So you want to be in a burlesque festival?

**DISCLAIMER** 
Please note that the opinions expressed here are mine alone and do not reflect those of the rest of the Southern Fried Burlesque Fest staff, volunteers or the anonymous members of the selection committee.  Also, these opinions are from my personal experiences, yours may vary, but as these are opinions there is no right or wrong.
**END DISCLAIMER**

I have the great joy of putting on a festival and bringing people from all over the world together for an amazing weekend of burlesque in Atlanta.  We have received at least 100 applications (sometimes double or triple that) each year since we started.  In March we will have our 4th Annual Southern Fried Burlesque Fest.  We actually just sent out the acceptance letters which is very exciting for everyone that got in.  If you got an acceptance letter, this blog is not for you.

This blog is for everyone else that got a "thanks, but no thanks" email.  For those people that feel hurt, rejected or betrayed because of the unfairness of not getting in or for those people that honestly just want to be better received when they send in applications.  So I take it back, I guess even if you got in this may help you in the future...who knows.  I get asked all the time, "How can I get in a festival?" because I run one and I've performed at a lot of them.  So here ya go, I'm finally going to answer the question for you all.

1) Apply - I know a lot of people that complain that they're never going to be good enough to get in.  Well, you never know until you try so just do it!  Also, many festivals have new comer showcases and it's a great way to break into the festival circuit and get your first taste in a low pressure way, it's a new comer showcase, they're not going to compare you to Dirty Martini, they're going to cheer you on for being new and brave!

2) Tape your acts - Even if its just a rehearsal video, and watch them.  See what you look like on the video.  See what works, where you can improve, what you can do to get a better video...always look to see if you're giving good face.  See if your costume translates well.  Check yourself, because videos are always crap compared to live performances, but you still want the best video you can get, even if it's just a rehearsal video in your kitchen.

3) Fill out the form correctly - This one I'm going to break down for you because this is important.  My suggestion is to actually look at the application, make a check list and then make sure you have everything.  Many festivals are moving to Google docs so you have to sit down and fill it all out at once and then submit but you can still look at it BEFORE you submit so make sure you have everything you need before you do so.

*I'm going to use the SFBF form as an example**

-Stage Name/Group Name: this should be self explanatory, make sure you put in your stage name if you're applying as a solo or your group name if you're applying as a duet or group.

-Website: This can be your personal website, which I highly recommend, you can make a free one on Weebly or Wix and it can contain an organized chaos of you.  Pictures, videos, etc...  If you don't have one of these use a Facebook Fan Page or something like that.  We don't want to see anything we have to "friend" or sign up for so it better be public and accessible to everyone.

-Legal Name: Again should be self explanatory, but it's apparently not.  Your legal name is what is on your driver's license, unless you are World Famous Bob or Tempest Storm I seriously doubt your stage name is your legal name.  Do not put your stage name or a nick name here.  Seriously...

-Email: this is the email that we will be contacting you with for EVERYTHING.  Make sure it is one that you actually check on a regular basis.  Do not use an email that you never look at or an email (such as work) that will freak out over the word pastie or something like that.

-Age requirements: Generally most festivals have a minimum age because of the venue and the fact that we're taking our clothes off in public.  In Atlanta everyone must be 18+, we prefer 21+ because we do have a bar though it is the bar's job to check IDs, we do mark anyone who is 18-20 as such to be safe.

-Where do you wish to be listed from: what city are you claiming as your home town.  We like to show off the diversity of where all of our performers are from.  Please put an actual place, not some made up place.  Nicknames like Hotlanta are okay (But seriously I hate that one so please NEVER use Hotlanta in place of Atlanta, just as a favor to me)

-Bio: if you're a solo put your bio, if you're a group use the groups bio.  However, the part that everyone pretty much messes up if the word count.  We have a 150 word count, however, people send us sometimes 1000 word bios.  I don't care how spectacular it is, you're showing us you can't follow directions.  Learn to use the word count on your word processor, show everyone that you can follow directions and be awesome!

-Songs and Artist: No really, we want the name of every song and who is singing it that you use in your act.  Don't put "this is a special mix", put every song and who did it.  Why, we don't want to have two people doing the same song and we also want to make sure that we don't put two people with the same artist back to back.  We only hear a song one time per festival, that's the rules.

-Description of act: Any changes from the video (we'll get to that in a minute) and anything that has been updated such as costume, prop or other act changes.  We're going to watch the act, we will see it, you do not need to write a play by play, a synopsis and updates are fine.  We have to go through 100s of applications, please go for short and sweet.

-Video: Have one.  I don't care who you know, I don't care if you know me, the selection committee is often all over the place and they are sent the responses to the applications via internet so they can view the videos and vote.  I don't care if I've known you since the beginning of time and have seen every performance you've ever done, that doesn't help the people making the call because guess what, THERE'S A COMMITTEE, I DO NOT PICK OUT ALL THE PERFORMERS.  I pick out and do contracts with the headliners so if you're applying you're really not my problem. No video means you are disqualified.
Please make sure that your link works.  We had multiple submissions whose links didn't work.  They were: Password protected (most festivals will not look at anything that requires a password), taken down (you should leave it up until you get your response), blocked (I do not recommend using Google, Dropbox or Facebook), or part of a larger video (make sure you're just submitting a link to the one video, not a series of videos of your acts.
Also, no montages.  If you are asked for a link to the video of the act then it should be the act from beginning to end.  We have actually regretted not admitting people into the competition because they sent us a montage of their act so the committee couldn't see what was going on and it turned out to be amazing and since it was someone no one had heard of before they didn't know it was going to be amazeballs.  Both the festival and the performer lost out because of a bad video.
The best thing you can do is a wide stationary angle so we can see you from head to toe.  Please do not put the camera in the nose bleed section, but far enough away that we can actually see your entire act and close enough to still be able to see if you have good face or not.
If you have never performed the act in full you probably should not be submitting it to a burlesque festival.  Acts submitted to a festival should be polished, the costume should be there (we understand you may not have all the rhinestones glued on yet or missing something specific like I will have aquamarine gloves with fringe attached rather than the black ones being used) and so should your choreography.  If it's new you should still have these things, even if it's a rehearsal video.  Rehearsal videos are totally fine as long as the act is there, even if you don't have a piece and you say hat and how us how you would hold the hat, etc... and can mime it out so we can see the number, this is still awesome.  Please only send the act.  There shouldn't be an interview with you explaining the act.  If you are missing something we understand, put that in the notes and show us what you have.  We do not have time to fast forward through your apologies and explanations of what will be coming, the committee can only go by the video they see.  They most likely don't know you and don't know if the promises you're making are full of shit or not, just do the act to the best of your ability.

-What are you submitting for: Please pay attention to what you're submitting for.  If you submit for best variety and it says no striptease or pasties then don't submit an act in which you strip to pasties, even if it's on a lyra.  NO STRIP TEASE MEANS NO STRIP TEASE.  If you have been performing for more than 2 years then do not submit to the New Performer Showcase that states 2 years or less.  If you are submitting for King or Queen, best male or female solo, it MUST BE A SOLO.  If you require another person on stage then it is not a solo.  If the other person is optional and can be removed please say that in your description/notes.  You must make sure you submit for the right category or you will be disqualified.

-Payment: If you send Paypal and it says you must include your stage name with payment, please put your stage name in the notes.  This is also a reason we ask for your legal name.  These are ways we can make sure you paid the money to apply.  If you don't pay your application won't be reviewed.  Make it easy on us to find out if you've paid or not. No payment means you are disqualified.

4) Go to festivals - Part of the problem with people not understanding why they weren't accepted is that they never go to festivals.  They do not see how much people step up their game in order to perform at these big, international shows in either showcases or competition.  Festivals aren't just fun to do, they're a way to network and let other performers and producers see how amazing they are so they will get hired for other shows.
Even if you're not performing getting out there to see who go it, networking and being a part of the community is an important part of getting into festivals.  If your video and someone else's video have the same score and the other person is better known that's probably who will get in.  It's not that you weren't good enough, at that point it's a matter of limited spots and they went with the safer, known quantity.

5) Never give up! -   Perhaps I have a thicker skin from years of theater, but you can't give up.  Everyone gets rejected sometimes.  I've been in a bunch of festivals, but I have also been turned down for a bunch of festivals, you have to keep trying.  Some festivals have a theme and you didn't happen to fit into it.  Some festivals get a ton of applications and only around 20-30% of the applicants get to perform, at that point it's just a numbers game.  More than one person submitted the same song, if the acts are equally good then who ever is better known and submitted first is probably going to get in, being musically obscure is your friend.  Similar concept or trick, SFBF will only accept so many classic, so many fans, so many nerdlesque, so many of each type of act.  You do not want to watch an entire evening of the same act over and over again, let alone and entire festival.  It may have just been too similar to other acts that were accepted.

I hope this helps out some people who are looking to apply for the first time or perhaps have been discouraged.  Just keep stepping up your game and doing your best.  It will happen for you as long as you keep improving yourself and keep submitting.  (a little networking never hurt either)

Resolutions, do they accomplish anything?

While most people are looking forward to their resolutions for 2014, I have to wonder what did I actually get accomplished in 2013?  Did I keep any of my 2013 New Years resolutions?  I looked, I couldn't find that I made any resolutions last year.  Was my 2012 resolution to not have any?  I'm super goal oriented so not making any resolutions doesn't mean I didn't accomplish things and move forward, I just didn't treat them as resolutions of "this will be different in 2013" because my goals didn't really change that much from the year before.

The biggest thing I accomplished in 2013 was I finished my last semester to get a degree in Technical Theater from Georgia Perimeter College.  This was a goal, but not a specific 2013 goal, I started going back to school while I was working at the law firm back in Spring of 2008 before I was laid off and then I started again once I was eligible for a Pell Grant in Fall of 2011.  Much more of a long term goal then one of a resolution for 2013, but since it happened in 2013 does it count?  I worked for a long time to keep up the straight As I got from Fall of 2011 through my final semester.

I did get to do my first professional (paid) lighting design for Lady Lay at 7 Stages Theater.  This is why I've been going to school.  So I would have enough skills to keep myself employed regardless of what the job openings were.  Stage Manager, Costumer, and now Lighting Designer.  I was also thrilled to add Production Manager to this list this year as well.  The only way to stay employed in theater is to be able to do ANYTHING so they can use you regardless of what they have available.  Make yourself invaluable and they can't help but want to keep you!

Syrens of the South lost a venue and then found a new monthly home at The Shelter and 7 Stages.  We had two super successful show at 7 Stages with Syrens celebrating its 6th birthday (we're now in our 7th season) and a SOLD OUT 7th Annual Tits for Toys for Tots show.  We ran a wonderful monthly show at The Shelter from May through Dec that brought together the community a great deal with helping fund Southern Fried Burlesque Fest as well as an outlet for performers new and old to test out new acts and get videos of performances.  Sadly, as of tonight the Shelter is closing but it has been very good to us over the past 4 years as we've performed there MANY times since they opened as guests, features and sometimes just because we were getting rowdy as customers.  But notice that it's a 4 year relationship with The Shelter and our 7th Anniversary.  We moved to 7 Stages because I started working there in 2012 and that relationship is what led to our shows being there, again not a 2013 only decision.

Southern Fried Burlesque Fest, I launched a Kickstarter to pay off the 2013 festivals bills and raise the money for the down payment for the 2014 festival and it was successful.  I was shocked, we even went a little over so we were able to pay off the SFBF credit card as well which was amazing.  We've actually already been able to pay $4000 of the $8500 we have to pay for the hotel space (not including air fare, hotels rooms, performance fees, etc...) which is a huge leap from where we normally are.  The Kickstarter may be the only thing that was thought of and executed in 2013, but Southern Fried has been my baby since 2010 when I began working on the 1st one that took place in 2011.

In January I began working at Studio Burlesque which later became The Atlanta School of Burlesque under Ursula Undress' leadership.  Not my first time teaching (obviously since Ursula was once a student of the Syrens of the South ABCs and 123s of Burlesque back in the day) but my first time having it be a main source of income and a steady job with a schedule.  A nice evolution of things I have been working towards since I started teaching in 2007.  (WOW, has it been that long already?)

So these were my big life changing things in 2013 which all happened due to YEARS of hard work rather than a major change in 365 days.  Maybe that's the point of this post, these things don't happen over night, they don't happen in the span of a year, everything we do leads us to our future and those are years in the making.  I think it is good to have goals, I like lists to check off to have a feeling of accomplishment when I am working on things.  Everyday we make choices, those choices pile up into our futures.  Instead of trying to change over night make one choice each day that makes you better than the day before and eventually you'll be the person your resolutions say you are.

And on that note, I guess I should have some resolutions that are doable.

1. Exercise for at least one hour three days a week.  I actually am usually pretty good about this and seeing as a teach two 45 minute classes per week this is a pretty easy goal.  I would like to get my yoga DVD back on my schedule and I think not having an 8:30am class will definitely help with that.  Also, I like short, easily accomplished goals so me and the 30 day challenges are going to probably become friends again.

2. Eat more vegetables.  I actually really like vegetables, my problem has been I have been super busy and my eating habits have been kinda crap.  I just generally need to pay more attention to what I put in my body.  I am not giving up anything or denying myself anything, I just need to add some healthy things in there as well.

3. See my friends more.  I have been so busy with work and school many of my personal relationships have suffered.  Even if I just go hang out once a week with someone I'll be doing infinitely better than I have been able to do.

4. Do more things...I need more adventures.  I need to say yes to more things instead of being weird about wandering out by myself or feeling silly.  Silly feels awesome and should be embraced more.

5. Organize my existence more.  I need structure to get things done, that's what being in school has taught me.  I work best with a schedule.  All of my other goals will be more easily accomplished if I do this one thing.

5 resolutions seems like a nice number so I'll stop there.  Am curious as to what other people's resolutions are/will be and how many other people accomplished from the year before.

RIP Shelter: End of an Era...

Syrens of the South has been performing off and on at The Shelter since it opened 4 years ago and since May we have been doing a monthly Tease Tuesday show as a fundraiser for Southern Fried Burlesque Fest.  New Year's Eve, December 31, 2013, will be The Shelter's last night open.  Sadly, it is not that the club failed, that it wasn't popular or that it had fallen out of fashion, it is for reasons out of the club owners control...stupid plumbing and the owners of the building will have to gut everything to fix it which is why we're loosing our home.  I guess it's better to go out the hero than stick around long enough to become the villain.  The Shelter is definitely going out the hero! 

This past Tuesday, Dec 10th, was our final Tease Tuesday there.  It was a fairly packed house, especially for a Tuesday, and we had a great last show.  Many of us are planning on spending out New Year's Eve at The Shelter so we can be surrounded by our friends in one of our favorite places one last time.

We are pleased to let everyone know that Tease Tuesdays aren't dying.  Syrens of the South will be at Red Light Cafe on January 14th with special guest Paco Fish headlining.  This will continue to be a fundraiser for the Southern Fried Burlesque Fest March 20-23, 2014.  We hope to see you there and see if Red Light Cafe can be our new home for our monthly endeavors!

Tease Tuesdays with Syrens of the South at The Shelter

So this past Tuesday Syrens of the South descended upon The Shelter in an effort to raise money for the Southern Fried Burlesque Fest.  There were 10 amazing performances for only $10, there's not a better way to spend an otherwise dull Tuesday night.  All of the performers donated their performances that evening in an effort to help pay off the remaining of the past 2013 SFBF bills.  The amazing performers included the Students from my (Katherine Lashe) Wednesday night Beginning Burlesque Class at Studio Burlesque, Talloolah Love, Edie Akimbo, Rob Thompson of the Little Five Point Rock Star Orchestra, Tru Bliss, Persephone Phoenix, Tora Torrid, Bourgeois Betty, Nipsy Tussle of Knoxville's Salome Cabaret, and the 2013 Southern Fried Burlesque Queen, Atlanta's own Lola le Soleil!  We also had two raffles, one for some amazing prizes including a BHoF shirt, a variety of Starbucks Coffee, autographed pictures, a beauty basket, a 5 class pass from Studio Burlesque and a weekend pass for SFBF2014.  The second raffle was a 50/50 raffle where the winner splits the money with SFBF so each gets 50% of the amount put into the raffle.  The winner decided to donate the money back to SFBF which was very sweet of her.

It went so well that we're going to do it again on June 11th, in fact it will now be the second Tuesday of each month.  Each show will have 10 amazing acts for only a $10 cover.  Doors will be at 9pm and the show will be at 9:30pm so we'll be done before midnight, plenty of time for everyone to get home at a decent hour since it's a school night.  Some performers have opted to donate their performances for future shows as well and for that we're super grateful since SFBF is a very expensive event to put on and having the support of the Atlanta Burlesque community is amazing and very helpful!  We'll continue to bring an amazing variety of burlesque, musicians, magicians, aerialists, comedy skits, etc... to the Tease Tuesday shows so you'll never know what kind of show it will be!

Southern Fried, Lady Lay, Taste, and other things that will amaze you!

After Southern Fried Burlesque Fest...which was amazing and I cannot say enough good things about everyone that was involved.  Frankly though it deserves it's own post, but I just am so far behind that's just not going to happen for me.  Our special guests: Roxie D'Lite, Russell Bruner, Toni Elling, Juith Stein, Orchid Mei, Talloolah Love, Kisa von Teasa and all of our amazing performers in all the showcase and the competitors for the crown.  So proud that Atlanta's own Lola le Soleil won the Southern Fried Queen.  It's our first time keeping the crown in state!  The hotel was amazing and we will be going back next year, our dates are March 20-23, 2014 and we hope that you will all save the date.  In lieu of the fact that I'm so far behind, go see the pretty pictures that StunGun Photography took, you can click the link and see their awesome show shots.  They were also nice enough to take some studio shots as well.

So why have I been so far behind?  Well, as I started to say before I got distracted...after Southern Fried Burlesque Fest I immediately started working as Lighting Designer for an awesome production over at 7 Stages called Lady Lay.  This was moderately terrifying as I had never designed a full show before, especially of this magnitude.  There's stuff flying in from all over the place, crashing all around and ruining all of my standard sites lines and creating shadows.  So that was what I had to work around.  Did I also mention that the last two weeks of tech were on top of my finals for school?  Yeah, that was fun.  So I get the show open, finish up my finals and then there are more events!

Taste of Theater is 7 Stages annual fundraiser which somehow, during all of this craziness, I agreed to help out with by booking and wrangling performers, helping herd cats (aka stage manage), costume about 15 people and make sure everything was loaded out at the end of the night.  Lady Lay opened on April 27th, my last final was on May 2nd, Taste of Theater was on May 3rd.  It was a lot of fun and we raised some money for the theater and everything was amazing.  There were performers from Musee de Couer, The Imperial Opa Circus and many Syrens of the South alumni.  The thing I love the most about Syrens not being a troupe is that we get to work with everyone.

So yeah, that's been my past month.  Coming up?  Tonight I am going to a fundraiser for Southern Fried Burlesque Fest...oh yeah, I'm producing it so add that to the list of things that I've been working on the past month.  We still have a few bills to pay off from 2013 so we need to get those straightened out ASAP.  $3000 and then we need $2000 to get the deposit for next year, total of $5000.  I sadly just can't do out of pocket any more so here's hoping that everyone has really enjoyed the past 3 years so we can raise the money to keep it going.  It costs around $15000 to put on the festival, it's a lot of money but it's a lot of fun too.  Sure, I don't get paid for it, none of us do,  and the fest owes me a little over $10,000 for the past four years of work, but we have a great time and it's the most expensive b-day party I could possibly have!

Hopefully things will be calmed down enough for a minute that I can get caught up on life.  So many people I haven't gotten to see, more theater gigs coming up, more burlesque shows and teaching more classes at Studio Burlesque.  It's crazy and it's busy and moderately insane, but I love it and it makes me happy.  If I could seriously just get paid to be in a theater all the time and make a living that way I would.  Someday....but until then I'm going to continue being insane and having a great time doing it.

What people don't realize about running a festival....

is that it's scary as shit.  This year marked our 2nd Annual Southern Fried Burlesque Fest here in Atlanta, GA.  It was amazing, it was spectacular, it was truly breath taking and it almost didn't happen.  It costs us around $17,000 to produce Southern Fried Burlesque Fest 2011, so last year we were in the hole around $5,000 (maybe more, I'd have to check) at the end of the weekend.  (And no, Ursula Undress and I do not get paid and have, in fact thrown personal money into it that we know we'll never get back)  We knew it was a risk, but we did it anyway because we love burlesque, we love the community, we love being able to offer classes and performances that you cannot normally find in Atlanta and most of the Southeast.  We also really wanted it to all be in one location so people wouldn't have to find rides, stay at different hotels, etc... so people could actually spend time together and make actual friends.  A wonderful person who wishes to remain anonymous loaned us the money for the deposit this year we were able to start on 2012 while we finished paying off all the bills from 2011.  Thanks to a fundraiser with The 2011 Queen of Burlesque, Miss Indigo Blue, in November we returned the loaned hotel deposit then and SFBF 2011 was paid off in December of 2011 thanks to a very successful Tits for Toys for Tots show by Syrens of the South.  So we started 2012 at zero towards SFBF 2012.

As people purchased weekend passes we bought everything we knew we had to have: air fare for the guests we flew in; actual badges (you have to admit, they were awesome); programs; and miscellaneous items like the crowns, ink, labels and paper for the printers, etc....  Come February we were starting to freak out, what if no body came to the festival, what if we bought 144 t-shirts (the shops minimum) and no one bought any, etc....these are all things that every producer is terrified of, but with an $18,000 bill, it's that much more terrifying.  There was some praying, some soul searching and many, many back up plans for the what if scenarios, but people came!

People didn't just come, but people came in droves.  People volunteered and we had help this year! (Last year we had, and I am not exaggeration, 4 volunteers)  The shows were amazing, the class schedule was amazing and everyone who came brought a special part of the festival with them and made the entire weekend magical.  So thank you!  Seriously, I mean that will all of my little black heart, THANK YOU!  I won't lie, we still didn't break even.  Syrens is going to throw in money to help cover the difference (that's the point of owning a production company, right, to help with productions?) and there's a chance that Ursula and I may have to turn tricks (I'm kidding) but we were so close and that's with starting at zero on January 1st.

So what does this tell me?  We're definitely doing it again next year!  With not having as much to pay off from the previous year 2013 should be much easier for us to put together.  Less heart attacks all around for everyone.  We've learned a lot this year from issues that have come up and we think that we're finally getting in a position to make it truly amazing as we have some of the very best volunteers in the world so it is not all on myself and Ursula.  So next year should be bigger and better then 2012, just like 2012 was bigger and better then 2011.

However, you guys will have to be patient as one of the big things we learned was pay off the previous year before starting the next one, so please be patient while we do that and then we'll be announcing next year's Southern Fried Burlesque Fest!

PS. Please note that these are my opinions and not necessarily those of Ursula or anyone else as I didn't ask them, lol.

2011-03-10 The First Annual Southern Fried Burlesque Fest

Many years ago I (Katherine Lashe) was kicking around the idea of producing a burlesque festival in Atlanta.  I spoke with other people around Atlanta and it seemed like a huge undertaking I just wasn't ready for.  A few years go by, probably close to 100 shows produced and having attended tons of festivals, I felt a little more ready to take on the task.  In March 2010 I began having talks with The Holiday Inn Conference Center in Decatur, GA, with assistance from Ursula Undress, since she's an experienced wedding planner by day.  By the end of April I had a contract and by the end of May I had put down the deposit.

By June, Ursula had gone from an advisor to doing all of the graphics as well as being a co conspirator as to the direction the festival was taking.  When we realized that people were actually interested and we were indeed having a festival we were lucky enough to be joined in January 2011 by Ruby Redmayne who rounded up sponsors and vendors in lighting speed!  All of this hard work is what lead up to the First Southern Fried Burlesque Fest (SFBF).

On Wednesday, March 9, 2011, I picked up our headliner, international burlesque star, Dirty Martini; documentary director Gary Beeber; and our stage manager for the festival, the Bishop of Burlesque, David Bishop.  I got them settled in at the hotel so I could run an errand and get ready for dinner.  After meeting up with Ursula Undress we went to Watershed Restaurant for an AMAZING dinner.  I highly recommend the Crawfish Pies and Creamy Stone Ground Shrimp Grits with Toasted Pullman Plank, though there was nothing on the menu that wasn't delicious.  Afterwards we dropped them all back off at the hotel and went for our last night of sleep before the festival.


Thursday, March 10, 2011, we did some last minute errands before making our way to the hotel to set up registration and prepare for the Cock-Tails Party and Atlanta Screening of Dirty Martini and the New Burlesque.  Ursula went to pick up The Headmistress of the New York School of Burlesque, Jo "Boobs" Weldon; The Burlesque Mayor of New York, Jonny Porkpie; and Burlesque Legend, Tiffany Carter. The hotel was descended upon by international burlesque glitterati for sweet tea, pigs in a blanket, fruit and cheese trays provided by the festival; with cocktails at the bar.  Once the snacks had cleared everyone went into the ballroom to watch the documentary.  It was an amazing film that really got behind the glitz and glamor of the "new burlesque" and how things have evolved.  Afterwards I moderated the Q&A so everyone got to ask questions of Gary Beeber and Dirty Martini about the film, burlesque, film making, etc... It was a really great experience and very informative.  We're hoping to continue you the tradition of having screenings of burlesque documentaries and themed movies to show burlesque's influence on the screen as well as on the stage.


Friday, March 11, 2011, at 9am had vendors open selling wares and began the series of classes offered at SFBF.  One room held all of our movement classes while the other held all of the lecture classes.  There were dance, stage presence, craft, history, prop, and other amazing classes offered by neo-burlesque performers, burlesque legends, and other members of the burlesque trade.  While classes were going on the Friday night performers were doing their tech rehearsals.  


Friday night was the Free Range International Burlesque Showcase and The Hatchling Student Showcase.  The talent for the Free Range show was amazing and included performers from all over the world and opened with Atlanta's own Big Mike and The Dames Aflame doing the full Elvis Gospel Choir to bring the energy up for the show, then came Kisa von Teasa (Knoxville), Vivienne Vermuth (Dallas), Katherine Lashe (Atlanta), Lola Spitfire (Denver), Mitzy Cream (Toronto), Iva Handful (Seattle), Moxie Sazerac (New Orleans), Chad Sanborn (Atlanta), Lady Ginger Licious (New Orleans), Dolly Derringer (Athens, OH), a very pregnant Ursula Undress (Atlanta), and Lydia de Carllo (Vancouver) rounding out the show before the Legends and Headliners took the stage.  First up was Gyna Rose Jewel who wowed the crowd with her classic moves and light up robe and pasties.  It was an amazing blend of classic burlesque with a modern twist.  Next was Jonny Porkpie (New York) who showed his Olympic level routine and brought the house down with the perfect blend of sex and humor.  Then came Burlesque Legend Tiffany Carter who smoldered with sex and she strutted her classic take on burlesque in a beautiful tribute to her friends who had passed and showed the audience why she was a former Miss Nude!  Following Tiffany was Jo "Boobs" Weldon, doing her classic tribute to Gypsy Rose Lee in gold fringe flying everywhere seemingly brighter then the sun.  Closing the show was Dirty Martini with her kick ass tribute to Tura Satana and the bad girls of old dressed as Batman.  It was high energy, fun and amazing.


The Hatchling Student Showcase almost brought a tear to my eye.  I MCed the show as I usually do for the students, but Tease U students from Atlanta's ABCs & 123s of Burlesque students were joined by Knoxville's Salome Cabaret Burlesque Academy's Students, who opened the show.  First up was Nipsy Tussel who had amazing stage presence and was totally fearless!  Then came Nica Luna who was done up as a Day of the Dead character with amazing make-up and costuming, it was hard to believe it was her first show.  Then came the Atlanta students, beginning with Sunny Midnight who showed us all her "Love Whip" and how sexy being awkward can be.  Following her was Ruby le Chatte who did a sensual dance that would make a French lounge singer blush.  Teacups Devereaux showed us how much she wanted to be evil which is against her seemingly sweet disposition.  Brandy Noir did a Vegas Style routine that would have made the Rat Pack proud.  Closing out the show was Pearl E. White, who knocked out the audience with her Rocky tribute.


Saturday again began with classes while the vendors were selling their wares.  The evening brought The First Annual Southern Fried Burlesque Pageant!  Best Duet included Freya West and Mr Exposition (Nashville), Queertini Time (Austin), and The Fister Sisters (Knoxville).  Best Variety included Catatonic Raucous (Atlanta),  Bourgeois Betty (Augusta), and Tim Monteith (Atlanta).  Southern Fried Burlesque Queen included Vivian MirAnn (Albuquerque), Red Hot Annie (Chicago), Siren Santina (Knoxville), Hottie McNaughty (Seattle), Madame Mae I (Vancouver), Lola le Soliel (Atlanta), Wham Bam Pam (Washington D.C.), and Honey Cocoa Bordeauxx (Dallas).  While we were tallying votes our headliners took the stage.  The Godfather of Atlanta Burlesque, Torchy Taboo, did a tribute to Gone With the Wind that showed her magnolia roots.  Our MC for the pageant Jonny Porkpie did a routine that included an amazing fan dance and fringe in to emphasis his *ahem* attributes.  Dirty Martini did an amazing number to Purple Haze that made the crowd go wild with her flurry of feathers.  And the winners are....

The First Southern Fried Burlesque Queen - Siren Santina

Southern Fried Burlesque Queen
Siren Santina

Second Runner Up and
Best Costume Lola le Soliel 

First Runner Up Vivian MirAnn

Most Classic
Honey Coco Bordeauxx

Best Variety and
Most Humerous
Bourgeois Betty

Best Duest and Audience Choice
Queertini Time

Once the excitement of the Pageant wore down it was time for the Dirty South Showcase which included some of the best performers from all over the Southeast.  It opened with Lah Lah Luscious (Atlanta), Delinda d'Rabbit (Knoville), Rosie Palms (Atlanta), Dolly Dee (Charleston),  Rachel Riot (Fayetteville), Kittie Katrina (Atlanta), Curvature (Atlanta), Fonda Lingue (Atlanta), Lysa Strata (Memphis), Tupelo Honey (Atlanta), Salome Cabaret (Knoxville), and closing out the show was Torchy Taboo who did her Tiger routine which had all the grace of the cat she was portraying.  Afterwards there was some naughty picture taking in the lobby since all the hotel rooms have windows facing down, it was an exhibitionist's and a voyeur's wet dream. We've spoken to the hotel so there's a good chance we'll be able to recreate this again next year! 

Sunday, March 13, 2011, was a day for recovery!  With the time change we didn't get started with the Legend's of Burlesque Panel until 10am.  For two hours, patrons could ask questions of Gyna Rose Jewel, Tiffany Carter and Torchy Taboo.   Questions ranged from how burlesque was and where it may be going and everything in between.  It's a great time to get to know the Legends and hear how different it used to be.  I always love hearing about the stage door johnnies that would bring flowers, furs and marriage proposals.  If only that were still true today!  After the Legends Panel, Dr. Sketchy's Atlanta had a special session with many of the performers from out of town who don't normally get to model in Atlanta.  It was also one of the few times photographers were also welcome at Dr. Sketchy's since there was plenty of room for sketchers and shooters alike.  My keyhole ended up being the perfect backdrop for all the girls.  The Queen had a great time posing with her tiara!

Overall, we were really pleased with the applicants, the performers that ended up being picked for the shows, the teachers, the legends and some amazing volunteers!  I'm very pleased to announce that we will be doing this again next year at the Holiday Inn Decatur Conference Center on March 8-11, 2012.  They've already confirmed that we will again have the $99 a night deal plus breakfast in the morning as well.  Next year will be bigger and better and we're already planning for some amazing after parties and trying to figure out a good way to take advantage of the indoor pool!  We hope to see you there next year and we're currently accepting 2012 Sponsors with some half price packages and discount weekend passes at only $100 until August 1, 2011, when they go up to $150.  We'll begin accepting applications for performers from August 1, 2011 thru November 15, 2011 with all applicants being notified by January 1, 2012 so everyone has plenty of time to plan their travel and get cheap advance flights.

Here is the slideshow for the Southern Fried Burlesque Fest Group on Flickr.  I know many of the photographers are in the process of getting their pics up but I wanted to make sure that everyone could find it!

Southern Fried Burlesque Fest March 10-13, 2011

So there's a group of crazy people that thinks we need even more burlesque in Atlanta! I'm not talking about more troupes or more shows, I'm talking about bringing internationally acclaimed burlesque performers from around the world for a full weekend of Classes, Panels, Vendors, and Shows! That's where the 1st Annual Southern Fried Burlesque Fest comes in! On March 10-13, 2011 we're going to be invaded by more burlesque hotness then you can shake a stick at, not even a pointed stick! With special guests already booked including Miss Exotic World 2004 Dirty Martini, The Head Mistress of the New York School of Burlesque Jo Boobs and our own original firecracker Miss Torchy Taboo, this is going to be a weekend of pure awesomeness!

What's that? You want to be involved in the amazing event? Well, here's how!

Want to Volunteer? We're looking for people to help us spread the word about the event, help with the vendors, drive guests to and from the airport, work registration and sometimes just help us make buttons. If you're interested in helping out please email southernfriedburlesquefest@gmail.com.

If you would like to sponsor this amazing event please check out the Sponsor Form and pick a level of sponsorship that works best for you. We have sponsor levels for as little as $50, but wait, if you choose to become a sponsor by May 31st you can get your $500 or less sponsor package for only HALF PRICE! That's right, so that $50 sponsor level is only $25, $100 is only $50, $250 is only $125 and $500 is only $250! Save money and sponsor this amazing event by being an early adopter!

Vendors, Vendors Vendors! Come sell you wares for three days to all the glitterati of Atlanta and beyond! Vendor booths will be open to the public so from 9-6pm Fri-Sun it will be an open mall of shinny so anyone can come and buy your wares! And if you want to stay open during the amazing shows at night for extra time to sell, you can do that too! As our performance space seats almost 1,000 people you'll have plenty of chances to make a killing! As a special, if you buy your space by May 31st you can get your vendor booth for the weekend for only $100 instead of $150 on June 1st, SAVING YOU $50!

There's lots of ways to help make this event happen so please don't hesitate to contact us about volunteering, being a sponsor, being a vendor or if you have any questions at all! Thank you so much and we're really excited to help bring so much amazing talent to Atlanta and to show the world all the amazing talent Atlanta has to offer!