From Bore-lesque to brilliance: a compendium of favoured subversive performers.

Recently a friend asked me of performers I admire.

This was after I had ranted at her in a bar after another un-inspiring Bore-lesque show in Melbourne, Australia.

Oh how boring I find these little show ponies.  Not only are these shows based on gimmicks but mimicked gimmicks. Pure derivation. Oh, you are naked beneath your clothes? Who woulda known…

Now I could be considered an ex-carny (4 years in a circus, and a dozen more in theatre and other performance), so I may be a little over the tricks of the trade, but I do know when I see something that comes out of a person’s own genius. Even if it isn’t the most impressive accomplishment I have ever seen, it is always proferred with a dollop of soul, a twinkle of mischief and spiced with the piquant confidence of a performer who has dived for a pearl and managed to fetch one.

And I love it. I’m the one, at this point, hooting and yawping and waving madly in encouragement. How rare, how lovely, how vulnerable, how real.

As for burlesque, I know a few National champions of this art. Have worked with many others – in my job as stylist – and some of them are excellent at what they do. A few of them truly bring something new and delicious to the table. But I’d have to say that this is rare and these artists would be good artists in any dance/theatre / performance/ cabaret setting. ‘Burlesque’ just seems to be an umbrella term these days that includes copy-cat, look-at-me, cutesy stripping. Tre Boring!

Bring back the cabaret! Bring back the vaudeville! Yes! But may it straddle the divine and the ridiculous, may it make a mockery of mainstream homogenised representations of female sexuality. And for that matter, may it stop telling us what men (or women) desire! The mainstream can’t speak for men’s (or women’s) desire! Desire is vast and strange and wonderful and unique to the one who is having the desire. For that, queer cabaret is delectable.

Ah there are so many fantastic talented performers. I’m so excited to learn of so many more.

So in answer to your question Charlotte, here are just a wee few of my favorites.

The hilarious comic genius of Ursula Martinez:

The incredible Moira Finucane and her bevvy of compatriot performers including Maude Davey, who bring new meaning to the word Provocative:

Amanda Palmer is a good to explore – darling that she is. Not only is she helping to revolutionalise (is that a word?) the music industry (See Below) …

…but just days ago, in London,  Amanda also has a fabulous response for the Paparazzi’s (and the people’s) obsession with perpetuating the evaluation of women with youth, sex and beauty.

Oh there is the recent incident between Erykah Badu and Flaming Lips that you may know about, and why Amanda Palmer stepped in, I do not know. But it is all an interesting situation. What I find most interesting is that – via the internet- we can all be a part of, or privy to these important conversations and that voices can be heard that speak out of the bounds of the confines of the media. Really, they had the run of it for too too long!

Oh so many fabulous performers and thinkers and dreamers and geniuses… I leave my compendium there for now.
I hope this answers to your enquiry Charlotte, and you have a nice time trawling through these many links.

My love,

Fun Woman Sex Mother.

 

Carrot cake, tea and salty tears.

Yesterday I had two lovely long-time friends over for afternoon tea. Two dads. Two sincere, interesting, lovely, sexy, hot, handsome, soulful, intelligent men. Both music producers and both having excellent success in their field. Both deeply in love with their partners and having major trouble in that arena. I’ve known these men since we were 20. It’s about 17 years later. We are living in different parts of the country. I still remember when the 3 of us met that night in that share house kitchen in Collingwood. We stayed up late laughing and playing like we’d just found our soul family. And we had.

So I provided what I’ve come to know as the magic of my kitchen table. Where extraordinary people come to talk and listen and laugh and heal. And a cake. I baked them a cake and we sat as witnesses and friends.

Now I’ve only ever baked one other carrot cake. I didn’t grow up relating carrots with cake. But I was moved. And it turns out both men LOVE carrot cake. So…win.

We sat, we talked, we drank tea. At different times, both men got teary and dropped little salty, soul-sharing tears into their tea. Salt is good for the heart – in this case.

So, here it is. I baked it with love. I ripped a recipe off the net to get the basic alchemy and then changed it to make it EXTRAordinary. Cos where I grew up – on a rice farm 15 kms from town – cakes were an ordinary daily occurrence (thanks Nan).

Ingredients:  Remember to use quality ingredients such as unbleached flour – preferably cake flour, organic butter, grind your own spices for that fragrant punch. CHOOSE ORGANIC where possible.

• Butter or Oil to grease the cake tin. 
• 2 (about 300g) carrots
• 1 cup (150g) self-raising flour – or make your own by adding baking soda to plain flour. 2 tsp baking soda per cup of flour.
• 1/2 cup (75g) plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• pinch of sea salt
• 1&1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg (freshly ground is great)
• 1/3 cup brown or brown coconut sugar
• 2/3 cup (185ml) virgin pressed olive oil or coconut oil – or gently melted butter
• 1/3 cup honey or thick agave
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
  

Icing:

• 250g spreadable cream cheese
• 1/3 cup icing sugar  – Actually you can use a raw or coconut sugar or something similar if you grind it in a coffee grinder – the idea it has to be a powder so it dissolves.
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

Preheat oven to 160°C. The pan: This cake needs a high Cake to icing ratio. Lots of icing, my son says… You can use a 20cm (base) round cake but having made it already, I would choose something a little bigger so the cake is flatter with more top surface area to slather on the icing.

Grease your choice of pan lightly with oil, and line with non-stick baking paper if you like but its not essential. Grate the carrots, and set aside. Sift the flours, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon into a large bowl.

Put the brown sugar, oil, golden syrup, eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl. Whisk to mix until combined.

Pour the oil mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir gently until just combined. Stir in the grated carrot.

Pour the mixture into the pan and bake for 50-60 mins. NOTE: when I can smell the cake. I know its ready. So if you can smell it before times up, check it! Set aside for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Icing:  place the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Mix until well combined. Once the cake is completely cooled. Ice Ice Baby.

Share with beloveds…

Injoy,

Fun Woman xx