Lady Mabuhay: The Art of Burlesque Storytelling & Stage Kittening Tips

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In this episode, Gemma chats with Lady Mabuhay, a versatile "Jane of all trades" and a dynamic storyteller who brings her creative talents to the NYC burlesque scene. Lady Mabuhay shares her journey, from classical Indian dance training to her transition to burlesque, where she’s been performing for over 8 years. She talks about her Little Stinky Kitty act, which channels the energy of a cat with the zoomies,  and offers essential tips for stage kittens looking to shine! They also discuss her beloved senior cat, Charlie, who keeps her grounded. Tune in for an inspiring conversation about artistry, creativity and the joy of being a "cat mom."

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Transcript

Gemma Smith (00:00.056)
basically about a cat with a zoomies. When you listen to it, you just automatically think about a cat tearing up the house. And so the act is actually inspired by the song. It pretty much wrote itself. Hello, hello, kitty cats, and welcome back to another episode of Tales and Tassels, the show where you pounce into the lives of burlesque nightlife performers, their craft, their cats, and how the two worlds intertwine.

I'm your host, Gemma Smith. By day, I work for a national nonprofit animal welfare organization. And by night, I host the Cat Beret, a cat themed cabaret in New York City. And today I'm thinking about how grateful I am for all of you listeners. It's been a dream of mine to create a podcast and this year it became a reality.

and I'm so thankful to have audience members, listeners like you here with me. On that note, it is quite a big undertaking to produce this show all on my own. And so I wanted to ask, would you like to support the show? Would you like to be a VIP kitty cat? If so, I want to hear from you. I'm going to start a Patreon group for our VIP kitty cats for only

maybe $3-5 a month. And I have a survey in the show notes asking you, what would you be willing to pay per month to support the show and in return, what rewards would you like? Things from a personal shout out on the show, handwritten note or stickers from me, perhaps a bonus episode every month, or the episodes are released with full video to Patreon members only.

even affirmations for cat-loving creatives that I could read to you to listen to before you go on stage to perform your cat-themed burlesque act. I'm here for it. The sky is the limit. Please click the link in the show notes. Give me your feedback. Let me know what rewards would make it valuable for you to be a VIP kitty cat. It's my goal to grow our community of listeners here.

Gemma Smith (02:21.484)
And we can also have a space for some chat, some discourse, some communication and conversation and connection. So as you can tell, I'm really excited about starting a Patreon and I look forward to reading each and every one of your responses. Okay, let's dive into today's episode. I'm thrilled to bring you another a meowsing burlesque performer who's also graced the cat parade stage, Lady Mabuhay.

Mabuhay is the Filipino phrase meaning to long life, and Lady Mabuhay serves it up with gusto. The New York-based burlesque performer creates expressive, dynamic acts thanks to 16 years of Indian classical dance training. She's a juxtaposition of grounded seduction and electric vibrancy, pairing slow and sensuous movements with abrupt feistiness. She can portray a captivating character in a compelling story

Then seamlessly switch to another when you think you've figured her out. Today, we'll talk about her craft, her cat, and how these two worlds intersect. Thank you so much for being here, lady. Thank you for having me. So, wow, what an impressive bio. 16 years of Indian classical dance training. Can you share a bit about your story and background in performance? Yes, my...

formal training started maybe around 2001. I took a classical Indian dance just for the fun of it in college. I went to San Francisco State University and I had stuck with it for a good 16 years. And by the last year I had started getting into burlesque and I've since left a kathak, that's the name of the dance of the classical Indian dance and have been doing burlesque for about, I think eight years now.

And so when you started burlesque, what triggered that? Was there a certain performance you saw or a friend that performed or a class that you took? knew a man who knew Dita Von Teese and he talked about burlesque. I think it was Dita Von Teese. He said a burlesque performer and I swear he said Dita. And that kind of was in the back of my head until I would say around 2016, 2015 when I was thinking about

Gemma Smith (04:46.878)
shifting my focus from classical Indian dance into something just completely different because I had been focusing on that one specific genre for years and I just wanted to expand my horizons. So that's really my start and then I took classes at the New York School of Burlesque and that's when I really started. So many people who I've interviewed so far, well just a few other Burlesque performers.

they also started the New York School of Burlesque and I took some classes there as well. That's so great to have that resource here in New York City for people that are interested in getting started. Okay, so you started, you took classes there, and from there you've gone on and performed for eight years. How would you describe your performance style? So I had actually asked someone that because I couldn't really nail it. Like I could do the glam thing, I could do the funny thing, I could do...

I could pick a story and make it work. And I kind of struggled with that. I felt for some reason that I needed to pick something that said, Lady Mabuhay. And my friend said, no, you're a Jane of all trades. Why don't you just stick with that? What you can do is tell a story, whether it's an actual story with characters or you're just telling a story with your body and your facial expressions.

or you're being a conduit between the audience and, you know, whatever message you're feeling, even if it's an abstract story that you're telling. I think that that's what makes me key, is being a storyteller. It's totally true, Burlesque. You're telling a story. You're different. It sounds like even from reading your bio, you can be seductive and sensual. You can be feisty. You're telling a story through your acts. And I love that you don't have one style. You can mix it up depending on what story you want to tell.

Yes, absolutely. Now, speaking of one of your specific acts, and it was a cat themed act, which made me think of you for this podcast at the Cat Beret. You performed a very fun upbeat cat themed act. Can you describe the act and speak to your inspiration behind it? The act is the name of the song, which is called Little Stinky Kitty.

Gemma Smith (07:08.366)
And it's by this psychedelic surf rock band out in Santa Cruz, California called the Merman. And it's a really fast song that's about 160 beats per minute. And it's basically about a cat with a zoomies. When you listen to it, you just automatically think about a cat tearing up the house. And so the act is actually inspired by the song. It's pretty much wrote itself. And so when I decided on the

act it had to be obviously had to be fast and I thought about it I can't really stop it's so fast so I have to have to really make sure I have my stamina up and I prepare for the for the act every time I do the act I have to I have to prepare for it mentally physically you know make sure that I'm hydrated and

I knew that it had to have more than one set of tassels. In fact, this act does not have one set. It doesn't have two sets. It doesn't even have three. It has four sets of tassels. And maybe down the road, I might add another set or two. That's so perfect. Yes, you have to have multiple tassels if you're going to be a cat. I did actually look up recently, how many nipples do cats have? Even though I work in animal welfare, I didn't know it. You're in the perfect spot with how many tassels you have. Yeah, it varies, right?

Yeah. Six to eight. Yeah. And the other thing too, as I've, as I've developed the act, I don't want to over-perfect it because when a cat goes through the zoomies, your house isn't left pristine. So there are times when, you know, a few tassels fly off, all of them fly off. Some of them are hanging by bits of pasty tape. And I actually don't mind if I haven't done it yet, but I don't mind if I fall, you know, you

Burlesque tends to be a little bit, you know, like very often it tends to be smoke and mirrors and beautiful and all about the glamorous effect. But with this act, even though it's pink and rhinestones and I have my hair in curls, I'm sweating already. And if I fall and make a mess out of myself, well, you know what? That just makes the act even better. Yes, because we've seen cats with the zoomies running around and maybe knocking things over.

Gemma Smith (09:27.048)
and falling and then getting right back up. You know, it's very realistic. I like that you said that a lot of times for Alaska is kind of like very intentional movements are very glamorous. But what I like about it, and even with cats, there's so many different kinds of cats. You can have many different types of cat acts. And this is one that can be a little messy. Now, you said the song inspired it and then the rest kind of like.

You know, it's about a cat with the zoomies. How did you determine your costume for the act? And describe it for our listeners. Sure. It's hot pink and a lot of fringy because there's a lot of movement. The fringe moves a lot. There's flowers, lot of rhinestones. There's never enough rhinestones. whenever I feel like there needs to be more added, will just definitely glue on more.

And there are a lot of loose parts. it, what I don't really like to do is make my costume or my act obvious. Like I didn't want it to look like a cat, you know, not that there's anything wrong with that. I just, you know, I just wanted something that's a little bit more nuanced and would open it up for conversation if someone asked. And, but it's, hot pink, lots of gloves and there are a lot of little parts and one person

One performer suggested, you know, because I have to spend half an hour taping everything. Because of that, one performer suggested that I wear a bodysuit and then have everything glued. I'm like, no, no, no, that's not the point. The point is, will everything stay on? You know, will anything come off? Because I'm using a lot of pasty tape. And then if I'm sweating it off, there's a possibility of it falling off. And sometimes part of the costume comes off prematurely.

So I kind of like that and I like not over rehearsing the act so that it's a little bit, in fact, it's actually quite messy. And Knock on Wood, so far I haven't lost any of the parts. I think there are about like 15 to 20 parts that I have to keep track of for this act. That's amazing for people listening who are like just admirers of Verlaskan performance or maybe they're a singer.

Gemma Smith (11:47.214)
people don't realize how much goes into creating one act and burlesque performers have so many acts and so many costume pieces for one act. Yes. And I wanted to add, I love how you mentioned you don't want it to be over rehearsed because there's something really cool for the audience about being there live and present with you in the act. And with burlesque, I feel like the audience is part of it, right? Cause you break the fourth wall, of course, you're looking at them, they're part of it. And so...

How does that change for you with this specific act? Does it change depending on the space, the crowd? Definitely the space. I've found that if the space is too big, because I'm moving so fast and I'm doing a lot of choreography, I can't travel too far from one part of the stage to another or part of the venue to another. I have to plan it a little bit. But that if it's in the round or if it's among tables, I can

make a short trip from one table to another. then I could be a little bit more personal with each person or each table. What's great is that sometimes if I'm at a table, I'll take a quick look at the table and see what I can use as a prop. So in one part of the act, I will improvise being a cat that swipes stuff off the table. So there are times when I'm like, okay, I can't knock off a glass from the table. I don't want to piss off the venue owners.

But there's a napkin or there's a coaster and I can use that, you know, to act like a cat that just swipes something off the table. That helps me determine the space and how to change my act around it. And that's such a fun moment for people, especially at the cat beret. They're all definite cat lovers. So that little moment is so like, that asshole cat. love cats, but my cat, Lionel, when he was a kitten, he was...

knocking glasses over and we all know that moment. So stinky little kitty, that's the name of the song or little, little, little stinky kitty. It's perfect. It's exactly. And remind me where your tassels are placed or for our audience. We got tassels, right? We got the tassels. got chassels. yes. So shoulder tassels, nassels. So knee tassels and then assholes.

Gemma Smith (14:11.854)
yeah, they're all in different places. That's hilarious. I love that. What I love about burlesque and also cat adjacent cat themed burlesque. It's not just we're all dressed up like a cat. It's your interpretation of a cat. It doesn't have to be exactly someone's just a cat. There's so many different ways to express it or subtly give us cat without having to have cat ears, you know.

Yeah, exactly. In fact, think that would be the only thing that would really change it to be obvious is if I added cat ears. Everything else, it's just a costume until you see what's going on. Then you're like, that is a cat. A little sticky kitty. Now, I was curious, why do you think so many burlesque performers have a cat-themed name, cat-themed acts, or love cats?

Do you have any, I'm curious about it myself and trying to discover it through this podcast. I don't know. I'm assuming it's ubiquitous enough for Joe Weldon to say on one of the first days that I took her class at the New York School of Burlesque, try not to choose a cat name. was like, wow, is it really that popular? Well, I don't know. I kind of thought about it. It could be a number of things. I think it's a lot like, why does the internet love cats?

They're fun to look at. They're weird. They're weird. They're quirky. They're funny. They're cuddly and they're sweet. They're ferocious and they kill, but they're also really skittish and scared of everything. And I feel like maybe I'm really just pulling this out of my head right now, but I think that they're the introvert's favorite animal.

Because they're not obvious in their behavior until you actually observe them and I think that's why they were so popular on the internet Why are they popular in burlesque? I think maybe for the same reasons in that we think of cats as mysterious and sexy and slithering But they're also really energetic and they're really funny and they don't give a shit

Gemma Smith (16:31.626)
and burlesque doesn't give a shit. so, does that answer your question? don't know. Maybe. I think they fit a number of categories and there's not just one reason. No, that's a great answer. That's what I've been mulling over as well. They're multifaceted. They can be mysterious and sexy and they can be goofy and aloof or have the zoomies. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So.

For a lot of folks interested in burlesque, wanting to get started, I've noticed a lot of people start out as a stage kitten. Can you describe what that is and your experience either being a stage kitten or just being in shows with stage kittens? A stage kitten is basically a stage manager. They're taking charge of making sure that the whatever costume parts that you take off, the stripper droppings.

what they tend to be known as, are free from the stage so that the performer isn't tripping all over the place. They're also in charge of holding onto them in case the performer needs them again. And my experience was, I was a bad kitten at first. Because I didn't understand that I had to keep track of those, I just thought I had to pick them up. I think the very first show I did, I didn't recognize that I had to.

returned the prop to the performer because they were going to continue using it on stage and I kind of took off into the backstage and they couldn't find me. my suggestion for new kittens is please keep watch the show. I've seen before stage kittens kind of like hang out in the back until they have to pick stuff up. No, watch the show so that one, you know where everything is flung because some performers are flingers.

You know, sometimes costume pieces get stuck like between the stage and the wall. And then you also want to make sure that you return everything to the performer, whether it's to, you know, they want to use it on stage again or, you know, so that they can have everything before they pack up and leave. That's such a good piece of advice and a good reminder for me, because I'm going to be a Kitt and Tabby Twitches show coming up. So good reminder. Some people are flingers. So you have to watch the act and make sure you get and keep track of all those pieces.

Gemma Smith (18:56.138)
And it's just such a perfect name. Stage Kitten goes hand in hand with the love of burlesque and cats. And so I'm excited that for cat beret, we always have a stage kitten and it's perfect. Yes. Now I do have another tip for stage Kitten, especially in a private show. This is sort of, I think this is my personal thing. You're kind of acting as a buffer between the performer and the audience.

Quite often, the audience doesn't always know that they have to keep their distance from the performer. So even though you're also dressed up, you kind of have to protect the performer. Make sure they don't go home with a costume piece, because we all know how time consuming and expensive those pieces are. And then I also think, I also, I mean, I guess it just depends on how you set up the show and how the aura and energy.

Don't just pick up and walk off to the private room. Follow the performer. I wouldn't say you're a servant, but you're there to help the performer. Maybe the performer wants you to lead the way, right? But don't just pick up and then lazily take off. You're still part of the show. Yes, that makes total sense. I've noticed before sometimes.

A kitten might pick up the clothes and just bring them directly back to the dressing room before the performer is off stage, but they maybe actually want to put something back on more quickly because they have to do something else. Yeah, so I see your point. Just remember you're part of the show. You're still in view of everybody. Make it easy for the performer. That's such a good point because you're still as you're walking off stage, you're still in character. You're still that storyteller.

until you're out of sight and then changed. And so the kitten is as well. And that's kind of an honor to be like, hey, I'm part of the show too. You know, it makes a big difference. Would you say that you've noticed young performers starting out as stage kittens that do a great job, then it bodes well for them to meet more people, to network and perform in more shows? Yes, it absolutely does. I remember hearing a story of

Gemma Smith (21:10.832)
what is her name? She's one of the Pearl Noir gems. She was a kitten and then one of the audience members noticed her presence on stage. She became a gem. She became a Pearl Noir gem. It's a chance to perform. Exactly. Exactly. You never know who's going to notice you and want you to be part of a troupe or a performer.

Well, before we move on to your personal connection with your cat, is there anything else that you want to share about your burlesque journey? As far as where my journey is at the moment, I've been in this interesting creative mode, just really energetic mode, and I'm I'm making use of it as much as possible. So lately, one of my last acts was about it was in honor of the 80s. It was an 80s theme show, and I didn't want to do just an act to an

notable 80s song. I wanted to encompass the entire 80s. And I did that by doing a PowerPoint present. That's not a presentation. I turned it into a movie. It was basically a movie projection behind me of iconic images from the 80s. And to me, the reveal and I was actually more background. I came out and I danced in between certain sections of the song. But I wanted more of the focus to be the audience's reaction to these images.

So things like the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the space shuttle Challenger explosion, also iconic icons of pop culture like Prince and Madonna, Michael Jackson, things like that. it was important to me to be, again, that conduit between the audience and something beyond nostalgia, but also recognizing that it was life and

politics and all of the things that we're going through now, it's actually cyclical. You know, what we're going through now, we're going to go through it again. But it's about human resilience that makes us move forward and recognize that things are going to be okay. So to answer your question, I've been wanting to focus on things that are a lot more profound and deeper. And because I work in an industry outside of burlesque that in which I can't be vocal about my politics.

Gemma Smith (23:31.31)
I do it through burlesque and, and so I do it in a way where it makes me feel like, okay, I'm saying something, but even then I'm like, okay, I'm going to spend 300 bucks on some fabric because I have never had an orange costume. So I'm just making use of all this energy that I have right now creating. And it could be anything from like, like I said, the profound storytelling to, you know, costume because I don't have a color in it. So.

That is so inspiring to me I love learning about other people who are creating and what they are creating and why they are Creating and what inspires them because like I listened to this podcast this other podcast called herbie house Queen herbie I'm obsessed with her but she always says we need your art. It's so true We need everybody's art. Everyone has something to say and I would love to see that act that sounds so powerful and so probably unexpected

in a great way for people seeing that show. Maybe they just were expecting a Madonna song and they get this multimedia experience. Yeah, I was so overwhelmed by the response that I forgot to exit and I just sat down in like humble reverence. I was like, wow, thanks. I just sat down at the steps. And, know, I think lately I've just been wanting impact. And you're right. I feel much more now as I do more.

burlesque and I get older and I develop some wisdom and I learned the lessons in my life that there are certain things that are important to me and those are the things and maybe I've been very quiet about them or I just don't feel like I can share them because maybe I think that nobody you know shares my opinion or would want to listen. No, people want to listen to what you have to say however you execute your

your what you have to say, say it in whatever capacity, whatever way, whether it's art, writing orally, whatever it is. And I am really, I'm really embracing that now. And I, because I, I say this because I think it's very common for new performers to feel like they have to fit a standard or make their acts be a standard, even within like different subsets of burlesque.

Gemma Smith (25:52.844)
No, no. What does Joe Weldon say? You can do whatever the fuck you want. Can I cuss on this? Yeah, I think so. I'm new to podcasting, but I don't know why not. Yes, it's all about being authentic to who you are. To me is what makes any performance or burlesque interesting. I want to see how you would do it, not how someone else would do it. I'll watch them do it, you know, and that's what makes it the most exciting to me. Everyone has their own.

way or their own story to tell? Yes, absolutely. Well, you'll have to keep on your website, your future shows or we'll follow you on Instagram, our listeners so they can keep posted on your future shows and maybe we can see your 80s act at some point again in the future. And so now I really would love to hear about your cat. I'm so glad you have a cat. So tell me their name and how did they come into your life?

Charlie came into my life 18, almost 19 years ago. Yes. So I had a dog. had, I lived in Florida before I moved here to New York city and I couldn't come home for lunch because I was gone 10 hours out of the day. whereas when I was living in Florida, I was able to go home for lunch and here my commute is, you know, it's pretty long. And it's like, maybe, maybe I, you know, I need, he needs a friend. My dog needs a friend. Lo and behold, my dog walker.

found a cat at the restaurant where she was eating at. And she told me about this cat. She couldn't keep it because her two resident cats were kind of terrorizing her. OK. So I was like, OK, why don't you bring her over? girl was this funny looking long thing because, you know, she was hitting that teenage stage where she was long, but she was skinny and she was cross eyed and her eyes were transitioning from blue to yellow. So they were about green.

And she was still, she was actually feral, but because she was at a restaurant, she was used to humans. That's what we both guessed, what my dog walker and I guessed. So that's how she came into my life. My dog walker was like, I can't take care of her. And I said, why don't you come over and drop off the cat or, you know, come over and we'll do a meet and greet. I made sure to run my dog for three hours to get him, cause he was going to be excited and freak the cat out.

Gemma Smith (28:16.782)
So I made sure that he ran around and tuckered him out and I leashed him. And my dog Walker let the cat kind of run around and sniff, not run around, but walk around and sniff. She was very cautious in my apartment. And also that's, that's a, I got to give this advice to people when they bring a new pet home, please don't hold onto it when you're meeting, when you're meeting, let's, I don't want to bother her. She's sleeping right

But if you're, let's pretend this is a cat. Don't hold on to the cat and then have all these other animals sniff it. That freaks them out because they're trapped. Leash the other animals, especially if they're excited and energetic, and let the cat sniff around or at least feel like that they can go run out and hide somewhere. Please, yeah, please don't do that. That's a great tip and that's so true.

Cats need to smell, be in control of how close they're going to get to the animal. You're right, feeling trapped if they were holding the cat. So how did Charlie acclimate to your apartment and with your dog? Like right away. I made sure that we had a whole weekend. I stayed home the entire weekend. Made sure to consistently train the dog even more, sit and stay, so that he was always under my command. But...

first night she, I was in bed, she immediately like just ran to my arm and just like held herself there. She was just kind of, she was a little scared of the dog, but the dog knew that he could no longer, it's been a while now, so I'm trying to remember here, he was no longer the animal that could come into my arms at night. He was at the foot of the bed. And then in the morning, and I found that this was their, this is how they negotiated.

living together. So at night, my cat was in my arms and my dog was at the foot of the bed. And then in the morning I'd wake up and they had switched. But it was always the cat that got first dibs. Yes. I understand. She negotiated that herself. And I think there's another thing to another piece of advice I give to animal guardians. Don't be nervous.

Gemma Smith (30:36.142)
What I mean by that is if you carry nervousness or fear or like just any kind of anxiety around your animals meeting, they're going to feel that. So I made sure I was like, this is going to work out. You know, I'm cool with it. I know my dog. know my cat. If anything happens, I am at the ready and to make sure. But because I was only going to be at home for the weekend for them to meet, and then I'd have to go to work and I couldn't come home to check in on them. I had to trust.

that they were going to be okay. And I come home, my dog's big bed was taken over by the cat. And then my dog was sitting right next to it because the cat took over and it was, it was great. Yeah. It sounds like, and I was thinking it sounds like such a nice way to wake up with a dog and a cat in your bed peacefully. Maybe they're not snuggling next to each other, but they're peaceful, cohabitating. What is Charlie's personality like?

Before the pandemic, I was going to work every night and she was really needy, of course, when she came home and I would just really indulge in her neediness and I would really pay attention to what her, what she needed. And now that I'm working from home, she doesn't want me around so much. We, we have our space, right? So I have a tiny kitchen you could probably see back there. And if I'm cooking, she doesn't come in and eat because we, you know, I

her food is too close to the stove. And then once I get out of the kitchen, then she comes in and eats. So we take turns using the kitchen. remember the first month or two during the pandemic, she had never, okay, so she had never scratched up my furniture until I started working from home and she started scratching stuff. I couldn't figure it out until I realized, I'm in her space at the wrong time. Cause when I'm out and I'm working, this is her home.

Yeah, it's a big change for her. Yeah. So now I have some claw marks on the sofa. They've died down a little because we figured out, know, like, or, you know, what the schedule is and the routine. She definitely is routine girl. I'm not. So she keeps me on a routine. She tells me, she tells me when she needs to be fed. She tells me when she needs to be brushed. She even tells me when I need to eat. So if I'm working and two hours have passed, she gets in my face and tells me to eat.

Gemma Smith (32:59.372)
She cares about you. She's all about your self care. Yeah. She's like a nagging mom. 18 years, pretty much figured me out. That's amazing. 18 years. So I have two cats and they're 10 and 11. you know, I want them to live a long life. And so are there anything that you've learned in her being 18 now? Any tricks to helping senior cats or she just overall been a healthy kitty?

I think she's been an overall healthy kitty, especially calicoes. can be mixed and so they're not a bred cat. Then they have more, they're a lot healthier, but I take her to the vet, you know? She's a senior cat, so I have to, I take her at least twice a year. And I understand that that's not feasible for everybody, but you know, it's important to me to set aside some money to take her to the vet and make sure that she's healthy. And I do give her the best food. Now she's on prescription food.

And so I listen to the vet. Yes. mean, whatever he tells me. As someone who used to work at a veterinary clinic and I work at Animal Welfare, I agree with you the same way. I really trust our veterinary professionals and I know it can be expensive, but it's worth it proactively because many times you can catch something early on before it becomes a bigger issue for your cat and can, you know, save also them some...

pain in the future, like a dental cleaning could be costly, but they need it and it avoids infections that can cause bigger problems later on. Exactly. I love her! You know, I'm make sure that she's... Yes, of course! They are the best. She's the queen of the castle. Do you have any other special rituals with Charlie? Her interrupting you to make sure you eat sounds like one of them. Okay, yes, she loves brushing. It's always at the same two times.

every day and I have two brushes and she gets on the bed and she knows that you know it's time and her tail is just up it's in that little question mark and she's excited she has this thing where she also it comes and goes but so the apartment across the hall from me it's the neighbors tend to be pretty transient so she always wants to me to open up the door so she could sniff and scratch the underneath their door and the welcome mat and she's

Gemma Smith (35:24.77)
really, really curious about the boxer that lives downstairs. Ritual is open up the door so I can go spy on the neighbors, basically. Hey, she's got to get her daily tea, the gossip of what's happening in the building. I love that she enjoys brushing because certain cats really love brushing and some don't. And I think it's a really nice bonding moment for humans. Yeah. And I try to keep

the apartment as clean as possible. So I figured out a way to brush her so that she doesn't run away. Cause she, she kind of doesn't like when her body's brushed. But if I brush, there's a reason I have two, two brushes, one to brush her chin. Cause she loves that while she's distracted by that. I got the other one brushing everything else. So, so nice. Good idea. Yes. When you have a cat 18 years, you know all the tricks. Absolutely. Become an expert.

Now I'm curious because you have a lot of different costumes and how does that work in your apartment? Do you have to keep your costumes tucked away so she doesn't get into them? She sounds like an independent do-her-own-thing kitty, but maybe when she was younger she might want to catch a boa or something. Well, I keep everything. My sofa has storage, so I have everything in like breathable shoe bags that I keep in the sofa.

There was one time when I was rehearsing, when she was a little bit younger and she still had energy and cared about, I was rehearsing Tassel Twirling and she batted at it. And I was a little bit nervous about that because I thought she was going to scratch me up here. So now I've learned.

I've learned how to move and position myself so she's not within reach and if I'm in a lot of movement she actually avoids me. So yeah, so that way if I'm gonna be tassel twirling I'm not at a desk where she is, you know, sitting and staring at me where she can like strategize when to bat at the thing and possibly, you know, take it off or scratch me. So I just make sure that I'm not anywhere near where she is.

Gemma Smith (37:43.116)
And she's usually, she's kind of figured out if I'm going to be rehearsing, then she goes to the bedroom, stay away. Yeah, that makes sense. It feels like you two have it so figured out because you've been performing for a while, you've had her for a while, and she sounds like she's doing her own thing. But it is a funny image of a cat swatting a tassel because oftentimes we see burlesque performers as in cat acts and they get distracted by their tassels.

So I'm glad you didn't get hurt. Thank you. Well, before we wrap up, is there anything else that you'd like to share? I know I'm going to be at Prime, Tabby Twitch's. Yeah. That's my next show. And it's great because I've been using all this time. I haven't been performing much, but I've been using all this time, like I said, to create. And that's the next time I'm going to be performing. So hopefully I'll have my costume done by then and you'll get to see it.

Okay, so your next act is going to be using an orange costume and is there like a concept, a word, a theme that you can tease or not yet? It's still in development. I'm kind of just letting the fabric talk to me. I don't really plan my, I don't really plan my costumes or my acts too much. Just let it talk to me. That's really inspiring to me as an over planner. Personally, I could use myself being more like inspired and like

Sometimes I get off the train if I'm somewhere early and I'm like, let the universe decide where I'll walk. anyway, this is a side note, but I'm trying to sometimes like to see where things take me. So I like that as a piece of advice to our fellow artists who may feel like they can't get started unless something's just right or they know what they're doing. Sometimes just getting started and things will come to you. Absolutely. And you know, give yourself room to fuck up.

You know, with anything, give yourself room to just like, yeah, getting it off, getting off the subway, go in one direction and then like completely turn around and go somewhere else. I highly advocate that. Yeah. And mistakes are how we learn and grow. If you're never fucking up, you're never really growing and you're playing it safe. So that's a good lesson. Well, it's been so lovely chatting with you, learning more about your craft, your cat Charlie.

Gemma Smith (40:01.614)
and about your art and that you're really in the season of creating and making art. So all of our listeners, please go follow Lady Mabuhay. We've got her Instagram listed, her website in the show notes. Make sure to follow. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me, Gemma. And thank you everybody for listening. And that's a wrap for this episode of Tales and Tassels. So if you have any questions, comments, or just want to say meow,

Feel free to send us an email at tailsandtosselspod at gmail.com. Thank you for listening. And don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Also, join our community on Instagram at tailsandtosselspod for more updates and behind the scenes fun. See you next time, kitty cats.