New Orleans

A Debriefing

Above: I was not diligent about getting photos during my trip, so here’s a screencap of Lola Van Ella’s sweet post about my show. Lola also generously lent me her ukulele.

I’ve been thinking about posting about my experience in New Orleans this month, but I’ve been overwhelmed by how incredible it was. Rather than not post at all, I’ll simply do my best.

I stayed with my good friend Veronica Varlow, a professional witch, and beloved partner in magic of many kinds for nearly two decades. She and her husband have a glorious, high-ceilinged double shotgun (that’s NOLA for “duplex”) on the Marigny/Bywater border, just a ten-minute walk from The AllWays Lounge where I was doing my show. It’s my favorite part of New Orleans, the Marigny/Bywater, and has the feel you imagine if you’ve never been to the city: colorful old houses with gingerbread and tall shutters, lush greenery and flowers, the scent of jasmine everywhere, with lovely independently-owned thrift stores and eateries popping up around every corner.

Walking in the city has always been an intense experience for me, even when I was young and going there just to get wasted and loud on Bourbon Street. It reminds me of when I was first reading tarot cards, and it felt like there was a thin membrane between me and the world depicted on each card, and I could walk through it and everything would be in motion. In New Orleans, my sense is that I’m right at the threshold of a similar permeable barrier, feeling people in multiple timelines pass around and through me.

It’s a romanticized take on the city, of course. I lived at the corner of Elysian Fields and Dauphine for two years, and while it was glorious, I learned a lot about the city that isn’t romantic. However, this return made me fall in love with New Orleans all over again.

At the Beechman I usually pared down my show to fit into a cabaret hour slot. For the AllWays, I had more time, so I adapted my show a bit to the area. I went into more detail about Willie Piazza and Storyville, and in the section on activism I emphasized what’s been happening there. It wasn’t hard to do, because I already had this information to build it out with. I have so much more than I can ever fit into any show — sometimes I think I could do a whole book on each slide in the show!

The AllWays Lounge is the center of a dedicated community of burlesque performers, cabaret artists, and musicians. Zalia, the owner, has developed a truly precious and nurturing culture there. Locals can go almost any night and see an entertaining show, and during the day, the space provides for community classes and meetups. We don’t have anything quite like it in NYC, although both the Slipper Room and Duane Park have a familial vibe for me even though I’m not performing any more. I had help from one of the bartenders and performers there, Vivacious Miss Audacious, who helped me do promotion and press, including postering, and wrote a sweet review after the show.

So what’s hard to talk about is just how awesomely it went. I have terrible stage fright, and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to deliver. I had the ideal circumstances, which helped. The room was perfect, the projector was excellent, the sound was good, the tech person was great, and the door person was brilliant. The first night, I was a bit nervous overall, but the audience carried me, and it worked. I had added a glove peel segment, and it went over better than I could have hoped. I know it was better than I felt because everybody rushed the merch table, and they don’t do that if they feel bad for you. I was so honored to have people spend some of their precious time there, when they could have been anywhere in such a special city. And several sex workers told me they felt seen and that it inspired them to want to tell their stories — which is what I always hope my work will do. One of the attendees said they were changed by it, and they were going to come back the second night and bring people with them, which they did, which made me feel lightheaded and get misty-eyed. The second night, I felt like I was at near-peak, on fire, feeling great and full of love and energy. The audience was showering me with money just for showing up, I got a rowdy standing ovation, and we sold most of what was left of the merch.

I told Jonny if it was always like that I’d be dying to perform all the time, but I don’t know if that’s really true. My performance anxiety is too much, but also, I just want to appreciate this gorgeous experience. I’m happy to have this be just what it is. I’m just so happy to have New Orleans love me back.

Above: Me leaning against a lamppost (like you do) outside the AllWays after the shows, totally blissed out. I can’t believe I get to live this sweet life.

In May I’m going to post about the fabulous private tour I had of the Storyville Museum, but I’ll have to write about that after what’s about to happen this Saturday.