From Zimbabwe To Brighton: Drag, Burlesque, Art and Becoming The Madame

What if fear was a pool you could swim in? We sit down with The Madame—Brighton’s glitter-dipped force of nature—to trace a life built from courage, community, and craft. From a conservative childhood in Zimbabwe to earning icon status on the south coast, she unpacks how drag and burlesque became both art and antidote: a way to rewrite internal scripts, set hard boundaries, and choose joy over ego.

Across an hour of candour and wit, we map the evolution of a persona and the human underneath. The Madame talks about leaving a safe residency for the unknown, why auditions are art even when they don’t land, and how to protect an “artistic signature” in a copy‑heavy world. We dive into the overlap between drag and burlesque—parody, pageantry, shared rhinestones—and the practical realities audiences never see: pink tax discoveries in the shaving aisle, heels that change how you move, and the Monday crash after weekend highs. You’ll hear how stripping taught consent in real time, what it takes to keep your voice when the sound is bad, and why hydration and good shoes might be the most underrated stage tech.

Grounding sits at the heart of it. We trade tools that actually work: transcendental meditation before tough shows, one‑line‑a‑day journals that reveal life cycles, seaside walks that reset frazzled nerves. We question social media’s highlight reels, reframe jealousy as a compass, and practice self‑validation when the crowd is silent. There’s a gift for nine‑to‑fivers too: build an alter ego for hard rooms, a steady advocate you can switch on without draining your battery. Above all, we return to the same note—art is worth most when you remain yourself.

If this conversation gave you courage or clarity, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so more creatives can find us. Your support helps bring more brave voices to the mic.

This episode is sponsored by our amazing lead sponsor Crystal Parade a one stop place for all your gorgeous crystals and sparkles for costumes and beyond.

 https://crystalparade.co.uk/

Our Second sponsor is the fabulous Lindsay McGlone your go to I.G expert 

https://lindsaymcglone.co.uk/

Transcript

Welcome And Who Is The Madam

SPEAKER_03 0:00

It's not just feathers and fishnets. Welcome to the real world behind the sparkle. I'm Isabella Bliss, international performer, Marilyn Monroe Tribute, coach and lifelong lover of sequins and storytelling. Each month I sit down with performers, producers, creatives and the beautiful misfits shaping our world. We talk career highlights, backstage lows, body image, empowerment, and everything in between. If you're a performer, a fan, or just curious about what really happens behind the curtain, you're in the right place. Hit the follow for your monthly dose of truth, tassels, and behind the scenes brilliance. Today I'm joined by the Madam. Madam Bombadam Sticky Adam Fried for Dance. Say it three times fast, and she appears in a cloud of glitter and bad decisions. Brighton's unofficial number one tourist attraction, taking more rides than the i360, and described as the best one in town. With over 13 years in the business of showing off, the Madam has earned two proud accolades: international icon status and the winning the Queen of the Arms stars in spotlight 2024. She brings class drag act to every event, and remember it's Madam with an E because she'll be dropping it later. Please welcome the Madam. Hello. Thank you so much for joining us on balesque. I am I'm buzzing to have you because I've had the pleasure of working with you so many times over the years, and you're one of my favourite people to be around. Oh, thanks.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Appreciate that. Thank you for agreeing to come and be on. You're welcome. Thank you for having me. I'm super excited to be here in this gorgeous venue.

SPEAKER_03 1:51

Look absolutely fabulous.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Thanks. I tried. I tried. I thought I couldn't come as my boy self. I thought I would actually make an effort. Which I think is very important these days to make an effort and turn up best foot forward.

SPEAKER_03 2:05

Definitely. And you make so many of your costumes yourself, don't you?

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Yeah, so I I I'm um this wig was styled by um Madam Wiggs. So it's Adam, um, the best wig stylist, I have to say. Um and then uh the head piece, the face piece, and this coat was all made by my by myself, by these two hands.

SPEAKER_03 2:28

And you were actually a fabulous milliner as well, aren't you?

Finding Community In Brighton

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Well, I was. I was a fabulous milliner. Um thank you for saying I I I was a fabulous milliner. I um I'm actually stopping my business just because COVID has still made so many damages, as well as Brexit, you know, with exporting and importing, it's just the reward is not paying off. So it's just full-time drag for me at the moment. Um, but that could be changing, you know.

SPEAKER_03 2:54

Wonderful. It'd be full-time drag.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

Yeah, it's great. Like I'm really like I I'm so grateful. Like, since I've I've only been on the drag scene in Brighton for a year and a half, um, I won the Queen's Arm Stars and the Spotlight competition and kind of all these doors opened for me. Um, and yeah, it's amazing how just kind of wonderful a community it is, but also how much of a big warm hug it's been, which has been something I've been quite desperate for over the last few years. It's been um I was in a residency which is quite isolating, and now to come out into the big wide world is um hasn't been as scary as I thought it would be, which has been really, really nice.

SPEAKER_03 3:36

Oh, that sounds lovely.

SPEAKER_00 3:38

Yeah, it is nice. Brighton's gorgeous, Brighton's a lovely, a lovely place. And I I think as well, um I've really managed you hear things about particular scenes and you think, oh, what what am I go what am I getting myself into? Um, but it's all about how you manage it, and I think half of it comes from like having a a a decent attitude and um not going in with ego, yeah, if that makes sense. Um and just being like, we're we're not brain surgeons, we're just here to have some fun um and not take it so seriously and just enjoy the ride, really.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

It's important.

SPEAKER_00 4:16

It's so important, like just to be able to express yourself is so important. Um and what's really lovely is I'm able to express myself now within a queer community, um, which before I wasn't necessarily able to do.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Um so yeah, it's a it's really nice, really nice feeling. Feeling that.

Origins Of Drag And Early Influences

SPEAKER_03 4:37

So let's delve in with some questions. How did you first discover the world of drag and performance art?

Corporate Life, Stigma And Healing

SPEAKER_00 4:46

So I first discovered drag. I knew about drag when I was young. Um I grew up in Zimbabwe in Africa and um a very conservative upbringing. Um what I mean by conservative is boxed. Um, anything unusual, anything weird, people kind of frowned about, you know, they they would brush you under the carpet. Um it was seen, but it was not heard. Um and when I would see drag, like Priscilla Queen of the Desert, was like my first real exposure to drag. I was like, oh my god, this film's amazing. Who are these characters? Um but in later years when I discovered drag, I suffered with a whole bunch of internalized feelings, like internalized homophobia, internalized misogyny, um, because of my upbringing. So it was really interesting. And when I came to the UK, I um, you know, was in the UK and I remember writing in my diary, I moved to the UK when I was 19, I moved to Kent, I didn't know anyone. I remember writing in my diary, like, I'm going to be myself. I'm going to be able to go to wherever I want to go and not feel like I'm going to be judged because you can in in England. And um I remember watching the Rocky Horror Picture Show and falling in love with Dr. Frankenfurter. Like, remember watching a theatre tour in Zimbabwe that was done by a local amateur dramatics um group and just being in awe of this guy who actually was a drama teacher at my school who played Dr. Frankenfurter. And that was my first time dressing up in drag. And I said to this venue I worked at for many years, I said, you know, why don't one Halloween? We all get the staff to dress up. And I turned up and they said to me, you know, we want you to do this full time. And at the time I was a manager, I was a licensee. I just thought, I can't be dealing with police if we needed to, I can't be dealing with staff if there's any issues. And there I am in drag, they won't take me seriously. Um, and I left that job and then came back to it and was kind of offered a residency on the silver platter, really. I was I was really lucky because a lot of a lot of drag queens start, you know, what we call kind of a door hall where you stand on the door and you welcome guests in. I was a bit like that, but I was more of a matrie, so I would welcome people into this restaurant, sit them down. Um and I'm quite pleased, my limited experience of drag was limited because I feel that um I've got this thing that I look at, which is artistic signature. So what's your your kind of artistic DNA? Um so when I was making my hats, um, no offense to anyone that's gonna watch this that makes hats, but if they would follow me on Instagram, I would actually mute their posts and their stories so that I wasn't affected by their designs, I wasn't affected by you know what I was seeing on my feed. Um, I was only affected by what was going on with the world around me and what I was seeing through my kind of curated zeitgeist, if that makes sense. Um and you know, it I kind of I feel that's how my drag's gone. I haven't been affected by, you know, generations of drag, you know, this kind of like um mother of the house and their children. I haven't been affected by that, and I'm I'm I'm quite grateful for it. Um, I really struggled with kind of when I first started thinking I had failed in life doing drag. And that quickly changed. Yeah, it was um it was a really kind of struggle. I was working in a very corporate world, and I said to um my boss at the time, I said, you know, the travel care is so expensive, I'm having to take a second job to afford the travel between Kent and London because I was going by train um and I'm working as a drag artist. And, you know, their their response wasn't negative, their response was very much from a protective um point, but they were like, you know, just be wary of who you tell, because you might have to manage them one day. And I thought, oh God, it's what I'm doing not serious, it's what I'm doing not right. Um and obviously that very quickly, very quickly changed because I started learning so much about myself, so much about my my my body, um internalized misogyny, like it's just so much about the world came from just this extension of a personality. Um so yeah, drag has been kind of a healing journey in a in a way.

SPEAKER_03 9:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

So yeah, I'm I'm very pleased I have discovered it.

SPEAKER_03 9:37

I'm pleased you have. You're an exceptional artist to work with.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 9:40

You really are like one of my favorite drag performers to work with. You're so versatile, you're so professional, and you know, you just you have such can-do attitude as well.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Yeah, well, I think you have to as a performer. Like, I think in any world where the industry is art, I think you have to have a can-do attitude. I I don't think you can rest on your laurels, you know, and that's something I've really proved to myself in the last year.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

Um, you know, I had a residency, I was getting paid every weekend, I was guaranteed a show. And then when I left, I was petrified. And I was petrified of leaving because I thought, you know, I would hear these horror stories of of what people were going through and where the industry was. And I thought, oh my God, how am I going to do this? And um I proved to myself that if you again just put yourself out there and you know, go for auditions and don't put go don't go to an audition thinking, okay, I have to get this audition. Go to it and thinking, okay, this is an experience. Make that audition reel thinking, oh, I'm not going to get on that show. You know, like I've auditioned for RuPaul's Drag Race three times and I've never got on. And but the audition reels have been such a journey. They've been like creating art. Um it's uh I think you've you've just got to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation, get uncomfortable, and then that kind of breaks through a facet or an avenue and takes you down.

Taking Risks And The Can-Do Mindset

SPEAKER_03 11:10

We learn so much about yourself, don't you? When you put yourself in these like you're forced to grow.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Absolutely. Like, and I I think that's sometimes where a lot of people limit themselves is they l there's a lovely quote which is adventure adventure lives outside your tent.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:29

And it's it's true because you know, you could stay in your tent and you could be scared of the forest that you decided to camp in. But in actual fact, if you go out into that forest, what are you going to discover? Beautiful trail, um, beautiful collection of flowers, a waterfall, a river. Um, yeah, I think it's a really important thing. And I I also I but came up with this um saying when I was starting my label as a milliner, which is working in fashion is just so hard, um, which is don't swim in your sorry, don't paddle in your fear, swim in it. And it's like to me, really important. And I always repeat that to myself. So, you know, stop paddling in your fear, just dive in, um, swim in there, and hopefully it all pays off.

SPEAKER_03 12:19

It does in some way or another, isn't it? You always you either get what you think you're gonna get or you get a level of learning and understanding and growth, which is also really valuable.

SPEAKER_00 12:29

So valuable, so valuable. And like I also think my change your priorities. Um, you know, you you think don't be a dis like don't be disillusioned that you think, okay, I'm going to earn this amount of money and it's going to be so big. Really change the reality. Really look at it from a realistic point of view and go, right, how rich am I actually going to be? Am I going to be rich in being able to express myself and be creative and happy? Or am I going to be rich chasing the pound? Like, to me, I would rather be rich in in terms of like um creative frustration is such a torture. I don't know, I'm sure you've suffered from it where you have these ideas, but you're scared of like trying to execute them. And then when you execute it, you're like, Why was I scared? Well, you know, what was going on here?

SPEAKER_03 13:22

Or being trapped in a space where you can't execute that.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

Oh my god, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

I've had that pain of like having all of these creative ideas and wanting to deliver more and bigger and better, but being in a container where I was being held back from that's a kind of like you say that's not it's just not you can do things.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

It's so true. And like I think also something that I've learned, there's a I've been going to therapy for like the last three years. Um, it's a wonderful practice. I it saved my life. Um, but through going to therapy, I've realized I'm a massive rescuer. So there's a thing called the drama triangle, and there's the victim, the persecutor, perpetrator, and then there's the rescuer. And um I often come at it from a rescue position because I can see potential. And I I just want to shake the person and be like, oh my god, your potential is so great. Like, but they too are scared of their potential. Like, you know, I'm scared of my potential. We're we're all kind of in the same boat. Um, and actually that can cause kind of waves for people that are are uncomfortable, but then you have to go to yourself, okay, I'm going to this table, I'm bringing what I'm bringing, uh, it's not working. I'm gonna take it it away, and now I set up my own table, um, and I I've I've you know bring it for myself, and I think that's way more way more important.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:46

Do you remember what it felt like the first time you stepped on stage as a performer?

Fear, Growth And Redefining Success

SPEAKER_00 14:53

The first time I stepped on stage was when I was really young. Um and I was doing an Istedford um this the the I was sent to boarding school at the age of five, so I was sent at a really young age, um, and it was called Barrack, and I absolutely hated it. Um and there was one teacher who was the drama teacher, and he he wasn't around for long, but he literally changed my life because he was so dedicated to his craft, but he was also dedicated to his students, and he really wanted me to do well at the side said for and I remember him waking me up at the crack of dawn, like before all the other students were up, and I had to shower and get into my school uniform because obviously there'll be inspection, and then I'll have to line up and go to breakfast. But we used which was the also the breakfast hall, it was also the stage area, and it was huge, and he was saying to me, like, I want you to use all this space whilst you practice your your monologue. Um and oh my god, we're I mean, uh this hall was just huge, and then I won my ice edford, I got a first in it, and I just remember being on stage, being like, I'm using space. I'm expressing myself through, you know, through the use of space, I'm expressing myself through the use of being verbal. Um, and it was a really wonderful feeling, and I remember being just really young and thinking, oh, I want to be rich and famous, you know, I want to I want to be on stage, I want to um enjoy the lights. I mean, realistically, the rich and famous part is actually the part that I don't want. Like now as a growing up, I'm like, that's actually not the the the nicest thing, you know, fame and and wealth. Um it's it's the expression that I I loved. So my my first time in drag when I was actually being employed as a drag artist, um it was quite weird because it it changed the direction of my life. Um we had an artist that was coming in to do a show at the venue I worked at, and they didn't turn up. So we had to put this last minute, you know, burlesh show together. And I just stepped forward and said, Oh, I can host it. And I didn't even have backing tracks for songs. Like it was literally ablibbing and just going out and you know, diving into the deep end, swimming in the fear. Um, and I remember kind of doing um all that jazz but a cappella and getting the one table to clap their hands and one table to click and one table to stomp their feet. And I kind of created this music through the audience. Um and yeah, and then the the owner of that venue was like, you could earn XYZ doing this Friday and Saturday. And I was like, whoa, that's the same amount of money I'm working for in London. Why don't I give that up and then also focus on my own dream, which was to have a a millinary label? Um so yeah, it's it's uh I it was uh escapism. It was like, oh my god, opportunity. Um what can I do with this inch? How can I turn it into a mile? Like I I'm a huge opportunist. I think um and I think that comes with a can-do attitude.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Yeah, yeah.

First Stages And Making Opportunity

SPEAKER_00 18:22

You know, if you if you've got that attitude, then the world really is your oyster.

SPEAKER_03 18:26

You can make anything happen, can't you?

SPEAKER_00 18:28

Absolutely, absolutely. And it it's also, I think a lot of people get frustrated with time. I'm I'm one of them. You know, I time to me, there's not enough hours in a day. But you've got to um really be like, okay, you're not gonna have it right now. You've got to hone your craft, you've got to um Do you know when you were I don't know if you had this, when you're taking your driver's license, my driver instructor said to me, he was like, you haven't um got that sixth cents yet. And I was like, what do you mean by that? And it was like, you know, you're at a traffic jam and you come to the lights, and then the cars go and you think, oh, I can go, but then in actual fact you get caught in a yellow grid and then you get a ticket. He was like, you need to look at the space between you and the next car and whether or not there is space for you in order for you to move forward. And it's it's I now have that sixth sense where I know, okay, if that person says this, this is my response. Um, and that doesn't happen overnight. You know, you've really got to work at it and you know put in the time and effort.

SPEAKER_03 19:35

Um And that's why we talk about 10,000 hours in anything, in any art form or creativity or any job or anything you want to pursue. There's that thesis of like 10,000 hours it takes to master that craft.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

And it's such a journey as well. It's not like just a you know a typical craft, it's there's highs and lows within that. I mean, I'm sure there's been many a times when you've done it and you think, What the hell am I doing? Um I always say uh there's a line in in my show that I always use with especially if there are um couples, um, you know, ask the audience, Do you have any children? And they put their hands up and then I say, I want you to take a picture of me because this is what not studying at school looks like. Um and it's just been a hard, it's been a hard journey. You know, I didn't go to theatre school, I didn't do all these these things to kind of get the tools of the trade and the how-to. Um I just kind of flung myself into it. And I sometimes say to myself when I'm in a situation where I'm like, I wish I'd studied harder at school. You know, I remember once doing this this film, it's um it's basically got like a a 1.5 out of 10 score on Rotten Tomatoes. It's really bad. But I remember reading the script and being like, oh my god, this is just such an awful kind of thing. I I I want to do it. And there was a part that my character was playing where I was blowing a dead body, um, but I was a witch, and how I was blowing them was with a bicycle pump. But you couldn't see the bicycle pump, and I um had to sit on this apple crate um in Leeds Castle, like in the middle of the night, bobbing my head so they could get the right angle. And I just remember kind of like as my head went up and down this this person's crutch on the table, I just thought like, what how did I get here?

SPEAKER_01 21:32

How did this happen?

SPEAKER_00 21:33

Yeah, how did this happen? You know, and I I wish I had studied harder at school, but also at the same time, if I had studied hard at school and I had not had what happened to me and my life had gone the way that it should have, then I most probably would be a really creatively frustrated person.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

And unhappy. So, you know, silver linings.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

Yeah, you've had the freedom to live your creative expression. Yes. And be who you truly want to be.

Evolution Of A Drag Persona

SPEAKER_00 22:03

Absolutely. And I think everyone should try develop a character or try the clothes of the opposite sex on. It's so interesting how I now have such a fine balance. It's like I call it a fine balance because it's it's fine. It's like it's such good quality between masculine and feminine. It's a really nice thing to be able to dip into both. I I don't wouldn't call myself gender fluid or non-binary, but I just love being able to understand both worlds and then get both sides of the stories and see that there is a giant in between and the huge grey matter. Um I think it's and also rather than dipping into um the opposite sexes' clothes, for example, dip into them from a non-sexual point of view. And that really, you know, again, really opens your eyes into like the cost of things, like a pink tax. I just I you know, I remember shaving and being like, oh, I really need to get smooth skin when shaving, and thinking, okay, well, all the ads say that you have smooth legs if you shave, and then being like, why are women's razors so extortionate compared to men's razors? Like this is mad. And and I looked it up, you know. I you I think also as a performer, you have to be really curious about stuff around you. And I I looked it up and I was like, whoa, there's a thing called Pink Tax. Like, what the hell's this is wrong? Like it um kind of ignited a bit of an activist in in me, which I like. Um so yeah, it's a it's a great journey.

SPEAKER_03 23:47

And could you explain to people at home? So you perform under a stage name and a persona. Yes. And what was the kind of influence for creating the the stage name and the persona that you had?

Art, Critique And Validity

SPEAKER_00 23:59

So my um my stage name used to be called, I used to be called Madame Mumu. That was my stage name. I was named after a venue. Um and then unfortunately that venue burnt down and it took a while for it to rebuild. And I had to get work elsewhere in the industry. Um so I I dropped the the second part and I became the madam. And also on my kind of I'm I mean, I learned this when I was really small in the back of a truck, and our friend Tracy was telling us about it, the madam, bomb, madam, sick adam, fred, fadam, fred, fadam, sickyadam, bomb, madam, that's how you say the madam. But when I first started uh The Madam, uh, you know, my first early days in drag, uh, typical with m with me, I've got um I love detail, so I love looking at loads of different inspirations. And um there's a brilliant book. Sorry, I keep diverging. It's a brilliant book by an uh an artist called Austin Cleon, and it's called How to Steal Like an Artist. And I wish I'd read it then because it would have made so much sense because I kind of had a bit of guilt for doing what I did, but I looked at um supermodels that I really liked, I looked at fashion designers, I looked at female figures that I found really empowering, um, and that's how I developed her. And one of my uh biggest inspirations was a woman called um uh Marchessa Luisa Casati. And she was this heiress to this um huge fortune in Italy. She had a sister who unfortunately was disabled and she kind of disowned, but she inherited the vast majority of her parents' wealth when they they passed. And by the time she had spent all the wealth, she had then got herself into millions of euros worth of debt and ended up becoming a a pauper in Knightsbridge and is buried in uh Brompton Cemetery in a very modest grave. But her she would have these lavish parties where in her home in Venice, which was like an island, I believe it's now a museum, an art gallery, um, she'd have these men covered in gold, and then sh her costumes would be an ostrich feather dress, and the ostrich feathers would slowly fall to reveal a body covered in diamonds. She would go for walks um with a fur coat and her leopards on diamond across the chains. Um she would put St. John's wart in her eyes to dilate her pupils, so her pupils were just black, like her eyes, and she always wore a f a fringe that was black, but then eventually became like a a an a luminous orange. Um a really fascinating woman, and her whole kind of life was about being immortalized in art and just you know, she loved artists, she loved to, you know, there's a beautiful picture of her by uh the artist Baldini, and it you can just see how she, you know, just wants to be immortalized in art. She's incredible. So she was a huge inspiration, and then the girls from The Crazy Horse, you know, were a huge and my drags evolved as well, you know, it's not what it used to be. It's it everything's everything evolves. I think again, if you stick to a particular box, then you limit your growth. Um, you know, plants they get root bound, people do too.

SPEAKER_03 27:35

How would you say your drags evolved from when you first started to now? What would you say the differences and the nuances?

Drag And Burlesque: Shared DNA

SPEAKER_00 27:42

Um there's so many differences. So, like there's I I went through a phase, a phase which I didn't like of my evolvement, which was really taking myself seriously. And I think because I'd been whipped up into the RuPaul's drag race frenzy. I thought, you know, you had to be this in order to be that. And I was just like, oh my god, this is this is exhausting. And it's it's uncomfortable. It's it's not it's it's not realistic to me. Um and uh my my drag's gone from just going into a high street shop and going, oh, that's sparkly, oh that's got lace on it, oh that's got a bit of chain metal, okay, I'll buy that and put it with this. I'm now making my costumes, or I consider things before I do them. Um there's so much more um kind of avenues to go. Uh again, it's you know, I always thought my drag was a black bulb wig, and that was it. That's all I could do. I didn't even wear lace front wigs when I first started. Um and I would see these other drag performers and I would be like, Oh, I don't want to be like that. I really want to be, you know, m myself. And there's one performer that I remember meeting, and their first words they said to me was like your drag could be so much better. And I took offense to that, you know. I was just like, oh, okay, why are you telling another artist how they should do art? Like artist subjective, like you shouldn't, you shouldn't d do that. Like you can have an opinion about it, for sure, but I think sharing your opinion on someone's art when you perhaps artist subjective, you might not get it. I think it's a bit of a um I think are you an artist? You know, like Madonna once said in a speech, an award for art, it's such a stupid thing. Because everyone should be awarded for art because it's it's about releasing something into the world and making this world a much better, much better place.

SPEAKER_03 29:51

And as human beings, we all have the capability to create art, isn't it? But so many people get suppressed in that.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

100%. Like, you know, the amount of people that go, Oh, I I can't draw, and I'm like, of course, of course you can draw. It might not be Michelangelo, but it's something. Um, and I've met so many people. Like you're in a in a way, you're really talking to my rescuer. I'm like, oh my god, when I leave people like that, I just want to be like, here's a canvas, here's a paintbrush, go ahead and paint. But uh you you can't. You've just got to, you know. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 30:26

Let them.

SPEAKER_00 30:27

You're loss. You know, you've just got to let them get on with it and find find their way. Otherwise, I don't think you find yourself as an artist personally. That's how I I kind of work my where my head's at.

SPEAKER_03 30:41

And life is about discovering yourself, isn't it? And every facet of yourself along the way. I mean you can use art as a tool or a medium for that, and it's really 100%.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

Like art is such uh I mean, art for me is a huge um there's a type of journaling I do where I have this huge sketchbook, and if I have a therapy session that I find quite difficult and I don't know quite know how to I don't know how to communicate what I'm going through, I illustrate it, I I put it down, you know, and I express myself through through that. I don't just write it. Um I mean, some of these pictures that have come up, my therapist has been like, Are you okay? But you know, it it's it's gotta be um artists for me, again, it's not for everyone, but for me it's it's really saved um it's it's saved, I think it's a really important part to my here I am for sure.

SPEAKER_03 31:38

And how have you found because obviously you've worked within the burlesque industry so much, you know, you've hosted burlesque shows, you've been a part of the scene and the culture. Do you think there's a difference between drag and burlesque? Like what's the nuances or this how much do they share?

Boundaries, Body Knowledge And Consent

Meditation, Journaling And Grounding

SPEAKER_00 31:56

I think there's so many similarities between the two. Um, you know, yes, drag costumes aren't as sparkly, perhaps, as a burlesque performer's, but you do get some drag costumes that are very sparkly. You get some drag that's very pageanty and burlesque, which can be very pageanty. Um, I think even if you look at hair, you know, the styling of hair, the amount of wigs that I see get pulled out at like a burlesque show or a drag show, it's the same thing. Um and also there's uh I mean burlesque, like to me is parody. And I think the two, burlesque and drag, are are parody, you know, we're a parody of ourselves. We're parodying someone, you know, we're doing a parody of something or someone else. Um we're we're telling a story, I think it's just got two names that you know mean different things. Um, like, you know, you get boilesque and uh boylesque and burlesque. Again, they're still similar. I think it's just um it's marketing. Um, but yeah, there's loads of similarities. Uh drag's uncomfortable, burlesque is uncomfortable. How many costumes have you been in where you're like, I can't wait to get this costume off? Yeah. Yeah, it's the same with with drag. There's so many um and you know, I I my first burlesque striptees, I used to um when I think about it actually, like I got the the people's consent before I sat them in a chair, then blindfolded them. But we had to perform between two rooms and um I would have two victims, as I would call them. One sat in one room blindfolded, and the other sat in the main room blindfolded. And I would flit between the two, you know, averse, a chorus, a verse, a chorus, um, doing these trips. And I I my first one was um it was Star Stripper, and I discovered it because I was obsessed with Arjun Provokta, like Coca de Mer, Arjun Provocata, like not necessarily the product, more about their campaigns, you know, the the way they photographed things. I was just amazed. And like you go into the shops, and it was such a experience because you know they had the black victory rolls and the pink dresses with the black trim. I was like, God, this just feels so good. Um, and that was one of the first songs, and then it that that evolved to doing um walk this way, then dude looks like a lady, then Man I Feel Like a Woman. Um, and then eventually I remembered a a song. I don't know what brought this back for me, but um my mum's name's Patricia Tish. And um, whenever this song came on, Patricia the Stripper, when I was a child, everyone would be pointing at my mum, you know, singing the song to her at parties. And I learned it and I, you know, I loved in that song how there's an opportunity it's almost like a conversation between a couple of people, you know, Dennis is a menace. Anyone for tennis always beseech me to keep the score? And then Maude is so bored. And it it's a wonderful opportunity to like kind of sing it in a way that you're having a conversation between people, and then that evolved into me singing it while stripping. Um, and that was really interesting because I literally would be holding a microphone, singing the song while stripping between two rooms to two people, and then organized. We had like this GIMP man that would come and sit on their laps, and I would take the blindfold off, and there would be this 60, 70-year-old man in a thong sat on this this guy's lap. Um, so yeah, it was really really crazy how it's evolved. Um, my kind of, I suppose, burlo striptees. Um, you know, and and there's the the getting naked part was the f and drag, you don't get fully naked. Don't get me wrong, you can, um, but you know, it's such an inconvenience when you're um got hip pads on and you're tucked and stuff like that, um was really liberating to me. Although it did have some it did have some things that happened where I just thought, oh, I don't I don't like this, you know, people just launching to touch you, um, to slap your ass as you walked by. That really um really got to me after a while. I was like, okay, once fine, two times my mistake, three times I'm now gonna lose my shit, and then it's a problem. Um so yeah, it's I suppose getting naked or stripping has taught me about boundaries. My boundaries taught me about how important a boundary is. And going, actually, no, you can't do that. Um if you do that, you're out, type thing.

SPEAKER_03 37:23

Did it teach you a lot about your body along the way in the process?

SPEAKER_00 37:28

Yeah, I mean, I constantly feel like I'm on a diet. Like it's um performing has taught me so much about my body. But again, it's like if you're an Olympian, you have to, you know, by the way, I'm not comparing myself to an Olympian at all. I've got too many chins to be an Olympian. But uh what I mean gold medal. Yeah, just for each chin. Um, I it's like you've you've you know, you spend a lot of money on costumes, a lot of time making them, and then to not be able to wear them, because you know, it it's kind of made me go, okay. I really need to respect my body. I really need to go and also as a singer as well, it's made me go, actually, this sound system's terrible. What can we do to make it better? Because if I don't have a voice, you don't have a show. Um, it's heals, the type of heels I was wearing, you know, you you just taught me so much about self-care without actually realizing it. Does that make sense? No, totally.

SPEAKER_03 38:38

Well, we do have to learn that as performers, and that was it. Interestingness. Look, the next question is when life and work feel intense, travel, money, rehearsals, social media, what helps your nervous system feel safe and grounded? Like what are the things that you do for self-care?

SPEAKER_00 38:54

So um I was very bad with with self-care in terms of uh mental self-care for a long time. And then I discovered the amazing practice of transcendental meditation. And I don't do it all the time. I'm not there every day meditating, but when I've got a day where I can afford to just meditate for 20 minutes and then sit after that meditation for two minutes in silence with my thoughts, is uh again a game changer. Like I remember when I learned it, it gave me so much clarity that I was like, whoa, what am I doing? Like, you know, you're unhappy, get out. You're you're you look at your role in the drama and you think, okay, do I want this role? No. You know, it it helps with like, it helps me with like accountability, it helps me with um with just literally going, okay, I'm gonna be alright. And if there's a show, I always meditate. If it's a new venue that I've never done before, or if it's um a show with a cast that I've never worked with before, I get quite a lot of anxiety, so I meditate to just ground myself and just go, we're on a rock and we're floating through space and we have no idea where this rock is going. Like why are you worried about these, you know, about these these people? Um so yeah, it's uh meditation really helps hydration. I know I'm silent meditation, hydration, relaxation, um, all the shapes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:36

But you know, it's so key and I really resonate with that because I'd always done meditation, but I would say the last nine months it's become an integral daily part of my life. And like you say, it's so important for us as performers to manage that level of excitement and adrenaline that we get when we're getting ready for a show, we're getting ready to do our work. If you can take that, even if it's like two, three minutes just to like meditate, calm your breath, ground yourself, and just check in with yourself where you're at, why you're feeling it, and then you're able to deliver better the performance that you want to or the connection with people because you're from a bit more of a clear space.

Social Media, Ego And Happiness

SPEAKER_00 41:14

A hundred percent literally couldn't agree more, and it's something I wish I discovered a lot sooner. Um before that, like I would journal a lot. Um, and then before journaling, I also had a way of taking the highs and the lows of performing because we have a high, it's almost like a sugar high. And I always find my lows hit me Monday, Tuesday. Yeah. I did a crush. Yeah, it's like you work Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then they would hit me Monday, Tuesday, and then I I would just be in a funk for the rest of the week because I couldn't quite grasp what was going on. So I had an outlet which was making hats. Yeah. You know, I had a studio that I could go to and work on a collection. You know, how can I put this feeling into art? Um, so art's kind of been my meditation prior to me meditating, sketching, um, painting, you know, doing something that requires you to stab a canvas, you know, throw paint at something. Um, also being out in nature, like nature's a really big thing, and that's always been a constant in my life, you know, going for a walk and just sitting in the woods and just taking in the space. Now I I live in Brighton, I go to the sea. Oh, I love it. You know, and it's it's the most calming thing, just watching the tide or watching the waves and the the people. Um and it's it's important. I th uh, you know, I do it a lot more prior to before. Um but yeah, I highly, highly recommend the meditation, the relaxation, the hydration.

SPEAKER_03 43:04

I keep going on to people at the minute about grounding. Like I'm so into it. Like when we were full-time tour life, you know, I was on a a UK touring theatre show and it was intense, you know, it was miles up and down the country, hours in the back of a van. Like one of the recovery stages that we would do when we would get to a theatre was unload and go for a walk outside just to, like you say, calm and regulate your nervous system, get some fresh air, just ground yourself. But like now, I feel like I've taken it a level further, and I'm like, I'm looking for bits of grass, and I'm like taking my shoes and socks off and I'm sitting there.

SPEAKER_00 43:34

Have you got a grounding sheet?

SPEAKER_03 43:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 43:36

Yes, that's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 43:38

Oh, it's so good. I keep saying to people, try it, just to really bring yourself down and centre yourself in like the you would be technical about it with the residents of the earth, and it's just so good for your mental well being and to calm your nervous system, and particularly I think as performers and artists that you say we experience the highest of highs, and so trying to balance that lowest of lows. You need those tools in your toolkit, which is some of the stuff I teach in coaching. It's like these what tools in your toolkit do you have for your well-being and looking after yourself?

Self-Validation And Audition Lessons

SPEAKER_00 44:10

When I first was learning about, you know, real good self-care, um, you know, I was at a really dangerous point. Um and my therapist calls it my stroke bank. And I was like, okay, we need to come up with a different name. But it's it's so when he explained what the stroke bank was, is you know, we're having a conversation right now, and what we're doing is we're stroking energy from each other. So I will take energy from you, you'll take energy from me. Um, and your your bank depletes of all your strokes. And then eventually you're in the red in your bank, and you're doing nothing to build those those strokes back up into credit um so you can debit from them. And it was uh really a kind of oh wow, yeah, that makes sense. Like, what am I doing to ground myself, to just put my feet onto pebbles in the water, um, to walk barefoot, to get naked in nature, like you know, what am I doing to um to ground myself? And now I do all those things, except get naked in the winter. But it's too cold. It's too cold for that.

SPEAKER_03 45:24

Something, yes, in the winter in the UK, no.

SPEAKER_00 45:27

No. I I would say to my friend the other day, I was like, I just wish I lived in a country that was hot even in the winter. That would be nice. But um be the dream. That would be the dream.

SPEAKER_03 45:38

So what one lesson from your performing life that someone with a normal nine to five job could use in their everyday life tomorrow?

SPEAKER_00 45:46

That's such a good question. Um when I would say develop an alter ego that you pull out. Okay, so me as Chris, my my boy names Chris, could walk into a room, but I'd most probably find the nearest corner and I would want to just chill there for a bit and observe. Whereas the madam, I can just barge in. So develop an alter ego, and I used to do this with my with my hat. So I would get a lot of people ask me, can I have a hat for free? I'm going to this event and I need a hat for free. So I developed this manager because my brand name was called Julian Garner. I developed this manager called Chris. And Chris would get all the hate, you know, and I was just like, hi, I've spoken to the designer, and no. Hi, I've spoken to the designer, and what's the return for the brand? What are we going to be getting? So developed it developed an e develop a character that that kind of, you know, stands side by side, shoulder to shoulder with you when you're in a difficult situation, you know, you're dealing with someone who's difficult in work, you're um in a meeting that's quite scary. Um could be something you wear, you know, um, could be something, an action you do, but developed develop a character that goes, right, so John Smith is now in, you know, Jonathan Randall Smith's shoes. I'm gonna I don't know why I'm saying that name, but you know, I'm I'm Randall's here, we're going to do this together and we're gonna absolutely smash it up the park.

SPEAKER_03 47:26

Yeah. So yeah, um it's a really good bit of advice, I think, isn't it, to really have that other version of you that's showing up and kind of Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:36

I mean, I I I sometimes think all the meetings that I've had in my life, if I turned up and drag as the madam, like what would have happened in that meeting? Um, obviously that's not the case because unfortunately people view kind of what we do as a bit of a gimmick and a bit of a joke. They don't realise that there's a massive industry behind it, they don't realise that there's a lot of work that goes into it. Um, but yeah, I think I could absolutely kick some ass if I turned up as the madam. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_03 48:07

Just lived as the madam from now on.

Letting Go Of A Dream, Keeping Art

SPEAKER_00 48:09

Yeah, no, that's definitely not gonna happen. It's exhausting, but it is yeah, it's exhausting. Even on my my my my therapy journey, you know, I've you you go through this therapy where you go, okay, leave the madam at the door. Now you're just Chris. Replenish that stroke bank. You know, take take care of yourself because develop a character that perhaps adds that advice to a character that's not going to rob you of your energy. Um because sometimes when you develop this, we develop characters, it is energy consuming. Um and it can drain the social battery. I don't know if you feel this, but you go to an event and you feel like you have to entertain people because you're an entertainer.

SPEAKER_01 49:00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:01

Um, I've literally been invited to weddings before where I haven't known the person very well. And I've been like, Why am I here? And then I've asked them, I've been like, you know, why was I invited? And they've been like, Well, you've just you're really good with entertaining people. And I'm like, Oh, so I was stuck on this table with people I didn't know because you knew I would be able to chat to them. And it's it's now if I get an invite, I'm like, mm-hmm. Do I really want to go? Yeah, I I question so many things. I'm not afraid to say no. And also um not just saying yes all the time.

SPEAKER_01 49:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:38

Because I think sometimes as performers, we do that. We just go yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, rather than no, I'm okay, actually. You know, do you want to work this weekend? No, actually, I was really happy I had the Sunday off. And you know, and also not falling into the trap of what performers do, which is oh, so you're you're not you're not working. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:00

Sometimes I I don't want to not work. Yeah, sometimes human beings.

SPEAKER_00 50:04

And that's okay. It's okay to not work. And I think especially at those times, don't turn on social media. Because you get into this rabbit hole where you're like, oh my god, look at that person working at that venue and doing this and doing that. No, remember your intention, remember what you said. Like I've got the Sunday coming up and I'm not working. I'm yet to have fun and experience my life on this floating rock to a destination we have no idea. Let's enjoy that. Um so yeah, that's something that I definitely would say turn off social media when you're it's so tricky, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 50:44

Because social media is like this highlight reel of everybody's life, and you look at it and people you think all these people are busy and performing all the time, and that you have to sometimes remind yourself they're not, and it's just this is what they're showing on social media, and the reality is very different.

SPEAKER_00 50:59

Very different. And I I remember hearing stories by people, you know, just kind of, you know, I'd be in a room full of people and I'd hear little chats and people going, Oh, can you believe that they're posting this weekend? But I actually know for a fact that they're not working. I'm like, why get post, you know, to drum in work, but pretending you're actually at the venue and you're working to me just makes no s no sense to me. It it's again, it's very ego-driven. There's a really wonderful book um called The Uh A New Earth by Eckhart Tolet.

SPEAKER_02 51:36

I love them.

SPEAKER_00 51:37

And it's his it's kind of a better understanding of his previous book, The Power of Now. It's a bit more in layman's terms, like you can really understand it. Took me a year to read this book because I was just so mind-blown by each chapter. I'd reread it like three times. And um the the whole ego in our society of wanting to be the best and the top. Like, no, I would rather be happy.

SPEAKER_02 52:07

Yeah.

Reflection, Cycles And Honest Journals

SPEAKER_00 52:08

And like that, to me, I can take my happiness when I die. I can be on my deathbed and be like, well, I had a happy life. That's amazing. I can't be on my deathbed organising a removals van to come with my hearst to be to you know to my spot to fill it.

SPEAKER_03 52:24

Um it's not falling into the trap, isn't it? Comparing yourselves to others online of living your truth of what your performance art means to you, and how you want to show up, not um being driven by the comparing yourself online. I think so many young fledgling performers and even people of experience fall into that.

SPEAKER_00 52:45

Absolutely. And it's there's a really important thing as well, as well as not comparing yourself to another artist, is not expecting validation from other artists. Like, validate yourself. So, like, you know, this journey as a performer, you are turning up to valet and you've got to park your own car. You know, there is no one else that's gonna park your car for you. So validate yourself, you know, really know your truth and sit within that. That's how I really and I'm I I learned that quite early on, which I'm really grateful for. Um, don't get me wrong, when RuPaul's Drag Race came out, I thought, oh my God, I can't do that, I can't do that, I can't do that. And then I did my first audition, and yes, I didn't get on, but I thought, but I did a really funny reel. Yeah, you know, I I thought what I did was hilarious. My snatch game character was um now I forgot her name, Barbara Cartland and Vladimir Putin. So, like, admittedly, you know, what happened wasn't a great, a great thing, but I um got to try out these new characters and do different makeup and go, okay, well, if I don't get on, that's fine. It doesn't mean that my drag's not valid. You know, we love to share a meme that says all drag is valid. We love to share a meme that says all burlesque is valid. But actually, what's the point of saying that if you're not validating yourself? Um, you know, and just doing what you do 100% and not caring about the the noise, the the white noise.

SPEAKER_03 54:25

I remember why you're doing it as well, isn't it? Like what's what was your driving force for getting into it in the first place? And is that still your driving force now, or is your driving force of your art form changed and getting curious of yourself?

Joy, Jealousy And Choosing Your Path

SPEAKER_00 54:38

Absolutely, absolutely. And um, and you know, when I decided to close down my my my headwear label, um, it was only last year that I decided, you know, I I need to be realistic with this. It again, I it was quite hard getting to that point because I've had this dream since I was 11. But I've got to be really realistic with with life and where life is, where economy is, and reaching that level of realism and kind of maturity, it's actually really powerful because you're you're going, I'm gonna stop wasting time here, and that's really important. Um but also it's it's going, I'm I'm not going to be, I'm not gonna fail because I've said enough's enough. You know, that's failure isn't that. Uh what's that? Um uh what does the acronym for failure? It's uh first attempt in learning. I think, you know, and hey, I've had great success with my label, hasn't failed, but I've learned that for me this business doesn't pay my bills.

SPEAKER_03 55:52

And there'll be something that you'll take from that into something else. Absolutely. It's never wasted time, isn't it? It's all valuable learning nuggets along the way.

SPEAKER_00 56:01

And I think also reflecting uh is another really good thing in terms of self-care. It's like reflecting like journaling is so important to me. Um, I don't know if you've heard of them, they're called a one-line-a-day journal. I bap on about them on my social media all the time, um, particularly on my stories, but you it's a five-year journal, so you have, you know, right now I'm on my second one of those, so I have 2026 at the top. So when I read 2027, I'll be able to read what happened in 26. And then by the time I get to 2030, I'll be able to have seen the last years. And it's really interesting because you're able to see cycles, you're able to see traits, you're able to see where you rescued, where you were a victim. You know, you you're you're able to see all these cycles that we put ourselves through. And then you can go, I'm gonna change that. You know, I'm I'm I'm actually going to be my authentic self and I'm gonna draw the line. I'm going to boundary myself and you know, and and stop the cycle. Um it really is a powerful tool journaling. Like it's I mean, I've got two journals. One is where I just write my one line one line a day, and then the other journal is I always start with my what I'm grateful for. Yes, what positive happened that day, because I think in this world we need as much positivity and then self-care. But self-care, I am honest than my self-care. So if I've turned up to therapy, great. But if I'm writing, you know, I ate really well today, but in actual fact, I had McDonald's and I went round that drive-thru three times, you're lying to yourself. So, like, be honest in the self-care, you know, area. Um, because again, you driving around that drive-thru three times, it's not a bad thing. You know, it's just like it's going to have its effects. So, um, and then I, you know, write the question I have or the feeling that I have or whatever it is. And it journaling is a wonderful, wonderful tool to ground, to reflect, to, you know, question, and then you can start seeing, okay, why am I comparing what what is it that I can see in that person that I want?

SPEAKER_03 58:20

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 58:21

Do you want it that badly?

SPEAKER_03 58:22

I remember watching I was watching a podcast and they were saying about when you see something in somebody else's life and you get a little bit jealous, that rather than saying that you're jealous, it's you recognizing and going, that's for me. Yes. That's for me too. So rather than feeling jealous, just saying, Oh, that I I've noticed that because I've done that and that's for me.

SPEAKER_00 58:42

It's such a nice way of looking at jealousy because we all get jealous, like we're human, you know, we're we're all complete, complicated, complex humans. Um, that's a really nice way of going. The universe is saying, Hey, this maybe you want a bit of this.

SPEAKER_03 58:58

It shows a light, doesn't it? On what you might want.

Legacy, Authenticity And Closing Thanks

SPEAKER_00 59:00

I I mean, I I remember in my when I was in my residency, I was there and we would have these staff parties where we would go to Brighton watch these performers, and I just looked at them and I wasn't I was like, Oh my god, I just want this life. You know, I would hear stories of people saying, Oh, but you're gonna have to get ready in a disabled toilet. And I'm like, well, as long as I'm getting to express myself, it is what it is. Like, you know, you're you're gonna have to do these things, but and I get to see the more of the country. You know, it's it's uh you've got to look at the the the positives.

SPEAKER_03 59:34

Um always find the joy in it.

SPEAKER_00 59:36

Yes. And I think when it stops being a joy, I think be be realistic with yourself and go, actually, there's there's no longer joy here because joy can quickly turn into a toxic environment.

SPEAKER_03 59:48

Yeah, I've experienced that. I remember you know the going through the experience of getting your dream job um and then the circumstances that came with it, and then just be like, oh, I'm not really sure this was the dream. I thought it was gonna be. And having to realize that with myself and go through that process. So I remember it being, you know, really challenging of like, okay, this is learning for me. So if I could ask you one more question, when people talk about you in 20 years' time, what do you hope they say your work gave them or gave the world?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:24

Oh God, that's just like Um I I do you know what? I think my main thing would be art. Like I think, you know, they're gonna say, Oh, the madam, I just love seeing her photo shoots or I loved seeing your performance on stage. Um I I just hope it would be art. You know, like I hope I'm remembered as an artist. I hope I'm um although that might all change, you know. I I don't know. Like I also I also hope people remember me with well, they stuck to their authentic self and they went for it. I think that would be a really also an awesome accomplishment to just be seen as being authentic. That is that'll be nice.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:20

Somebody that followed their passion and their dream and absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:25

So yeah, without sounding too cheesy.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:30

It's beautiful. Um like and I'm so grateful that you came today to share your wisdom and your knowledge and your experiences with everybody on the show. And I hope everyone at home has felt you and heard you and enjoyed I've enjoyed talking to you. It's been an absolute pleasure.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:47

Vice versa. Thank you for having me. And um, yeah, good luck to behind behind burlesque.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:54

May long may she reign and hopefully you know provide a platform for as many performers as we can to share their story.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:00

Well, yeah, the the she will rain because the person behind it is going to make certain it does. And also, if it doesn't, that's cool too. You know, it's um I I watched a wonderful interview with uh Pi the the Mime. So good. I loved how it was so good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:18

Such a joy to speak to you, and that's the whole ethos of the show. Like I've had the pleasure and joy of speaking to all of you wonderful creatives in my world, and I wanted to share that with other people that maybe didn't get to personally know you incredible people. Yeah, thank you. So today's show is sponsored by Crystal Parade, who provide all the showgirl sparkles that everybody needs to bling their costumes. Um, and they have kindly let me sparkle a gift for you. So here we have if we want to explain for people that are listening at home and not watching on YouTube.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:57

So much, that's gorgeous.

Sponsor Thanks And Farewell

SPEAKER_03 1:02:59

It is a pair of lips, a pair of sparkling lips.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:03

Amazing, it really does. Like I feel like it could be a great brooch. If you see me walking around with a brooch, that would be amazing. Thank you. I've really enjoyed it. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:14

It's been an honour and a pleasure, and I look forward to sharing a stage with you many more times in the future.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:20

Me too.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:21

I wish you all the love and success.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:23

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:23

Thank you, and thank you for listening to another episode of Behind Balesque. I have been Isabella Bliss and I have been spending some time today with a wonderful madam. I hope you've enjoyed the show. Please give it a like, a share, a comment, share it with people you love. The more you spread the word about the show, the more wonderful guests we can have on the show. So thank you so much. I love hearing from you. I love your messages that you send in. So thank you everybody that's shared and sent me your beautiful messages. Today we have been sponsored by Crystal Parade and the wonderful Lindsay McLean, who is a social media expert and influencer. So please do check out both of our sponsors. All of the details will be in the description and below. But I look forward to seeing you all next time. Goodbye.