Jack Rabbit Slims

8/8 “THAT’S WHAT BURLESQUE IS. IT’S AN EXTRAVAGANZA AND MOCKERY OF REALITY.”

AP: Lastly, what is burlesque to you?

JACK RABBIT SLIMS: I read this term, I don’t remember what Dictionary it is exactly, but if you look up burlesque, some people say it is a mockery of something, like, “You made a burlesque out of me!” At least in olden terms. For me, burlesque is a mockery of society’s ideologies of sexiness and beauty. I’m taking what society’s gaze idealizes me to be as a woman and I’m in on the fucking joke. You’re going to eat up my heightened, exaggerated version of it. That’s what burlesque is. It’s an extravaganza and mockery of reality.

• Jack Rabbit Slims at Wonderville for the Last Wonderlesque 14.9.22

Jack Rabbit Slims

7/8 “THAT’S WHAT BURLESQUE IS. IT’S AN EXTRAVAGANZA AND MOCKERY OF REALITY.”

AP: You’ve produced a show before called “Deity Variety.” What’s up with that?

JACK RABBIT SLIMS: Oh my god, it’s gone. It’s dead! I chose to quit my day job which is bartending. I was bartending at the same spot for 4 years. I decided to do burlesque full-time and I have never burned out faster in my life. Anyone who does it full-time (and there are a lot of people out there) kiss them head-to-toe and tell them you love them and that you’re proud of them because that shit is not for the weak. Besides it being a physicality situation, you’re also trying to make a living and to make a name for yourself. You have to do 2 to 3 gigs at night, and that means you start in the Lower East Side and end in Brooklyn, and just hop, hop, hop and run, run, run. It’s also mentally straining. I don’t know about everyone else but I think you and I can agree that when you’re up there– you fucking leave your heart on the stage.

• Jack Rabbit Slims at Wonderville for the Last Wonderlesque 14.9.22

Jack Rabbit Slims

6/8 “THAT’S WHAT BURLESQUE IS. IT’S AN EXTRAVAGANZA AND MOCKERY OF REALITY.”

AP: Is there anything within the scene that you would change, or currently doesn’t sit right with you?

JACK RABBIT SLIMS: Honestly, I feel very lucky in the point that I came into the scene. I’ve been doing it for almost 3 or 4 years, but I didn’t *really* begin doing it until the last 2 years of my life. I’m in a very lucky place where I have seen zero drama and zero bullshit so far, but I also think it’s because I have become choosy. I only really try to surround myself around POC or Queer castings. As for change-wise, I would like more of a community kind of feeling. I wish we had group meetings and went to six flags as twenty heads, and I wish that we had coffees where we can sit and idea-spit. Don’t get me wrong– I have my tribe, all three of them!

AP: That’s how it is sometimes!

JACK RABBIT SLIMS: I feel like everyone has this answer but I’m going to say it: I want to see trans people on every stage. I want to see inclusivity. I want to see more Black producers. I don’t want to see a cast where there’s only one Black person and that's it, “You have a diverse cast.” That's not how it works. I want to see Black producers have the biggest fucking stages as possible with the highest production value. Most of all, the track that I’m at right now in burlesque, this “new wave” which isn’t even the new wave anymore because it keeps flowing– but I want us to know we are beyond bars. We prefer high quality productions. Any dream that we can imagine isn’t absurd. I hear people’s concepts and I know our brains are so insane, but if you want your stage entrance to be flying from ropes and you want fire because you’re the Phoenix rising from the ashes– then I want us to have the capabilities to do these mass productions. There’s only so many dive bars you can do, it’s time to step it up because we’re all fucking talented.

• Jack Rabbit Slims at Wonderville for the Last Wonderlesque 14.9.22

Jack Rabbit Slims

5/8 “THAT’S WHAT BURLESQUE IS. IT’S AN EXTRAVAGANZA AND MOCKERY OF REALITY.”

AP: What are some things you look forward to for your future in burlesque?

JACK RABBIT SLIMS: I just want to do it and do it well. I want to really integrate drag and burlesque specifically. I feel like there was this big rule of no lip-syncing during your acts, and I was told by a lot of the OG’s to not lip-sync because it takes away from your act. I feel the exact opposite; if I want to integrate drag which taught me to do most of the things that I do, then I’m going to do it. I plan to be as rebellious as possible.

AP: Are you happy to be in the era of Neo-Burlesque?

JACK RABBIT SLIMS: Absolutely, that’s why I like being the Cult Classic because maybe this is the new classic. Trust me, I adore classic burlesque. Every time I see a classic act, my jaw is on the floor and there are tears streaming down my eyes. I have those skills and I want to be better at classic, but for me, just like a good martini, it better have a fucking twist!

• Jack Rabbit Slims at Wonderville for the Last Wonderlesque 14.9.22

Jack Rabbit Slims

4/8 “THAT’S WHAT BURLESQUE IS. IT’S AN EXTRAVAGANZA AND MOCKERY OF REALITY.”

AP: How did you create your alter ego? Was it through the movie specifically?

JACK RABBIT SLIMS: No way. I think that film is really inspiring to me. I adore film and it will always inspire me to do the things that I do. Especially when I saw Salma Hayek in From Dusk Till Dawn do that fucking dance, I was like “This is what I want. This is who I want to be.” When I say I want to feel sexy, this is what I mean.

AP: Cinema inspires you.

JACK RABBIT SLIMS: Cinema really inspires me, and that’s why I call myself a Cult Classic. I feel like Cult Classics don’t ‘make it’ right away and people don’t receive it well. As someone who comes from drag, some of the acts that I do aren’t classically burlesque. It isn’t going to sit well with anybody, they’re going to be like “This bitch lip-synced for two minutes,” but they’re going to walk away and two weeks later they’re going to love it. So let it simmer until you understand it.

• Jack Rabbit Slims at Wonderville for the Last Wonderlesque 14.9.22

Jack Rabbit Slims

3/8 “THAT’S WHAT BURLESQUE IS. IT’S AN EXTRAVAGANZA AND MOCKERY OF REALITY.”

AP: Why do you call yourself the Cult Classic?

JACK RABBIT SLIMS: My name is from Pulp Fiction. Jack Rabbit Slims is the diner where Mia Wallace and Vincent Vega win the Jack Rabbit Slims twist contest. Jack Rabbit Slims is an interesting concept to me because I now bartend and wait tables as a living, that’s what I do to make my money, and it’s a restaurant where all the servers dress as Old Hollywood stars. In a sense, I’m stuck in a restaurant bartending and I’m under the impression that I’m an Old Hollywood star– well then, my name is Jack fucking Rabbit Slims! And it just works. Also as a Queer human, the name Jack felt so right to embody what my soul feels.

• Jack Rabbit Slims at Wonderville for the Last Wonderlesque 14.9.22

Jack Rabbit Slims

2/8 “THAT’S WHAT BURLESQUE IS. IT’S AN EXTRAVAGANZA AND MOCKERY OF REALITY.”

AP: You’ve mentioned you either dropped out of college or didn’t go to college. What made you make that decision?

JACK RABBIT SLIMS: I dropped out. I was doing Media Arts because I thought I wanted to be doing production work. I dropped out because of the opportunities and the jobs I started getting in the city as side hustles; like I was a makeup artist, I was doing makeup gigs, stupid coat check, an assistant in productions. I was like, I’m either going to waste my time doing four days a week stuck in Jersey City in a shitty college, or I’m going to just take these gigs at 19-years-old and figure out where life takes me. And so I ran for it…

• Jack Rabbit Slims at Wonderville for the Last Wonderlesque 14.9.22

Jack Rabbit Slims

1/8 “THAT’S WHAT BURLESQUE IS. IT’S AN EXTRAVAGANZA AND MOCKERY OF REALITY.”

JACK RABBIT SLIMS: I was working at the Chelsea Hotel doing coat check for Tony Notarberardino. He is adored by many in the scene, he is a lovely human being. A professional photographer, he shoots vintage portraits. Long story short, he is one of the only humans who still lives at the Chelsea hotel, and he throws parties in his apartment. Doing coat check for him for an entire season, we got really close and he was like, “Do you want to go out tonight?” I’m like, yeah, fuck it. I was very young, and we went to The Slipper Room. James was doing door– rest in peace, he has gone to the higher world. They snuck me in and somebody gave me a dollar and said, “Go tip that person dancing on the box.” It was intermission during her go-go box, and it was my first time seeing burlesque ever. I saw Cheeky Lane do their famous house act; or it was an act that had an incredible prop. I saw Jenny C'est Quoi and all these people. I always knew that I was in love with drag and that I wanted to help backstage, but I didn’t know I wanted to do burlesque until the night I very first saw it. And then I said, holy fuck this is it.

• Jack Rabbit Slims at Wonderville for the Last Wonderlesque 14.9.22

Esmé

4/4 “MUSIC IS THE MAIN CONDUCT OF EMOTION. I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE, I’M ONLY A DANCER BECAUSE I’M NOT A MUSICIAN.”

ESMÉ: I haven’t considered anything but New York to live since I was 10 years old. I was obsessed with New York City, I’m still obsessed with New York City. This is my home. I’m a self-proclaimed New Yorker. It makes a lot of people mad that I say that, but I know what I mean when I say it. I understand New York, I get it. I know this is my city and that I belong here.

AP: What is the biggest discovery you found dancing or performing burlesque?

ESMÉ: I finally accepted myself. I was able to be honest with myself. I was able to accept every aspect of myself and embrace them. Things I would usually hide and be ashamed of; my sexuality, my sensuality, or my body. Honestly, I was ashamed of my body for a long time before I started doing burlesque. I always thought I wasn’t good enough so why show people something that’s mediocre?

AP: Interesting that you’ve decided to do burlesque because you didn’t feel good in your body.

ESMÉ: Yes. Well, nobody ever told me anything wrong about my body. No one has ever made me feel bad about it. But, I made myself feel so terrible about it. But now I don’t have to just be a body, I can be an artist.

• Esmé at Wonderville for the Last Wonderlesque 14.9.22

Esmé

3/4 “MUSIC IS THE MAIN CONDUCT OF EMOTION. I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE, I’M ONLY A DANCER BECAUSE I’M NOT A MUSICIAN.”

AP: Moving into the things you want to do in burlesque, what do you see in the long-term?

ESMÉ: I want to go on tour for sure. I want to learn how to drive, get a car, pack a few costumes and just go. I want to perform everywhere. I would love to perform overseas too, because I’ve only performed in a few other places besides New York in the U.S. so far. I’m still new though, I’ve only been performing for 3 years, so I have so much time. But I really hope I have a standing show. It’s looking to be a monthly show, even if it turns into something that is bimonthly, or once every 3 months, or even a yearly thing – I would like to have a production that showcases everything that I love. That’s very important to me, to be able to show people the wide range of my interests. I mean, I’m doing it for me because I want to see the things I love in one space, but I also feel like a lot of people would love it and I want people to discover something they’d never seen. I want a clash of cultures kind-of style. I just want to consume art and give people art and bring people joy. Not just joy, but bring people emotion. I feel things very deeply. I feel like art, especially music, is the main conduct of emotion. I always tell people, I’m only a dancer because I’m not a musician. But music is my passion. Music is my favorite thing in the world. I studied music, I could’ve been a musician, but I’m a mover. It goes hand-in-hand. There’s no dancing without music and there’s no music without dancing. I know that isn’t true for everybody, but that’s how I feel about it. And that’s kind of my motivation; the expression of whatever I hear through my movement. That is why I don’t really choreograph a lot of my numbers, and why a lot of my numbers are one-offs. I change my song all of the time. I change my costume all of the time. I just gotta feel it, you know?

• Esmé at Wonderville for The Last Wonderlesque 14.9.22

Esmé

2/4 “MUSIC IS THE MAIN CONDUCT OF EMOTION. I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE, I’M ONLY A DANCER BECAUSE I’M NOT A MUSICIAN.”

AP: Correct me if I’m wrong, but were you born in France?

ESMÉ: I wasn’t actually. I was born in California, but I grew up in France. I’ve lived in France since I was 1. My mom is French.

AP: Did you perform burlesque in France?

ESMÉ: No, not at all. I studied dance and music in France, but I moved to New York when I was 17, then I went back for a year, then moved back for good when I was 19. I was still taking dance classes, but I was mostly working restaurant jobs. Then I stopped dancing because it was too much, it was for my mental and physical health. I eventually got into fitness and was doing that full-time. I was working out twice a day, everyday, always teaching. That was my life and passion for a long time, and I kind of forgot about dancing. Well actually, I didn’t forget, I just kind of gave up, I was like “I’m not going to be a dancer.” I’d known about burlesque because I worked at a venue that had burlesque, but I was also like “I’m never going to do that. I wish I could, but I’m too insecure.”

AP: When was your first gig?

ESMÉ: Well, I’ve always been passionate about music and old movies and vintage 20’s and 50’s things. I had all this knowledge about it. People were always like “Why don’t you do a blog or podcast about it? You literally know everything.” And I’m like, yeah, it’s because I’m a nerd, I love it and I’m obsessed with it. I’m a Scorpio Moon so when I like something, I give it my whole. My interests are so eclectic that it would just get all over. I love Classic Rock, Folk music, Americana, I like Blues, and silent films, and show girls. So I was just like, I’ll do burlesque and performance art, because I can do whatever I want when I do that. I can be myself completely.

• Esmé at Wonderville for The Last Wonderlesque 14.9.22

Esmé

1/4 “MUSIC IS THE MAIN CONDUCT OF EMOTION. I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE, I’M ONLY A DANCER BECAUSE I’M NOT A MUSICIAN.”

AP: How do you feel being a year into hosting and now closing off Wonderlesque?

ESMÉ: I feel like I’ve definitely gotten more comfortable. I think I’ve gotten better, but I don’t write a script and I don’t really prepare anything. I used to do cue cards, but people barely listen to what I say, so I’m just going to talk as if I’m talking to people I know. I don’t have bits and I’m not really a host. I’m not a comedian, so I’m just going to chat and introduce people.

AP: What is it about producing a show that interests you?

ESMÉ: For me, it’s just being able to curate my line-up and the overall vibe. This is why the next show I’m producing I’m not going to be the host of, because I want a specific vibe for what I want. I learned a lot from doing what I did here as a host. I do like hosting and I hope I don’t stop doing that, but the specific vision I have in mind for this next endeavor I’m taking is completely different and that isn’t something I can do, so I hired someone to do it. With that being said, as a producer, there are so many performers that I love and I see them here and there, and I pay a lot of attention on who is with who in what show, and I just want to bring people who wouldn't usually work together into one space. Just so that when the audience sees the show, they’re getting five numbers and they’re all very different and distinct from one another. I don’t even ask my performers to bring a specific number, I literally just hire them and tell them to bring whatever they want. The line-up is based on who you are and I know that everyone is going to bring something different.

• Esmé at Wonderville for The Last Wonderlesque 14.9.22

Maiamour

2/2 “I started burlesque in November, so pretty recently. I had always been intrigued by it and would look up studios or various schools and I found the New York School of Burlesque by Jo Weldon. I started with her and did that first act. After that I was like, this is the perfect mix of dance—which is my background. Character, sexuality, sensuality, comedy. I’ve loved it since.
I grew up dancing, mostly ballet and modern. I moved to New York when I was 23 and I started heels classes. There’s a studio called SassClass, which is highly recommended. Girls, men, everyone and everything in between come to these classes with little to no experience. You learn to find your sexuality while you’re dancing and how to express that in a fierce way. That was what I had gotten into and it just felt really good. That eventually bled into burlesque.
There are two scenes I’m trying to get into within the same field. One is cabaret, more like classical traditional New York burlesque. I’ve actually just joined a cabaret to do that, but it does feel more traditional. So the Neo-Burlesque like tonight is an opportunity to try on different hats and different looks. I think the goal is, well, this isn’t going to be my day job, but just to have the opportunity to perform at different venues, to produce a show would be really fun, to compete in some burlesque things. But we’ll see.”

• Maiamour at Pink Metal for Doctor Lina’s Thot Gurl Summer 17.6.22

Maiamour

1/2 “I am a doctoral student. I’m finishing my doctorate in clinical psychology. It’s a completely different life than I have at night. I’m entering my fifth year which is my internship, after which I’ll be licensed and will be practicing in the city as a therapist. My day life is very academic and people-oriented, and very emotions-based stuff. Other things I do in the day are creative things—I need that outlet. The typical New York life.
Most sessions that I have with patients are very heavy emotionally. You have to sit there with somebody and really hold them emotionally and have space for them, and that can be exhausting on the therapist to some degree. Its recommended that we as therapists find some sort of outlet, whether that’s exercise or writing or drawing or getting into a hobby of some sort. So I actually find the transition to be pretty natural because its a good way to release, to either dance or be really in my body and get dressed up and look fun.”

• Maiamour at Pink Metal for Doctor Luna’s Thot Gurl Summer 17.6.22

Magical-Girl Ebony

2/2 • What are some things in your day life that you feel contribute to your night life persona?

“I’m a fashion grad. I build all of my costumes from the ground up. For the most part it’s me at the machine with the glue gun all by myself, and watching anime and just building sexy anime girl costumes all day on my day off.”

• Is there anything about burlesque that you feel the need to tame or control? Is there anything in burlesque you would like to change the idea about or retell?

“Yes, definitely women of color in the coslesque community. The big Blerd movement is out there right now. We are here, we are loud, we are nerdy and we are sexy. We are getting out there and taking it all off. Nerdlesque is definitely my speciality. Every single routine is a nerdlesque.”

• What is nerdlesque and how do I find it?

Nerdlesque is burlesque, but the nerdiest thing ever. It could be Star Wars burlesque, it could be Anime burlesque, it could be Sailor Moon burlesque which is everyone’s favorite right now. It could be MCU burlesque, which is happening right now with Black Widow and WandaVision. If it’s sexy and nerdy, it’s nerdlesque.”

• Magical-Girl Ebony at Pink Metal for Doctor Luna’s Thot Gurl Summer 17.6.22

Magical-Girl Ebony

1/2 “You’re showing yourself. You’re building an aesthetic, a look, and styling is a big part of that. That was my major, so styling and adding theatrics with it, it becomes art in motion.”

• What are some things about burlesque that you find yourself most interested or inspired by?

“I’m interested in theatrics. Marrying theatrics and sexiness and sultriness makes it more fun. I think you can break free if you’re already dramatic. Taking your clothes off with it adds more freedom. You’re taking a piece of yourself apart and it feels so good.”

• What do you do when putting together an act?

“I usually throw my headphones on, I watch an anime I love, and I marry the two. I think of a song that goes perfectly with that anime girl, and I marry those two together. I marathon the song on repeat and I write down the whole routine. Then, I just get up there and go for it. Two or drinks at it, but yeah, we go for it.”

• Magical-Girl Ebony at Pink Metal for Doctor Luna’s Thot Gurl Summer 17.6.22

Kai Bunny

2/2 • What is it about being a storyteller that captivates you so much?

“It is really empowering to be able to use your voice and to be heard, and to tell your own story. As an Asian-American, I feel very invisible and very misrepresented in the media which really affected my life growing up. So that’s why stories really are important because they affect how people perceive you. A lack of stories is what confer people and what makes them invisible.”

• Is there a mission you have for yourself? Is there something you want to accomplish with your art?

“I just feel like the ultimate power that art has is to liberate people. That is what I hope to do, to empower people, to invite people into this power, into their power, into just honing their own voices. To speak up for themselves.”

••• Kai Bunny at Pink Metal for Doctor Luna’s Thot Gurl Summer 17.6.22

Kai Bunny

1/2 • How were you first introduced to burlesque?

“I was always interested in burlesque because I always loved Broadway and theatre. I started looking it up, the dance form, and then I found out about the New York School of Burlesque. That was in college, I always wanted to take classes there, but I had no time until after college. I wish I got into it sooner. It just makes me feel really liberated, it made me get in touch with my sensuality. It helped me make a lot of friends.”

• What is your day-life like?

“When I am not doing burlesque, I am a secret actor. Let’s see if you can find out who I am! I do a lot of TV work, I’ve been in theatre too. I have a lot of other part time jobs too.”

• Do you feel like burlesque allows you to have a secret identity? Do you create an alter ego when it comes to the burlesque scene? Or do you feel like you are still you?

“I’m still me. I think what surprised me most about pursuing burlesque was finding out it was a storytelling device more so than I thought it could ever be in a dance. Because what I realize in burlesque routines, you may have one burlesque routine for the stage, and that same routine can be adapted for a bar or a museum or however the stage or space is set up for you. I think that is really amazing. Stories have never really been an escape for me, I think they’re more of an anchor actually.”

••• Kai Bunny at Pink Metal for Doctor Luna’s Thot Gurl Summer 17.6.22

Cochina Divina

2/2 • What’s something you didn’t expect about burlesque until you started to do it?

“I wasn’t expecting how high and low pressure it is at the same time. I want to put on a beautiful art performance, but then I have all these high expectations. I got stuck in my dress at my last show, like very stuck in my dress! And people were just cheering and throwing more money, and instead of feeling like shit, I was like, this is a big group project! This is a group puzzle! We are going to figure out this dress incident together and it’s going to be fun. And then I got out and I had a great time, and people were like, that was great! It was hard getting out of my own head, but then I was like, this was fun and goofy. I was still able to catch up.” … “I deserve to have fun and let loose. That’s still transformative and creative and important for me, especially with someone who’s dealing with depression. Dancing isn’t a waste of time. Creating and being goofy isn’t a waste of time. I am meeting beautiful people who are changing my life in ways that I am incredibly grateful for. It’s the kind of life I’ve always wanted. I am in my 20’s in Brooklyn doing burlesque. Holy shit!” 

• Cochina Divina at the Windjammer for the Vena Shit Show 15.10.21

Cochina Divina

1/2 • “I need something to fill my time where I still feel like I’m learning and growing and being stimulated, and burlesque has been really good for that.”

• What is your favorite part about dancing? ”I was dancing eight hours a week at school and then during the pandemic I completely stopped. A couple of years back I hyper extended both of my knees, so I had pretty shitty knees and I had chronic knee pain. So dancing all the time, working them out, was really good. Then I stopped during the pandemic, and they went to shit again. So it’s been really nice having a reason to regularly exercise, to dance and do things that make me feel creative.”

• Cochina Divina at the Windjammer for the Vena Shit Show 15.10.21

Peach Eazy

2/2 • What’s something about your art that you want people to know about you?

“I’m gender fluid, I’m queer as fuck. That’s super important to me. Especially showing my body and expressing myself in this way is really illuminating of people who look like me and identify this way. I hope people can see me and see themselves.”

• Peach Eazy at the Windjammer for the Vena Shit Show 15.10.21

Peach Eazy

1/2 • What is your favorite thing about performing? “Well, this is my first time performing in two years so it definitely made me remember instantly why I love it so much. It’s really just the energy from other people, and especially after the pandemic and still being in it, it’s just so nice to be able to feed off of people’s energy and help that fuel my energy. It’s just a great way to connect with people, that’s what I’ve always loved about it.”  • How did you get into burlesque? “I grew up doing musical theatre. I was always cast as the prostitute or the slut on the stage, and I was like, well I guess I’m pretty good at this. I was just sick of doing it for other people, I want to make my own identity and character with it.

• Peach Eazy at the Windjammer for the Vena Shit Show 15.10.21

Venatrix

3/3 • And you purposely don’t performer in the shit show?

“Yeah, I’m already stressed enough as it is! I just want to sit in the front row and be entertained. I’m like a queen in her throne and I’m watching my court jesters perform for me.”

• How did you first begin thinking about producing a show?

“So I’m now actually producing three shows, and this was the first one. I was like, it’s only going to happen once, so come by this one time thing I’m ever going to produce. Then of course that was really fun, and after that I just kept doing these shows that had low pressure where everyone can have fun. Now I’m doing Last Chance Dancers with Maggie, and now I have Glamour Mess which I do monthly now.”

• Venatrix at the Windjammer for the Vena Shit Show 15.10.21

Venatrix

2/3 • How did you create the Vena Shit Show?

“I’m just a mess! I was thinking of a name and I thought, it’s going to be a fucking shit show. It just happened!”

• What do you tell the performers for them to prepare for the shit show?

“I’m like, its dumb as fuck, it’s for charity, you can do whatever the fuck you want, you can literally spit on someone’s face on stage and I’ll be screaming for you in the front row. I really just want a space where people can do whatever they want. I always have a new performer in every show too. Tonight we had three new performers which is fucking cool, I love that. I just really want their first time to be something where you’re surrounded by good energy, you’re meeting people who are really fucking cool that you want to hang out with backstage, and you get to make connections with good people in the scene. I just want that opportunity for people.”

• Venatrix at the Windjammer for the Vena Shit Show 15.10.21

Venatrix

1/3 “Burlesque was originally about making fun of the upper-class. It was originally out here being a mockery of high fashion and high art. It’s like, bring that shit back. You can’t take us too seriously.”

• How did you get the Innocence Project onto the Vena Shit Show?

“This wasn’t affiliated with them, that’s just where I’m donating everything! So every time I do a charity show, it isn’t an official affiliation with anything, I just choose that’s where the money is going. So yeah, they’re fully not involved. I’m just like, we’re doing something dumb and you’re going to get the money.”

• Is the foundation to which you’re donating something you’re passionate about?

“Oh fully! We’ve done different organizations. The first one was for a science foundation, it was a birthday show that I did for me and Bill Nye, so I donated to his science foundation. The second one was donated to the fires in Australia, and then everything since then has been about the Innocence Project.”

• Venatrix at the Windjammer for the Vena Shit Show 15.10.21