(PCM) SuicideGirls is an online community dedicated to alternative beauty and indie culture. The community was founded in late 2001 by Missy Suicide and has continued to grow and expand in the years that followed.
The SuicideGirls community is without a doubt leaving it’s mark on current pop culture, especially with the 2014 Blackheart Burlesque Tour. SuicideGirls have been taking the Blackheart Burlesque show on the road since 2003 and what they have showcased with the 2014 show is just incredible.
We had a chance to catch the Blackheart Burlesque show when it made a stop in Philadelphia, PA and were utterly hypnotized by the performance that ensued. The show features performances and music, along with tongue-in-cheek humor and of course raw erotic sexuality that pours forth from the stage.
Geek and fantasy culture were put on full display as the SuicideGirls performed numbers that showcased a number of various fandoms such as Star Wars, Game Of Thrones, Planet Of The Apes, Donnie Darko, Adventure Time and even Disney’s The Little Mermaid to name a few.
The tour will continue to make its’ way around the country before wrapping up in Hollywood, CA on December 5th. If you are fan of geek/fantasy culture and also happen to like smoking hot women then this is certainly a show that it not to be missed.
I recently caught up with SuicideGirls founder Missy Suicide to chat about the 2014 Blackheart Burlesque tour, the community, Comic-Con and more.
When asked about the current tour and its’ various pop culture elements Missy tells me “It’s a unique show and it is a lot of fun. I come up with most of the themes and the music to it, however the Little Mermaid bit came directly from Sunny. She was the mastermind behind that one”.
Missy also adds that Sunny is a triple threat because “she can host the show, dance and sing”.
Missy reveals that they wanted to put a pop culture spin on burlesque and have pop culture themes that people could really be excited about. She says “We come up with a list of all the different themes that we are interested in and then I come up with a list of all the music I am really into and I try to match them up. It may not seem like it but “Planet Of The Apes” goes really well with “When A Fire Starts To Burn”, she jokes. “Just put a little “Planet Of The Apes opera in there, it will work trust me”!
It definitely did work! After seeing the show we felt that the music and the dancing and the costumes all went perfectly hand in hand. Missy comments “We really tried. I think that we have really worked out all; the kinks and really reached our groove. I feel like we are firing from all cylinders and the show is really amazing”.
I could only imagine what kind of challenges someone like Missy must face when putting together the tour, as there is ton of hard work that obviously goes on behind-the-scenes. Missy tells me “There are so many moving parts in organizing a show. It’s mobile and it travels, the bus broke down .. etc. There are so many little things that could go wrong like the merch didn’t make it or the credit card machine broke, so there is like ten thousand things everyday. I don’t know if I can list a single biggest challenge.”
I wanted to know the ways in which the live show has expanded upon the SuicideGirls brand or any effect they shows have had on the community. Missy reveals “We have been a community site since 2001, since before community sites really existed and before people felt comfortable living their lives online. Now we have Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram and people are sharing every minute, every detail and every meal. We fostered this really strong community where people could go and feel really accepted and a part of a really respectful community.
She goes on to say “People pay for membership so they appreciate the value to their membership. They tend to act a bit more respectfully towards one another and towards the girls. People really wanted to take that community experience that they have and bring it to real life and connect in a way. So, having this live show where fans and members can come out and support the girls and have this really fun environment that’s created for them which is sexy and fun and geeky. It sets the stage for the real life moment of experience where they are around people that also share their interest is a really awesome thing.”
I was curious about the audition process for choosing which girls will participate in the live shows. Missy tells me “We hold auditions before every tour and there are about 20-25 girls who are fully rehearsed and ready to go in our troupe. We get about 150 to 200 girls for every audition and we take 3 to 4 every time we hold our auditions into the cast. They are just amazing”.
Missy goes on to tell me the story about how Sunny (host/performer) came to be in the Blackheart Burlesque revealing that she started out as a paying ticket audience member and during the audience participation part of the show she got called up on the stage. She absolutely loved it and she killed it.
She came to the show knowing a little bit about SuicideGirls and what to expect and said that she’s always wanted to be a SuicideGirl but she didn’t feel that she was tattooed enough or didn’t feel like her body was good enough, so there were all these insecurities that we as women have, but after she went to the show and got called up on stage and felt the energy and the excitement when we had the auditions for the Australia tour she flew out from New York City to L.A. and came in and auditioned.
She ended up nailing the audition and came and rehearsed, had shots made of for the site and became a SuicideGirl and went out on the Australian tour as a dancer and was amazing. She came back and hosted the comedian tour and this time she hosted, danced and sang in the New York City show exactly a year later.
She concludes the story with “If girls come out and see the show and fall in love, they can audition too! The girls have a ton of confidence out on the stage and it is really inspiring for women”
Give the success of the previous tours, as well as, the current 2014 Blackheart Burlesque I was sure there had to plans or ideas brewing for additional tours in the future. Missy comments “Lots of thought and plans. I work really closely with our choreographer and since we’ve started this, we will send each other texts and two in the morning with all kinds of crazy ideas, so we are always plotting new numbers.”
I thought that having the Blackheart Burlesque show at this year’s San Diego Comic Con was a fantastic idea and while SuicideGirls are always present at SDCC, they don’t always bring out the actual burlesque show, however Miss says that they would very much like to and they truly enjoy taking part in the convention.
She says “The Comic Con people are our people and they get us, so they are going to be a bit more forgiving and give us honest feedback about what’s working and what’s not working.”
Missy feels that she has the best job ever because she gets to think about crazy pop culture references and put them with the songs that she loves while envisioning these performances and I couldn’t agree more!
I was curious to know about any misconceptions that people may have about the SuicideGirls. Missy says ” I think that people have a misconception sometimes about the types of girls that sign up to be a SuicideGirl, as they try to put them into a singular category of personality and what drives them to do it. There are 2,700 girls on the site and they are all unique and very different. We’ve got girls who are doctors and lawyers and midwives and all kind of different professions. Then we have girls who are students and baristas so the range is really wide and we’ve been around for thirteen years. Some of the girls have been modeling for all thirteen years. I feel like every girl who is on the site, and it is tricky to speak for 2,700 women, but if you were to ask any SuicideGirl what her favorite part of being a Suicide Girl is she will say it’s the friendships she has made. People would imagine this kind of catty or bitchy model attitude from the girls, but they are all really supportive and really kind and sweet to one another. It is truly a beautiful thing to watch.”
The post An In-Dept Chat With SuicideGirls Founder Missy Suicide And A Look At The 2014 Blackheart Burlesque also appeared on PCM Lifestyle.