WEBurlesque Podcast Network

Volume 4 premiere! The Music That Made WE volume 4 begins with Cleveland's burlesque queen Bella Sin. A Mexican, queer, nonbinary immigrant Bella is a beacon in the industry for activism and advocacy, as a historian dedicated to intersectionality within the scene. They've chosen 10 songs that make up their story, with a soundtrack that includes Sneaker Pimps, Nina Simone, La Lupe, and Nine Inch Na...

"Bringing Queen City [Burlesque Festival] to life had a lot to do with wanting to apply what I had learned from being on the road. I volunteered at the Burlesque Hall of Fame for several years in a row as a tech assistant; I've volunteered at the Vancouver Burlesque Festival a few years in a row as well, and I've performed there; many of my friends are producers. It was really important to me to e...

"When it comes to my work, I'm not going to make stuff that's so esoteric and so personal and emotional that no one can access it; that's not entertainment... I've tried doing pieces where I was very weird and abstract and it's not satisfying. It's very satisfying if you can get somebody hooked in, if you can challenge somebody's thoughts about what what burlesque is; I think that's great. But I r...

"I love anything glam. I am very much that person who I wants to add glitter and rhinestones to absolutely everything I can. Even in my professional work, any time we're doing a show or they're like 'let's add some glitter' I'm like mu-ha-ha, you asked for it." Ginger Snaps is a glamourous circus person, spinning majestically in Austin, Texas!  She and Viktor Devonne discuss America's Got Talent,...

"I guess I've always been like a champion for the misfits, those who just don't belong; whatever that is. And I hope that people who see our show will feel that they can do it too, that they can take chances, that they can be naked; they don't have to hate their bodies just because society tells them [to.]... I just want people to smile, to feel good." Mika Romantic from Lehigh Valley, PA shares h...

"I just want to hopefully help end erasure in our scene and for everyone to have a moment of self-discovery and self-ideology and a moment of 'let me check myself, let me go ahead and try to go ahead and learn about this' and then spread that knowledge to somebody else." Bella Sin returns to the pod to discuss the project Decolinizing Burlesque, which is being made available for FREE this November...

"I think we're a generation that recognizes that acknowledging and shining a light on people is important--to them, and to us. It makes me feel better when I can shine a light on someone and say 'Look what they did.'" Desiré D'Amour has been stripping since the 90s, and in burlesque for nearly 24 years. Telling tales from the San Francisco strip club to the legendary goat ranch years of Exotic Wor...

"Oh, there was always a fight or two in the dressing room, someone getting her hair pulled. But most of us were fucking each other, so we got along pretty well." Madame E. tells all the best stories from the debauchery and fun (and serious work!) of stripping in Honolulu, Guam, and beyond before the neoburlesque boom of the late 80s and 90s. Recognized rightfully as a burlesque legend, Madame E ha...

"I'm wearing platform heels but it still gives off masculine energy... People especially in the gay community, people either want you very masc or very fem... I feel it's whatever mood I'm in." Dance instructor and ooky-spooky boylesquer Kevin Honey-Bunz of Arkansas' True Grit and Grind joins Viktor Devonne for a seasonally appropriate talk on Halloween costumes and burlesque from voguing as a wer...

"It got me out of a really deep depression spell; I still live with depression. I tell people even when I'm smiling happy, and I have great days, I still live with depression. But I can say for sure that since I've consistently been performing, the days that have been bad have been few and farther between.  Burlesque hs really opened that part of my life up for me, in the healing component of thin...

Viktor Devonne talks about the last 17 years of WEBurlesque (est. September 29, 2006) and 200 episodes (est. January 23, 2018). from its convention circuit, theme shows, performers, podcast transition, and also shares answers to audience questions. (this conversation was recorded September 25, 2023)  Instagram: @viktordevonne @weburlesque SUPPORT THE PODCAST: – patreon.com/weburlesque – venmo: @vi...

"Winning is perspective. Marinka is the one that taught me that. What did you win; you won connections. What did you win; you won a standing ovation. What did you win; you won friendships. You won fans. There's so many ways to look at winning, and I'll tell you, I have won in more in more ways than one." Miss Brawling Beauty is a fantastic multitalented force of nature living in Las Vegas. We talk...

"Ultimately, a lot of what I do, a lot of the burlesque and boylesque work that I do is really based around lampooning male archetypes and deconstructing masculinity.  So oddly enough, even though I'm non-binary I kind of find the performance style, the focus of it is still kind of pushing towards that. So in that vein, a lot of the things I do are decidedly 'boylesque' in terms of like what the c...

"When I moved to Seattle, I joined some different dance companies and it was always just too pushy; like, I'm doing this for fun. And that's what I think why, when we joined burlesque-- because it is fun and I can create that story; what does this song mean to me, what is the song telling me, how do I want to express that to others. And I think that's what's so much fun about creating your persona...

"I'm a very type a person in general; I think it's easier to be the decision-maker... it saves me time to not go back and forth... The job of producer isn't a really sexy, glamorous creative job a lot of the time.  The funnest part is the creative part but a lot of it is updating our website, making our ticketing page, making copies of line-up of the show, promoting the show and sending out press...

"We're still very much on our own; the closest we come is the festival circuit... not regulated, not unified, and boy do they vary.  Everybody has a different idea... I had never been to a burlesque festival when I helped produce my first one; we'd have these meetings and people were like 'Well, traditionally in different places, blah blah blah--' and I'm like, 'Why, what, how... Can't we just...?...

"I love performing, I love burlesque, I love these fucking weirdos."  Veronica Viper mixes the glam and gutter for a sensational form of burlesque.  As a trans woman in the field, she has a specific viewpoint working in the scene, and working regularly in New York City.  She and Viktor and Viktor talk the scene, the secret administrative side of burlesque, whether there truly is an underground sce...

"Our world is pretty terrifying right now.  It just makes the need for performers like us even more [necessary.] We need to be even more loud, even more there... The more they want to silence us, they're trying to silence us because they're trying to get rid of us."  Self-proclaimed "circus generalist" Jadynn Starr has been a multi-talented performer for several years, from Jacksonville to Pasaden...

"It's nice having people inspire you on different levels, on stage, off stage; see how they support the burlesque community and each other, and we become each others' family. And especially when you don't have a family or a good support system, theatre becomes your support system; the stage becomes sometimes your therapy, costuming becomes your therapy."  Dancer, instructor, clown, and person of s...

"I initially launched into the world of performance art becuase I like us all to question what we're doing here."  Luminous Pariah is a stunning portrayal of stage athleticism and charismatic beauty.  Both a solo performer and a member of Seattle's glorious Mod Carousel, Luminous and Viktor talk about dance, makeup, signature style, gig grind, fresh faces in the scene, and shocking (scandalous!) b...

"[As a child], I had this specific image in my head being the mobster's lounge singing girlfriend at his nightclub, of being a chorus girl who gets discovered and becoming the touring guidette of some sort of circus or variety show... I remember being super excited to get into musical theatre, and getting there and realizing, 'What is... This is not at all like in old Hollywood movies."  Gorgeous...

"Sexuality and sensuality isn't always defined by the physical.  What people find sexy is you being comfortable in your body and your own spirit, and how you move throughout the world.  I don't care if that's you embracing being the hugest nerd on the planet or you being a sexpot, or however that changes in any moment.  For me, most recently, I am deeply examining and enjoying the concept of being...

"If you can find your way outside of the cog of creating theatre, or whatever it is that is the one thing that's all yours; that freedom... ooh, that's a powerful thing and I'm grateful for it."  -- Ben Franklin "I don't pass as straight, I never did... I've lost out on work... I went into what made sense to me.  I always express my queer identity [on stage]; I think all my acts have very much a q...

"Your audience sees you.  I don't care if you're a performer, a producer, a kitten, or a vendor. They are watching you.  They determine who to patronize, who to be involved with, who to give their dollars to." Lakota Shekar holds court in Cleveland, OH.  Just coming off her visit to the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender, where she was part of the Miss Exotic World judging panel and part of the acce...

"I am at a point where I want to create acts that mean a lot to me... I think we should be representing where we're from, and not being afraid of showing our history and our culture, and I would love to see more of that." Marie La'Pearl hails from Puerto Rico and moved to Virginia Beach, where she now bumps and grinds. We talk about Marie's development in the field of burlesque, her connection to...