Sunday, February 17, 2013

Name That Stripper

So, one of the things that is going on in my life right now, which has recently been FILLED with things that have lead to my genuinely not having time to read and/or blog, is that I have made it into the advanced burlesque or "show" class and am preparing for my debut performance as a solo burlesque dancer at the end of June (something I am starting to think of as a marketable job skill given the advice I've received from all my UK peeps on the availability of actual jobs). There's a lot more that goes into this class than just showing up and shaking your ass around. For example there's developing a critical eye for performance (an ongoing homework assignment that basically involves watching ALL of the things), learning how to choreograph something that is not just standing there taking off your clothes whilst otherwise being exceptionally boring (something I am starting to notice a remarkable amount of now that I've developed a critical eye for performance by watching ALL the things), and, perhaps most importantly, deciding who you plan to be as a burlesque dancer (what your style is going to be, who is your character, how do you interact with the audience, etc.)

Part of that last thing is literal: our very first assignment in class was to start thinking about what our name was going to be. This is actually way harder than it seems because there's a lot more to think about than is immediately apparent. Your stage name should be all of the following things:
  • Reflective of the character you want to be. The very first thing the audience knows about you is your name, and it will determine what they expect to see.
  • Not easily misconstrued. Michelle told us a story in class that I am not allowed to repeat here, but suffice it to say, don't pick a word that can be pronounced in several ways, especially if one of those ways is unflattering.
  • Per Michelle, not something tired and overdone that practically every other burlesque dancer or stripper has done to death, i.e. anything using kitty or another variation of "cat", anything that starts with "Miss" (Miss Anthrope, Miss Demeanor - these are both actual names people are using. Seriously.), anything with "Von" or "Vaughn" in it, anything using the word cherry.
  • Not already being used by someone else, or too similar to something being used by someone else. Either they will get VERY angry with you or you will constantly be mistaken for a porn star.
In the case of our particular class, there is a further criteria in that Michelle has to not hate it. The name I had fallen in love with YEARS ago, Poppy Coxx, has two major problems. One is that, in between googling it when I thought of it and googling it again just to double check, someone else decided to start going by Poppy Cox and is touring around the country doing a show about "bicycle porn". The other is that in hesitating about how to alter it in a way that Michelle wouldn't instantly veto (Poppy Cok? Poppy Coq?), I waited too long and now another girl in my class has chosen a name that starts with Poppy, and it would be kind of ridiculous to have two performers named Poppy. Since finding that part out about a week ago, I have been brainstorming names with StereoNinja and BrownsFan, and we've collectively come up with, well, basically nothing. Every good idea we've had (Boobie Fett!) is already taken. "The problem," I said to BrownsFan, "is that lots of other people are clever."

And then I remembered something important. I HAVE HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE READING MY BLOG EVERY DAY AND THEY ARE ALSO CLEVER! So, with that in mind, I'm putting it to you guys: what should my stage name be? The best thing we've come up with so far is Bloomy Madd. It's ok, and you should definitely let me know if you like it, but I think you guys can beat that. What say you?

(StereoNinja adds that we'll give a free t-shirt to the person to comes up with the best name, however, that will probably seem like much more of an incentive when we actually design some t-shirts.)

18 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh, amaze. This'll be fun. The first thing that popped into my head was 'Poxy Roxy', which honestly says more about me than anything else, and I'll be talking about that in therapy. To rid my brain of the discomfort of 'Poxy Roxy', I loaded up a name generator because, well, I'm lazy. That was a terrible mistake, though, because out of all the possible random combinations, it gave me 'Bambi Fantasy'.

BAMBI FANTASY.

...

RULE 34. RULE 34. RULE 34. DON'T THINK ABOUT IT. DON'T THINK ABOUT WHAT FANTASIES A PERSON MIGHT HAVE INVOLVING BAMBI. Ugh, too late. I'm ruined. Like, for life this time, not just for a couple of days like that one time I wasn't vigilant with safe search and a suspect search phrase.

Uh, anyway. Thereafter I decided that the only name worth having was 'Sway'. I'm not sure why, it just happened.

THEREFORE, MY HUMBLE SUGGESTIONS:

Bambi Fantasy :((((

Sway Gin ('Deadwood' was the best fucking show ever, and Sway Gin sounds exactly how the Chinaman pronounced Swearengen, and Al is the king of my everything.)

Lady Sway

Sway Peaches (because tush)

Sway Plenty (because giggle)

Sway Topps (because boobies)

Sway South (heh heh heh)

I can't think of any more. I've exhausted my internal database of burlesque names. Now I'll never become a dancer.

Brook said...

Following on some already mentioned:
Bloomy Madd is good, but I think maybe Blooming Maddy or Blooming Maude.
Roxy Role (orRoll)
Maia(or Maya) Sway
.
It kind of depends on the character you are going for, but:
Madame Curry
Risque Kay (Rysk Kaye)
Flask Bang (Flasque?)
Maude Lynne
Bawd Lynn
Seek Wince (Sique Winz)
May Naughty
Bea Knotty
that's all for now :)
~brook

Lauren said...

Shirley Sonsy

Lauren said...

... Shirley anything, really!!

Brook said...

Plum(b) Tickled
Peacock Blue
Feather Locklear (sp?)
Bizzy Ness
Ness Lee
Bobbie Soon
Berry Cuta
Ella Gance (or Glance)
Toxique
Tongue in Cheeky
Wanda Scream
Ivanna Scream
Ivanna Cream
Berry Cream
Madd Moxy
Toxic Moxxie
Purr Anna

buddhavet said...

I don't have any originals but I REALLY like Maia Sway. Just my two cents.

Stacey said...

I vote for something that is not a super obvious sex pun and also something that isn't two words blatantly trying to be another word.

Unknown said...

Fun times!

There are lots of good suggestions above. Here are mine:

Honey Moon
Flash Gorgeous (because then you could use the Flash Gordon theme song and be SAVIOUR OF THE UNIVERSE)

Laura Mary said...

TITS MCGEE!!!!!!!!


Stay Classy San Diego ;-)

Anonymous said...

I can't think of anything specific but if you're going to be working in the UK, how about something that's obviously American?

Alternatively, could you have Friday Knight? Or any day of the week followed by Knight. (Except Tuesday because I'm pretty sure that's taken by an actress.)

Anonymous said...

Maisie Balls

Anonymous said...

Ruby Lips?

Brook Again said...

I need to stop doing these... but here are some more.
Yule Beg
Jewel Beg
Jewel ______ (Bend, Submit, Lover)
Mona Deux
Mona Me
Coquette Confidante
Wett Coquette
Evette Coquette
Spicy Sue
Anna Mae
Bea Have
Toasty Buns
Anne Sanity
Anne Sane
Bone Amore
Deep Fathom
Ransom Demand (although demanned makes me nervous about this one)
Mystique Chaste
Crimson Blush
Blade Drawn (or Drawn Blade)
Ivanna Burn
Wett Burn
Pistol Grip
Pistol Whip
Night Shade
Blue Tonium
Annie Thyme
Annie Shade
Chaste Down
Lucy Lover (not Lucille Ball, I suppose)
Blush Redd
Chainy Down
Dixxy Grip (Not Dixie Chainy either)
Chaste Dixie
Magic Wanda
Beau Feathers
Leggs Akimbo
Alexis Flexx (Lexy Flexd)(I just realized this could be flecks :( )
I have no doubt some of these are taken and others are too cheesy. But do love puns, sex, and brainstorming.

Crystal Daze said...

If you still need inspiration here is a link to some of the best burlesque acts in the EU. Just flip through past and present acts. Most are french inspired.

http://www.cirque-rouge.com/Cirque_Rouge/Home.html

When you move to the UK you should stop by AT for one of the shows. Everyone dresses up, we watch the acts and then we dance all night in a ball room.

Lasenna said...

I should have been keeping up with this blog more recently than I have been, but here are a few of my suggestions if you haven't already chosen.

Chess Tickle(s) (inspired by a guy referring to someone's amazingly huge chesticles)
Belle Buster (like Ball Buster)
Toddy Knot/Hot (Hot Toddy)
Pixie Sticks
Candy Love
Scarlet Letter

and just because you seem to be into UK-type things
Tara Suss (which I'm told in British is prounounced churar suss and means Cheerio Suspect)

Lasenna said...

Oh yeah, and someone may have already named this or there may be someone else who has it but I also wanted to include

Honey Buns

with my other sweet-themed names.

Anonymous said...

Trixie Midnight

Anonymous said...

Tricky Wicked
Trixy Wicked