Booklover's Burlesque

[olivermoss]

Going out over the weekend meant a long walk without my camera, though obviously I had my phone:



I've shot this before, but my original pictures are horrible. Now that I know where this is, I can go and shoot it properly. I might take a few stabs at it, actually.

I could probably have gotten away with having my camera stashed in my bag, but I didn't want to risk causing any friction since it was a burlesque show I was going to. Also, night had enough possible awkward problems because I am photosensitive and didn't know what the lighting was going to be like (I kept my eyes closed through a few performances and also took a break) and also they expected me to print my ticket at home like it was the '00s or something. I expected to print at Kinko's on my way over but they were having technical issues and I couldn't. I was just hoping an image on my phone would suffice.



Overall is was great, very long, but great. Curtains were at 7:00, intermission was at 9:48... I think it ended just before 11:00.

Babia Majora did a really compelling routine about Asian diaspora. They are part of a BIPOC centered troupe from Canada. That was my favorite of the night.

There was also an aerialist duo which was really cool.

The promo for the event emphasized that the show was burlesque and boylesque and would cover all genders and sexualities, but it was mostly femme and boob focused. Even in the intro the MC was like 'you are here for boobs, enjoy an evening of boobs'. There were readings between the performances, and the saucy / explicit ones were all sapphic. Not really a surprise, them really emphasizing the presence of some masc performances was more a warning than a promise.

There were two male performers. One was a black guy with long braids who was an amazing dancer.

The other was prefaced by a long poem explaining what a panic attack feels like. The performances were organized by genre, with a reading then a performance. There was a science book portion, their first time having a western genre portion, kid's book, autobiography, etc. This was the mental health section. The performance involved a guy stress vomiting into a toilet and having a freak out where he threw toys at the audience. He did remove some of this clothes, but that was part of a stress freak out.

I don't know enough about burlesque to really comment on the piece, but I can tell you a lot of people were not into it. This was not the content they were expecting from the evening. Also, having only 2 male presenting performers and one of the performances to be not sexy - Well, I guess some people might find that sexy but I do not think it was meant to be read as sexy, was not super great.

Again, I don't know much about the scene and I've been to very few burlesques despite Portland having a huge burlesque scene. I think difficult material about identity and gender and also anxiety about sex etc all makes sense to me. The awkwardness of other people not being able to go to the bathroom because someone is busy using it for their panic attack seemed to be an interruption to the vibes, not an addition to them.

I did expect tipping to be a thing, but they had these long handled butterfly nets and put them in front of every person for all the performances, they also did a collection for the ASL interpreters (who were awesome and deserve tips), the people who did the readings between performances, the door greeters, and the people collecting the tips. I have not seen tips collected so actively or nearly so often at other burlesques or even at strip clubs. At other events I've been to it was about tipping the specific performers you like, not tipping... 38 people in total?

But, now I know. Going out to this was a bit of a weird choice because I knew I'd run into expected stuff, the possibility of having to ditch if they did certain types of lighting, etc. But this town has a lot of cool sounding events and I want to check them out from time to time. This one was technically a meetup event for that one queer group I am in, but there was no getting together to go as a group or hanging out afterwards.

I am very glad I went, but man that was a lot of unknowns and hassle and cost. They had vendors in the hall, but some only took venmo? And also I really need to overhaul my wardrobe to have better things to wear for going out.

Comments

[mistressofmuses]

That one performance sounds very strange to me. I've also only been to a handful of burlesque events (plus a few where there's like, one or two burlesque acts as part of a bigger event, which is the case for a lot of the bigger goth events at one of the warehouse clubs.) But that sounds atypical. It's certainly a reasonable piece of performance art, and I have seen burlesque that tackles some weird or uncomfortable situations, but... yeah, it's a reasonable expectation that burlesque be sexy, even if it's a non-mainstream sexy, and that sounds like Not.

And I'm very pro-tipping, and realize that is a big source of income for a lot of artists, but... that sounds a little aggressive.

I'm glad you went and I'm glad you're glad you went.

(Also, what is it with vendors anywhere that only do venmo or cashapp? Those are not things I'm generally willing to pay with, yet it seems to be more common now.)

[olivermoss]

I don't know much about the scene, but I'd be unsurprised if that was an act that wouldn't fly in other cities. I hope it doesn't because him repping Portland in other cities, or being the transmasc rep from Portland in other cities, I hope that isn't happening. I am trying to not judge a scene I'm not part of, but damn I hope he only performs locally.

That's the thing about shows like this, if you don't know the scene you don't know what to expect. I didn't expect it to run nearly 4 hours for starters!

I am used to square being used everywhere. I have a vemno I think?

[mistressofmuses]

Yeah, I agree. That would not be a great thing to rep the Portland community or general transmasc rep within the broader scene. Eesh.

My experience with the scene is fairly limited, though I have an acquaintance from college who does it semi-professionally, plus a handful of people in the goth scene who perform at some of our bigger events. I'm used to the idea of it playing with what is sexy, subverting expectations, or focusing on things outside of what's "conventionally" attractive/sexy... but yeah, I can't imagine that particular performance being a part of any of the shows I've seen.

4 hours is a long time! That sort of "not sure what to expect..." has kept me from going to events more than once. It really is a lot of hassle and planning and stress to venture into the unknown!

Same! Square has seemed to be the pretty standard one. (I guess there's Stripe now too, though I see it more online than in-person.) I should probably figure out Venmo, because I have seen it be the only accepted payment type a few times.

[olivermoss]

Yeah, that's the thing about events and scenes you don't know. I used to just try a lot of things anyway, but it's been a while. So many cool sounding events in this town, great things in concept... It's good to get out even if it's a giant logistical mess at times and there are always things it would have been good to know ahead of time.

[mistressofmuses]

I really intended to try and go out and do more post-Covid. (Usual disclaimer of not actually being post-Covid still applies and all, but now that Things Do Happen again.) Instead, we... still haven't been out to more than a handful of things.

The logistical frustration + cost + energy requirements tend to keep me from doing much. (I used to be able to stay out until 2am, get home closer to 3 or 4, and still roll out of bed to get to work... but that is not me now.)
But... I also know that I almost never (not never-never, but very rarely) have wound up regretting when I did go to an event. Usually I at least feel like I get something out of it, even if part of the something was "check that one off, even if I will pass in the future."

[olivermoss]

Yeah, I nearly made a long post about just the logistical hassles of trying to manage just that one night, especially since I might have needed to dip. I had no way to know what the lighting would be like and I knew if I called and actually got through to anyone the answer would be 'for legal reasons we need to simply advise you not to come'.

Since it was no cameras I was hoping to bring a small bag for once, but my small bag needs repairs of some kind so I wound up bringing a camera bag anyway. I may still be extra and make a long post about all my bags.

It's good to go and not feel cut off from all that, not feel like missing out, but every time there are a lot of dice being rolled. There is just no good way to scope things out ahead of time.

[mistressofmuses]

There ARE a lot of logistical things you have to worry about - and when you add in health concerns, that's a whole other level.
(And I find that sort of "legally we just advise you not to risk it" thing very frustrating. I *get it* from the legal perspective that it IS just a CYA policy, but "just never do anything just in case and don't sue us" is not helpful when you're just trying to do reasonable risk assessment!
That's always the answer at places with an "advise the staff if you have allergy concerns" on the menu, too: "well, we can't guarantee, so it's best you just don't eat here."

That's really the biggest issue: being well-prepared in advance would help remove a lot of the anxiety and make the logistical prepping a lot easier... but it's often almost impossible to get that intel before you go, and you just have to hope.

[olivermoss]

Yeah, I've never been able to accurately scope out an event in advance.

Ugh, and I need a whole new list of places I can eat. So many awkward questions. A lot of places you just need to walk in and try and see... I would like all that hassle to stop please.

Yeah, you just got to be prepared to ditch and be out some cash. Or, well, more likely just be super disappointed.

[mistressofmuses]

Same. Sometimes questions as simple as "which building/room at the venue will this be in? which entrance should I go to?" won't even be answered.

So many places you can't get real answers for, and can't do anything but go and try, and that does create that higher barrier of entry. Sometimes it's hard enough to have the energy for something you CAN predict; having to also have the energy to try and prepare for all eventualities and a plan B and a plan C is just... too much sometimes.

Definitely have dealt with the super disappointment a few times. Being out cash is rough when you've got a limited "fun" budget, and makes that sunk cost fallacy rear up. "This was the only 'go out and do things' thing I can afford out of this paycheck, so I can't leave halfway through even though I'm having a terrible time!"

[olivermoss]

Yeah, sunk cost fallacy is a problem.

It's always a risk, but it also sucks to see all this cool stuff and never check it out. I was hoping to do a thing last night, but decided I didn't have the energy to deal with going to a bar solo, esp since it's a venue that gets packed sometimes.

[mistressofmuses]

Sunk cost fallacy is such a problem. I recognize it fairly well, and can usually talk myself out of it logically if I really want to bail, but it's still hard to "waste" the time and money.

Yeah... I keep hearing about interesting-sounding things in the Denver area after they happen. Other things I do hear about in advance, but forget, or just feel like I can't justify the time. A lot of things are clustered on weekends only, too, which sucks with work. (Mostly I don't mind working weekends; things like hiking trails are less crowded on a Monday or Tuesday. But for one-off events? I HAVE to get PTO approved if I want to go, and that gets tough to do more than once every couple of months. And leads to even more of that sunk cost if I end up not wanting to go.)

Having to do stuff solo is also a lot bigger in terms of commitment and potential stress.