Theatre Bizarre- The Realm of The Fantastical!

Theatre Bizarre is held the Saturday before Halloween in Detroit! Don't miss next year's event! Here's my slide show.

Tonite's The Fright!

Better see you at Skin Tight Outta Sight's Grindhouse Ghoulies tonite at The Gladstone Hotel! Photos of show and Detroit's Theatre Bizarre to follow!

Mommy, Can I Go Out and Kill Tonite? 10 Top Horror Flicks

The upcoming Grindhouse Ghoulies show on Oct. 23rd is a creature of my mind, influenced by my love of cheesy B-Movie horror films. Here's one top 10 movie list not to be confused with any other lists posted when I change my mind. I'm a fickle girl when it comes to what I like. These are in no order either.

1. Spider Baby 1968: This black comedy features regression to a childhood state. It stars Lon Chaney Jr. and Sid Haig in a fantastic imbecile performance. Truly an original and off beat film. I highly recommend it.

2. Suspiria 1977: Director Daria Argento is a favorite of mine but this Dance School kill fest is beautifully stylish. The best of his oeuvre. Great Goblin soundtrack.

3.The Exorcist 1973: This movie put me in the hospital cause I thought my high fever from pneumonia was demonic possession! Like many of you I saw it WAY too young! Gotta love that spider walk! Damien, your mother sucks cocks in hell!

4. Rosemary's Baby 1968: Love most of the Polanski's movies but I saw this on mushrooms the first time and I was scared! Good ol' Anton Lavey was consultant on this film, Just goes to show you that Satanists can come in many forms even in the guise of Ruth Gordon!

5. The Shining 1980 : Ahhh. Kubrick, how I love you! I'll trade my soul for a drink! The superb casting, the crazy editing, the musical score, the solemn beauty of the Overlook Hotel. This movie gives me a lump in my throat or is it Tony in there? Redrum.

6. Return of The Living Dead:1985: Punk Rock Zombies, how can you fail! I saw this movie upon its release and it's fabulous soundtrack spawned my tastes for years to come. The Cramps, 45 Grave, The Damned and TSOL even an early Stacey Q. Brains!!!!

7. Orgy Of The Dead 1965: This movie written by Ed Wood is so influential to me. Dead strippers! I can't tell you how many of my burlesque acts were inspired by this Z Grade movie. It always will occupy a corner of my brain.

8. Carrie 1976: As if having your period wasn't horrifying enough! There all gonna laugh at you! Love Piper Laurie's performance as Carrie's deranged mom. Who didn't want to trash their high school prom? The last scene made you piss your pants, admit it!


9.The Evil Dead 1981: My brother and I made Parmesan popcorn to watch this film for the first time. I think that was the stuff that made up Kandarian demons. Made us pretty sick to our stomaches. Still love the first possession scene with the card predictions.. Spawned purchase of the Necronomicon book and a lot of Ouija board abuse!

10.Pretty In Pink: Oh the horrors! Can I count them all! The travesty that became of Molly Ringwald's vintage prom dress, the emasculation of Harry Dean Stanton, Andi did not end up with the wrong guy, you idiots, Ducky is gay! Andrew McCarthys penny loafers, I could go on. At least I can save myself from this terrifying movie about fantasizing spanking James Spader over my knee!
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=277880940021&ref=ts

Zombie Pinups: Mena Von Fleisch

Meet special guest star Mena Von Fleisch. Met this decaying dame on a Halifax pier chomping Sailors like french fries. Go to http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=277880940021&ref=mftp://

Zombie Name: Mena Eatsalotof Fleisch

Date of Birth/ Place: Resurrected from the cold depths of Transylvanian soil

Favorite Place To Hang out: The morgue, crypts, catacombs, grave yards always looking for the freshest flesich

Favorite Food: Rump roast, plump breasts, tender little babies

Favorite Music to Kill to: Rammstien

What Do you Look for In a mate?:Brains (LOL!)

Ideal night out: Pick a victim...date I mean..yes...date! (lol), unroll the clear plastic sheets, select the finest cuts for the most delicious dinner, cook, eat, repeat!

Dressed To Kill, what do you wear?: Black spiked heels, pvc cat suit, big hair and bad intentions

Deadly weapon of choice:Chainsaw and woodchipper

Favorite Horror Movies: White Zombie, Pet Semetary, Sleep Away Camp

Act for Oct. 23rd: After loosing herself in a haze of white wine, party pills and cocaine our darling Mena has turned up DOA. Taking a page from the black magick bible her date is determined to have his way with what's left of her stiff, cold, and contorted corpse! Watch the dance of the undead as the reanimated corpse of Mena Von Flesich is manipulated by an ominous Necromancer and made to shake and shimmy for you one last time before taking her final dirt nap.

Mena got her start here:

Zombie Pinups: Foxy Finale

This intoxicating ingenue hasn't yet started to foul, here's Foxy Finale!

RSVP for Oct. 23rd:http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=277880940021&ref=mftp://

Zombie Name:Shrieks Vavoom

Date of Birth/ Place: Underpass by state highway

Favorite Place To Hang out: Abandoned Mexican restaurant that used to be a hospital

Favorite Food: Bloody Lime margarita

Favorite Music to Kill to: Motley Crue "Looks that Kill". It practically does the work for me.

What Do you Look for In a mate?: Someone who can keep their shit together and likes to roughhouse in abandoned swimming pools.

Ideal night out: Being pulled around the remains of the Terrace on old school 6 wheel rollerskates by a ripped gentlezombieman.

Dressed To Kill, what do you wear?: Layers of ripped fishnets and laquered cherry spike heels

Deadly weapon of choice: Press-on red Nails (matches shoes) teeth, tongue

Favorite Horror Movies: I make my own horror porn

Act for Oct. 23rd: I will be bringining back Jacklyn the Ripper, a sexy psychokiller who makes love to her victims after killing them. Also will be a damsel in distress for the Boylesque T.O's Ghostbusters.

Zombie Pinups: Tanya Cheex

Yeah, she's me but you didn't think I wouldn't do this myself now would you? See you Oct. 23rd:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=277880940021&ref=mftp://

Zombie Name: Goregirl@deadmeat.com

Date of Birth/ Place: 1937 Halifax Waterfront Brothel

Favorite Place To Hang out: Skatepark. Best place for young boys who are suffering head injuries. It's like fast food!

Favorite Food: If young boys aren't on the menu, brains, with fava beans and a nice Chianti

Favorite Music to Kill to: The Misfits: Brains, Die, Die My Darling and the buzzing sound between my ears!

What Do you Look for In a mate?: He must be intelligent (Large Brain!) , tender to the touch, (Easy To Tear!) and rich! (Clothes covered in blood, where's the nearest Chanel?)

Ideal night out: Graveyard modelling, The moonlight is so flattering .Does this tomstone make me look fat?

Dressed To Kill, what do you wear?: Louboutins of course, that sexy red sole hides my tracks after I gouge out an eyeball or two!

Deadly weapon of choice: An Uzi is a girl's best accessory when she doesn't want to spoil a 60 year old manicure.

Favorite Horror Movies: Spider Baby, Suspiria, The Shining, Orgy Of The Dead, Dawn Of The Dead , Evil Dead,The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, The Orphanage,The Sentinel, Dead Snow, Carrie, Pretty In Pink

Act for Oct. 23rd: Fire pasties and tearing your heart out , literally and figuratively!

Desert Dreams: Miss Exotic World

Exotic World and the Burlesque Revival from Exotic World on Vimeo.

I watched the trailer for this documentary yesterday and it got me waxing nostalgic about back in 2005 when Skin Tight Outta Sight made the pilgrimage to Helendale California in the middle of the Mojave Desert to a little goat farm coated with pink paint and stripper dreams.
Skin Tight had been asked to compete in the category of best troupe in the Miss Exotic World Pageant and we felt like it was an Oscar nomination. Tired and dehydrated from the Legend's performances the night before at the Holiday Inn we drove up to the gates which for us felt like the gates to the Emerald City of OZ! After our ramshackle performance, the rest of the long HOT day, starstruck by these legendary Queens of Burlesque like Dixie Evans, Tempest Storm, Tura Satana and Satan's Angel and the new ruling class such as Dirty Martini, World Famous Bob, Julie Atlas Muz and Torchy Taboo, we were speechless, dust in our throats and lumps in our hearts. After STOS pal, Michelle L'Amour won the title of Miss Exotic World and we screamed out what was left of our voices, we realized we had found a home.

Heidi Von Haught:
In 2005, The Von Foxies were asked to be "flag hags," the chicks who held up the flag as someone sang the Star Spangled Banner to start off the show. For some reason, we decided not to wear heels and to go on stage barefoot. Dirty Martini was singing, we stepped out on stage behind her, and that stage, baking in 100+ heat, was so hot that I screamed out loud. There is only one picture of us on that stage that year and all three of us are prancing madly about trying to find the one area that is shaded. Ouch!

Sparkly Devil: My first year performing at Helendale was in 2003, and I was completely and totally unprepared for the heat.

The second I stepped outside, the sweat started pouring down me. It was hot in Vegas, but this was fuckin' hot. like, bubbling core of hell hot. like, ninth circle of hell hot. I could barely attach my pasties, because i was covered in buckets of sweat. I was wearing a tiny bitty black bikini, and I felt like I was cooking in an over.

My tour of the museum was magical, unforgettable. I remember crawling into Jayne Mansfield's pink heart-shaped loveseat, and reveling over the fact that I was actually sitting in it, not peering at it through some glass barricade. that was an amazing moment.

Shortly after this, I really started feeling the heat. you know when you get in your car after it's been baking in the sun all day, and you flip on the a/c full blast and get hit with this huge wave of hot air? That's what it felt like in Helendale. suddenly I felt like I was wading through molasses. I had to perform, I had to be on my a-game; I decided to sit in the car with the a/c on. this didn't help, and I was getting worse.

I went inside and found the only fan in the place, plunked myself down in front of it, my boyfriend fetched me a coke and some chips. I guzzled the coke because I was so dehydrated - big mistake. I promptly ran off to the bathroom and threw up. for some reason, the memory of me puking from heat exhaustion while kneeling on the floor of that ramshackle bathroom, clad only in sparkly feathered black bikini will always stand out. I was seeing black spots, so my boyfriend wanted to put me back in the car with the a/c on.

As we're walking to the car…BAM…I pass out cold.

I guess he picked me up off the floor and hauled me back to the chair in front of the fan. while I was sitting in front of the fan, I passed out again and nearly fell out of the chair. my heart was racing and my pupils were dilated. hello, full blown heat stroke!

This was my first real meeting of Dirty Martini, who brought me water. I kept thinking, why is she so nice to me? She is this huge star, why is she being so kind to me, a nobody? (answer: because she's Dirty Martini!)

Apparently, one girl from another troupe had already passed out and been carted away to the hospital, and Satan's Angel remarked "They're dropping like flies today, honey!"

I was so distraught I tried to cry, but I was so dehydrated my body couldn't muster a single tear!

I guess I have some sort of inner resilience (read: mule-like stubbornness) that kicked in. I didn't pay all this money out of my own pocket to fly to the other side of the country to compete in this pageant only to wuss out due to the heat. FUCK THAT. I told the DJ that if I passed out on stage, to hit pause on my music, throw a bucket of water on me to revive me, and I'd fucking crawl down to the end of the stage on my hands and knees and finish my act. there was no way in hell I wasn't going to go on stage.

So, my boyfriend started dumping bottles of ice water over my body. let me tell you, this FUCKING HURTS when you're that hot…like needles all over my flesh. fortunately, it did the trick, and I started to come back to life. but I still had to contend with my costume.

In my brilliant foresight, I'd chosen an act that required me to wear a full suit. a full black wool suit. good one, Sparks!

Fortunately, a little bit of luck was on my side, and by the time I was ready to get dressed the wind had kicked up and it had cooled down slightly. before I knew it, I was standing backstage and they were calling my name. the fortunate part of passing out due to heat: I never once got nervous about performing!

And before you knew it, it was over. just like that. and I will never, ever forget that wonderful, beautiful, crazy, traumatic day for as long as I live.

(The next year I smartened up and stayed in the pool the entire time before I had to go on!)


Dirty Martini: It was only 5 in the evening, but it felt like 3am due to the hot sun and pummeling desert dust that we endured from mid morning in the middle of the Mojave that day. I crept out of the rickety trailer decorated with a hand painted pink on pink sign warning "Entertainers dressing room only". I suspect the sign was intended to keep leering gentlemen out, but for me it seemed like a warning that one should use caution on entry as the place was a few years over it's expiration date and wasn't completely safe to stand in. Stepping out as the trailer rocked unsteadily, the desert environment had shifted from 'fry an egg on the car' to 'dust storm will blow your wig off'. Tip toeing through the dirt in my point shoes to the stage right entrance, my good friend Rhinestone Debbie was trying to keep my red balloons from pulling her into the air like a soft-core Mary Poppins. She helped me harness the costume and lit 3 cigarettes with difficulty knowing that I had no chance with a lighter in that wind. My music starts while the sun sets behind me and the giant arch haloing the stage proclaims MISS EXOTIC WORLD to the crowd of sequined pinup girls, strippers, bikers,high desert locals and international press alike. I do my best to dance and twirl as if it were an opera house and the crowd responds with glee. Three minutes in and no balloons left to pop, I'm eschappeeing like mad as one tassel twirls and the other flies into the front row, a victim of desert dust mixed with glue. With a wide smile, I finish my first performance at striptease mecca and blow a kiss to the lovely Dixie Evans who will from that day forward describe me in this way: "That Dirty Martini, she sure is a crowd pleaser". In turn, I describe her as both a national treasure and my burlesque grandmother."

Dusty Summers: I never performed in the desert but I did make a trip to see the museum and Dixie was so kind to show me through and educate me on the history and the memorabilia of the museum. I also saw some of the videos from past Exotic World events including the one in the hot desert wind! As they say, "we've come a long way baby!"

Penny Starr Jr.: "I debuted in 125 degree heat! No foolin'! I was never so happy to do an act that ended in the pool that sit in teh middle of the performance space. By the end of the day, I was exhausted, filthy, sweaty and stank of chlorine... good times! I thought I would have to have my g-string surgically removed, it was so "glued" to my body by funk.I wear performing at the old Exotic World as a badge of honor: when EW was only for the crazy and the hardcore, when you knew your white fans were going to turn tan with dirt, that the stage was torn-up plywood and you better not do floorwork or go barefoot, getting dressed with 10 other gals in that dirty trailer, and a time when for better or worse, who ever signed up by 1pm stood a chance of wearing that crown."

Viva La Fever: "The last year at Helendale was my introduction to MEW. Camille 2000 flew to San Francisco (from Florida) and we drove to the desert, after not seeing one another for about 25 years. The legends' show on Friday night was more informal and took place at the Holiday Inn Express in Barstow, where most of us stayed. Jo Boobs knocked my socks off there. She SIZZLED! Performances by Bambi Sr.,Ricci Cortez and the Von Foxies also stood out.
The show on Sat. started about 1 pm and went until about 10:30 pm in the desert in Helendale! There were dining canopies over rows of plastic chairs. Performers jumped into the pool between sets. The bazaar was in the hot pink goatshed in case anyone wanted to buy stuff during intermissions. Dancers changed in a trailer behind the stage. Bikers (Las Vegas HIGH ROLLERS) sat on their bikes to the left of the stage and revved their engines instead of clapping. There were classic cars parked on the right. I recall one young woman leaving the stage mid-set because she went out barefoot and badly burned her feet.
Categories were Newcomers, Legends in the Making, Troupes, and MEW. A Pool Party followed late at night at the Holiday Inn, with burlesque movies and free booze for those that could stay awake. On Sunday, we just drove out to the ranch to thank Dixie and say our good-byes."

* I had more responses to this memory lane so there may be a Part 2.
**The photos are from my collection of 2005

Zombie Pinups: Sauci Calla Horra

She's a Shape-shiftin' Siren ready to saute up your sins, meet Sauci Calla Horra!
hthttp://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=277880940021&ref=mftp://

Zombie Name: Poisoned Sauce

Date of Birth/ Place: In the morgue of St. Joe's in Toronto!

Favorite Place To Hang out: Enjoys picnicking in old graveyards...

Favorite Food: Tuna Tataki or anything I can pick up with my crumbling fingers

Favorite Music to Kill to: Bach's Fugue or anything by Amon Aranth

What Do you Look for In a mate?: Brains of course! And an extraordinarily large package doesn't hurt either

Ideal night out: The opera or ballet, then fancy drinks and appetizers. Preferably in another country I haven't been to before.

Dressed To Kill, what do you wear?: High heels and as little as possible!

Deadly weapon of choice: My thighs

Favorite Horror Movies: Dead Snow, The Children, The Exorcist, The Eye, The Audition, and Rosemary's Baby, of course!

Act for Oct. 23rd: My creepy Rosemary's Baby show plus a new, even sexier rendition of my Poison Ivy act.

The Bizarre Magazine Interview

Today, we'll take a break from Zombie Pinups and let you read the full STOS interview from August 2008's Bizarre Magazine. Tomorrow, Sexy Mark Brown!


1. Performance Name: Tanya Cheex and Sauci Calla Horra from Skin Tight Outta Sight Rebel Burlesque

2. From/Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

3. When, why and how did you first start performing?

Tanya: My grandmother was a fashion model and she would dress me up with her in all her fabulous ostrich night gowns and we'd watch old Hollywood movies together. Sometimes a shady lady would perform a striptease and I thought that was the epitome of glamour! I got it in my head to stage a stripshow in my neighbour's back yard , I was eight! Blame Granny!

As I grew up I started collecting 1950's stag magazines that featured strippers such as Lili St. Cyr and Tempest Storm. I also became fascinated with Tura Satana from "Faster Pussy Cat, Kill! Kill!" Those ladies had such a fierce look! Later as a stripper and dominatrix I found I had to recreate that old taunt and tease. I was tired of everything shoved down the audience's throat!

Sauci: I started performing at the invitation of Tanya Cheex, who had been my friend since our punk rock years. At first, it was really just a favour to a friend, but I had always been quite the exhibitionist and as soon as I took off my clothes and danced in front of an audience, I was hooked! I think getting attention was a big factor in the beginning but this novelty soon wore off. Now, it’s about pushing the envelope to be the best performers we can, with creative acts often with a lurid sense of humour, over-the-top glamorous costumes, polished choreography and gimmicks to (hopefully) make the audience drop their jaw in disbelief!

4. What does burlesque mean to you and how would you describe your style?

Tanya: We like to think of ourselves as Theatrical Provocateurs. We believe in challenging our audience in a sexy, playful manner but leaving them going "what the Fuck?" too! Hence "Rebel Burlesque" at the end of our name - Skin Tight Outta Sight.

5. Give us a good run down on the more bizarre acts that you perform (like Two Girls, One Cup!)

Tanya: Well nothing compares to "Two Girls, One Cup" in the grossout department but its all just smoke and mirrors! Some of my more bizarre acts are stripping out a giant balloon, stripping out of a gorilla suit (did this in Vegas outside in the scorching heat!) My multi-armed Bollywood Goddess puppetry act, my tap dancing parasitical twin act. I'm working on a Human Ponygirl act right now.

Sauci: I have many acts that are on the bizarre side, but they’re usually more about the sense of humour involved. The Easter Bunny act I have tends to challenge people. It is to the Peter Cottontail music and I do hop around in a bunny suit and hand out candy. But it goes all wrong and I end up eating too much sugar and stripping. I pour chocolate sauce on myself and play with myself with a giant chocolate Easter Rabbit. Once, I decided I would put chocolate eggs in my underpants and I was hoping they would pop out like a rabbit pooping (yes, I know that’s kind of gross, but I thought it would be funny). I forgot they were there and went to take off the underwear, to reveal my g-string. The chocolate eggs had melted into my panties and it looked like I’d had an accident in my pants! The audience groaned. No, it wasn’t one of my more glamorous moments.

I also have a Virgin Mary act where I drop the baby Jesus and do a striptease. It’s about Mary’s fantasy life. I have a Sophia Loren parody act where I am stood up by my dinner date, and I drink too much wine. The strip reveals a bikini made out of pasta and my pasties are tomato slices, with a “meatball” and tassels are indicative of cheese strings. This act was performed for the New York Burlesque Festival. I also have a Barbra Streisand strip that I have performed for a show called “Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad,” in NYC, and also for Toronto’s Pride Festival and our Spiegeltent last year. It’s pretty warped, starting with Barbra as Anshel in man drag from “Yentl,” and going into a goofy boxing character from the movie, “The Main Event.” I like juxtapositions, and Tanya as Artistic Director, is very good at making sure they make sense and the audience gets it.

My current favorite bizarre act is my 70s Housewife Fantasy number to The Lemon Song. I’m making lemonade and listening to the radio, then have a pot-infused sexual fantasy about Robert Plant, played by our Boy in the troupe, Sexy Mark Brown. We get up to all sorts of shenanigans. I don’t want to give too much away but the act does involve a giant glitter-spewing lemon wedge and it‘s very, very messy! We will be performing it for Skin Tight Outta Sight’s Toronto Burlesque Festival, an inaugural event that we are producing this year in our hometown.
Our most bizarre show? Our troupe, Skin Tight Outta Sight does a "Biblical Burlesque" which features member Sexy Mark Brown as a stripping Jesus! Its a battle of good and evil, the truth vs hypocrisy complete with a heavy metal showdown between Jesus and Satan! We're all naked in the eyes of the lord, right?

6. What or who inspires you and why?

Tanya: I'm inspired by Ed Wood movies, 60's Anton LaVey Satanism, old Hollywood over the top glamour girls like Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren, Russ Meyer Super Vixens. sometimes just listening to song lyrics and going “I need to do an act to Iron Maiden's "Number Of The Beast!" I am also very influenced by old circus sideshow freaks. They are the children who operate my creative brain.

Sauci: I know this sounds corny but Tanya is my biggest inspiration. She has a fabulous ability to hone an idea for an act and make it ‘right.’ I do admire some of the old burlesque stars, such as Sally Rand, Dixie Evans, Evangeline the Oyster Girl, and the list could go on. I do create some of my more traditional acts on these performances from yesteryear. But I would say I am more inspired by the revisionist material I see, like Bambi the Mermaid and Tigger! from NYC, and Diamondback Annie in LA, who does all these rock ‘n roll inspired acts. I want my acts to be true to the original spirit of burlesque, where the performers were challenging the social conventions of their day and age. These days, people think burlesque should be “classy,” but they are holding up the acts of yesteryear to today’s social mores. Those acts that seem classy to us today were viewed as beyond the pale, and the performers were often marginalized, similar to the way our society treats strippers and porn stars. Personally, I like to have a mix and my performances can be classically inspired (I am a trained ballet dancer, and I also have an act where I rise out of a giant clam shell as a Venus character), but I also like to have acts that challenge people, where they come up at the end 7. Why did you want to do something different from other classic burlesque acts?

Tanya: Sometimes pretty can be a little dull so we find it more entertaining if a pretty girl does something “out there,” that challenges what's sexy by making it a little demented. I think Persephone coined it "Burlesque Grotesque" I think its because we come from a punk rock background and there's that need to shock and arouse. We are also capable of doing a pretty fan dance too. Skin Tight's members are larger than life versions of themselves and we really play up our cartoon factor. We consist of Tanya Cheex (Artistic Director and Founder of the Troupe); Sauci Calla Horra (Producer/ Bookings Manager); Sexy Mark Brown; Honey B. Hind; CoCo La Creme and Anastasia.

8. What¹s been your weirdest on stage experience?
Tanya: I perform a cute little Satanic Ritual in my Marilyn Monroe "Old Black Magic" number with pyrotechnics. I looked down to see my fishnetted thigh on fire, smacked it as hard as I could, leaving a burned hand print behind. The audience thought that was part of the act. This is always key in burlesque!

Sexy Mark Brown performs as this character , the Reverend Sin Monger, who is a right wing evangelist preacher who reveals himself to be a sinning transvestite!

Also, performing in 2005 in the middle of the Mojave Desert on a goat farm for Miss Exotic World was one of the troupe's defining moments. Nothing says glamour like dirt, dust and rhinestones! We were honoured to be the first Canadians to compete in the Miss Exotic World Pageant, and 2005 was also the last year it was in the Mojave Desert, just before it moved shop to Las Vegas.

9. What is your favourite item of performance clothing and why?

Tanya: My six foot balloon, its peaceful and womblike in there until I burst out to the sound of applause!
Sauci: I don’t have anything even remotely close to that! I do love my vintage burlesque bra that I use for my Venus act. It’s made of pearls and was falling apart due to age. A fellow performer, Torchy Taboo, lovingly restored it for me and I will always be in her debt for this.

10. What kind of reactions do you get from the audience?

Tanya:Shock and awe! Its most always been favourable but sometimes we might push the envelope too far, like Sauci's Easter Bunny act. The Biblical Burlesque Show has met with lots of Christian criticism in the local papers. I guess we're going to burn in hell!

Audiences are also dazzled by our costumes, we make them all, except our corsets which are made by Lovesick Corrective Apparel. We try to create a look that is over the top and unattainable. You don't want people to say, “oh I have that in my underwear drawer at home,” you want them to go “Oooo, I need THAT!”

11. How hard is it to distinguish a troupe/act from other burlesque act with so many performers circulating now?

Sauci: For some reason, this hasn’t been too difficult for us, perhaps because we’ve been around for almost a decade and are one of the pioneers of burlesque in Canada. I do think that Tanya’s creative vision and the way she has molded the troupe and our characters defines who we are. We are also continually working hard to raise the bar on the quality of our acts., and each performer aims to debut something new and different every year. We develop new show concepts for every year as well, so we can continue to challenge our audience. We focus on the revisionist aspect of burlesque, screwing around with archetypes both antiquated and modern, in both our acts and our shows themselves.

12. What would you like to see next happen in burlesque? Where do you see your act going?
Tanya: I want to see us go on a world tour and have our own permanent circus tent to perform in. A glossy coffee table book would be nice but I would be quite happy for folks to read about us in Bizarre on the toilet!

Zombie Pinups: Sexy Mark Brown

Here's something for the Ladies, everyone's favorite developmentally arrested plagued fiend, Mr, Jackson, if you're nasty! Don't forget to RSVP here:

http://http//www.facebook.com/search/?q=grindhoude+ghoulies&init=quick#/event.php?eid=277880940021&ref=mf

Zombie Name: Michael

Date of Birth/ Place: Gary, Indiana

Favorite Place To Hang out: Ola's apartment

Favorite Food: vegan brains (they're made with vegetable-based flesh)

Favorite Music to Kill to: ABC (it makes the work seem so much easier)

What Do you Look for In a mate?: Someone who's meek and mild and who's easily frightened. The kind of girl who'll just freeze with terror and scream for a good 60 seconds before trying to escape.

Ideal night out: Movies, followed by a walk past the graveyard.

Dressed To Kill, what do you wear?: Red leather, with black stripes. And white socks.

Deadly weapon of choice: My creepy stare and my bare hands.

Favorite Horror Movies: I've always been a fan of Psycho and Halloween

Act for Oct. 23rd : I'm part of a few acts but my main act is a tribute to a celebrity that I started doing impressions of when I was 11 years old. In fact, that was the first time I danced in front of a crowd... and just look at me now.;

Zombie Pinups: Anastasia

Introducing the Vengeful Vixen, Anastasia! To RSVP our Oct.23rd 4th Annual Grindhouse Ghoulies Show go to
http://http//www.facebook.com/search/?q=grindhoude+ghoulies&init=quick#/event.php?eid=277880940021&ref=mf
Zombie Name: Jawbone Sally

Date of Birth/ Place: June 22, born in Hell

Favorite Place To Hang out: Bovine Sex Club

Favorite Food: Curried.....You!

Favorite Music to Kill to: Motorhead

What Do you Look for In a mate?: He's gotta have looks & brains.....mmmmm BRAINS!

Ideal night out: Dinner & Dancing

Dressed To Kill, what do you wear?: A little strapless number

Deadly weapon of choice: Axe

Favorite Horror Movies: Army of Darkness, Evil Dead 1&2, Dead Alive, Return of the Living Dead 1,2,and 3, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, Serpent and the Rainbow or any movie with an axe wielding maniac!

Act for Oct. 23rd Grindhouse Ghoulies: Devotchka Orange with a lot of Ultra Violence of course!

Zombie Pinups: Honey B Hind

Welcome to the garden of decaying delights! To help promote our 4th Annual Halloween Show, Grindhouse Ghoulies, I will feature one of Skin Tight's Scream Queens. Go to Facebook to rsvp: http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=grindhoude+ghoulies&init=quick#/event.php?eid=277880940021&ref=mf

Feast your eyes on Honey B. Hind before she feasts on you!

Zombie Name: Barbara

Date of Birth/ Place: August 30, 1971

Favorite Place To Hang out: Dufferin Mall

Favorite Food: Hockey Player Brains, with cheese and gravy

Favorite Music to Kill to: AC/DC

What Do you Look for In a mate?: Stamina

Ideal night out: eating out followed by EATING OUT!

Dressed To Kill, what do you wear?: Something distressed

Deadly weapon of choice: Nail gun, silly. you eat around the nail-

like meat on a stick

Favorite Horror Movies: the Excorsist, Evil dead- the trilogy,The descent,The Shining , DeadAlive, Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Act for Oct. 23rd Grindhouse Ghoulies:"Carrie"- or why high school sucks cause they ARE all gonna laugh at you- it's a bath, with blood and booty!

Wiinners of The New York Burlesque Festival 2009 Golden Pastie Awards:
Most Classic: Dirty Martini
Kissing Bandit: Tigger!
Biggest Shlep: Amber Ray
Most Likely to miss a kidney: Sparkly Devil
Most Missed Revue: Starshine
Most innovative: Darlinda Just Darlinda
Most likely to appear in Playboy: Angie Pontani
Biggest Hair: Darlinda Just Darlinda
Most Likely to win at Monopoly: Angie Pontani
Best Ass: Helen Pontani
Most Elegant: Amber Ray
Hottest Freshman: Lil' Miss Lixx
Most Sensual: Kelita tie Peekaboo Pointe
Biggest Cougar: Jo Boobs 2x Winner!
Best Body: Dirty Martini multiple years Winner!
Hottest Mess: Wildcard Kitty
Here's last year's teaser video. Can you spot me?

Pooey Blah Pt.2 Nothing To See Here Folks!

I convinced my boyfriend , Alistair, to come with me to Nuit Blanche, which was no easy task as he is NO fan ( I will post his comments later) of Nuit Blanche. I dressed up in my Anime Schoolgirl outfit, so I could feel like I was a part of it all and to attract attention in order to pass out flyers to promote Skin Tight's Oct. 23rd event, Grindhouse Ghoulies. The vodka flask got packed and off we headed to Zone A. I previously uploaded the Iphone app for Nuit Blanche to my phone to enrich our experience.
As we got to Dundas Square, we realized we forgot our hard copy guide at home; the Nuit Blanche app was not working. The amount of people milling around the square was quite alarming and I thought about bailing to a bar instead.Are these people here to see art? Impressive, at least. Grabbing a guide, we tried to figure out where the Jeff Koon's Rabbit Balloon was. Walking around to Bay st., we saw the Reflecting Pool video installation running a top the Canadian Tire. Initial reaction was "Meh" but the more we watched the better it got. Not mind blowing stuff though. We went to the Bus Terminal to see the Battle Royal cage match. After waiting in line for a while, we got in to see about a bunch of blindfolded plebs bouncing around aimlessly. Where was the fighting? I wanted to go in there and take down! This sucked! An announcement came on to say the real fight would commence in 45 minutes! Forget it! No Luchadores for me!
The line up for another installation inside the Holy Trinity Church was too long so screw that. Inside the Eaton Centre was the Jeff Koon's Rabbit. This hanging Mylar inflatable rabbit was pretty impressive but prompted the question about all Koon's money and where does our local grant money go?
Next was Ghost Chorus in Nathan Phillips Square. Boo-ring! White sheeted ghosts milling around moaning inaudibly. The crowd was confused and so was I. Does Joe Burbia get this? I didn't. More ho-hum things and we headed into Zone B. I started to think about the Emperor's New Clothes, feeling like I was being showed nothing and told I was seeing something fabulous.
Zone B was mostly in the financial district so that did lend an air of surrealism. The Wild Ride midway exhibit that was manned by recently downsized Bay street employees was kinda cool. Very weird to see these rides at night at the normally deserted at night Financial District. However, the lines were too long. Gone Indian live performance started out ok with a traditional Aboriginal dance but then got boring as it changed over to hip hop. More ho-hum exhibits and then over to Brookfield Place to see the Witches' Cradles, originally these hanging canvases were used to punish those accused of witch craft but later reclaimed by witches to heighten enlightenment. It was interesting to see these swinging pods but Alistair and I thought about all the money sunked into this project. We had enough.
To be fair we didn't do Zone C and we didn't view the independent projects but we were left feeling empty and not enlightened, maybe I needed to get into a Witches' Cradle, maybe I needed a drink! I didn't touch my flask. Alistair and I went home for drinks and Deadwood.
I'm not doing Nuit Blanche again! Too Pooey, too blah!
If you had good experiences last night please share them. If you had Blah ones, please share those too!
Here`s my all time favorite video on Youtube. It's HIGH ART to me! Tomorrow, the start of Zombie Burlesque Interviews and winners of The Golden Pastie awards from the New York Burlesque Festival!

Pooey Blah! Nuit Blanche, Endless Night of Idiots?

This year marks my third year of Toronto's endless night art event known as Nuit Blanche. http://www.scotiabanknuitblanche.ca/ In past years I have had a rotten time, especially last year at the Gladstone Hotel. Skin Tight was set up as an installation in the window in a sorta Fellini-esque fashion. In between sitting around we performed burlesque routines. I did my human ponygirl routine. Directly in front of me was a group of late 30's mixed sex couples. they proceeded to laugh, heckle, gesticulate through my entire performance. My 3:40 performance felt endless! It took every ounce of will power not to run off! Torture! I'm a professional so I stuck it out. After I finished, I grabbed a full glass of beverage off their table and doused them with it! Not very professional, I admit! My punkrock girl just clicked in. They actually just got up and quietly left, maybe they felt some shame, who knows?

In my 10 years of performing, I've never been treated so badly and I've performed for real cowboys, suburbanites, and even the Hell's Angels. This group just looked like what we would call yuppies. I told a friend this story and they said, "Some people just don't deserve art". This made me laugh.

Large side wide events attract a diverse crowd and yes , some are yahoos. I've seen this happen in my gay neighborhood with Pride and Halloween. Hell, we all got pepper sprayed in a bar one Pride! Due to some faulty booking, I'm not working Nuit Blanche, I'll be participating with a flask of vodka and my Schoolgirl Anime outfit. I hope I can keep my yahoo in check! I'll promise not to destroy Jeff Koons giant inflatable rabbit at The Eaton Centre. Throw me in the Battle Royal cage match at the Bus Terminal!

In other news, I feel out of a window gogo dancing last night at Liberty Cafe. Anyone think I'm too old to dance on a 9 inch wide window ledge? I didn't hurt myself though, all my yoga must've made me more flexible. I landed on a nearby couch.

Here's a great video I swiped from a excellent burlesque blog site. www.pinup.me.uk/

Welcome to My Dog and Pony Show!

Welcome to my dog and pony show!

I'm Tanya Cheex from Skin Tight Outta Sight Rebel Burlesque in Toronto in the great white north known as Canada. I've written for other people's blogs such as Daily Burlesque and The Candy Pitch so though it was high time to do my own. I am looking for contributors to help out so drop me a line at t.cheex@gmail.com . Photos, reviews, whatever.

This blog is titled "Rhinestones and Whiskey" cause not only am I a glamourous showgirl but I'm also a bit of a curmudgeon. I actually don't even drink that much whiskey but it sounded better than "Rhinestones and Vodka Soda on the rocks, tall glass. So this is the blog about the good, the bad and the ugly underbelly of our stockinged feet. I will try to play nice for the most part and those guilty will remain nameless or legless, which ever comes first.

Since it is my blog, I will promote myself and my troupe. I'm also here to lend my fellow showgirls and boys a hand with promoting any upcoming events that sound interesting.

At times this blog will feature things that are indirect links to the burlesque world and it times , it will feel like it has nothing to do with it at all. Such is the infinite power of BlOG!

* First photo is of me at age four, four years before my first stripping debut in mt neighbour's backyard!

NEXT POST: ZOMBIE GIRL INTERVIEWS!!

Check out Candy Pitch: http://thecandypitch.blogspot.com/