What a wonderful May it has been.

A performance at The Belle Epoque at The Peacock Lounge in Huddersfield kick started May in true style especially as I got to debut my new “Midnight” act, which went really rather well. I shared the stage that eve with the marvellous Khandie Khisses and finally got to see another one of her acts live, she’s certainly a little firecracker on stage and lights it up with her cheeky grin. After a swift drive back to Manchester, a stop off for some nosh and dropping the ladies off home I hastened to bed to close my eyes and dream of feathers content that my debut had gone down a storm.

Kate Donovan  has been a busy little bee with images popping up all over the Donovan’s Darlings  website. “Barracuda Girl” is back as a vintage set, there’s the new “Trouble in a Trenchcoat” set, my first ever shoot with Kate and as previously mentioned there’s Kate’s “Birthday Slumber Party” set all up and ready for your perusal, the latter of which features the present I bought for Kate, a beautiful 1950s enamel lipstick case and powder compact with flamingos painted on it. Click the pics below to have a look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Act! "Midnight"

Kate also did me the fine favour of photographing “Midnight” this month and there are a couple of teaser photos in the gallery. “Midnight” is a Tempest Storm inspired bump and grind act and boy are those bumps blissful! If you’d like to book this new act, send me an email.

 

You may be asking why this blog is spaced over two months, well it just so happened to be my 30^th (gosh!) birthday on Wednesday and as it was a big one myself and my lovely other half are taking a three week trip to Vietnam on Monday. Therefore there’ll not be much to post burlesque wise while I’ll be away and I won’t be returning until 6^th July. So it has been short and sweet due to the amount of washing, shopping, ironing and busy sorting out of affairs this month. At last we are packed and ready for our adventure and with that I ask that you wish me bon voyage and I will write of my exploits upon my return.

Sparkles and shimmies

Ivy xx

And the wonderful month of spring time kicked off with a bit of an adventure for me and the other half. We decided to go for a lovely walk in Edale, except the weather wasn’t all that lovely and there was snow on the tops. The six mile walk we started turned into nine, including a very steep hill that I almost tumbled down at least three times. I ended up with wet foot, freezing my little hands off, tramping down a road as we almost got lost, eventually finding the car park and having to drive home with no trousers on due to them being wet through. I did get a fresh pair of hubby’s socks and a creme egg at the end of it (along with the others of the Easter variety) so all wasn’t lost!

On 18^th I performed at Silhouette Burlesque in Burton on Trent which was a fun packed evening, with a lovely, supportive, friendly crowd. I was performing alongside the wonderful Dani California and Glorian Gray, which was a treat! They’re two of my favourite ladies and we always have such a giggle when we’re together. Thanks to all for an amazing night!

The second NWBS meet went with a swing…write up details can be found here . If you haven’t been and would like to attend please do, it’s such a lovely afternoon (even if I do say so myself) and it’s good to have a catch up outside of the normal backstage banter.

On 26^th myself and Ginger La Rouge performed at Cirque’s charity bash in Manchester. We spent most of the night nattering upstairs backstage but we did meet the lovely folks from The Circus of Horrors and when I got up on stage to do my Poison Ivy routine the crowd went mad for it, which was just brilliant. I often wonder if those from a non burlesque appreciating background will get what it’s all about, but they whooped and cheered like good ‘uns and I came away very happy from the event.

My last performance of the month was at Red Rocks 2^nd birthday on 30^th April, which was just fantastic. I absolutely adore performing there, it’s such a great evening and everyone is so friendly. It was lovely to meet Crimson Skye and Ivy Paige and to share a stage with Candee Handful and Ginger La Rouge again. Many thanks to Fey Tish for organising such a perfect night and for asking me back again next year, it’ll be my complete and utter pleasure.

In between all of this of course there have been other bits and bobs! Kate Donovan put up her birthday set on Donovan’s Darlings, featuring me, Kate, Bella Besame, Glorian Gray and Ginger La Rouge. It was such a fun shoot and we all had such an amazing night.

Kate also passed me back the pics from the Kitsch Kaos product shoot after they sent me some goodies. If you haven’t seen their stuff yet you should check it out, it’s absolutely gorgeous and beautiful.

And last but not least I (finally) finished my handmade, sequin and Swarovski crystal embellished costume and perfected my act for my new “Midnight” routine, which I’ll be debuting on 8^th May at The Peacock Lounge in Huddersfield. Details soon to be up on my “Acts” page, so keep an eye out!

I'm not entirely sure what I'll bedoing with my free eveninings now the stitching has been done but rest assured, two more new acts are on their way........

Toodle-pip and thanks for reading my lovelies

See you next month

Ivy xx

 

What a busy month it’s been! I’ve had a photoshoot, performances, a wedding to attend, a birthday party, a house warming and the first meeting of the North West Burlesque Society.

Sorry for the late blog, but as you can see, I’ve been up to quite a lot! Plus Easter adventures have me lagging behind somewhat, but that’s all for next month…..

The first performance of the month was on the 6^th with a fabulous evening of entertainment at “An Evening with Em Brulee”. If you haven’t heard Em  sing before you should definitely get your skates on and check out her current performance dates, that lady has such a beautiful soulful voice, I tingle every time I hear her sing. Performing were myself, Glorian Gray, Bam Bam Blue, Oh Ah Chocolat, Mimi Demure and Kitty Van Ghoul. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see anyone else’s acts but the crowd roared with appreciation all night long. The evening went marvellously, even if there was a tiny hitch with the lighting meaning that myself and the ladies backstage got to have more time for a good old natter, nothing to complain about at all! I performed “Tonight’s The Night” for the first time in a very long time and it went down a treat with many a whoop and cheer from the audience. Many thanks to the wonderful Mimi Demure for her marvellous organisational skills and astute professionalism and for keeping us all watered backstage.

The following day (7^th) myself and Kate Donovan tottered off over the hills to Sheffield to perform at Secrets of the Boudoir’s 2^nd Birthday. There we met up with fellow Donovan’s Darling Adelina Le Shay and set about our hair and makeup in preparation for the evening ahead (with a little stop off for chips along the way). I saw Adelina perform two routines I hadn’t seen before and she completely lit up the stage. She’s one of my favourite performers and a complete sweetheart to boot, I absolutely adore watching her on stage, no one can move their hips like that gal can!

On 20^th I headed over to Kate’s studio for her birthday DDs photoshoot. Myself, Glorian Gray, Bella Besame, Ginger La Rouge and Kate Donovan all got some good old fashioned girly time in helping each other with hair, makeup and dressing up before stepping out in front of the camera. I got to spend some time behind it too taking some small photosets for Donovan’s Darlings while Kate was busy getting the set and herself ready. We did a tassel extravaganza, a busty show and a beautiful group photoset for Kate’s birthday, all soon to be up on Donovan’s Darlings. I had such a super time with the girls and it was a big surprise when we realised it was 1.45 in the morning when we finally stopped shooting! On went the pj’s and we all settled down with a lovely spread, a few drinks then slumbered off into the land of nod. I can’t wait to see the end result!

On 26^th I headed off to the wedding of two of my lovely friends in Chorlton, sporting my brand new outfit, sailor shoes, a new blue and white spotted Vivien of Holloway dress and an oh so cute handbag in the shape of an apple. Each of the guests got a wedding favour in the shape of a knitted cat and some were personalised, mine with a little feather boa which I thought was just smashing.

It was a perfect day from start to finish, many congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs Gianinni!

The day after I headed off to Holmfirth for “Bert’s Burlesque Beauties” a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s charity. This is the second year running after a huge success last year. It’s a case that is very close to my heart and I am pleased to say the night was a roaring success.

Performing were myself, Mimi Couture , Glorian Gray , Adelina Le Shay , Bam Bam Blue, Daisy De Lux  and Freya Fox. Thanks so much to Lucie Evans for organising it and to those who attended and raised so much money for such a great charity.

The 28^th saw the first meeting of the North West Burlesque Society and what a success it was, we had performances from Ginger La Rouge, (debuting her Sonic the Showgirl Hedgehog Act, which is just amazing), a beautiful graceful fan dance from Crystal Cupcake and a cheeky parasol routine  from Lilybet Gray . Thanks ladies for your wonderful performances. We also had a burlesque quiz with a whole range of prizes and we came away with some fantastic ideas for future meetings. The evening was a huge success, thanks to all those who attended and we do hope you’ll come back in the future. Full write up and photos soon to be found here.

In other news this month, I have been pricking my fingers and have almost glued things to me several times after starting work on a brand spanking new costume to be debuted at The Belle Époque at The Peacock Lounge in May. You’re most certainly in for a treat if you plan to attend and I am thoroughly excited about my new venture. A little sneaky pic of the skirt I've nearly finished is here for your perusal!

Thanks for reading

Kisses and high kicks

Ivy xxxx

Oh, Last and in no way least:

Happy Birthday to my beautiful bestest Frenchi and congratulations to you and Carl for your engagement. I’m so ridiculously happy for the both of you. xx

Hello lovelies!

I haven’t been up to a terrible amount of things burlesque related this month. I have however been putting together ideas for two brand new acts and this week I shall be off to the fabric warehouse to start on making myself something pretty!

This has been a month for visiting family and myself and my better half have been down southwards and up northwards to see our respective families.

Alas it has not all been lacking in excitement, I did get asked to perform at Coquette  as a stand in as their main act had to cancel. Which meant that myself, Kate Donovan and Em Brulee  made it over to hills to see the lovely ladies at Coquette in their marvellous new venue. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see many of the other acts as I was rushing about after arriving late due to traffic (and getting lost). It was a great night though and a testament to those gals’ at Coquette’s love of burlesque. Thanks so much for all those whoops and cheers, the audience was super smashing all night long. I have added some pics that the lovely Matthew Kitchen too to the gallery. Thanks Matthew!

Other things I have done this moth have consisted of treating my beloved to a day bowling followed by a scrumptious meal and DVDs and the following day two films back to back in the cinema followed by a massive cheese platter for our dinner. I’d like to mention, in passing, how incredibly disappointed in the new version of Wolfman I was. Honestly, I’ve been sooo looking forward to it for months and I love Benicio Del Toro but obviously the troubles on set and change of director ultimately made what should have been an amazing film into a bit of a “so what” experience. Kick Ass better not let me down – I have preview tickets!! Oh and if you haven't seen Moon, rent it, it's a brilliant piece of film making.

I have also been setting up www.northwestburlesquesociety.com which has so far taken a considerable amount of time but should be ready to go next Monday (8th March) and the first meeting will be on Sunday 28^th March,. Please come along if you can make it, it;d be great to see you there.

I would like to add one last thing, although the recent months have not brought many gigs my way (mainly due to the fact that I took December and January off) but if you check my calendar page then you’ll see I am getting more and more booked as we speak, so keep your eyes peeled my loves, this year is the year of the Wilde!

Oh and…..new bento goods I bought today.....adorable!

Big love

Ivy xxxx

Hello! And a very belated Happy New Year to you all!

Terribly sorry about the tardiness of my blog but unfortunately I have been very busy with bits and bobs, especially in the run up to Christmas and the aftermath of snow and colds and coughs and sneezes, and building scary snowmen, thankfully I’m just about back on track.

Due to the above I don’t really have all that much to report. The only thing I managed to do in January was to get back into the studio with Kate Donovan to shoot two brand new photosets for Donovan’s Darlings.

Being one of crazy ideas from time to time and looking for more of a storyline to bring to the photosets I decided to do a “clothes eating plant” set, which of course entailed me making said plant. After hot glue burns, sticking of fingers and trying to get the teeth at the right size (as well as playing with magnets) my little Timothy II was born.

I went off to the studio, Timothy in hand and Kate and I had such giggle during the shoot, and having a peek at  the photos quickly before I went home I think this may very well be my favourite set to date.

And just for you a sneaky preview of the photoset soon to be available at Donovan’s Darlings, I’ll update my Donovan’s Darlings page when they’re live.

This weekend I am off to perform at Coquette in York, so expect a full report at the end of February, along with other adventures of a Wilde thing!

Glitter and sparkles

Ivy   xx

The month started with a road trip down to Essex organised by Bella Besame for the East Coast Tattoo Expo. The trip was a bit hellish as the rain didn’t stop all the way there, it was pitch black by the time we got the park, but we braved the weather and set about making ourselves beautiful for the night ahead. After a glass of wine and getting the heater on we were all warmed up and ready to go. Performing were myself, Bella Besame (who was also the compare), Bibby Bon Bon, Lola Pops, Bam Bam Blue, Em Brulee, Ginger La Rouge and Adelina Le Shay. Samia Sailor was taking on the maid duties for the weekend.

The performances went down a treat, I’m pretty sure I’ve blogged about everyone on that night previously apart from  the following; Ginger who’s a complete firecracker on stage and with the theme being “Bad Santa” she performed a delight of an act where Santa was holding her at gunpoint and forcing her to strip, needless to say it went down a treat. Lola performed her Crime cence Burlesque routine which I completely love, it’s such an inspired idea and she executes it beautifully. A special mention goes to Bibby Bon Bon who I hadn’t seen perform before, if you haven’t seen her please do as soon as possible I imagine she’ll be in high demand very soon, she’s pretty darn amazing and she’s a complete doll to boot.

The weekend was a complete hoot from start to finish, also I cannot go in to too much detail as apparently “what happens in Essex stays in Essex”. I can say the weekend for all of us ladies did involve: two new tattoos, Kate Moss and the Virgin Mary, raving around a car at 4am, extreme lack of sleep, wine, gin, beer and cider, upside down guitar playing and lots of laughter. Thanks to all the folk at East Coast and to Bella for inviting me down in the first place. It was brilliant.

The weekend after I performed at Belle Époque alongside the gorgeous, lovely and highly talented Dani California, Laureate O’Hara and the gorgeous chanteusse stylings of Sienna Vaughn and run by Bella Besame. I haven’t performed at the venue before which is absolutely stunning, if you haven’t been down for one of the burlesque nights I urge you to, the atmosphere was completely electric with the crowd were amazing whooping and cheering all the way through both of my acts (even after the technical hitch, which was completely my fault I hasten to add). I do know however, that they sell out pretty quickly so if you check their website and find something you may want to go and see get your tickets as soon as possible. It has to be in the top five places I’ve performed without a doubt, I absolutely loved it.

I met up with some of the Leeds lovelies the next day for Sunday lunch, and had a case of my eyes were way too big for my tummy. I filled my plate up but couldn’t finish everything and not wanting to appear rude I made a makeshift hat for my leftovers out of the yorkie pud left on my plate. To be fair it wasn’t actually fooling anyone but it did make me feel a little better about myself!

This Saturday I had the pleasure to perform at the first Gigi Golightly’s Winter Wonderland. It was a good night and I had a great time with the girls, I had to pleasure of having Lexi Sexx and Bam Bam Blue with me for the journey. Miss Blue performed her gorgeous Last Unicorn act which she’s recently updated, and is one of my personal favourites, it was brilliant before but it’s completely breathtaking now, I absolutely adore it. Lexi performed a tebby bear act which I hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing but I am so glad I now have. It’s one of the best acts I’ve seen for a long time and I was watching from the wings, honestly if you haven’t seen this girl do her thing then get your skates on, she’s a pleasure to watch and this new acts it one of the funniest and most fun out there right now. Lexi won the competition and it’s a testament to how cool headed and professional she is that even though there was a little hitch when the music skipped she kept straight on with her routine and the timing was perfect. I can’t say congratulations enough to her, she’s amazing. Goooooooooo LEXI! YEAH! 

I also got to see Peski De Ville's new Voodoo Dolly act which was brilliant, I just wish I had been able to be a bit closer to the front. The cosume was gorgeous and you can tell she truely put her heart and soul into creating a beautiful routine.

And on Sunday morning I said goodbye to Bam Bam and completed my set of Dagger Dames by picking up Miss Dee Lite and Lily Von Lush and whisking them away to Donovan Towers for their shoot with Kate for Donovan’s Darlings. I did a few bits and bobs before setting off home for a roast dinner courtesy of Mr Wilde. A lovely way to round off a busy weekend with a lot of travelling.

In other news:

I have started a separate blog on blogger for day to day things, I would like to keep this one as pure burlesque and pin up as it can be but I do find myself wavering from this from time to time so I thought it best to put this somewhere separate. If you’re at all interested then please visit me here:

www.amoderngirlwithavintagetwist.blogspot.com

I will not be performing in December as I have decided to take this as a month off. I say off but I have family and in-laws to visit as well as shopping to do and cakes to ice and other Christmas things so I thought it best to have a little break before the new year and a little time to relax.

I will still be contactable through email so if you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

I will be away this weekend, but that will be something you can find out about through the above mentioned blog.

So for now dearest chums

An early Merry Christmas and I’ll see you in 2010

Kisses under the mistletoe

Ivy xxxx

Hello my lovelies, I do hope you’re well and good.

Well this past month has been a bit of a strange one. I’ve had a couple of things that have caused me a tad too much stress but it’s always lovely to get away, put on a marvellous costume and be someone else on stage for the night leaving all those worries far, far behind me.  

The months started with Narcissus Burlesque on 2^nd October at Trippets in Sheffield. The night was featuring Donovan’s Darlings and run by the wonderful DD that is Sofire Rosa and the gorgeousness embodied of Lady Voix de Ville.  So off Kate and I trundled o’wer the hills (and far away) getting monumentally lost along the way and arriving with around twenty minutes to get read. Eeep! We managed to glam ourselves up quite beautifully, even if I do say so myself, and hair sprayed, make up fixed, costume adorned I was ready to go. I performed “The Making of Poison Ivy”  first which went down rather well, even more so when tassling disaster number 1 happened. Now it was very, very hot in the venue and glue and heat does not mix, my left tassel went flying off within the first ten seconds, well, I soldiered  on…..until TD no. 2..the other one went, then I just gave it a good old shimmy before finishing the act. I performed “From Russia With Love”  next and it was marvellous, everyone clapped along and I got thunderous applause at the end. I did have to dash but as I was making my way across the stage to leave everyone started shouting goodbye and gave me an extra round of applause, it really warmed my heart. Thanks to those in attendance, it was a great night and all acts were marvellous, Adelina Le Shay, Willow Blue, Sofire Rosa, Deadly Nightshade and the amazing compare skills of Lady Voix de Ville.

The event I’d been looking forward to for many a month had finally arrived, and arrived with a bang it did. On the 10^th of October Cold War Burlesque opened its doors at The island Bar in Birmingham. Performing for Team Russia under the watchful eye of team captain Vlad  were I, Cherryfox, May Hemm, Ditzy Diamond and Peski DeVille. Team England was captained by The Decadent Gent with Honey Wilde, Khandie Khisses, Delilah Dufoe, Candee Handful and Lula May Rae . It was a brilliant night with lots of pantomime and many a wonderful performance.

I could only get snippets until I’d performed but I did see the marvellous Honey Wilde’s Thatcher routine that I was so looking forward to. It was hilarious and completely inspired (plus with a little bit of Depeche Mode at the beginning how could I not completely LOVE it). I also saw Candee Handful’s “Madame Ant” which was superb. She looked resplendent in baby blue and white satin, all frills and lace and grace. Cherryfox was up next with a rather naughty little number, taking advantage of The Decadent Gent and teasing the life out of him. Ditzy Diamond gave a rambunctious performance and dazzled the audience with her curves and gorgeous simile.  Khandie Khisses closed the show with her “Baby of the Blitz” routine which made me feel completely breathless, I have no idea where she gets her energy from, I could have a had a little nap after seeing her move I was that exhausted, she’s quite the bobby dazzler!

The audience got a card to vote for their favourite team and favourite performer, Team Russia won, and we celebrated with lots of whoops and cheers and jumping about. The gorgeous Delilah Dufoe won the favourite performance with her Austin Powers routine, with myself and Ditzy coming joint second (thanks to all who voted, it was lovely coming second and getting some feedback on my routine, I’m so glad you enjoyed it). All in all it was a tip top night and huge congratulations to El Kapitan and The Decadent Gent for putting on such a fabulous show.

The week that followed was one of the weeks I look forward to most in the year. It was time to make the Christmas cakes (hurrah!). I make two for the family and one for us. If you’re not a Christmas cake baker then the reason I make them so early is because each week I feed the cakes with brandy and they are all boozy and lovely by the time they get iced. So I set about making the cakes and our little place smelt marvellous for a good week, all the spices and fruit and brandy. For me it’s a sign that Christmas is really coming and it’s my favourite time of the year. I’m definitely more of a winter person than a summer person. I like to get in from work and relax in my robe and slippers and curl up with a nice steaming cup of cocoa when the rain is lashing down outside on a frosty winter night happy and contented I’m indoors. I love waking up on a crisp morning and seeing frozen cobwebs in the morning frost glittering in the sun. I love wrapping up warm and going up into the hills to see the snow. I truly love winter.

On 22^nd I performed at Brahaha  for part of Manchester Comedy Festival and supporting the Eve Appeal. Manchester’s first night of burlesque with different stand up comedians in between the acts. The night was run by the wonderful Cat Davies (Kitty Cointreau) with performances by myself, the stunning Millie Dollar, the beautiful Twinkle Starr, the gorgeous Champagne Charlie, the lovely lady that is Heather Sweet, the glorious Suzie Sequin and magnificent Bluebell Malone. All acts were top notch with a special mention to Heather for being thigh slappingly funny with her take on the Little Mermaid which always has me in stitches,  alas it was a week night and the other half having to be up early I packed my bags , tottered off into the night and made my way home.

On 25^th, I made my way to the wonderful Acacia Studios to have my time behind the camera with the wonderful, gorgeous Kate Donovan. It was a photo shoot for a set for Remembrance Day for Donovan’s Darlings. I was slightly nervous, only having taken a couple of pictures of Adelina last time I ventured that side of the camera in the studio, but Kate’s has certainly got it going on. She was perfectly posing all the way through and we had a lovely day together. And here is one of the sneak peeks of the set that she sent to me the next day, putting my fears to rest. I hope this will be the start of something magical for the both of us.

And there we are at the end of the month, I have nothing else to report apart from to ask you to keep an eye on my calendar, I already have bookings in for next year so please do come see me dance about or if you’d like me to perform at your night then email me at mail@ivywilde.co.uk.

Toodle-pip then chums, until next  month :D

Bumps and Grinds

Ivy xxxx

On the 6^th September I was delighted to perform at the Slippery Belle in Leeds, hosted and compared by the beautiful Bella Besame  resplendent in lilac and looking good enough to eat. Again performing The Making of Poison Ivy and From Russia With Love, they both went down a storm and there were whoops and cheers a plenty. Also joining me on the bill were Adelina le Shay , Brazen Charade, Quixotic Corruption, Stiletto Starr and Aphrodite Delight. Unfortunately I didn’t have much time to catch anyone’s performances as the dressing room is on the top floor and it’s a nervous walk down some stairs (for me anyway, they’re the ones with gaps in them and I’m awfully afraid of heights!) before reaching a suitable point to find a space to watch. I did hear the sounds of cheers throughout the night and from the smiles abundantly being thrown about backstage I would say they all went down a treat. At the end of the night we brought a birthday cake out and say for Mikey Wong and Bella , they seemed very surprised as was I when the candles kept re-lighting, naughty Adelina! Bella  and I enjoyed a thoroughly good sing song (or I should say rap along) to my Salt N Pepa Very Necessary album, something I re-discovered after moving house last year, Mikey , he got treated to a little On a Rope after Bella  departed the car by way of an apology for making him sit through the previous.

On 9^th September my good self and my rather better half and wonderful friends set off on adventures to Bestival on the Isle of Wight, it was a really tight squeeze but we managed to have a nice game of tetris with our tents, food, beer etc in packing the car and got us all squished in accordingly. The journey down wasn’t too bad, we set off on the Wednesday and stayed in Newport in quite possibly the nicest travelodge I’ve ever been in for the night before setting off to make camp on the Thursday. After two hours in the queue we managed to get into the site straight off when the gates opened (having been one of the first in the queue) and got a rather good spot in which to camp. Gazebo up, tents at the ready we settled down to an afternoon of drinks and munchables in the glorious sun (which didn’t falter for the whole weekend).

Bestival was brilliant, in fact (and cheesily enough) the best festival I’ve ever been too, it looks beautiful, there’s so much effort in decorating the place and making it sparkly and pretty you can’t help falling in love with the place. Wandering about eyes wide at the twenty foot high roses all beautifully lit up and lining the walkways was out of this world. My lovely bestie Frenchi got married to her beau in the inflatable church and we all got dressed up, I even got to be bridesmaid, and quite strangely the dress wasn’t all that different from my actual bridesmaid dress when my folks got married! I was terribly happy when I got to see Seasick Steve  again, I think I may be a little in love with him, throughout his set I was joined by a giant red chilli who held onto me tight and danced about with me, one of the more magical moments of the weekend for me, especially with Steve  singing Walking Man in the background. Thank you giant red chilli, you gave me the hots (ba-boom-tish!).

I even managed to fit some burlesque in (hurrah!). I got up nice and early on the Sunday and put my hair up, my make up on and donned one of my favourite stop staring dresses and my black peep toes and trotted off for the walk to the Time for Tease tent. We’d ordered a full cream tea complete with cucumber sandwiches, mini cakes and a large pot of tea, it was simply heaven. After three days of chemically treated water to make tea at camp it was a very needed change to have something to lovely to sip at (or gulp down in my case!). We were entertained by the beautiful songbird Liberty Pink  who has a voice like velvet, the buxom Miss Rose Thorne  and her wonderful Squaw Blimey routine, followed by the most amazingly drunkenly unhinged peformance (in the best way possible!) of Kitten Von Strumpet who enticed us with a Parisian absinthe routine and topped off with the stunning Kitty Bang Bang  who shook, shimmied, balloon popped and fan danced all the way into our hearts, magnificent! Many thanks to the people at Time for Tease  for making it a highlight of the festival and putting on a jolly good show,  I was so terribly glad I’d booked so early and got a good seat right at the front!

The journey back to Manchester wasn’t the best, I was far too tired and had to stop to have a little sleep for half an hour before I could carry on again, the perils of sleeping in a tent at a festival and the constant noise and heat in the morning meant that sleeping was a bit of a problem, it’s all part of the fun thought isn’t it? Mind you I have suggested getting a camper van next time, cheating I know but better than carrying everything up and down the massive hill on the way in/out!

By the weekend of 18^th September I’d just about recovered and the better half and I were off to Cheshire to celebrate my step-ma’s 50^th birthday (many happy returns!). We had a mouth wateringly good meal at a lovely Italian Restaurant that my parents frequent regularly and she had a spectacular time and looked beautiful in a black dress with her lovely Jimmy Choos and rather liked the jewellery I’d bought her. The rest of the weekend was pent recovering and doing things that involved little effort. On 19^th we went to the Odeon in the Printworks (I’d quite forgotten what a ghastly place it was on a Saturday night) and used the vouchers I’d been bought for my birthday to go and see Final Destination 4. Now I’m not saying it was a great film or I was particularly  excited about it BUT we got gallery seats, extra wide with free soft drinks, nachos and popcorn and the 3D was amazing. Even more so than the film the trailer for James Cameron’s Avatar (which I’ve been getting excited about for months and was heightened by the collectors cover of this month’s subscription Empire and correlating article) quite literally took my breath away, fellow film geeks out there, you will LOVE it.

On 26^th, myself and Cheeky Spoonful set off to pick up Kate Donovan  and then meet with Darling Dottie. Unfortunately we got lost in picking Kate  up and managed to hold everyone up for half an hour, but after this we did manage to get on our way down to Portsmouth. The weather was absolutely gorgeous once we got past Oxford and it seemed a very good omen. Arriving in Portsmouth the lovely Joe Black’s wonderful Mum had been ever so kind to have the eight of us stay with them, something to wit I passed on my most utmost thanks and a lemon cake I’d baked the night before. After plucking and preening and catching up and glittering and making ourselves look very fabulous, myself, Cheeky, Kate , Dottie, Willow Blue , Coco Malone , Joe Black , Cherry Fox and Duke Wayward made our way to The Old Vic to set up, run through and do all those things we do (such as sit around telling foul jokes and smoke). Rehearsals over, the show went on and what a show it was, in between getting changed I managed to see Cherry’ s signature leopard routine which was amazing fun, Coco’s  new Casino routine went down a treat as did her beautiful singing, everyone was joining in through All That Jazz it was simply marvellous. Willow  has now invented the “cock balloon pop” which also went brilliantly as did Duke’s  London commuter act. And last but in no way least was the wonderfully talented Joe Black , if you haven’t seen this chap grace the boards then put it high (if not top) of your list, he was quite magnificent and wowed the crowd and myself with his pyrotechnic delights. Absolutely outstanding.

And then followed some gin and some chats and catch-up’s and plans and a little bit of a sing song. It was a lovely way to round off the night. We did go to Love Albert Road Day but unfortunately had to leave quite early. It looked like a lot of fun though and a beautiful day, there are pics of some of the ladies and gents being live window models on the Love Albert Road facebook group  if you search and fancy a nosey.

On 28^th I went out to the wonderful San Carlo  to celebrate Bella Besame’s birthday. Lots of fun was had by all, wine consumed the food was fantastic and Bella beamed when the waiters brought her a little cake with a candle in it and sang her Happy Birthday. It was lovely to celebrate such a fantastic lady's birthday with her. Happy Birthday Bella !

In other news…….

I’ve added a new page to my website, with videos of me on it. It’s under “Silver Screen – Ivy In Action” and it’s to the left side of where you are now, look, just over there ß so go and have a nosey if you like.

Until next month….

Ivy xx

What a month it's been! I've done less on the performing side as IIve had a few personal matters to attend to over the last month.

 

On 2^nd August, Kate Donovan of Donovan's Darlings asked if I would like to come to the studio and shadow her as she took photos of Coco Malone. I was thrilled to bits to be asked to do this. I absolutely adore photography and it was good to see how things worked on the other side of the lens. There are so many things to think about such as lighting and stance and it was good to see Kate work her magic and watch a master at work.

 

I again joined Kate in the studio on 8^th September, this time with Adelina Le Shay modelling. I stayed the whole day and Kate even let me take some photos at the end of the shoot, I've just got them in my mits and I have to say they're none to bad for a first attempt.  I'm usually an outdoorsy type with my togging and it's a completely different kettle of fish but I think it went well. Time will tell!

 

Both Adelina and Coco are complete naturals in front of the camera, it puts my tomfoolery and face pulling to shame, it did make me pull my socks (or stockings) up a little though!

 

I was in the studio with Kate on 15^th and Cheeky Spoonful joined us for a couple of hours at the beginning of the day to have a chat with Kate about future ventures. After she left Kate and I got down to the nitty gritty and got me corseted, in stockings, fabulously high shoes and set me to lounging about on a chaise longue. It was a lot of fun and as you can see from the little teaser at the side we got some rather good pics. Keep your eyes on www.donovansdarlings.com for them to go live.

On Friday night (28^th) I performed at Daisy's Peepshow (formerly Peepsville) alongside Lexi Sexx of the Dagger Dames, Katy Kamikaze, Duke Wayward, Brazen Charade, Nelly Plum and Lola Von Bomb. Lexi is one of my all time favourite Leeds ladies, she's got great stage presence and is an absolute darling, if you haven't seen her or the Dagger Dames before go and check them out. I hadn't seen Duke before but I'd heard plenty about him and eagerly anticipated his performances, least to say I was not disappointed, he was just brilliant. I loved Katy Kamikaze's return to the stage resplendent in yellow and brown with a crown perched atop her head and Nelly Plum's Swine Flu routine was hilarious. It was just great to perform alongside such absolute lovelies. I performed "From Russia With Love"� and "The Making of Poison Ivy"� which both went down a treat, thanks to everyone who cheered me on and made me feel most welcome, it was wonderful to perform for you.

 

On Saturday myself and my other (some would say better) half went to Leeds for the UK v US Burlesque Show starring Fancy Chance, Vicky Butterfly, Diva Hollywood, Bella Besame, Leyla Rose and Missy Malone, Pinkie Special, Ekaterina Skanarina, Siren Stiletto, Kimberley MacKoy and Marianne Cheesecake without forgetting that the beautiful Boneshakers were acting as maids for the evening.

 

 

Congratulations to Dalia Hawley of Leeds Burlesque for putting on such a fantastic show. It was enjoyed by all and the cocktails went down a treat. Fingers crossed it'll be the first of many fantastic nights to come.

Ivy xx

Well and the end of June actually…..

 

The 27^th June saw my performance at The Wet Spot, thanks so much for those who came to cheer me on. I arrived all primped, primed and ready to go, managed to squeeze myself a little spot backstage and said hello to the ladies who were already there. Unfortunately there was a little hitch when one of the lights blew backstage but this was quickly remedied by the wonderful Ryvita Von Cheese who seemed to appear in a second to set up some lights for us so we could apply the finishing touches to costume and make make-up. I was all set to go and waited in the wings for my name to be called.

 

Name called I took to the stage and performed my “From Russia With Love ” routine, unfortunately I couldn’t keep my hat on for too long as yet again I did my hair far too high and it was very precariously perched upon my crown. The routine went down a treat though and got many a cheer. I performed “The Making of Poison Ivy” as my second act, again this went without a hitch and I got a marvellous reception from the audience. Thanks to Inaglo Photography  for the marvellous photos, a couple of which are in the gallery.

 

I managed to see most of the other lovely ladies perform apart from Missy Malone , who I was really hoping to see, alas we spent most of the time passing as one went off and the other one on. It really was a pleasure to be placed on such a prestigious bill alongside the stunning Vicky Butterfly , the beautiful Anna Fur Laxis , the dazzling Daiquiri Dusk, the delightful Diva Hollywood, the charming Carrie Ann, the ravishing Ryvita Von Cheese, and the marvellous Missy Malone . I can’t of course forget the highly hilarious Ruby Honeycut Corset who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and seeing perform before, she had me in complete stitches once again and for the first time I saw the lovely Leggy Pee and her gorgeous man, Charlie, I very nearly had my hands on him backstage, especially when he was knocking about in his pjs, he’s quite the charmer.

 

It was simply wonderful to perform at a night I’d heard such good things about and it lived up to every one of them, the crowd were so welcoming, the music perfect dancing pitch, the gin in doubles and the lovely Ryvita  the most organised lady I have ever met, it was such a pleasure to perform there and I sincerely hope they’ll have me back soon.

 

After such a glitteringly glamorous night it was with a bump that I fell back to earth (or in this case Manchester), shaking sequins from my shoes and feathers from my frillies I longingly gazed at my calendar only to find, five days until my jollies!

 

So off I went with a skip and hop to Bude with the lovely Cheeky Spoonful and other friends. We stayed at Langfield Manor which we’d rented exclusively for the week. I had hoped the week would be full of ice-cream and clotted cream tea but we only managed one ice-cream (you should have seen the size of it) and we missed the cream tea, the evenings, however, were mostly full of gin, as I was myself.

 

We did spend a lovely day paddling on the beach at Bude, which is just gorgeous and the sea was rather warm too. We went to The Eden Project , which has been on my list for years but I have never got around to visiting so far, if you haven’t been put it on your list, it’s definitely a must. We also went to visit out friend Jeff who has moved to Newquay for the summer, he took us to a delightful little National Trust beach called Godrevy , I wasn’t brave enough to even dip my toe in the sea but Cheeky jumped in with much gusto and brought back with her a strange looking piece of seaweed we named Jeff in honour of our friend. Unfortunately Jeff got left behind at the Manor as he was starting to dry out and was a tad whiffy, poor Jeff.

 

We spent our last day sunbathing in the baking heat, had a dip in the pool and then watched the men barbeque the meat while the girls chatted over G &T’s and Pimms. It was rather splendid.

 

Dawn broke and we spent a couple of hours picking our things up, packing like crazy and saying our goodbye to those who were staying an extra day, we then set off to Portsmouth.

 

Although most of the journey was through some beautiful countryside it took us about six hours after getting stuck in a traffic jam on an A road. By the time we arrived in Portsmouth I was exhausted from all the driving. We checked into our seafront hotel and I left Kate Donovan a message saying we’d arrived.

 

Kate  called back about an hour later, at which point we were feeling a little more refreshed, having had that good old fashioned English remedy, a nice cup of tea. Kate  soon arrived back with Willow Blue, Coco Malone , Suzie Sequin , Sofire Rosa  and Darling Dottie, we all said our hellos and Kate  made us a delicious dinner of fajitas and gorgeous other foodstuffs, which was very welcome after the long journey. Cheeky decided to stay in and catch up on sleep but I managed a couple of drinks before heading back and catching a few Zs.

 

The next day we were up bright and early to be on Express FM, interviewed by the wonderful Heather James, who is just an absolute sweetheart. We then went off to Dead Man’s Glory  to have a few pictures taken and to have a look at their gorgeous clothes and accoutrements. A little while after we popped back to the hotel so we could all make ourselves presentable for the night’s merriment.

 

After all was done we went to the South Parade Pier to have our photos taken with the wrestlers, now anyone who knows me knows about my love of WWE, so of course I was in heaven. The jury’s still out of which was better, the first time I stepped between the ropes and into the ring or when one of the boys picked me up! We stayed for a little while but had reservations at The Dolphin where we ate a wonderful meal and the beautiful Jo Baker sang her sultry songs in her silky smooth voice for us. The night was rounded off with much dancing and delight at a place so cheesy I’m ashamed to admit it.

 

The next day (12^th July) was the brunch to end all brunches, followed by much happiness and merriment and scurrying around to get ourselves together and sorted for the night of performance ahead. We arrived at The Old Vic and set about Rosin’s living room, changing, sticking, painting and preening ourselves. In Kate’s own words “it looks like we kidnapped Tinkerbell and let her loose in here”.

 

The Kissy Kat Klub  (on tour) went without a hitch, the crowd, some of whom hadn’t been to a burlesque show before, were on top form once they’d settled into the festivities, some of the wrestlers even turned up (good golly!). All of the ladies above performed, minus Kate  who was our compare for the night, and Cheeky made her debut as the maid, a very naughty maid I hasten to add!

 

The performances were all dazzling and I even managed to see a couple I haven’t seen before including Sofire Rose, my gosh, her belly dancing antics made me blush, I wish I could shake my hips like that!

 

I performed “Tonight’s The Night” and “The Making of Poison Ivy” which both went down a treat with those watching. It was good to do an oldie, I haven’t performed “Tonight’s The Night” for a little while now and as it was the first routine I ever performed I have a fondness in my heart for it, plus it always gets a lot of laughs which makes me so happy. Performances done we set about mingling and met some rather lovely people who I do hope to see again soon.

 

The Kissy Kat did so well in fact that it's been booked in the main bar at The Old Vic on 27th September, tickets are available at The Old Vic and Dead Man's Glory (see links above) priced at £10. A complete bargain for such a bevvie of beauties!

 

The journey home after such a brilliant night was a bit sad I’m afraid to say, I’d had such a wonderful time and spent it with such wonderful people that I didn’t want to my little holiday to be over. We packed and left, waving goodbye to Portsmouth as we journeyed out of the city and onto the grey paving of the motorway.

 

All was not lost however, upon my return I found our place spick and span and there were bottles with flowers in all over the place, my better half had done quite the cleaning job whilst I was away and it was lovely to be welcomed back home in such a glorious manner. We celebrated with pizza and lashings of orange cordial (I’m abstaining from the gin for a couple of weeks).

 

A three day working week took me up to last weekend, and as weekends go it was a very lovely one. The husband and myself went to Tatton Park , a place I haven’t been to since my Father had cause to call me half pint. We went to the farm (probably not the best idea to wear four inch heels but you live and learn) and we fed the goats. I love goats and these ones were gorgeous little angora goats which I have informed my dearest that we shall be getting (along with chickens) at our future residence. At this rate we’ll be getting somewhere with a plot of land attached for the animals, vegetable patch, chicken run and rose garden, we can but dream, eh?

 

Anyhoo, we went for a wander around the Mansion and I discovered to my delight that they have two Canalettos, something I obviously wasn’t aware of when I was indeed of half pint size. The Mansion was gorgeous but we didn’t have an awful lot of time as it was soon to close, we dashed around the remainder and decided to leave the gardens to another day.

 

Back to Manchester we had a bite to eat and then set off to see Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince. I have to say although I enjoyed it a lot of the things I was looking forward to weren’t actually in the film, much to my dismay there were no flashbacks with the Gaunts and I really don’t think they built up the relationship with Harry and Dumbledore the way the book did meaning there were words left unsaid and Harry was quite bitter towards him before he was murdered in the book, no such thing in the film. So I wasn’t the blubbering mess I usually am, the book still has me tears when I read it though. I’m just glad they’re splitting The Deathly Hallows into two books hopefully they wont miss a thing that way.

 

And that dear reader is that, I feel like this could have been much shorter but I have cut the waffling as much as I can. Hopefully catch you soon and I hope your July has been and remains to be as much fun as mine.

 

Ivy xx

 

 

Well, what a terribly busy time I’ve been having recently.

 

At the end of May I performed at Red Rocks’  first birthday bash at the Island Bar in Birmingham. It was a very special night as RR is where I popped my burlesque cherry.  The night was amazing, the line up brilliant and I was thrilled to be sharing a stage with so many talented ladies. I was especially happy that I got to see Red Sarah  perform, wow, that lady is simply stunning and mesmerising.

 

I debuted one of my new acts “From Russia With Love” and it was pleasure to see my plans come to fruition as it’s been a good six months since I first started with the idea, it was well worth the pricked fingers, manic sewing and hours of rehearsal.

 

Thanks so much to Fey Tish  for organising the event and welcoming me back with open arms, a special thank you also to Tiptop Photography  for the lovely pictures, a few of which are in my burlesque gallery.

 

 

On 9^th June it was my birthday, I’m not telling you how old because a lady never tells. I spent the day relaxing and found out my local cinema was re-playing Spartacus, so off I went on my own, got the biggest bag of popcorn you could imagine and settled down to watch a truly magnificent film. Being the massive film geek I am, it was a very special moment for me, I’ve never seen a Kubrick film on the big screen, its something I won’t forget. Especially the bath scene, they must have cut that for the TV because I’ve never seen that before. I thought it was a very accurate portrayal of Romans though, they were all up to it!

 

Great Donovan’s Darlings  news, the website is now live. If you haven’t already, get over there and check it out. There are lovely photosets to download and videos too, including one of yours truly, Kate and I had such a lot of fun filming it, I hope that everyone loves it as much as I do.

 

The 20^th June saw the launch night of the Kissy Kat Klub , run by the wonderful Willow Blue , and boy what a night it was. Set in a concert venue it was fully seated with a raised stage and a wonderful audience, it was the perfect night from start to finish. The audience were magnificent, the acts were amazing, Kate was a great compare and whipped the crowd into quite a frenzy, backstage the air was electric, and hats off to Willow, staying calm whilst running a tight ship was something I’m not so sure I could do. As well as performing “From Russia With Love”, I debuted my “Making of Poison Ivy” routine, which went down a treat.

 

It was lovely to share a dressing room with so many beautiful ladies, a special mention goes to Coco Malone  who I hadn’t seen perform before, she was just amazing and what a voice! If you haven’t seen her check out her myspace for dates and hop to it.

 

Massive thanks to Willow for an excellent night, to Cherryfox Fine Photography  and to ZT Photography  for taking such wonderful pics (again a few are in the gallery) and thanks to Number Von Son  for filming during the course of the evening."From Russia With Love" is now on youtube, check out his other work too.

 

I’m performing at The Wet Spot  in Leeds this weekend and am terribly excited about it, if you’re going I’ll see you there, make sure you come and say hello to me it’ll be terrific to make your acquaintance if we haven’t met.

 

Ivy xx