Tell us about your show. Why should we go and see it?
“Ask A Stripper” is about as original as it gets, there’s nothing else out there doing what this show does. Stacey and Morag are two genuine ex-strippers, both with razor sharp comic timing and decades of experience dealing with drunken punters up at the Pubic Triangle (for those who don’t already know it, that’s Edinburgh’s adult entertainment district). Audiences participate in the show by asking questions, and nothing is off the table. The show is a full-frontal, no-holes-barred, exposé of our combined careers, in hysterical (and gynecological) detail.
What are your hopes and dreams for the Fringe?
At the very least we aim to make people laugh.
More importantly we seek to humanize a group who are frequently reviled or pitied by the rest of society – sex workers. We’re often seen as two-dimensional characters, victims of oppression, puppets for the Patriarchy or traitors to the Feminist cause. But the realities of our lives and jobs are complex, and the lines of power don’t always fall where you’d expect. We work in an industry shrouded in mystery, stigma and stereotyping, but there’s much more to it than meets the eye. Our show challenges the deeply embedded culture of “othering” people who work in strip clubs – mainly by making people laugh, but also giving them something to ponder and start wider conversations about.
What makes you laugh?
After working as adult entertainers for decades, you learn to laugh at a lot. Humour has always been a huge part of our world, and strippers are some of the best clowns around.
We laugh at the stuff our punters say sometimes – “What’s a nice girl like you doing working in a place like this?” “Can I have your phone number?” or “Where do I swipe my card?”
We also laugh at the simple stuff – why can you never find a clean g-string when you need one? Who did kill Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks? And why is it so damn hard to find a good Burrito?
What three words best describe your performance style – and why.
Surprising – because our show is pretty unpredictable. Because the audience starts the conversation, we never know where each show will end up; a lot of what we do is live improv, which is our super power.
Subversive – because we defy audience expectations and challenge widely held core societal beliefs about sex work.
Salacious – because… we’re strippers.
How will your audience think/feel differently after an hour in your company?
We like to think our audiences leave feeling very differently after an hour with us. In most cases, people learn about strippers and sex work from stories, film and TV. We’ve been depicted by Oscar winning actors since the dawn of cinema (Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep, Liz Taylor). Yet the voices and stories of real sex workers in the mainstream are often silenced as we find ourselves spoken over, spoken for, and misrepresented by writers, actors, policy makers, journalists and anyone else who can leverage social capital from our lives. We want our show to allow people into our world in a non-fictional capacity, to share some of our lived experiences and give them cause to consider their own internalized shame and stigmas.
We are also deeply political people, with an eye on the regulatory world. Edinburgh City Council have been threatening to close Edinburgh’s remaining strip joints despite the overwhelming majority of the public and the law courts responding in favour of leaving them open and allowing women safe spaces to work in. We’d like audiences to consider the very real dangers of criminalising our workplaces and our jobs – criminal markets are organised and operated by criminals, so regulating against sex work only drives it underground and makes us more vulnerable as a result.
What kind of shows – apart from your own – are you looking forward to seeing at the Edinburgh Fringe?
Anything by Reuben Kaye or Lucy Hopkins is top of our list. And also “Suicide Bummer”, a comedy show about being a queer, South Asian sex worker. We want to see more shows that centre voices from outside the mainstream, which aren’t always that easy to find.
The cost of living is a big issue this year – will it make this Fringe more challenging?
Without a doubt, the cost of living is pushing more performers away from taking part in the Fringe. The arts industry has suffered continual setbacks for decades under austerity, so it’s not a new problem for many of us. But there is no doubt that people having less disposable cash to grease the wheels will be felt by everyone at the festival.
A more hidden and grim reality is that the cost of living crisis is also pushing more women into sex work. Our show from the outset is a comedy with titillation and tease, but also a stark warning that there is nothing glamorous about our world if it is coercive. We are in no way claiming that stripping is a solution to poverty; themes of workers’ rights, solidarity, trade union activism and mutual aid among the sex working community, means the show packs some serious political punches.
What do you predict will emerge as the big themes of this year?
Workers on strike, ecological collapse, right-wing Conservatism, population decline, mental health crisis, economic recession, out-of-control capitalism and gentrification… and that’s just for starters. We are facing some of the greatest threats to human existence and if that’s not material for good comedy, I don’t know what is.
Who is your showbiz idol and why?
We can’t decide between Dita Von Teese and Anna Nicole Smith – they’re both icons that made an indelible mark on popular culture. Lucy Hopkins (Dark Mother) comes in a very close second – go and see her to find out for yourselves.
What is your idea of a perfect Fringe moment?
Going for a Burrito after a shift at the Western Bar, and being invited by a 6-foot drag queen and their entourage to Banshee’s Labyrinth to drink shots of Tequila and dance to Robbie Williams’ “Rock DJ”, and then discover with glee they’re playing Wicker Man in the cinema room. And that’s just on a Tuesday.
Ask a Stripper: The VIP Experience
21:20
Magical Spiegelyurt,
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/ask-a-stripper-the-vip-experience
