2012 - the best bits

Looking back 2012 has been quite a busy year for me! Here's a summary of my highs and lows...

The biggest achievement of the year was definitely getting my own burlesque and cabaret show up and running, The Gilded Merkin!  July's debut show, and the second in November, were both massively successful, the venue was packed and the feedback I've had since has been wonderful. I can't wait to see how it grows in 2013! There are big acts coming to Nottingham!   :D




Gilded Merkin artwork by Charlotte Thomson-Morley

Another high light at the top of my list was learning how to eat FIRE! I've been in awe of performers like Missy Macabre and Red Sarah for a long time and when I saw Red Sarah was doing a fire eating workshop in Birmingham I jumped on it! The class size was small so we all had great one to one attention and I left feeling very well equipped to carry on practising my new skills at home (well, in the garden!), it was a lot of fun. Check out The Fire School for workshop details.

Video still taken from the workshop.
Please excuse the dodgy headscarf arrangement, I was trying not to set fire to my fringe!

In June I drove up to Chester and spent the day with the fabulous Ina Glo Photography. I'd been looking forward to this shoot for a long time and really hope I can make it up there again this year. Here are a few of my fav's from the day...

Kiss of the Cobra Woman burlesque act

 

 

 

 

The Present burlesque act

I was also asked to perform at some great shows for the first time; The Missy Malone & Friends Burlesque Revue, doing 3 shows across the UK one of which involved a fun road trip to the depths of Wales with Sherry Trifle and Emerald Ace, Electrotease in Leicester, Dr Sketchy's in Newcastle (taking my Dr Sketchy's appearances in the UK up to 7 branches!) and The Frou Frou Club in Hebden Bridge on New Years Eve.

Then there were the good ol' fav's. I was back again at the wonderful Wet Spot in Leeds, Kinky & Quirky in Devon, this time the Exeter venue, Carnival Divine in Manchester, Dr Sketchy's in Birmingham and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in Lichfield, which after their show in February this year will be on hiatus for a little bit while Sherry Trifle and her hubby Ant go jetting off on adventures in Cambodia! So go along and give them a good send off, it's a great show!

I also *finally* got around to getting my showreel filmed. I chose Junction 15 Productions as I was really pleased with the shots they took in another film project I was involved with in 2011, a music video for the band Lesbian Bed Death. I can't wait to get started on the other secret film plans we have for this year.

And for those of you who are interested, click HERE to watch the music video  ;)

I'm lucky in that the only real low I had was being involved in a minor car accident in October which unfortunately wrote off my fab little Yaris  :(   but the silver lining that was the driver of the van that hit me admitted fault and I was able to buy the car I'd been dreaming of owning for years, a Chrysler PT Cruiser. Hubba Hubba.

Obviously not my real number plate! haha

Oh and the pup didn't enjoy March much as we had him snipped! Oh the guilt.....

Sulking in the cone of doom

And how could I forget this big event.... I QUIT MY DAY JOB! In November, after seven years of working for the NHS, following an unpleasant event where the management proved how little they care for their employees, I handed in my notice to become a fully self employed layabout cabaret monkey. So please wish me luck for 2013!

Scarlett
x

Burlesque Costume - Kiss of the Cobra Woman

Today I'm posting about one of my burlesque acts, called "Kiss of the Cobra Woman", specifically the costume and how it came into being. It's a homage to the Sci-Fi Queens of 1950s B movies and to date is the most complicated costume I've ever made. It took months of head scratching, frustration and eye twitching before it was ready for the stage.

I had a picture in my head of exactly how I wanted the costume to look and even though at times I thought it wasn't physically possible to achieve it I kept trying and am very proud of the finished results. It's had a few tweaks since its first performance and there are still little bits that I think could be better. I like that it's evolving as it goes along though.

In my last post (found here) I showed a picture of the pattern I used to make the dress, which was to be the outer layer of the costume. After I'd pinned the pattern I deliberately left extra fabric below the original calf length line, tapering it along the seam lines so that I could turn it into a longer, almost hobble, dress. Once I'd decided on the final hem length the back split was altered so that a zip could be inserted right to the bottom, although not being able to find a zip long enough I had to compromise and use a couple of heavy duty press studs to close the few inches gap above the hem. Above the waist I followed the pattern exactly and after the pieces were sewn together it took a few adjustments (ok about 6........ish) to make the waist sit as tight as I needed it to be. I was pretty smug pleased with how neat my darts were! To finish off the bottom hem I attached gathered layers of bronze netting to make a stiff frill which took the whole length of the dress pretty much to the floor.