London Burlesque Festival: Saturday April 5th

Honey Lulu at the Jetsetters’ Ball

It’s the Saturday of the 5-day-long London Burlesque Festival, which I have been looking forward to for some time, as I will be performing my ‘Storm in a teacup’ routine and meeting many interesting performers, some of whom I’m already acquainted with.

I arrive at the venue in the early evening with the giant teacup, which immediately attracts lots of attention. I won’t go into the in’s and out’s of having big props, but I’m glad we made it without any spinal tap-esque complications!

As soon as I get into the dressing room I feel at home, as there are several lovely performers I know, and everyone’s is in various stages of undress. The energy is positive and everyone is excited. The dressing room is one of my favourite parts of being a performer, especially when the mood is good. I like chatting to old and new burly friends, exchanging tips and helping when I can. I also love seeing the transformation from (semi) normal person to super-glam, camp performer. I start my make-up ritual, with a few interruptions, made of chitter chatter with my mirror neighbours, talking to promoter Chaz Royal, stage manager, stage hands and making last minute preparations for my show. It’s all stress-free as everyone is helpful and professional. After slowly finishing make-up, hair and costume I spend the last half hour before the show drinking wine, posing for a few snaps (see below with Pustra & Vile-een) and dreaming of a nice cup of tea.

My act is opening tonight’s event and with a few minutes to go the adrenaline kicks in. The show is sold out and the crowd is roaring as the compere gets on stage and introduces me as the Queen on Strip-Tea! From the stage is great to see so many fans of burlesque, so that’s my cue to turn up the heat and get the party started. There’s a great energy in the room and I enjoy my performance. I have fun and time always passes so quickly, so I make the most of it.

After getting off stage I am glad I can get to see all the other acts. After slipping into my dress I go and meet my friends, including my costume and hat designers and the propmaker. I get some bottles of wine to celebrate and watch the rest of the show of which the standard is very high; the variety of performance tonight is impressive and so much fun to watch. I spend the rest of the evening dancing to groovy vintage sounds, and spend time with Pustra and Vile-een, Sugar Kane, Trixie Malicious and other friends.

The night finishes with a picture involving as many girls as possible in my giant teacup. Shame I can’t remember who took it!

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