Hanging Out...

Last week saw the inaugural Monday Funday meeting! Monday is a) the worst day of the week, and b) practically Cabaret Saturday, so why not have a celebration! 

 

In The Cheshire Cat (one of the oldest pubs in London!) With Antonia Lynch, Taz Zebrowski, Ruby Deshabille, Ben Carpenter, Joe Morose and Chastity Belt!

Zebrowski Photography was on hand to get some suitably artsy pictures of the night!

 

Erm... yep.

Such a fun night with a great group of people - here's to many more Monday Funday shenanigans!

At the weekend I joined the cast of The Burlesque Show for the evening in Epsom! It's been such a long time since I've performed with The Ministry of Burlesque and it was so lovely to spend some time with friends I've not seen for far too long.

 

Mirror Picture! With Elan Kosuk, Frankie Lynn, Kittie Klaw and Sarah Louise Young!

 

 

Selfies!! With Frankie Lynn, Alexandra Hofgartner, Kittie Klaw and Abi Collins!

So, last week, Antonia and I went along to a Trapeze induction, and this week we started lessons properly! I love it - it's so much fun, and I remembered to take pictures!! Amanda is such a wonderful teacher; funny and patient and clear; I'm so excited to learn more!

 

|Antonia *nailing* it on Trapeze!

 

 

Trapeze times!

Trapeze injury! A Hello Kitty plaster makes it all better though!

After trapeze I headed across to Balham to a lovely pub called Hagen and Hyde where Chastity Belt was hosting a pub quiz for another Monday Funday! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the night, but I think this about sums it up...

Yes...

Month of May

Oh it's been ages since I last posted: I'm getting really rubbish at this blog malarkey aren't I? And I used to be so good!

Well this month I have performed at a private party for a lovely lady - I got to sing in a gorgeous venue with a stellar cast and a free champagne and cocktail bar (perfect!)

The Cabaret Marquee

Singing: I think this was 'Son of a Preacher Man'... maybe...

It was such an honour to perform alongside a completely wonderful cast, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!

Our backstage barn! With Missy Malone, Carrie Ann, Kittie Klaw, Dusty Limits, Vicky Butterfly and Mat Ricardo

The following week I was back with The Burlesque Show in Weston-Super-Mare: I didn't get many pictures, but the show was fantastic and the audience were wonderful and welcoming.

Signed performer photos adorning the walls of the Green Room

This weekend I performed for the first time at the gorgeous Privee in Knightsbridge, where I entertained the audience with a couple of cheeky songs. It is a beautiful venue and I was made to feel so welcome - hopefully my first visit of many!

Then on Saturday I headed up to Birmingham for one of my favourite little shows, Dr. Sketchy's: I went prepared this time with paper and drawing materials to do some sketching (as the name implies!) and had a lovely time, especially since Frankie Lynn was both performing and exhibiting wares from her Emporium, and I haven't seen this beautiful lady for far too long!

With Frankie Lynn

The Victoria in Birmingham is filled with weird and wonderful pieces of art like this

My doodles of the day: Frankie Lynn and Mysti Vine

In other news: several months ago I had a photoshoot for The Noise Next Door, and this is the finished result!

The Noise Next Door poster

The poster is for their Edinburgh Fringe show and it promises to be a fabulous one, so if you are planning on popping up to the Fringe this year, make time to go and see it!

And finally: this happened:

 

Back to Brunette

I've back to my natural brunette! This was for a variety of reasons: the upkeep on blonde was a nightmare - I'd only ever get about a week of it looking lush before prickles of roots began to come through and I'd have to endure several weeks of looking like a badger before I could redo them. Also, the bleach was ruining my hair - when I began dying it blonde my hair was around shoulder length and over the last year I've had to go shorter and shorter as the dye made my hair brittle and breakable.

I will admit I do miss being blonde - it took me so long to get it to the colour I wanted it, and I had planned to keep it that way for as long as possible, but this way, hopefully, I'll be able to let it grow and get healthy again.

And here's what I was up to this time last year: fun fun!

xx

Back on Tour

Last Wednesday saw the first performance of the group 'The Absolute Bankers' for a new night at Proud Cabaret called 'The Bank Vault'

The Bank Vault at Proud Cabaret

We have been rehearsing for a couple of weeks and performed a lovely mix of songs, from standards such as 'Summertime' and 'At Last', a few standards with a twist, like 'Mack The Knife' (with a Jaws-style intro), and 'Bad Bad Leroy Brown' (mixed with 'Bad' by Michael Jackson), and some modern, unexpected songs, like 'Toxic' and 'Price Tag'!

Emma performing on stage

It was great fun, and although the audience was small they thoroughly enjoyed themselves, singing along and dancing to the upbeat songs. It's a shame that it doesn't look like the night will be repeated after all the work we put in, but it may lead to other opportunities in the future.

'The Absolute Bankers'! With Joe Morose, Emma 'Captain' Hook, James and Chris

Over the weekend I was excited to be back on tour with 'The Burlesque Show' as we headed up to bonnie Scotland for two shows.

Massive banner overlooking Dunfermeline

They were great fun, and the audiences were both fantastic - it was so lovely to be back with a fantastic group of performers and the shows went wonderfully. We even had a celebrity-style signing after the show in Motherwell!

 

Squishing into the lift! ** Mat Ricardo rehearsing on stage

 

Mirror Pictures!! With Rod, Elliot Mason, Alex and Kittie Klaw ** with Kittie, Alex, Glorian Gray, Elliot, Mat and James

Celebrity-style signing!

 Despite being unwell for most of the weekend I enjoyed myself immensely and it was fabulous to catch up with people I hadn't seen for months - though I was grateful to be home in my own bed to sleep off this lingering cold!

Snoozing in the car on the way back from Scotland!

On The Road Again

This weekend has been a wonderful whirlwind of shows and adventures! On Thursday afternoon I met with the the gorgeous Chrys Columbine for a late Christmas lunch on Portobello Road and we whiled away several hours at my favourite bistro 'Goode and Wright', with wine, champagne and lovely food. 

That evening I went to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern to watch Tricity Vogues new musical 'Heels of Glory' and it was great fun: a witty script, catchy songs and so many of the London Cabarati turned up, it was truly wonderful. It was also Tricitys birthday, so what better excuse for a bit of a party?!

After the show, on a whim, I headed over the the glorious Hippodrome Casino with Millie Dollar, for 'Boom and Bang Circus' and was completely blown away by the amazing line-up! I especially loved seeing Laurie Hagens incredible reverse striptease live, and watching one of my favourite performers, Johan Lipovich, live for the first time as I am a huge fan, and watching the world premier of Dott Cottons new act which was a fabulously executed tribute to the music-hall star 'Little Titch'. I also met the legendary Klare 'Ya Ya' Wilkinson for the first time; it's so nice meeting people that I've heard so much about and seen so much of their work, then they are just as lovely as you hope they will be (and she has the *best* laugh ever!)

Friday I was back on tour for the New Year with 'The Burlesque Show'! It's back, and bigger and more spectacular than ever before!

The Burlesque Show

We began at the beautiful Buxton Opera House; an absolutely stunning venue! 

Buxton Opera House

The show was hosted by Kiki Kaboom, and, alongside Elliot Mason and Elan Kosuk, also featured a variety of amazing performers including the Mazeppa Cossaks, Ed Muir and the gorgeous Carrie-Ann. One of the highlights of the night for me was watching Glorian Grays 'Trampoline Striptease' which was joyfully inspirational and hysterically funny!

 

Mirror Pictures! Sharing a dressing room with Carrie-Ann ** With Ed Muir, James Malach and Glorian Gray

After the show we headed to our hotel for the evening, and I can honestly say it is one of the most bonkers places I've ever stayed: magazine covers and articles covered the walls, mingling with framed portraits of silver-screen actors and matinee idols; glass cases held displays of stuffed toys, kinder-egg prizes and lego models; marionette puppet dioramas lined the shelves and the bar was playing Michael Jacksons Greatest Hits, projected onto a giant screen above the patio chairs and tables that served as furniture! Glorian Gray and I were staying in the 'Johnny Depp Room' - win!

 

Johnny Depp pictures lining the walls of our room ** The door key...

 

Glorian with the magazines and puppet shows ** A 'decorative' sink

The next morning we packed the cars up and headed to Northampton for the next show: this is the third time 'The Burlesque Show' has been to the Royal and Derngate Theatre, and we found out that on one of our previous visits, the show had won 'Show of the Year' for the Northampton area! So it was a sold-out, excitable crowd that awaited us that evening!

Royal and Derngate brochure

Instead of Elan, for this show we were joined by Rod Laver and Alexandra Hofgartner, which was wonderful as, not only is their double act one of my favourite routines ever, Alex is also one of my favourite people ever!

With Alexandra Hofgartner

After a hectic weekend I was happy to be heading back to London that night, and looking forward to spending a couple of relaxing days... erm... catching up on admin, filing my tax return, working on two new acts and updating two old costumes... never mind...
xx