Tag Archives: Dark cabaret

The Full Moon Cabaret goes online for The Egg Moon!

Coco Ono for Full Moon Cabaret Egg Moon April 9 2020 by Suzanne ForbesSuch a wonderful show!

This show always brings magic surprises. I have always been pleasantly shocked by at least one moment in every Full Moon Cabaret show, and this online celebration did not disappoint. Above, amazing Coco Ono‘s performance came all the way from California.

Viva Lamore for Full Moon Cabaret Egg Moon April 9 2020 by Suzanne ForbesHostess Viva Lamore, looking spectacular!

As charming and vibrant as ever, live from what looked like a room well-stocked with books!

Fifi Fantome for Full Moon Cabaret Egg Moon April 9 2020 by Suzanne ForbesFifi Fantôme of the Velvet Creepers makes more inventive use of her immediate environment than you can possibly imagine.

You can check out her Patreon for performance tips, art and treats! She wears a spectacular outfit of latex from Berlin local designer Lupae Latex.

Dunja von K for Full Moon Cabaret Egg Moon April 9 2020 by Suzanne ForbesDelighted to see fave muse and Fifi’s fellow Creeper Dunja von K!

She performed a Weimar inspired Quarantroplis, rich with light and shadow. Another performer making such ingenious use of what’s available to them at home.

Dunja von K for Full Moon Cabaret Egg Moon April 9 2020 by Suzanne ForbesDunja is teaching her famous hula hoop classes online!

You can get moving with her here. Did you know she holds Guinness World Records for hooping?

There were several other wonderful acts, including the beautiful Mlle Vicky Butterfly from the UK, the act that shocked me (too shocking to reveal here!) and a finale of my very favorite Full Moon Cabaret act EVER, which I will not reveal because you gotta see it. Check out the Full Moon feed and get on the mailing list for a chance to view the show yourself and donate to support the performers!

Seeing these marvelous performers do so much with what’s at hand was exhilarating.

I am so grateful to my Patrons on Patreon, whose monthly financial support lets me keep documenting queer performers while I work safely at home.

Live-drawing The Velvet Creepers at Crack Bellmer!

Dunja as Black Widow at Velvet Creepers by Suzanne Forbes Feb 22 2020I finally made it to a wonderful Velvet Creepers show at gorgeous Friedrichshain club Crack Bellmer!

I had had to cancel on these terrific performers TWICE before for health reasons, and I was so ready to document their Dark Cabaret beauty!! I mean, look at Dunja von K in latex and a black organza spiderweb bustle as a Black Widow – it doesn’t get any more insectalicious!

Lilly Mortis sings at Velvet Creepers by Suzanne Forbes Feb 22 2020And so exquisitely Gothic!

Above, ethereal Lilly Mortis sings. I love the style of The Velvet Creepers!

It was the first test under field conditions of my new live-drawing technique combining watercolor brush pen with my usual pencil, markers, Faber Castell PITT artist’s pen and Tombow Dual brush pen. I sketched with the black watercolor brush pen quite a bit and I really liked it.

The drawing below of fabulous Creeper Fifi Fantôme dancing to “Just a Gigolo” was done almost entirely with watercolor brush pen. I’ve drawn Fifi before, as you can see here, and that drawing is quite different.

Fifi Fantome Gigolo dance at Velvet Creepers by Suzanne Forbes Feb 22 2020I like the way the watercolor pen moves and feels!

I feel very free and easy using it. It’s especially great for hair and ellipses, as in the drawing of Dunja hooping below!

Dunja hooping at Velvet Creepers by Suzanne Forbes Feb 22 2020I have drawn master hooper Dunja several times before.

You can see drawings of her from last year here and here.

Scotty the Blue Bunny at Velvet Creepers by Suzanne Forbes Feb 22 2020And of course there was the delightful MC, the one and only Scotty the Blue Bunny!

I have finally got a method of using color in my drawings that actually captures just how much Blue Bunny he is! Without Scotty the Blue Bunny Berlin’s burlesque scene would actually literally just fall apart and collapse! See his art, read his origin story in Playful Magazine!

I have another drawing in process, of two stylish hoopers who were in the audience, but as it has a good bit of background it will take a little longer to finish and I’ll get it up next month prolly.

I really, really loved the venue, Crack Bellmer, even though it is in Friedrichshain and even worse, in the legendary arts compound RAW, which is like Burning Man with (somewhat) more infrastructure and drug dealers, plus muddy cobbles. But Crack Bellmer is charming and cozy and reminds me of so many much-loved San Francisco and Oakland spaces of the Oughts. I would honestly go back there any time, even though it means hauling all the way across town.

Thanks so much to the Velvet Creepers for having me as a guest and making sure I had a comfortable space, drink tix and good light!

And thanks, always, to my Patrons on Patreon, who make it possible for me to document Berlin’s queer intersectional performance scene and release the artwork free to all.