Miss Coney Island 2008

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It's Gal Friday!

The Miss Coney Island Pageant of the Millenium is a burlesque of a beauty pageant with sideshow performers and burlesque dancers. The first one was created by Bambi the Mermaid, co-producer of the Burlesque at the Beach series, and of course she won, and received her crown while all the rest of us had a catfight on the stage behind her.

Bambi now hosts the pageant with the Great Fredini every year, and the audience receives ballots and the winner is by audience vote. It's a real honor to participate. There is a talent segment (a series of burlesque numbers) and a gown competition. I wouldn't miss it!

This year's pageant was a blast, with, among others, Legs Malone as a Siamese fighting fish and Fem Appeal as a gypsy fortune teller. Both of them were celebrating performance anniversaries--Legs two years, Fem three. We are so lucky in New York to have such a huge wave of new, inventive, fabulous talent!

This year I'm particularly proud to announce that the winner is one of the hardest-working ladies to come out of my school, Gal Friday, who won the pageant by portraying a super-tanned, insanely-bewigged, petroleum-jelly brandishing, teeth-whitening-stripped (yes, she actually used whitening strips a week before the show)pageant professional with a simultaneously glamourous and horrifying smile. Her little pageant wave was both disturbing and adorable.

Gal Friday with Petroleum Jelly
Photo by me.

I could make some comment on art imitating life imitating art imitating life (the woman satirizing pageant traditions wins the burlesque pageant), but really, you can fill in the blanks, yes?

Fortunately, after the show she turned back into the playful, easy-going Gal we all know and love!

Gal Friday
Photo by me.

Posted by Jo Weldon, Headmistress of The New York School of Burlesque, for burlesquedaily.blogspot.com.

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