Pillow Talk Super Fan or Stranger Danger

Simple little stories for the "glamourous" life of a showgirl.

Every showgirl loves a fan and if you look at Beyonce, BTS, and Taylor Swift, then you know that it is not uncomment for those fans to become a part of that showgirl's fam. In a the digital age where everyone and everything is overexposed, when do fans become a threat? When do warnings from friends simply fall into the realm of rumors? How do we trust our bodies when making a living baring our souls?

In Pillow Talk, The Luvely Rae delivers short antidotes on nightlife and working in entertainment in the U.S. These stories lead to bigger questions such as: what is female empowerment and why going to adult stores on the first date is a terrible idea. 

Music  The Mooche by Duke Ellington (recorded 1928)

**

This podcast is recorded in a style that pays homage to talents like Miss Monitor (Tedi Thurman) and explores topics designed to stimulate conversations. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Time for the little pillow talk. Hello darlings, it's story time. So I found myself producing titulating arts on the New York City burlesque scene for about ten years. And like any artistic industry, trends come and trends go. And so do rumors. I remember one evening when a young lady came backstage and said, Oh, he's here again. He comes to all my shows. He was just in the audience. And I swear he's following me. Now, as the producer of the show, I found myself a protector of my glittery babes. I wanted to know who this guy was. I wanted to know who it was that was making one of my girls uncomfortable. And then another young lady popped up about that guy. I'm not gonna use the name that we had for him back then, just out of respect. But for the purpose of this podcast, let's call him that guy Joe. And so this woman had popped up to tell us all about that guy Joe. As everyone knew that that guy Joe was, well, he had the label of Stalker. Now this performer proceeded to regale us with the tale of how that guy Joe would attend every show of a certain performer. And we all listen eagerly, like schoolgirls sitting around a campfire listening to a ghost story. So that guy Joe, just like the young man who was the subject of much scrutiny upon this evening, that guy Joe would go to all the shows of this other performer. However, it seems that that guy Joe took photos and video from the young lady's website and posted it on a different website that she did not approve of. That guy Joe was a bad character in our books. You don't do that. You don't take photos and video of someone, remove it from their site, post it on another site for your own gain, your own clout. Yeah. That guy Joe also apparently had an encounter with the young lady who was telling us this tale. You see, she said she had done a performance and at the end of her routine she witnessed that guy Joe pick up said prop and stick it down his pants. Yeah, that guy Joe was a bad character with a bad reputation. Now, to be fair, a lot of shows actually wouldn't even let that guy Joe in because we were all concerned that he might be a little too attentive to said performer. Everyone just thought he was a creep. How long we were when I look back on it. Yes, now I cannot confirm or deny whether or not that guy Joe was responsible for putting said performer's information on a website, which she did not approve. I did not have that performer tell me such things, and I did connect with her on two separate occasions. She was a lovely young lady. But she didn't talk about the incident of her information being stolen. And she never complained about that guy Joe. In fact, it didn't seem like she bore him any ill will. She seemed focused on her own thing, and rumors about that guy Joe were swirling around even without her contribution. She wasn't providing this information backstage, it was the other girls. Just like the young lady who had our ears at this moment. Now mind you, the young lady who had piped up about that guide Joe, well, she also wasn't the first that heard this story from. But she was definitely the first I'd heard it in such detail, and she was also the first person I had heard to have their own experience with that guide Joe. And so it wouldn't be uncommon for an audience member to pick up something of a performer's, and yet it was general rule that you gave it back after the show. Maybe you'd hand it to the stage girl who was running around collecting things, the little assistant. Maybe you simply place the item back on stage. But putting something down your pants for keeps, well, that was a new one. And to be fair, I must confess she never got that prop back, and honestly, I don't know if I would want something back if it had been down someone else's pants. It's kinda like food. If someone else licks that food, do you really want it even if it came from your plate? I for one would not. Now if some were licking food off me, that's a different story. But all in all, that would be with my consent. Of course. Perhaps if I was curious about was in his pants, that might also change things. But I wasn't. Ah I digress. And so such was the buzzing of the bees backstage. And of course, being that I was the producer of the show, also acting as the money person, the stage host, the booker, and security, I wanted to know who was causing such a stir in the audience because I knew that Guy Joe was not in our audience. So who was it? Who is this other potential deviant? Potential stalker? Who is going from show to show causing this young lady to feel uncomfortable? I want to know. And when this young lady described to me who it was and where he sat, I knew exactly who she meant. Now, these events all took place before the Me Too movement. They all took place before phrases like believe women were being lollied about in social circles. To be fair, I think anyone who makes claims of unwanted attention should be listened to, should be heard. And then we get into the facts, regardless of gender. I will state right now that the young man in which she had pointed out was a fan of the art form. I had known him for years, and unless my show conflicted with the date of another show that he particularly enjoyed, he always came to my shows. He came to pretty much all the shows, and he would often attend a show every night of the week. That's the kind of super fan he was. A very kind young man who was also a bit shy. And so it seems that the entire conversation was all about someone who, well, gave attention at shows, but I can't say for certain that he even had favorite performers. If so, they were only a handful. And mind you, I did want to assure this woman that I was attentive to her concern, I heard her out, and it was a bit of a balancing act, reassuring her that she was safe, and yet knowing what I felt to be true, which is that this fan, who I also considered a friend, had not come to the show just to see her. Now, mind you, this young lady was newer on the scene, and so it was very understandable how she might perceive that this gentleman's appearance at multiple shows, which being that she is new, she had an opportunity to perform in multiple shows that featured newer performers. It's easy to understand the mistake. And so I did tell her about this gentleman. I told her about what I knew, and that many of us knew him. Now to be frank now to be frank, I cannot recall what happened after this big reveal, how she responded, or what the others. Though I assume it was all fairly uneventful, as one, it escapes my mind some years later, and two, I did wear many hats backstage. But the events of that evening have long left me with exploring the question of what role does consent play in the arts between patrons and artists. Super fans create social media accounts dedicated to artists all the time. I'm not talking about lingo boundaries, theft, trespassing, touching harassment, no no no. I'm talking about that moment when flattery becomes infringement. I wanna know. So send me a message, darling. Until next time. It's been lovely to chat.