In just the past few months she’s won two major crowns, and is up for another one… but with a fun gender twist. Just in time for the New York Burlesque Festival, it’s Queerly Femmetastic! [Cover photo: Beyond You Portraits]
Thotyssey: Hello Queerly, thanks for taking the time to chat with us! You’ve had a busy and productive year, and in fact you were just crowned the winning “Grand Master Funk” at Seattle’s “What The Funk” festival pageant! Can you tell us a bit about what made you want to compete in that, what the journey was like, and what that win meant for you?
Queerly Femmetastic: So I saw pictures of the first “What the Funk” festival five years ago, and got really excited by the concept of competing in a festival dedicated to funk music–and a festival focused on black and brown performers. Nightlife is just that microcosm of the real world, and that means that all of the systemic oppression that people face in the real world is present in nightlife, too. It felt really important for me to participate in a festival that is working to make sure that black and brown performers have a seat at the table.
So the first few times that I applied to the What the Funk Festival, I did not get in. So when I met Pucks A’Plenty in 2022, I made sure to ask them what it is that I should focus on for a strong application to the festival. They were really clear about the fact that they were looking for a clear dedication and understanding funk music, as well as the things that most festival producers are looking for–which is costuming musicality and stage presence.
I reworked a few of my acts and submitted them again; I got into What the Funk 2023 for the live band night. I feel really lucky that I was able to see P No Noire, Android Allure and Desiree d’Amour perform that year, so that I could take notes on what it is that made them winners. I took those notes and incorporated those things into the acts I submitted for the 2024 festival, and was accepted to compete. I was really excited, but also very nervous. My fellow competitors are all powerhouses, and I knew it was going to be a really wild night. My goal was to give the best performance I could and make sure people had a great time, and I feel like that’s exactly what I did. “What the Funk” is my burlesque Olympics!
Can you tell us a bit about where you grew up, and if music and performance were always a part of your life?
I’m from Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. Music has always been a huge part of my life. My grandparents and parents played vinyl and tapes of their favorite music when I was a kid, so I grew up listening to the music of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. My dad loves Chaka Khan and my mom loves Prince, so I feel like that influenced my music taste pretty early. I started dancing when I was three, started singing when I was five, and continued to study performance through college, so yes being on the stage has pretty much always been a part of my life!
How did you discover burlesque?
I’d seen burlesque performances at different places in New York City. Some of the first burlesque performers that I’d ever seen were Miss AuroraBoobRealis and Perle Noire. But I didn’t really think that the art form was for me.
Most of my performing was through cosplay which I started doing in 2012, and I was doing pole dance and different kinds of pole gigs. In 2018 I was supposed to kitten a show. A few weeks before the show, someone was injured and had to pull out… so the organizers asked me if I could step in as a performer. I had a lot of costumes, so I just used a Wonder Woman costume that I had built… and that became my very first burlesque act. From there, I shopped the act around to different producers and started building other acts. Producers like Foxy Belle Afriq and Shay Au Lait (who is one of the founders of Siren Pack) were folks who were consistently hiring me when I was first learning what my own aesthetics were, and the types of acts that I liked to do.
Of course, the pandemic hit when things were just starting to take off. But I continued performing online, and honestly I feel like the quarantine made me a better performer. It allowed me to train with people who I would not have been able to work with otherwise. It also gave me the time to learn more about costuming and reveals, and what it looks like for me to do the things that I like to do, the things that bring me joy. So when the quarantine ended and we started going back to in person shows, I made sure to reach out to producers here in New York as well as starting to reach out to producers outside of New York City, including applying to festivals. I did not get accepted to my first festival until 2023, and it’s been a wild ride since then!
What’s your favorite aspect of burlesque, and how might you describe your own numbers and take on the artform?
I think my favorite part of burlesque is the storytelling; I enjoy creating stories and getting a chance to share them with my audience. I really love how costuming and props aid musicality and movement to share something from the artist to the audience. That being said, I am a nerdlesque performer… and so for the most part, my acts are characters from different pieces of pop culture. So I tend to start my process thinking about what song a character would like, what kind of clothing they would wear, and what are they trying to share with someone who might be watching them. It’s a combination of improv and dance and theater, and I really love how those things work together to make you feel something. Because at the end of the day, burlesque should always make you feel something.
This past spring you were also crowned Miss Subways in the newly revamped pageant right here in NYC, representing the A line! That must have been (and likely still is) a wild ride, pun intended!
Yeah! So I really like silly pageants. And I wanted to do the Miss Subways pageant because it was something that my grandparents talked about when I was a kid. I didn’t really know what happened to it, I just knew that it used to be a thing. So when it popped back up a few years ago I was like, “oh yeah one day I want to do that.” I remembered to submit my application on time, and I really like that the application for that pageant asks you to talk about your relationship to New York City and your relationship to the subway. It let me share about my life and my experience being a native New Yorker, and what it means to be able to see the city change in a lot of different ways for the last 30 whatever years. I had a lot of fun at the pageant; I got a chance to do it with my partner and one of my best friends as my escorts, the C and the E line. Overall it was really fun I had such a good time, and I am grateful for City Reliquary bringing that pageant back and keeping that piece of Old New York City alive.
You are also a finalist for Mx. Nobody, a very out-of-the-box drag / etc. competition, which has its finale at Mercury Lounge this Friday! Interestingly, you are competing as a drag king: Father Queef! What inspired that choice, and how has the Mx. Nobody experience been for you so far?
I wanted to start doing drag because I feel like drag allows you to make very different choices than burlesque. Drag and burlesque are obviously related, but the way that people think about and experience drag is very different from the way people think about and experience burlesque. So I decided to build a drag persona that allowed me to question and examine and make fun of a lot of the things that I see men and masculine-of-center people do because I want people to question whether or not it has to be like that.
Frankly a thing that has been a big part of my experience doing drag–not just for this competition but in general–is that people treat drag kings and things very differently than they treat drag queens. I am really grateful for the experience with The Nobodies, and I wish other drag spaces would follow their example! So much of modern drag is White cisgender men stealing and appropriating culture from Black women, and that feels frustrating and belittling to me as a cisgendered Black woman. I want more drag artists to question their choices, and me being in the space sometimes makes people do that.
You’ve got some other stuff coming up as well. This Wednesday you’ll be at Brooklyn Art Haus for Dirty Lola’s “Sex Ed A Go Go,” which is part comedy show, part sex ed talk, and part burlesque!
Lola is super fun, and I am excited to get a chance to work with her on her show! Later that night I’ll also be at Apotheke for Broadway Brassy’s “Hot Jazz” show, and it’s the first time that I am working with both of those producers… so I am really looking forward to getting a chance to connect with them both.
And the New York Burlesque Festival is right around the corner! On Friday, October 4th you’ll be performing in the Premiere Party at Brooklyn Bowl. Folks can also vote for you for the “Urkel Award” as part of another popular NYBF event, the Golden Pasties Awards. This is a big time for burlesque in the city!
It really is! I am excited for the resurgence of burlesque in New York City, and I hope that people continue to support it. The economy is crashing and artists need audiences to survive. So if you are excited about burlesque performers, if you’re excited about drag performers, go out and see their shows… go out and buy tickets to see them. Go out and support them, tip them, and tell them they’re pretty and they’re doing a good job!
Folks can definitely come support the last “Pipes & Pasties” at Freddy’s Bar on Halloween Night before you move it to a different location! That’s an event you produce which features folks performing their usual karaoke faves, but accompanied by live burlesque interpretations to the songs!
Yes, it is the only karaoke burlesque show in New York City and I am so proud of how far the show has come. People are welcome to join us on Halloween; they are welcome to dress up and get as into it as they want to. We will be stripping, and all you’ve got to do is sing!
Let’s close with a spooky season nerdy topic: Joker 2! Will this film give us great music and looks, or will it be so bad that we’ll want to forget the whole thing?
We do not need a second Joker. Nobody asked for this! DC makes really good villains, but they don’t make really good movies. That’s my hot take.
Which many would agree with! Thanks, Queerly!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Queerly Femmetastic’s upcoming events, and follow her on Facebook, Instagram and LinkTree.
Thotyssey 