A Midsummer Night's Dream

I seem to be having a lot of luck with my weekends as of late. It could be the consistently fabulous weather we've been having or it could just be that I feel a little magic in my life recently.

Friday night I had a special treat organised by BW. My Christmas present that I had so patiently waited for. Tickets to see ACDC at Wembley.


Well it's not just 40's Jazz that I'm into, I have very broad musical tastes I'll have you know!


I've seen a couple of amazing concerts but this topped the lot. Now there's a group of performers who know how to work an audience.


They love what they can do and you can see and feel that from the moment the concert starts to the very last bar. We had a fantastic time and rocked out to all our favourite's, even if we did have to slip out before the last song so I could get my suitcase from the information desk and make our trains.


I'm definitely going to create an act to one of their tunes. Wow.


So BW and I reluctantly parted ways at Kings Cross station. He was heading home but I had a gig on Saturday in London and was staying once again with Duchess Divine.


Saturday was hot, hot, hot. After a slow start and breakfast at the cafe up the road Duchess and I were about to head into Camden markets to pick up a few things I needed for my acts. Just before heading to the tube she suggested we check out the second hand store over the road. Of all the miracles!

I found the most divine 40's style navy and white hat, just the thing for the Chap Olympics. Now just to find the dress, gloves and shoes to match.


We strolled further along in the blazing sunshine ducking in and out of second hand stores and I remembered why I love op shopping. Before the second hand stores starting calling themselves vintage stores and tripled their prices my girlfriends and I would scour the stores and revel in the thrill of finding something secreted away amongst the rows of enormous osty-frocks and tiny shoes.


It seems there are still some real op shops left after all, and after discovering a 60s shift and a 20s inspired covered in so many sequins it looked like scales, we decided it would be best to head back to the house before I spent everything in my purse.


All good intentions of a rehearsal went out the window as neither of us had had a great deal of sleep the night before and before too long we were nanna napping. Thank god I did because it was to be a very long night ahead.


We woke to the raging thunderstorm that hit London in the early evening. It made me feel like I was back in Brisbane in the middle of Summer. The heat of the day culminating in the relief of a very heavy downpour.


Before too long I was ready and off to my gig. Or so I thought.


I had received a last minute booking via email late in the week and thought I had checked the address correctly, looked up google maps and wrote down all the travel details. How wrong I was! Lesson learnt, always check the postcode.


I found myself in the far reaches of East London feeling very conspicuous amongst the drunks and the lads. After a quick discussion with a mini cab driver I realised that I needed to be in North London. Essentially back where I came from.


Despite feeling a little irritated at my silly mistake I found myself in fairly good spirits and found my way to the venue, arriving in plenty of time.

and what a venue...


The evening was called Die Freche Muse, a 20s themed night in a magical building.

I was led upstairs to get ready and I felt like I'd entered another era. Chandeliers, stuffed birds, paintings, old lamps and an enormous dining table filled the cavernous space. Downstairs the elegant guests danced and drank to the jazz band playing and lounged around candled tables.


It was like coming home.


It was my luck to meet 2 of the other performers, the sweetest girls you'll meet. Chrys Columbine and Annette Bette. Annette saved my life when I put the biggest ladder you've ever seen through one of my stockings and my spare had mysteriously vanished from my case. Whipping out a spare pair of tights and some scissors she kindly let me create new stockings for my act. Phew!


Well I certainly hope to perform there again. Next time I'll have a bit of warning so will be sure to put the details up on my Events page so you can all join in the fun.


The inevitable race for the first train to Brighton was as expected but not nearly as hard thanks to my nanna-nap. In fact I was perky enough to watch the sun rise and see the low fog swirling over the countryside as the train chugged it's way home.


Imagining everyone tucked up in their beds as I witnessed the early morning spectacle, with Heartbeats by Jose Gonzales and Aqualung's Strange and Beautiful playing on my MP3 player it really did feel magic.

Quickie

I thought I'd just drop in a line about last weekend and Trailer Trash: Tarantino.

I got a last minute text on Saturday while I was wandering the North Lanes. BW was off in France for the day so I had gone down to pick up a black wig and had one of those wonderful realisations that I didn't have to be anywhere in a hurry. So I took the opportunity to nose about the stores, picking through Dave's Comics and was humming and harhing over a pair of 2nd hand black cowboy boots in Dirty Harry when I received the text.

One of the girls was taken ill and would I cameo as an old lady in the Reservoir Puppies piece?

Well of course I would.

Lucky I did as well because not only was it hilarious fun but most of the people I knew there were backstage. Considering I only had to be on stage for all of about 30 seconds it gave me plenty of time to relax and chat with the girls backstage, go for a dance, and watch all the acts which were fantastic.

It was my first Trailer Trash night and I have to say, it was fantastic. It's a great blend of club night and cabaret show at Komedia Brighton and all the party goers dress to impress. I've never seen so many Reservoir Dogs, Mia Wallaces, GoGo Yubari's, and all manner of Tarantino characters in one place! After each act the dance floor floods with people again and it has the friendly atmosphere of a whole lot of people having a great time. I can't wait till the next one but I believe it's not till September!

Since last weekend I've also been having a read of Ultimate Burlesque.

As mentioned in my Favourite's page, I wholeheartedly support Burlesque Against Breast Cancer who were behind the creation of this book and all proceeds go towards the charities associated with BABC. I did a performance at the launch of the book in Brighton and more recently have been a guest blogger on the BABC blog.

But I've never had a chance to read the book till now.

Well! I tell you what, it's not the kind of thing you'd buy your mother-in-law (unless she's into erotica!) but it is a good read.

So...that's about it. Besides staying up till 1am last night sewing pop clasps on a new costume, life is comfortably quiet and I'm just enjoying the real summer weather we're having.

Oh, and I bought the cowboy boots.

xx

Carry on Camden

I hope everyone that came along on Saturday had a fantastic time.

Festival of Sins Gluttony was a riot!

My favourite part I have to say was Nathan Shame dressed like Ronald MacDonald how he would really look after scoffing all those cheese burgers. Very evil!

I get up to London quite frequently as so much of the Burlesque work is centered there. What doesn't always happen is that I have enough spare time before the show to get in something to eat that isn't picked up from Victoria station between National Rail and the tube.

Last weekend I was lucky enough to fit in a quick catch up with my friend and burlesque performer Duchess Divine at The Diner in Camden.

Diners are a bit of a weakness of mine and friend of mine introduced me to this gem late last year. There is something fabulously kitsch, American and comforting about diner food. I mean American diner food, not truck stop diner food. It fuels my ever increasing fascination with certain elements of the vintage US culture.

I figured an enormous milkshake before a performance was not such a hot idea so I ordered a soda float and hot dog as we babbled about the hot topic of the moment. Camden Council and their determination to stomp out low budget burlesque nights. See any of the online communities for the full story. In particular Burlesque Women's Institute is documenting it pretty well.

So...backstage.

The curious part I find in English buildings and transport is as Summer slowly creeps in, the temperature inside soars up. Backstage areas particularly become little sweatboxes. Trust me, trying to pat translucent shimmer powder over your entire body when you're as sticky as the inside of a toasted marshmallow proves counterproductive at best.

Asides from the relentless heat the atmosphere backstage was friendly and fun, and I took comfort in the fact that at least I didn't have to lie down starkers while being covered in prosthetic makeup and sweets to look like a garroted victim of some evil sweetie fairy, like one brave lass was.

My other distinct pleasure of the evening was getting to meet the unfairly gorgeous Mr Mistress, and Vicky Butterfly with her divine costume. My act went off with a few minor hitches, in fact it was the first time I'd ever had my music stop dead in the middle of my act before. Not to worry, the audience didn't seem to be bothered and after a bit of cheesecaking from myself the DJ got the music back on before too long.
Burlesque tip: there is nothing that can go wrong on stage that can't be handled. If the music stops just ham it up until it comes back on.

As it stands everyone I spoke to after I did my bit was gushing in their praise so it can't have been too bad!

So another busy weekend over. I have a couple of very busy weeks ahead with both rehearsals, shows, prop revamping and event planning. Will be certain to keep you posted!

Don't forget Trailer Trash is on at Komedia Brighton tonight, besides a minor part as an old lady I'll be dressed as Mrs Mia Wallace. Come and say hi if you see me there!

xx

The Grand Poobah

Well maybe not the grand poobah, but the grand arrival back in the UK. So I am a little behind but at least I'm filling you in right?

I think BW had missed me a little as the champagne was chilling and the strawberries were plentiful when I arrived home. Aside from that the house was nigh on spotless and our kitchen was sporting some pretty cute and kitsch new accessories. Oh how quickly it's all decended into chaos since I've been home.

I arrived back fresh and inspired which is exactly how it's supposed to be after a holiday. If only all my holidays could be 5 weeks long. My biggest most fabulously exciting tick off the checklist of things I had to organise was this very website. I have the immense luck to have talented family who are clever at all those tricky little technical things and it's so exciting to have this up and running.

Next step is the website launch party. Unfortunately I've been so busy modifying my Living Doll routine to create Bad Doll! that I haven't had a moment to really think about it.

Modifying Living Doll has been a great deal of fun and getting used to the music editing software has also been an experience. I think BW will have kittens if I play the same 3 seconds of Hello Dolly again.

I will explain the full reasons why it was necessary to create Bad Doll! another day, it's a bit political and I get a little ranty on the subject. However as they say, necessity is the mother of all invention and it's given me the chance to create my first reverse strip. That is, the kind of act where one arrives onstage in pasties and knickers and proceeds to get dressed. Which is actually about 10 times harder than the conventional way!

It's very important as a performer to never get complacent, never think your acts are perfect, never stop trying to improve on the quality of your acts and the variety. One of my other acts, Red Angel is going back to the workshop to strip it down, if you'll pardon the pun, and work over every element. The wings will be lighter, the choreography will be more spectacular, the music more sensual.

I have a thousand other act ideas swirling around in my head but it's too important that the ones I already have are as close to perfect as they can be, and that's just about a full time job in itself.

One final thing....keep a close eye on my photography page. I have some incredible studio shots that will shortly be uploaded. You won't want to miss them.

Have a fabulous weekend whatever you do. Don't forget if you're in London that Festival of Sins is on. All my fans get special discounted prices on the door so if you're coming along tell them you're there to see Bella de Jac.

xx

The Catz Pajamas rescheduled

Due to some unglamourous transport issues I'll no longer be on the bill for Wink: The Pinup Burlesque Show at The Catz Pajamas this month. We are rescheduling for another month so will keep you up to date when that happens. Make sure to check the Events page for the very latest in my performance dates!

xx

Well didn't I just drop off the face of the earth!

Some unforseen technical issues have prevented me from filling you in on the next installment but I'm back and all systems are go!

Brisbane, Brisvegas, the country town that became a very dynamic (and very spread out) city. It's funny that whenever I speak to people overseas, no-one has ever been to Brisbane. Except the airport maybe. It's always Sydney or Melbourne. Not that it bothers me in the least. Brisbane is where I did a very large chunk of my growing up and it has a very special place in my heart, no matter where on earth I go.

After the very exciting reunion with my family and friends (it had been 2 years since I'd been home) I found it very easy to slip back into Brisbane life. One of the things I love the most about coming home is how quickly it feels like I was never away.

Markets! Shopping but outdoors, what could be better. While I was out there was a bit of a fraca over the Green Markets at West End changing hands, however the final Green Markets of the previous management were a beautiful sight. There were hundreds of people there on a very sunny day in Autumn and everyone was in fantastic spirits. Beautiful food, coffee, flowers, and lots of other divine little bits and bobs. Along with anything sparkly, anything vintage catches my eye like a magpie and there was a stall selling the daintiest little tea cup and saucer sets. I would have bought them all if I were staying!

I have a bit of a habit of loving breakfast at markets, particularly the German sausage stand! I have strong German heritage and a bratwurst in a crisp roll with sauerkraut and senf under the tree canopy is a guilty pleasure first thing on a Sunday morning and is very centering to experience that fresh early morning feeling when I'm so used to late nights and dark venues. I believe the green markets live on so I hope it will be waiting for me when I return next time.

Markets were also a bit of a saviour when my family had to stage an enormous Singapore themed birthday event while I was out. Apart from having a stall with a knock-out Mexican hot chocolate, the wednesday night markets at Rocklea have the cheapest fruit and veg, rice and flowers. Oh and the very divine greek yoghurt stand.

Brisbane has a thriving Burlesque scene with very limited time however, I wasn't able to make a show. I have made some fabulous contacts in Brisbane with some very talented ladies who I hope to work with in the future. More than ever I can't wait to finish my performing arts degree and get stuck into the Australian scene.

One very glamourous evening however I did make it to the mid-week showing of Chicago. To see Caroline O'Conner as Velma and the very fabulous Sharon Millerchip as Roxie was so inspiring. I wanted to race back into jazz dance classes immediately. It was also hilarious to see just about everyone we knew at the interval. It seemed that everyone had decided to go the same night. We were all singing 'All That Jazz' for the next week afterwards.



So after some terribly exciting announcements from various members of my close family, many a magic, morning ride down the Brisbane River on the City Cat to my trapeze classes, and a few hysterically funny evenings in Alexander Heads with my girlfriends, it was over all too quickly. After an uncontrollably tearful farewell (I'm not very good at good-bye's) I was off to the UK again for the beginning of my final year in Brighton.