Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

Oh my goodness. I've been writing so much for other publications, I haven't had a chance to write for my own! I'm going to bring my blog back slowly and gently, starting with a taste of what I've been up to on other sites (I swear I was thinking about you the whole time!): From Pin Curl Magazine Online: In this month’s installment of a two-part article, we will discuss how performers can annoy producers. This doesn’t mean that in every case the performers are doing anything dishonest or unprofessional; it merely means that these behaviors often irritate or turn off producers. Please note that it is not about just knowing specific actions that might irritate producers. Like all etiquette issues, the essence of understanding how to behave is making an effort to put yourself into the other person’s position. You are unlikely to be able to read their minds, but you stand a much better chance of interacting successfully if you at least try to understand why they ...

The Burlesque Handbook has been out since June, and people have been very kind in their reception of it. Interestingly, one of the chapters the more experienced performers have told me they appreciate has been Chapter 10, "Backstage Etiquette: How to Win Naked Friends and Influence Nude People." In this chapter I discuss how to get involved in the burlesque community, how to get booked to perform, and how to behave if you want to get booked more than once. The following excerpt is from that chapter. 1. Ask before you take pictures, and be genuinely willing to not take them. People who don’t mind being photographed doing all kinds of wild things onstage may not want to be photographed checking the crotch of their underwear for clitty litter. Or they may wish to be photographed only by professionals. This is not necessarily uptight of them. There are a lot of issues around photography and burlesque. And for god’s sake, if you post a photo online and someone asks you to take ...