The Juiciest Peach in Georgia! Burlesque's Bunny Wigglebottom!

Bunny Wigglebottom was officially born in October 2012. That is when I finally got my act together (wink, wink) and bought my first routine to the stage, a number set to Tom Waits’ “Just the Right Bullets” that I’ve only performed once since. Sometimes first acts aren’t our best acts, but we need them to improve ourselves.

Bunny Wigglebottom!

It had taken ten full years of attending as many burlesque shows and festivals as I could find (I used to live very near Texas, and that is a state full of powerful and innovative burlesque artists. seriously, you’re doing well if you’re seeing performers like Ginger Valentine, Ruby Joule and Coco Lectric on the regular as you learn how you want to present yourself on stage), registering for the classes and workshops invariably offered there, and longing to be a part of this community that grew to represent so much to me.

My work in film costuming can be unpredictable and demanding, so to choose to pursue burlesque in what free time I had was admittedly difficult at times….but I had the fever, and the only prescription was more burlesque, specifically burlesque that I conceived, created and brought to the stage myself.

In March 2011, my partner Paul and I attended Atlanta’s very first burlesque festival. Although we had travelled to other burlesque events and shows in other states, it was at this first Southern Fried Burlesque Festival that I felt like an actual, accepted member of the community! I felt that this fantasy of being a burlesque performer was no longer outside the realm of possibility. I mingled with performers just starting their own burlesque careers (including Atlanta’s Lady of Legitude, Lola LeSoleil, who remains a dear friend to this day) and met some of my heroes, even certified burlesque Legends like Satan’s Angel, Tiffany Carter, Shannon Doah and Penny Starr, Sr., as well as modern day icons like Miss Exotic World 2014 Dirty Martini, who headlined that first fest.

Paul and I managed to attend all five years of the Southern Fried Burlesque Festival and we even relocated to Atlanta in 2013. Unfortunately, the festival ended after five years with the 2015 edition, but I met so many friends and was fortunate enough to perform at three of those festivals as I built the foundation of my style and philosophy of burlesque. I think of those shows fondly, and have been longing for a return of a festival which books the best of local and regional talent, as well as performers from all over the country and even the world who want to see what Atlanta has to offer.

Now, ten years later, Atlanta will host a new burlesque festival charmingly named the Kiss My Grits Burlesque Festival, with four days worth of shows and many performers who have never even visited our city. We hope that our audiences show up to extend a heapin’ helpin’ of Southern hospitality, and that “Kiss My Grits” becomes not just a catchphrase from a 1970’s sitcom, but a proclamation of love for the joy of live performance.

And there will almost certainly be someone in the audience who loves burlesque and wants to perform, but needs the extra spark that a well-curated festival can bring. That was me once, and, to be honest, it's still me every time I attend a show. You can never be too inspired.