 3 binders chock full of these things, from the time my husband and I took a Broadwaycation in NYC last Thanksgiving to the time my college friends and I thought it would be a great idea see a middle school production of Little Shop of Horrors. (That was an excellent idea, by the way!)

I tell you all this to say that I love American theatre. I love big budget spectacle and quiet weird fringe theatre. I love old Florenz Ziegfeld, Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. 

And if you also love American theatre and this country's indigenous artform, the musical, then you will love Broadway Babes. I'll be providing a two-hour history lesson about American musical theatre with living illustrations of the artform infused with striptease by a whole host of wonderful burlesquers heading back to their Broadway roots. 

Join Al Lykya, Will Lykya, Octavia Sexton, Maxie Milieu, Eva Fairwood, Amara Strutt, Bunny Von Bunsmore, Maggie McMuffin, Crystal Tassels, Tootsie Spangles, Razzberry Rocket, Miss Elaine Yes, Verity Germaine and producers Jacob Farley and Sara Dipity on March 20 & 21 at Annex Theatre! Tickets are on sale now at www.annextheatre.org!

Hit the road with me for my next production! It's going to be a wacky adventure of a show filled with weird stuff!


Roadside Attractions: A Burlesque Road Trip Through the USA.
March 6 & 7 
Annex Theatre 
1100 Pike St.
8 pm
$20 presale / $25 door
www.annextheatre.org


Fasten your seatbelts and join Sailor St. Claire and Bunny Von Bunsmore on one wild road trip across the USA! Roadside Attractions celebrates all the weird and wonderful things found alongside America’s highways and byways through the art of the tease! As Sailor and Bunny drive across the country, they make pit stops at various roadside attractions, discovering and uncovering the most unique and titillating parts of America from coast to coast. From diners to dime museums, statues to state capitals, they are on a quest to find the World’s Largest, World’s Greatest, and World’s Shiniest bits of Americana – gloriously envisioned through the art of burlesque! 

Featuring:
Baby Le'Strange
Dizzy Von Damn
Jesse Belle-Jones
Jovie DeVoe
Lady Drew Blood
LoLo Ramone
Polly Wood
Magnolia Monroe
Maxie Milieu
Miz Melancholy
Wiggles McButterpants

and starring:
The Shanghai Pearl

Hosted by Sailor St. Claire with Bunny Von Bunsmore

I am thrilled to announce that I am performing in this year's official burlesque event at Emerald City Comic Con! The last time ECCC produced an event, I was unable to perform, or even watch, because I was locked in my basement office at the university taking my PhD qualifying exams. And while I did get to boogie down during some writing breaks, I know for a fact that being trapped in the green room of ACT with all of these sexy, nearly-naked weirdos is going to be 100% better than dancing in my office in order to stave off exams madness.

Tickets are on sale NOW, so get yours before they disappear!

We're gearing up for Mardi Gras at Tuesday Tease! If you're looking to see some burlesque backed by live music, grab your tickets to see Miss Kitty Baby, Crystal Tassels, and Fosse Jack tease and please to the sounds of Pervana over at www.tuesdayteaseseattle.com!