Kostume Kult: Fairytale Apocalypse (slide show)

Experience the Kostume Kult crew's annual spring throwdown. We'll say this for those crazy Kostume Kult kids—they sure know how to toss a wild wingding. On, Friday, April 13, the crew took over Greenpoint's Warsaw at the Polish National Home for its annual Horned Ball—or, as they were calling this edition, "a bacchanal with imminent peril and maximal sexiness." We can't vouch for the "peril" half of that statement, but the "sexiness" part was definitely in full flower.

The city's David Bowie acolytes salute the none-more-glam icon. The man variously known as the Thin White Duke, Ziggy Stardust and (probably to no one except his immediate family) David Robert Jones—that’s right, the 65-year-old David Bowie–was feted at the annual Bowie Ball, held at Le Poisson Rouge on Saturday, October 13. As usual, the performance-heavy tribute—helmed by Deryck Todd—featured a few looks that Bowie himself probably wouldn’t have dreamed up, even in his most tlandish Aladdin Sane days. You might also like Photos: The New York Burlesque Festival's Golden Pastie Awards The New York Burlesque Festival welcomed burly-Q's best to the extravaganza's closing ceremonies. When: Sunday, September 30The scene: The New York Burlesque Festival’s Golden Pastie AwardsThe tenth annual fest drew to a close with the Golden Pastie Awards, as a gaggle of performers strutted, both onstage and off, in their finest fancy-wear. Weimar vixen Miss Astrid compered the proceedings with plenty of of snark; the event’s producers, Jen Gapay and Angie Pontani, toasted to another decade; octogenarian legend Tempest Storm held court; and everyone reflected on a ten years of our city’s celebration of strip. You might also like Photos: New York Burlesque Festival 2012 preview Photos: The Premiere Party Photos: The Saturday Spectacular Photos: Miss Coney Island Beauty Pagaent Interview: Francine "The Lucid Dream" The Pink Room Burlesque producer and performer Francine "The Lucid Dream" pays tribute to the work of David Lynch. Producer and performer Francine “The Lucid Dream” is the force behind The Pink Room Burlesque, the David Lynch–inspired series of shows that merge surrealist quirk with bump ’n’ grind action. On Sunday, October 14 at Le Poisson Rouge, Francine and her troupe join forces with the Pittsburgh’s Silencio, a talented combo that specializes in covering the Angelo Badalamenti–composed music from Lynch’s works Time Out New York: How did you first get into burlesque? Francine "The Lucid Dream": I took my first class at the New York School of Burlesque about three years ago. It was just for fun; I had no idea that this would be something I’d be doing. But I got so drawn into it, and it became a bigger and bigger thing. Anyway, my first class was taught by Jo Weldon, and at the end of that class, she asked if anyone was interested in go-go dancing at the Slipper Room. I just shot up my hand, and I really liked it. That was my gateway. So I took more classes: I took one from Dr. Lucky, and that class turned into a showcase. And at that showcase, producers were coming up to me and booking me on the spot! I did not expect that at all. And that was it. Time Out New York: Can you pinpoint when your David Lynch fascination began? Francine "The Lucid Dream": That’s been since Twin Peaks was first on the air. Time Out New York: What were you, like, two years old? Francine "The Lucid Dream": Ha! Well, I was very young, and I didn’t get half of it. I was like, What is this weirdness? As I got older, I watched all the reruns on Bravo, and then I really got obsessed. It’s definitely been a big influence on my life in various ways. Time Out New York: And how did you decide to combine the two obsessions? Francine "The Lucid Dream": I made some really wonderful friends through that class that led to the showcase performance, and as it turns out, a lot of them were also David Lynch fans. At one point, I sad something like, “Wouldn’t it be really fun to do something like a Twin Peaks burlesque show?” And everyone was like, “Oh my God, yes!” Actually, there was another girl in the class who had the same idea. About a year after I started to perform, I was like, “You know, let’s just do this.” I thought it was going to be a one-off, just for fun; I was just hoping our friends would come. But there was a line out the door at the Parkside, and it sold out. I couldn’t believe it. Clearly, there are a lot of David Lynch fans out there. Time Out New York: Yeah, even though it’s been six years since Inland Empire came out—and that wasn’t exactly his most popular film—it seems like Lynch fever is at an all-time high. Yes, I’ve noticed that! Time Out New York: Do you have any explanation for why that is? Francine "The Lucid Dream": Maybe it’s because it’s been a while since he’s had a new one come out? I’m not sure, really. I know when I first started doing this show, there were a lot of Lynch anniversaries coming up. Time Out New York: Like “The 20th anniversary of Twin Peaks” kind of things? Francine "The Lucid Dream": Yeah, exactly. So I think people were maybe thinking about him anyway. But I owe a lot to the Welcome to Twin Peaks website. By coincidence, that started up around the same time I started doing the show. So all of a sudden, there was this place to go to for all of your David Lynch needs. That definitely helped. And there’s always stuff floating around. Just today, somebody posted something on my Facebook page. There’s this designer who creates burlesquey kind of hairpieces—really beautiful stuff—and now she has a line of Twin Peaks–themed hairpieces. It’s constant. And it’s pretty cool. Time Out New York: Didn’t you go to the Twin Peaks Fest in Washington State last year? Francine "The Lucid Dream": And it turned out to the best year I possibly could have been there! Sherilyn Fenn and Sheryl Lee, who played Audrey Horne and Laura Palmer, were both there. And Ray Wise, who played Leland Palmer, was there too. I got to meet all them, and got to geek out a lot. Time Out New York: Are there any other David Lynch burlesque nights anywhere? Francine "The Lucid Dream": I know that people have done one-offs here and there; I’ve heard of stuff on the West Coast. And I know that there’s a Lynchian-themed burlesque show in London. I’m dying to go see that. From what I’ve heard, that show is very different from ours. Time Out New York: How many editions of the Pink Room have there been so far? Francine "The Lucid Dream": We’ve done Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive… We’ve done a lot. I’m not sure if we’ll ever do The Straight Story, though. [Laughs] Time Out New York: That one might not lend itself to burlesque so well. For those not so well versed in David Lynch, what does the Pink Room refer to? Francine "The Lucid Dream": It’s a reference to Fire Walk with Me, the prequel to Twin Peaks. It’s a song, which we play in every single show. But it’s linked to this one scene, one of the most debaucherous scenes. It’s where you get to see Laura Palmer’s real life, when she’s not being the homecoming queen. Time Out New York: There seems to be some vague connection between burlesque and the work of David Lynch. Maybe it’s that their shared staginess, or perhaps it’s just that they’re both a bit surreal, but there’s something there. Francine "The Lucid Dream": Yes, I think so, too. Before I was first started doing this, I remember thinking that this was such a strange idea. But I felt like it would work, because there are at least a few things that connect David Lynch’s work and burlesque. Number one is that he always has a bunch of really foxy ladies. [Laughs] There’s always a lot of sexual tension building up in his films. But also, his movies can go from quirky and funny to dark and macabre—and, for me, a really great burlesque show is the same way. I always try to have some of each in my shows. I don’t like either too much darkness or too much weird comedy; I like it to be layered. Time Out New York: I imagine that when you’re focusing on some of Lynch’s films, like Lost Highway, it’s kind of hard to avoid going pretty dark. Francine "The Lucid Dream": We actually had a few funny numbers in the Lost Highway show. We had one performer, Hard Corey, doing a number as Robert Blake’s character, the Mystery Man. I can’t even explain it; it was so weird and so funny. But yeah, overall, it might have been a bit darker than our usual shows. Time Out New York: What can you tell me about the upcoming a Night of Lynch show at Le Poisson Rouge? Francine "The Lucid Dream": I did a show with Silencio last spring, which was basically a musical performance; I did a couple of numbers with them. But for this show, we wanted to go a little bigger. It’s not quite a Twin Peaks festival, but it’s a full night of Lynch. We’ve brought in the Welcome to Twin Peaks people, who’ll be curating a Twin Peaks exhibit. And Silencio is amazing! They sound so much like the original music. They’ll be doing their set, and I’ll be doing some numbers with them. But after that, it’s going to be a full-on Pink Room Burlesque show, the way we can do it—very based in performing arts. I’m really excited about it. I think it will be pretty wild. Time Out New York: You certainly have an all-star cast: Schäffer the Darklord, Legs Malone, Nasty Canasta, Ruby Valentine, Foxy Vermouth, and of course, Amelia Bareparts as the Log Lady. Has it has it gotten to the point where people are asking to be in the show? Francine "The Lucid Dream": Yeah, which is so nice, because when I first started the show it was always like, Which one of my friends can I beg to be in this? Now people are like, “I wanna be in your show!” I think that now that all the Twin Peaks episodes are available on Netflix, people have been watching it and going, “Oh, that’s what this is all about!” People know about David Lynch now. He was just on the Louis C.K. show! Time Out New York: I missed that one! Francine "The Lucid Dream": I can even explain it. It was so brilliant. His scenes were shot in a real Lynchian style. Time Out New York: When are you going to work with David Lynch? Francine "The Lucid Dream": I don’t know.… But that is a dream of mine! Time Out New York: Is he aware of the Pink Room Burlesque? Francine "The Lucid Dream": I’m not sure. But I met Kyle MacLachlan briefly a few months ago, when he was here to promote his wine. I told him about it; he seemed a little shy, so I didn’t know how he was going to respond, but he seemed kind of flattered by it. He even said, “David would be very flattered.” And I’ve had dreams where I was onstage during a Pink Room show, and I could make out David Lynch’s hair in the audience. That would be my dream come true. A Night of Lynch: Silencio + The Pink Room Burlesque is at Le Poisson Rouge Sunday, Oct 14. You might also like Photos: The Golden Pastie Awards The New York Burlesque Festival welcomed burly-Q's best to the extravaganza's closing ceremonies. When: Sunday, September 30The scene: The New York Burlesque Festival’s Golden Pastie AwardsThe tenth annual fest drew to a close with the Golden Pastie Awards, as a gaggle of performers strutted, both onstage and off, in their finest fancy-wear. Weimar vixen Miss Astrid compered the proceedings with plenty of of snark; the event’s producers, Jen Gapay and Angie Pontani, toasted to another decade; octogenarian legend Tempest Storm held court; and everyone reflected on a ten years of our city’s celebration of strip. You might also like Photos: New York Burlesque Festival 2012 preview Photos: The Premiere Party Photos: The Saturday Spectacular Photos: Miss Coney Island Beauty Pagaent Photos: The Saturday Spectacular At B.B. King's on Sat Oct 3, host Murray Hill introduced a bevy of beauties. Photographs by Jim Kiernan RECOMMENDED: Full coverage of the New York Burlesque Festival Photos: The Premiere Party The tenth annual New York Burlesque Festival lent a touch of glitter and glamour to Williamsburg's Brooklyn Bowl RECOMMENDED: Full coverage of the New York Burlesque Festival Four days of glitter, feathers and bump ’n’ grind fun—that’s the just-completed New York Burlesque Festival, which celebrated its tenth year of burly-Q action, in a nutshell. The Premiere Party, held on Friday, September 28 at Brooklyn Bowl and featuring the red-hot likes of Peekaboo Pointe, Calamity Chang, Francine "The Lucid Dream," Go-Go Harder and host Scott the Blue Bunny, was a hoot—and here’s the photos to prove it. You might also like:Photos: New York Burlesque Festival 2012 previewPhotos: Miss Coney Island Burlesque Beauty PagaentPhotos: Gotham Burlesque at the Triad Photos: Room 69 Catch the burlesque escapades at Calamity Chang's intimate Friday-night affair. Burlesque is all about spectacle—but sometimes the most fun is had when that spectacle is delivered in up-close-and-personal, and that’s what Calamity Chang’s Room 69: The Hotel Chantelle Way is all about. Friday, June 22’s edition featured burly-Q contributions from an all-star cast that included Stormy Leather, Dame Cuchifrita, Hazel Honeysuckle, Ruby Valentine, Mr. Gorgeous and Nikki Le Villain; you can catch more stars of the local scene every Friday night.Room 69: The Hotel Chantelle Way is at Hotel Chantelle every Friday. Interview: Kim Ann Foxman, on her own With a new record and a burgeoning DJ career, the erstwhile Hercules and Love Affair member Kim Ann Foxman hits her stride. A longtime friend of bandleader Andy Butler, Kim Ann Foxman is best known as one of the vocalists from synth-disco combo Hercules and Love Affair. But she’s always had an active career of her own, spinning hot house sets at parties in NYC and around the world. A fine new Foxman release, the Return It EP, comes out later this month on the U.K.’s Needwant label; she’ll be celebrating with a deck set at Le Bain on Friday, October 12.There’s a chapter of your life story that really fascinates me: your 1991 rein as Miss Teen Filipina Hawaii. What was that all about?Oh, that was traumatizing when it happened! But now I can laugh about it. It was never my goal to win, but I accidently did win.Weren’t you already a bit of a tomboy by the time you were a teen?I was extremely a tomboy; that’s why my mom was trying to make me go the opposite way. It was actually my aunt’s idea, but my mom really got hooked on it. I can remember crying because I didn’t want to wear the lipstick—or the evening gown!Getting a bit more current, I think the first time I really started to become familiar with you was when you were doing the Mad Clams parties at the Hole.Oh yeah, they were a lot of fun. That was from 2003 to 2005.Was that your introduction to deejaying in New York City?Yeah. I was living in San Francisco before I came to New York, but I wasn’t deejaying or throwing parties. I was mainly bartending and going to raves and stuff. I was in a two-man electronic band, and we played out a bit. Then I came to New York, was looking for a job, and ran into a friend who said, “Actually, there might be a night open at the Hole, and you can bartend—but you have to throw a party, too. It would start in two weeks.” I was like, “Oh yeah, I’ll do it.” I wasn’t looking to throw a party or anything; it just kind of happened. And that was Mad Clams.Andy Butler was deejaying with you at those parties, right?Exactly, yeah. We would make these theme songs for the party, and then me and a bunch of my friends from that scene would make these weird exercise videos for the party, too. There was a fun one called “Exercise Your Clam.” [Laughs] And people started giving me all these wild exercise videos, too, like from La Toya Jackson and Estelle Getty. It was a fun time.When Hercules and Love Affair first started getting big, I can remember reading an article that was making the point that everyone involved came into the project in an unplanned, organic sort of way. Did it feel like to you at the time?Well, I had been with Andy for a long time as a friend, but I never thought I would be on any album or anything. I thought we would just make some stuff, we’d go out and DJ around. I never really had the intention that this would turn into something;so yeah, I guess it was pretty organic and natural. But then all of a sudden, it just spun out of control! It became really crazy, really fast. There was so much hype. I mean, once I knew the album was coming out, I thought it would be received well. But I didn’t even know I was going to be on it! It was a real whirlwind after that.I can’t even imagine. It must have been mind-blowing, exciting and weird at the same time.That is all of the things that it was! But I survived.And now you are done with Hercules and Love Affair, right?Yeah. There’s a whole new lineup now, and now I’m doing my own thing.Among your own things, deejaying seems to be a big one. It seems like you are playing a lot nowadays—not just here, but all over the world.Yeah, that’s true—I’m really traveling a lot. The band definitely gave me a platform to play more internationally. I had been playing around a little bit—I had played some gigs in London and Paris before everything happened—but I definitely wouldn’t have gotten as much attention if it weren’t for that. So I am really grateful. Also, it’s helpful that I actually know how to deejay. [Laughs] As I’m sure you know, there are a lot of people from bands, or personality DJs, who don’t really know how to deejay. And people expected that of me at first, too, so they were surprised in a good way when they would hear me. You still use records, right?I do, but I do travel less with them nowadays. I don’t use a computer, though; if I’m traveling, it’s usually with CDs. They’re so easy. And you know what’s really fun? Those USB sticks. It’s really funny to show up to a gig, have somebody ask,“Where’s your stuff?” and just pull this little thing out of your pocket.Besides the deejaying, you seem to be moving more and more into production. Your last one, “Creature,” was a great song, but this latest one, Return It, is really great.Thanks! It’s fully written and produced by myself, which is really exciting. But I’m really interested in collaborating with other people. I’m working on a solo album, and that’ll have lots of people on it. I’m also working on some kind of side project, but I don’t have a name for it. It’s not going to be super different just a little more singsongy.The new EP’s title track features a lot of your vocals as well; it’s a very sweet track. And the flip side, “Hypnotic Dance,” has a bit of an old-school jacking vibe to it. It seems to me that you are very good at combining those two sounds. True! Good descriptions.Oh good, I got one right! Do you have to work at that sound, or is it simply an expression of your personality?I’m sweet and jacking. [Laughs] I don’t know—I think different people just have different sounds. Ever since I’ve been in the electronic world, I’ve been into the jacking stuff, and the sweet stuff, too. And when I’m deejaying, I just play what I like to hear. I’m just trying to keep it personal, you know?Kim Ann Foxman plays Le Bain on Friday, October 12; Return It (Needwant) is out October 22. You might also like Interview: Carl Craig Interview: John Talabot Photos: Electric Zoo 2012 DJ mix: Jimmy Edgar Photos: Miss Coney Island Burlesque Beauty Pagaent A bevy of the city's burlesque performers vie for the coveted crown. With a lineage that includes the lofty likes of Julie Atlas Muz, Lefty Lucy, Bambi the Mermaid, Gal Friday and BB Heart, the title of Miss Coney Island is a heavy burden to bear. But we have a feeling that the winner of this year’s pageant, Miss Cherry Delight—who, on Friday, September 14, beat out the likes of Scooter Pie, the Flying Fox and Dame Cuchifrita at the event’s tenth edition—will wear the crown with grace and style throughout her one-year reign. The Tank presents Epic Win Burlesque: Sci-Fi TVGotham Burlesque at the TriadD20 Burlesque: Stripped of Our Sanity