Thank You For Helping us to Raise £583.76 for Oxfam

Ladies and gentlemen,

I would just like to say 'Thank You' to you all for helping Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque (SotBB) to raise a whopping £583.76 for Oxjam in aid of Oxfam on Sunday evening.

We were treated to a wonderful array of burlesque and cabaret from SotBB favourites such as Sian De Leir, Evie Farrah and Cassie Devine, Depravity Jane and Mistress Mimi.  Then we had the pleasure of introducing some fabulous performers who have never graced our stage before including, Cadillac Arrest, Foxie La Roque, Lacie May, Danni La Blue and Miss Moonlight.  You were all truly wonderful!

Thank you to everyone who donated a raffle gift, helping us to make a huge profit for Oxfam!  The gifts were absolutely fabulous and came from:
Mad Hatter's Cupcake Co,
Vivien of Holloway,
Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque,
Ann Summers,
Follow Your Dreams Tattoo,
Mentholman's Venue,
Imogen's Imagination,
Razorblade Mermaid,
Bubble Queens,
Molly Rouge
and
Gorgeous Gifts.
Special thanks to Nina Lockwood for bagging some of these raffle prizes for us and helping to raise money for Oxfam.

Big thanks to our wonderful compere Mr. Duke O'Growl for keeping the show flowing and for making generous donations into our Oxjam money tins all evening!

Let's give a huge round of applause to Anwar and Aisha Suliman for being our photographers for the evening.  Photographs will be up on our website and Facebook pages soon and will also be available to purchase by contacting http://www.asphotographyservices.co.uk/.

Thank you to Pansy Cheung for stepping in quite last minute to be our graceful and elegant door girl - I cannot thank you enough!

Huge thanks to our sponsor, Vivien of Holloway www.vivienofholloway.com, to our venue, to Hayleigh Lou  and to our stall-holders.

Until next time....

Our next show will be on the 4th of December 2011

Much love,

Deadly Nightshade. x

Deadly Nightshade as 'The Wolf'

A Big House of Horrors Thank You!

Hello darlings,

First, allow me to apologise for writing this so late - alas, my lap top practically blew up on me after Sunday's show, hence, the delay!

Deadly Nightshade, Scarlet Noir and Cherry Du Bois in 'Thriller' Photographed by Nick Gee

I just do not know where to begin with the thank you's!  It was so lovely to see you all at The Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque House of Horrors.  It was a sell out show and I thank you all so much for attending!  I hope you enjoyed your evening as much as we did.  Special thanks to the two beautiful ladies who came all the way from Kent just to see the show as well...it's wonderful to hear you will be back for our Oxjam event on October 16th.

Nat Mortimer Photographed by Jim Priestly

I would also like to give a special thank you to 'Mad Hatter's' cupcakes for my beautiful Cookie Monster Birthday cake - I was truly touched to receive it and cannot believe you guys have been with us for a year now.  It is wonderful.  Thank you also for your kind raffle donations, we hope our winners scoffed your goods down very merrily!  Thank you also to Imogen's Imagination, The Dollhouse, Masque Photography, Lightfoot's Wines, Vivien of Holloway and A Box of Burlesque for their raffle gifts.

Raven DeVille on her bed of nails by Nick Gee

I'd also like to give a huge thank you to Momma O'Growl for reading palms all evening.  She has a true gift and if you were touched by her charms and her accuracy, you may also be interested to hear that she also specializes in Reiki healing and Angel work.  Interested in a private booking with her?  Email info@secretsoftheboudoirburlesque.com.

Duke O'Growl Photographed by Nick Gee

I think the biggest thank you of the night has to go to the gorgeous Duke O'Growl for stepping in, quite last minute, to fill Warren Peace's shoes as our compere for the evening.  And what a fantastic job he did, bringing our show to life with a white top hat and tails, twirling his riding crop and spanking our audience into shape!  He brought a handsome charm to SotBB and also provided us with some delightful cabaret in the form of my personal favourite, Alice Cooper!  I think we would quite like him to come back and compere future shows wouldn't we girls?  Phwoar, pant, hubba, hubba...

Duke O'Growl by Jim Priestly

Huge thanks to Dolly and Raven from Monster Cirque for providing us with fire breathing and stilt-walking outside of our venue whilst you were all waiting to come in, and then for providing us with a bed of nails and glass-walking on the stage.  Want to see more of them?  Then add their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/monstercirque.

Dolly Monster breathing fire onto the streets of Sheffield at The Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque House of Horrors Photographed by Jim Priestly

Thank you to Belle Nouvelle who made her onstage burlesque debut with pianist Nat Mortimer as a freakishly frightening little dolly - we did love the macabre act!  Thanks to our Ghostbuster Pansy Cheung,  the gorgeous Sian de Leir for providing us with some Russian Roulette, Evie Farrah as our tattooed Lady and Miss Kitty Fantastic for proving that the female of the species is definitely more deadly than the male!  Huge thanks to Mistress Mimi for her delightful cabaret and all of the effort that she puts into prop and set design - I especially loved her bass playing on 'Devil Gate Drive'.  And thank you to Scarlet Noir and Cherry Du Bois for pain-stakingly teaching me the 'Thriller' dance all Summer so that we could open the show with it.  A special mention to Scarlet's Micheal Jackson outfit which she wore all evening!  Another thank you to Scarlet, and to Carolyn for being our delightful door-girls and contending with the HUGE guest list!  It is truly appreciated ladies.

Belle Nouvelle making her debut performance at The Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque House of Horrors Photographed by Jim Priestly

Let's hear it for Hannah and Sian in our 'Secret Parlour', for Mentholman's venue, Tam, Taz and the bar staff at West Street Live, as well as the bouncers.  Big thanks to the photographers and videographers.  Also, thank you to Vivien of Holloway for being our sponsor.

The Wolf Photographed by Nick Gee

Lastly, let us not forget to thank 'The Wolf' who appeared when the moon was full.  I'd like to give a HUGE shout out to all of the people who helped bring her to life: Ryan for the faith and the tools to create her, Josie and Lucy for giving her skin and fur, Sarah and Mummy Lightfoot for stitching her seams together, Sarah Mellor for her 'human' outfit and Sam&Duke for the cup of hot water and the final push to get her out there...

I would like to take this moment to NOT thank Tagan the cat for eating the velcro though....

Like some child possessed the beast howled in my veins...

Big love to you all, and I hope to see you at our Oxjam event on the 16th of October.  In the meantime, please add any photos/videos you have from 'The House of Horrors' to The Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque Facebook Page 

Much love,

Deadly Nightshade.xxx

Down by the Sea

I am currently at one of my little bolt holes after a spot of bother with two policemen and a bag full of diamonds...

This particular bolt hole is nestled in Suffolk and on this bright, sunny day I decided to venture out and take a peek at the seaside views.

A stroll along the beach led to a breakfast of fresh prawns served with nautical views of fishing boats and the warm sun on my pale face.  Pimms to follow and then a dip of one's bare toe into the crisp, clear sea.

After my paddle,  I strolled into the nearby village and had a lovely afternoon browsing the quaint little bakeries and fruit stalls.  

Eating a pork and apple pasty, watching carefully so as to avoid spilling puff pastry crumbs down my blue and white flowered dress, I stumbled upon a mermaid keeping watch over a fish and chip shop.

Saluting to the mermaid I walked on through town and back to my little hide-away.

Here I intend to spend the night swilling Port, eating Stilton cheese and counting my recent ill-gotten gains...

Bring me to Life

I am four years old now, I am the creator of established burlesque night 'Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque' , its voice and its point of contact, trouble is, I only exist within another individual and I need setting free more often.  This limited existence works well in order to complete the delightful tasks mentioned above.  However, when I take to the stage to perform, I share the fears and nerves of this other individual, and this simply will not do!  This individual is holding me back from being truly fabulous and she needs eradicating.  *Sigh* it's so hard being an alter-ego.

Deadly Nightshade Photographed by Image 23

Deadly Nightshade performing 'Guilty'

...Bring me to life...

Alice Cooper, My Hero

Alice Cooper (real name Vincent Furnier) has been a hero of mine for a good number of years now - he is the inspiration behind my burlesque character, my burlesque performances and my burlesque shows....

Deadly Nightshade Photographed by Steve Rodgers
Inspired by Alice Cooper

I share in his sense of humour, his dark look, his ability to not take himself too seriously and I admire how he can combine all of these things into something magical and theatrical, yet gruesome and macabre, but never vulgar or offensive.  That is a rare and genuine feat of genius which I marvel at in awe.

Within Alice's talents lies the ability which intrigues me the most - the ability to create an on stage persona or character which becomes a person in its own right.  In Alice's earlier days it was clear that he was master and commander of his own publicity, he did nothing to quell rumours about his antics, and one wonders if he even began to start them?  If you have ever read his autobiography 'Me, Alice', you will know what I mean.  I feel sure that at least 50% of the book is pure fiction, in addition, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if these fictions were created and published by Alice himself.

Me, Alice

These days Alice is more upfront about his personalities and keeps the two clearly separate.  The split between Alice Cooper off stage and Alice Cooper on stage is crystal clear and Alice manages to define this 'split' in personalities relatively simply:

"My schedule is, I get up early, I play 18 holes (of golf), and then I go about my day. I'm a 4 handicap. I play every day — the tour doesn't get in the way. And golf doesn't get in the way of becoming Alice at night...The Alice you see onstage? He's never played golf. If you put a golf club onstage, he wouldn't know what it is. He'd probably pick it up and think it was a weapon."

This brings me to the point of my blog, 'A Day in the Life of an Alter-Ego'.  Within this blog, burlesque performer, promoter and model, Deadly Nightshade, will be set free and will be allowed to have her own voice and personality...Stay tuned for more...

"I'm not me anymore. Now I'm him." - Alice Cooper. 

Alice Cooper.