Performing, Recording & Awarding Burlesque — with Viktor Devonne

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Burlesque performer, producer, podcaster, and founder of the Silver Tusk Awards, Viktor Devonne joins me for a thoughtful conversation about his creative life in burlesque.

With over two decades as an artist and nearly 300 episodes of his podcast We Burlesque, Viktor has dedicated himself not only to performing, but to documenting, spotlighting, and supporting the ecosystem of burlesque through interviews, festivals, and awards.

We talk about his early Rocky Horror influences, navigating the industry, producing responsibly in a small creative community, and what it means to stay engaged in the work over time.

And of course, we talk about Samuel — his very handsome senior rescue cat — whose story includes a dramatic street rescue including a mouse-related emergency. 

🎭 Connect with Viktor

• Instagram: @viktordevonne
• We Burlesque: @weburlesque
• Silver Tusk Awards: @silvertuskawards
• Listen to We Burlesque wherever you stream podcasts.

🏆Projects Mentioned

• We Burlesque Podcast – Nearly 300 episodes chronicling performers and producers across the burlesque world
• Silver Tusk Awards – An annual celebration spotlighting burlesque talent and contribution

🐱 Stay Connected:

• Follow Tails and Tassels on Instagram: @tailsandtasselspod
• Follow Catbaret on Instagram: @catbaretshow

Got a question or a story about your cat? 🐱 I’d love to hear from you! Message me on Instagram or email tailsandtasselspod@gmail.com.

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Transcript

Tails and Tassels – Episode Transcript

Gemma Smith with Viktor Devonne

Gemma Smith (00:06.51)
Hello kitty cats, and welcome back to Tails and Tassels, the show where you learn about the lives of burlesque and nightlife performers, their craft, their cats, and how those two worlds intertwine. I'm your host, Gemma Smith. By day, I work in animal welfare, and by night, I host the Catbaret.

Fun fact: when I perform burlesque, I actually go by my stage name, Gemma Stone. But I started producing New York City's cat-themed variety show, the Catbaret, before I ever discovered burlesque. So through producing the Catbaret, I fell in love with this amazing, a-meow-zing little universe of cat-loving creatives, performers, comedians, musicians, burlesque artists — people who are making beautiful, funny, odd, humorous, sparkly art and then going home to their cats.

This intersection of creativity and cat parenthood is exactly what inspired this podcast, so I'm so happy you're here. And before we get into today's guest, I want to share a quick little recap from the latest Catbaret show. We recently had Catbaret Cat Lady Purr-tee, and it was such a fun night.

My goodness, over 100 cat lovers filled the theater. We had incredible performers. And thanks to our raffle, all of our brand sponsors, and our show sponsor, Warouba, we were able to raise nearly $400 toward a cat's FIP treatment, which meant so much to me and to the community that shows up for these events. Moments like this are why I love bringing cat people and creative people together in the same room — to have a community, as I like to call it.

Okay, so let's get into today's guest. Today, I'm joined by burlesque performer, producer, and creator of the Silver Tusk Awards, Viktor Devonne. Viktor has been performing for over 20 years and has produced nearly 300 episodes of his own podcast, We Burlesque.

Gemma Smith (02:19.296)
In this conversation, we talk about his Rocky Horror origins, what it really means to build a career and community in nightlife spaces, how he sustained his long-running career, and the realities of being an indie podcaster. And of course, we talk about Samuel, his very handsome senior rescue cat, whose story includes a street rescue, a mouse-related emergency — you have to hear it — and a whole lot of love.

This one's really thoughtful, layered, and full of heart. I'm so glad you're here.

Viktor Devonne (03:01.058)
This is Samuel. He is probably 15 or 16.

Gemma Smith (03:07.374)
I'm obsessed. For our listeners, I am here with Viktor Devonne with a very handsome, spry older gentleman, Samuel. Viktor, thanks for chatting with me today.

Viktor Devonne (03:19.746)
My pleasure. My pleasure. Yes, he is, what is the term, an Oriental Shorthair. And I mean, we'll get into the origin of him if you want to.

Gemma Smith (03:29.666)
Well, you know what — just for our kitty cats, our listeners — I pressed record just because Samuel was doing the cutest thing with his little paws crossing, and I thought, well, let's get into it. So we'll chat today about your craft, your cat Samuel, and how those worlds intertwine. And I'm really excited to learn more about you.

For our listeners, you have been performing and producing for over 20 years.

Viktor Devonne (04:00.34)
Effectively, yeah. Because I started in the Rocky Horror shadowcast world, and that is often a gateway to proper burlesque. I find that a lot of people find it from Rocky Horror, the Renaissance Faire, and cosplay conventions — and often where the twain meet.

Gemma Smith (04:23.422)
Those worlds kind of interlap there. Yeah, I listened to a bit of your retrospective episode on the We Burlesque podcast, and you share a bit of your origin story to burlesque. So for our listeners, can you also share what drew you to burlesque from Rocky Horror and what's kept you here all these years?

Viktor Devonne (04:43.662)
That's an excellent question. Well, you know, as a musical theater person, I knew about burlesque before I knew what burlesque was. So I knew the musical Gypsy. I knew sort of the MGM view of what a showgirl was. And then of course, in Rocky Horror, the whole last segment with the floor show is a big burlesque show, essentially. It's a kick line.

So I didn't necessarily have the language for it, even though Gypsy does use the word burlesque.

And then doing Rocky Horror as a teenager — because I was 18 when I began — this would have been 2001.

Gemma Smith (05:29.097)
We're similar ages.

Viktor Devonne (05:30.99)
Yeah, I'm 42. I just hit 42 this past September, which I understand is the meaning to everything.

2001 was obviously a tumultuous year. I had just turned 18 when a week later the Twin Towers fell. And I grew up in Connecticut and New Jersey, so I was living in New Jersey at the time — obviously majorly affected by what was going on.

I was in high school. I was in psychology class when we got the announcement over the loudspeaker. And by that point, I had been going with my best friend Danielle to Rocky Horror almost every week. This was in Montclair, New Jersey, at the Home of Happiness.

We had become regulars there, and they had a regular show that Saturday. We didn't know it at the time, but there was a big cast kerfuffle about how to handle the first show after 9/11.

People were afraid of insensitive callbacks because there's a significant portion of the Rocky Horror fan base where their goal is to be offensive — that's the fun of it. It's sort of misunderstanding punk, in my feeling — being transgressive and trying to claim things that aren't even necessarily yours. But that's another element of entertainers too.

So we went to the show, and half the cast wasn't there. We found out later that there had been this big schism online through emails, and half the cast quit right before the show.

And I think the major point of argument that spiraled was: would we do a moment of silence or would we do a moment of loudness? Would we get really darkened and settle, or would we scream?

So I joined the cast because there was an opening — me and my friend Danielle. I was a Brad, she was a Janet. We did that for seven years. 

Viktor Devonne (continued)
And then the last year, my friend Femme Fee La Butch — who was my co-director when White Elephant first began — was out. She played Eddie and Dr. Scott and other roles in Home of Happiness. She was asked by a friend who was putting on an indoor Renaissance Faire — I think at a DoubleTree or something similar — and they were renting it out for SalonCon, which was sort of like a Victorian, neo-Victorian, proto-steampunk event right on the cusp of that moment.

And they asked for burlesque. “Could you do 20 minutes?”

And I created whatever this is.

Gemma Smith (08:33.261)
And for our listeners, I’ll have — you’ll see on the Instagram, @tailsandtasselspod — Viktor’s makeup. So your persona that you developed, in a sense, or part of it.

Viktor Devonne (08:43.885)
Essentially. I mean, at that point I even affected an accent — which wandered — because I am not a dialect coach. I thought it would add to the mystique. It would also make me look a little bit more interesting because I patterned myself very Weimar Germany clown.

Gemma Smith (09:06.702)
And then how was your first — did you feel like you got bitten by the bug immediately with burlesque?

Viktor Devonne (09:13.686)
In a sense, yeah. It was sort of an extension. I mean, I was already doing it with friends. Almost everyone in the first — what we didn’t know was White Elephant at the time — but we called it “Away From Home: Home of the Fabulous.” We were all from the Rocky Horror cast.

So we were familiar with our bodies, being in proximity with each other, being scantily clad. Although looking back, we were not. We were fairly PG-13. We were very “burlesque movie,” and didn’t know we were the burlesque movie until way later.

And I was a community theater child by proximity of my father. My father did a lot of community theater when I was young, and I was always the son in the wings who went to rehearsals and dress rehearsals. I enjoyed that.

Gemma Smith (10:13.218)
What a fun community to grow up in as a kid.

Viktor Devonne (10:16.034)
Yeah, and it was interesting too because I think what it really did was give me awareness that all these people had other lives outside of that. It wasn’t a Hollywood experience where that’s their job — acting day to day. This was passion.

And that clarity was important. You could be an accountant and also be a person around town who did this. And then there was a time to take it off if you so chose.

Gemma Smith (11:07.436)
And so then you started performing burlesque, and then you started producing White Elephant Burlesque not too long later. And I noticed you’ve performed in many festivals. Can you share a little bit about your burlesque journey — some highlights and why you still love it?

Viktor Devonne (11:28.994)
I’ve been very lucky.

This September I will celebrate 20 years properly doing burlesque — the anniversary of White Elephant. Of Viktor Devonne, at least.

I feel that a lot of burlesque entertainers are different crayons of neurotypicality in the same box. We all have different wiring. Some of it is sociopolitical — if we’re queer, if we’re a person of size, if our skin tone is darker than mine, gender identity — these things become politicized. And then you throw in whatever’s going on mentally.

We’re learning more about how vast mental health variances are. A lot of us express ourselves in theatricality because we don’t necessarily have another way. Or it’s satisfying. Or it’s just fun. It’s escape.

I turned away from stage visibility when I realized I was “kind of faggy,” as I put it. I realized my homosexuality — which I thought was bisexuality at first, but then realized I just think people are pretty. There’s a difference.

I came out at the tail end of senior year. With Rocky Horror, all bets were off.

And falling back into performance at a time where I was cosmically lonely — some of that was teenage horniness, some of it was craving community and identity.

One reason I have the podcast is because I was having so many conversations backstage — seconds long — and thinking, I wish I could preserve this.

Gemma Smith (16:36.302)
I love that you’ve been mentioning community because you’re someone that I was thinking about while preparing for this podcast — that you create community. That’s important to me too. Through performing, producing, and We Burlesque — you’ve produced nearly 275 episodes. That’s inspiring.

Viktor Devonne (17:14.839)
Thank you. It’s my favorite thing.

There’s something about painting the face, getting ready, stressing about the costume, driving there — it’s cathartic.

It’s a series of rituals. Sacraments, even. You build skill and hit milestones. You get into your first festival, you go to the Burlesque Hall of Fame, you meet a legend, you have your “hit single” — that first act that makes the rounds.

But then what happens after the big win? We treat certain titles like the zenith. And then what? Why is that the thing we shot for?

Why is our zenith often in front of peers instead of a general audience?

Community in burlesque is complex. We have a scene, an industry, and a community. Depending on perspective, it’s hierarchy or trinity.

I’m essentially a facilitator with the podcast.

And I don't spend enough time on stage. I don't know what that number is. I don't know what “enough” is. A couple of years ago when I was working in New York before the pandemic, I was doing fine. I still wasn't working enough, but I was working two to three times a week.

But there's something about painting the face, getting ready, stressing about the costume, driving there — that's cathartic, if I can be so bold.

Gemma Smith:
Like a ritual in that sense?

Viktor Devonne:
A series of rituals, really. If each of these individual things — they're almost like sacraments in a way. Because you build your skill level in addition to hitting these milestones.

Burlesque has these self-contained, self-described milestones. You get into your first festival. You go to the Burlesque Hall of Fame. You meet a legend. You go to a panel discussion. You do a podcast. You have a hit single — as I call it — which is that first act that really makes the rounds.

You do your first photo shoot. You meet people that you adore and get to be your colleagues as well as your icons, which can get tumultuous.

So you have all of these things. But then what becomes next?

When an actor wins an Oscar, their career is generally on the rise. It's not over.

For a lot of us, we view something like winning at Exotic World or something to that level — and then what? Where do you go? You can always do another movie that wins an Oscar. What becomes the next thing?

Why is that the thing that you shot for? What's the approval basis we're working with? Who are we gaining this fulfillment from? And why is it, generally speaking, that our zenith is in front of an audience of our peers?

Gemma Smith:
Hmm.

Viktor Devonne:
As opposed to, in theory, a bar crowd, a theater crowd, the masses. As entertainers, that’s who we’re performing for. But so much of burlesque is also performing for each other. And part of that is because we’re gigging, we’re always at the shows, we want to see the shows. But a lot of us are also fans. That’s the thing also — we want to see our friends, and our friends happen to do the same thing that we do.

And some of us also — it’s the one thing that we don’t get to see at our own jobs, because we’re backstage. Depending on how the scenario is, we don’t even see all of the show or any of the show.

Community is sort of thrust upon us.

Pucks Aplenty, who’s out of Seattle and is a dear friend, broke it down as: we have a scene, we have an industry, and we have a community. And depending on your perspective, it’s a hierarchy. And depending on your perspective, it’s next to each other. It’s a trinity. And sometimes it’s just one or two.

How your viewpoint is, I think, is really indicative of how you maneuver through life.

So I’m essentially a facilitator with the pod.

When I produced live shows — which I would love to get back to — nothing is as fulfilling as watching a show that you’ve curated, but watching the audience watch that show. There’s something really cool about it.

Gemma Smith:
And them enjoying it and having a great time.

You know what? I got into burlesque a little later, but I saw you perform at Bazaar Bushwick. Oh my goodness — I think 2019. I live in Bushwick now, but at the time I had lived in Astoria. And I loved that spot, and I loved your show. I want to say maybe Lillian Bustle was in it. Maybe it was White Elephant. It was a great show.

And I was so sad. I moved to Bushwick, and then that spot closed down. It was such a great spot. That’s the one time that I did see you. And then I feel like you moved to LA between now and then.

Viktor Devonne:
Yeah, I live in Southern California. Just outside of LA — I live in Riverside, actually, which is a pretty sizable Southern Californian city.

Gemma Smith:
How was the transition?

Viktor Devonne:
It was a series.

So the husband is in academia. He got a job here. I proposed. He moved. Well, we brought his car over, so we drove. This was 2017.

He came back for Christmas, we got married in front of friends and family. And then I was still running White Elephant and Rock Bar, which is on Christopher Street in New York City. I had a weekly and then I had an every-other-week.

Which I’m not saying is the beginning of the end, but it does show we held on. We did hold on.

There were times I wasn’t there and it would kill me. I was happy to spend time with the husband. I was happy to travel. But I didn’t do other shows on Wednesdays. If my show was on and there was another show on Wednesday, I never went to that show unless it was after, which would happen on occasion.

And I couldn’t imagine missing my show. Why would I do that?

I remember having a conversation with a then-friend at the time, and they were like, “You could just skip the show.”

And I’m like, why?

Some of us like to go to parties, and some of us like to host them. And I like being in control of my temperature, essentially.

There’s a reason I drive to shows. I didn’t use public transportation even when I worked in New York, which has a thriving and useful transportation industry.

And now I live in Southern California where public transportation sucks. So everyone’s like, “Is it like driving?” I’m like, get it done. Easy.

Gemma Smith:
You’re like, I’m a pro. If you drove in New York, you can drive in Southern California.

Viktor Devonne:
Once you learn in New York, it’s not the other cars — it’s the pedestrians you have to watch out for. The other cars are stuck. There’s not enough space.

But the pedestrians don’t care. They have another place to be. Since almost everything is a right turn anyway, it’s at the same time as the crosswalks. You learn real quick.

Gemma Smith:
I don’t really drive, but I understand the need of producing your own show and liking to produce. It’s nice to drive yourself so you can be in control of what time you get there. I’m type A. I have anxiety. I like to have things planned out.

Viktor Devonne:
Remove variables. You add your own variables, but you’re in control of at least some of those things.

There were several times where I parked my car and thought it was a zone where I could park — and it wasn’t. Those are very expensive mistakes. Impound lots want to punish you. They want you to feel really bad about yourself.

Gemma Smith:
Is that a California thing or New York thing?

Viktor Devonne:
That was New York. Probably happens in California too, but so far so good here.

And that’s the other thing about working in LA. It’s huge. Spread out. You can go to Long Beach, Hollywood, West Hollywood, East Hollywood. You turn a block and it’s suburbia. So there’s parking at someone’s house. I’d rather that. I’ll walk two blocks.

There’s this concept of “you can’t park on Sunset Boulevard.” Well, there are other streets. You can figure it out.

Gemma Smith:
Do you find the scene is just as thriving as in New York with shows? Or how does it compare?

Viktor Devonne:
New York isn’t even as thriving as it was in New York. The world is different. We’ve been through different political landscapes. We had the pandemic. Stuff is different.

White Elephant began at Rock Bar in 2015. By then, I’d already been working so long. It was a really good opportunity to reintroduce myself to a lot of people as an authority figure.

Burlesque was on top of burlesque. There were like six shows a night. On Christopher Street we were at the tail end — right before the piers.

It was destination. Not a lot of foot traffic.

It became this fascinating social experiment: getting people from other boroughs and dealing with a lot of New Jersey burlesque performers. It was their opportunity to be seen by a New York audience sometimes for the first time.

And I had the distinct pleasure of introducing fabulous performers to audiences that wouldn’t otherwise see them.

There are people who are New Yorkers that became performers because of my show, and I can see that throughline. It’s very satisfying.

One full circle moment was headlining the Emo Lesque Festival in Coney Island last year, run by Noctua, Reyna Sinclair, and Regal Mortis — all people I had given work to at Rock Bar.

To be thought of after I moved — I’m not a convenient person anymore. I fly out of Ontario, California. I don’t use LAX. But they treated me like a rock star. It was extremely gratifying.

It felt like coming home. And I’m lucky that I have a lot of homes in that regard.

Gemma Smith:
Well, this is some really good food for thought. And for our listeners — our listeners are maybe creatives, but not necessarily performing burlesque. Maybe they are just getting started. They’re definitely cat lovers.

But I want you all to go to We Burlesque Podcast. Check out Viktor’s pod because you can learn so much more.

And now, speaking of people — or cute beings — that we protect, let’s talk about your very, very handsome senior cat, Samuel.

How did he come into your life?

Viktor Devonne:
Well, I grew up with cats. I grew up in Connecticut. I think at one point we had up to nine. It was a multi-marriage family situation — the cats merged along with the children.

My first real cat that I called mine was Smokey. When Smokey died — he was hit by a car — it gutted me. I said when I grow up, I will not have outdoor cats. I can’t do it anymore.

Fast forward. I was in a relationship, and we had a cat named Forty Percent — Forty. He was a blonde orange boy. His name came from 40% peroxide because of our hair color at the time.

Forty passed very suddenly. We believe it was an aneurysm. It was peaceful.

He had a lady friend named Myrtle. Myrtle was a big cranky old lady from birth. Huge. Strong. Built like muscle under fat. She had thumbs. She was an asshole. I loved her.

She was very affected by Forty’s passing.

We lived in Totowa, New Jersey. There’s a street called Union Boulevard — very busy. Samuel was going back and forth across it. I was worried he’d get hit.

We got a Havahart trap. First time it snapped too early and he ran. Second time, he went right in.

We brought him in. He had mites. No chip. And he had a mouse corpse stuck in his colon that he couldn’t pass.

Gemma Smith:
I don’t think I’ve ever heard that. Thank God you got him.

Viktor Devonne:
Yeah. They took care of it. He also has a deformed kidney — one shriveled, one functioning.

He’s given us scares. He’s on thyroid medication. He had a heart scare where his temperature dropped and they were preparing us for end-of-life conversations. $3,000 later — he survived. That doesn’t usually happen.

They estimated he was at least a year old when we found him, so that’s why we say he’s about 15 or 16 now.

He bonded with Myrtle eventually. He groomed her. She accepted him. She taught him how to purr. He didn’t purr for almost a year after we got him.

When she passed, he became very human-dependent. He’s basically a dog now.

When we asked Myrtle if she was ready for another companion, the next day Samuel showed up. I’m a preacher’s kid. The name Samuel means “God has listened.” It felt appropriate.

He’s very present. He’s been in my digital burlesque work. I did a mouse act to “Cheap Thrills” by Sia and incorporated him. I filmed him as a reaction shot. He’s calm enough to sit and stare like, “What are we doing?”

He loves costume cubbies. He sleeps in pajama drawers. He opens the blinds himself to look at the neighbor cat. He’s neighborhood watch.

He’s on Royal Canin renal/urinary food. We give him Miralax in his stew for digestive support. We talk about bowel movements regularly.

Gemma Smith:
You’re on the right podcast. We absolutely talk about bowel movements here.

Viktor Devonne:
You have to. It’s part of pet parent life.

He downgraded from a multi-floor house to a condo, but now he has windows and neighbors to supervise.

Gemma Smith:
I’m so grateful he survived that scare and that he’s so loved.

Before we wrap, I ask everyone: what’s your favorite tip for creative cat lovers?

Viktor Devonne:
Cats are an exercise in consent.

They will let you know how involved they want to be with you. Sometimes you have to break the rules — giving a pill, putting on medication — but otherwise, they tell you their boundaries.

Give them space. Protect your cat. Protect your costumes. Invest in hangers. And become friends with a good urine eliminator cleaner.

Also: pay attention to behavior changes. Hiding isn’t usually a good sign.

Gemma Smith:
I love that you brought up consent. Cats teach us that.

Tell everyone where they can find you.

Viktor Devonne:
We Burlesque podcast is on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Audible — everywhere. Just search We Burlesque, all one word.

Silver Tusk Awards is online and on Instagram.

I mostly post updates on Instagram — @viktordevonne and @weburlesque.

I host at the Ohio Burlesque Festival. I work the merch table at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender. And I travel when invited.

Gemma Smith:
Please let me know next time you’re in New York.

Viktor Devonne:
Absolutely. It’s a different world now. I feel like an accidental queer elder sometimes, watching the young ones go.

Gemma Smith:
Look at them go.

Well, thank you so much for being here.

Viktor Devonne:
My pleasure.

Gemma Smith:
And that’s a wrap for this episode of Tails and Tassels. If you have any questions, comments, or just want to say meow, email us at tailsandtasselspod@gmail.com.

Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and review the podcast. And join us on Instagram at @tailsandtasselspod for updates and behind-the-scenes fun.

See you next time, kitty cats.