We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Faggedy Randy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Randy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
I’m totally happy as a creative! I wouldn’t have it any other way. On top of performing, I also have a full time job as a creative in tech.
When I first started my performance career I was working in the service industry as a restaurant manager/waiter/barista/and pastry chef for a small Capitol Hill restaurant by day and danced in cabaret shows in the Pike Place Market by night.
I was eventually able to leave the restaurant to perform full time but after some years, I became burnt out from beating up my body 5 nights a week with no insurance or job security. So I went back to school for design. Before I could even finish my first semester I found myself performing again in holiday shows with my one of my best friends and I soon after joined a burlesque troupe. By the time I earned my degree I was back to working 9-5 and performing at night all over again!
And here I am now, in my 16th year of performing and still grappling with that balance of having a day job (sigh).
Would I love to perform full time? Absolutely! Is it a safe industry to work in full time? Mostly not. Unfortunately during the pandemic we saw just how hard the performance industry was hit. It is a rarity to find security in live performance and art is typically one of the first things to get cut from any business’ budget. I witnessed a lot of artist friends draining their savings (if they had any) and struggling to find income during the shut down. So for now, I’m keeping my WFH job while I pour my passion into my favorite art form – burlesque.
Randy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I got into the performance industry by following a crush into a modern dance class. I had never taken a class before but found myself in love with movement and dance expression. Everything kind of started for me from that moment on.
My performance career progression kinda went like this:
Modern Dance – Cabaret – Live Theatre – Burlesque
Through all my years performing I’ve been able to discover my own voice most through burlesque, and that’s what has kept me in it for so long.
Finding my voice is most definitely what has set me apart from other performers and gives my performances my unique flavor and take on burlesque. I ride the line between what is acceptable and what is ridiculous or absurd and make it easily digestible and enjoyable for (almost) everyone. My intention behind building any act is to provide a bridge for the heteronormative and somewhat conservative world to enjoy and feel included in some of the queerest sh*t they’ve ever seen. My goal is to bring the audience along for a ride that is very easy and comfortable to get on, but then take them to places they weren’t expecting (places where if I told them where we were going before they got on, I’d certainly lose at least half of them). By the end of every performance I want to leave them feeling like they were part of the ride, that they were included, and they would be comfortable doing it all over again with me.
I’m most proud of this aspect of my work. It’s in this space that I continue to grow by challenging myself to accomplish this same task every time while trying something new and pushing boundaries for others as well as for myself.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I had known about the Burlesque Hall of Fame MUCH earlier in my career.
If you don’t know, it’s a burlesque museum that was started out in the desert with a personal collection of stripper artifacts in the 1950’s by Jenny Lee and has grown to become the world’s largest archive of burlesque history and ephemera.
Knowing the history of your art form, understanding where everything you are doing came from, why burlesque even exists and how we got to the resurgence of the industry today is super critical to your development as a professional. Knowing what a burlesque legend is, who they are, meeting and learning from them… It’s a whole ‘nother ballgame when you respect your art form enough to learn about its history. You can’t truly be an original if you don’t try to learn from the entire century of badasses who were bumping and grinding before you.
Respecting any art form really goes hand in hand with learning its history. From there you can truly become a part of carrying it into the future. I feel like my career will be a never ending journey of learning and appreciating and discovering, and that makes the future really exciting to me.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
It’s so easy… Make art an important part of your life! Make it part of your routine! Even just once a month. Go see something new. See a local play. See a local band. Go to a new art exhibit at a museum. Maybe even… Watch a burlesque show!
There’s a whole world of art and artists out there! Experiencing art and live performance really will kick your enjoyment of life way up! Even if you see art you don’t like, you now have an opinion and something to think about. If you DO like what you see, you now have something incredible to share and introduce your favorite people to!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @faggedyrandy
- Facebook: Facebook.com/
faggedyrandy
Image Credits:
Mike White Photography
Crystal Lotus Studio
Greginda Photography
Bettina May Photography
Meneldor Photography