Interview of Jacqueline Furey by Aisling Brady // Photo by Jacinta Oaten
Photo by Jacinta Oaten
Hi Jacqueline, huge congratulations on the return season of Club Kabarett to Melbourne! How are you feeling about being back at the Meat Market?
It is so lovely to be back in this city and it’s such a beautiful venue to work in. I absolutely love the way that the space gets transformed, all the exposed truss, red curtains, and neon signs feel so perfect for this show. And it’s very fun to tell people that you’re performing at the “meat market”…
Can you tell us a bit about the process of putting Club Kabarett together with Bernie and the others? How long does it take to put a show like this together?
Technically all of the cast are independent contractors, which means that we spend a lot of time creating on our own then Bernie brings us all together in a beautifully curated lineup to feature each of our individual skills in the best light possible. So we often only get a couple of days technical rehearsal and then it’s straight into shows, but everybody spends weeks, months, years perfecting their own acts and aesthetics before bringing it all altogether.
What made you get into sideshow and burlesque? And why do you think burlesque is having a resurgence?
Commercial dance jobs did not appeal to me, they didn’t offer enough creative control or individual expression. Law school was a brief and excruciating nightmare that pushed me into finding a creative outlet that suited me, which happened to be burlesque. It’s my first love and favourite medium.
I would say that the resurgence of burlesque happened quite some time ago now, but I’m so glad that it has been able to sustain mainstream popularity. There are long established burlesque festivals, schools and awards happening annually, nationally and internationally and new ones are popping up still. I think people who only know burlesque as a vague concept might assume that strip tease is all about pandering to the male gaze, but anybody who has ever replied to the compliment “you’re so beautiful” with “I know” is aware that the male gaze HATES autonomous expressions of sexuality and self assured women moving without shame.
Mixing in sideshow has always delighted me because there’s no point in being able to perform mainstream attractiveness if you’re not going to use it to subvert people’s expectations. I love to juxtapose glamour with something gross. Are you horny or are you scared? I hope it’s both.
The history of women performing sword swallowing is limited in Australia, how did you get into this?
I’m self-taught. I already knew that sideshow was a very gatekept discipline (for good reason in my opinion, nobody wants to be responsible for somebody else fatally impaling themselves) but I had a vision for an act I hadn’t seen anybody else do. So I spent a really long time, and a lot of money on different swords, carefully fucking around and finding out. As with everything in my performance repertoire, I don’t bother doing things unless I feel like there’s some sort of innovation or new presentation of the original skill so I hope I achieved that and continue to. I do have a few femme sword swallowing peers in Australia, notably Elle Diablo who was performing and producing before I picked up anything sharp. She continues making fierce works today across sideshow, circus and poledance.
Word is… you come from a long line of bad ass creative and empowered women. How did these women inspire you and who were they?
Well… I grew up on a farm in a small country town where my mother has been going against the expectation of what a farmer’s wife should be since forever. I remember when I was a kid and some contractors working on the farm demanded she make them lunch like it was her job… so without flinching she served them all fairy bread. My brother and I had a great time making it. She’s always been unapologetically herself, wearing whatever bright and fun clothes she wanted, keeping her hair short and switching it regularly to different outrageous colours. She’s a dance and kindergarten teacher, an avid maker of beautiful things and everything she does has an effortless sense of play. Her mother, also living in small towns her whole life, is an incredibly skilled seamstress and a quiet creative herself. She made my first real burlesque gown for me, drafting the pattern from a reference picture of Ginger Rogers. 15m of chiffon and a lot of love went into that dress and I treasure it still. My father’s mother is my stage namesake, she was someone I remember as both glamorous and a little bit scary. Both things I aim to be.
What has inspired your look for your performances? And how do you put your costume together?
I have a deep adoration for vintage smut. I am a collector of the works of John Willie, Eric Stanton, Tom of Finland and the likes. I also adore images by Bunny Yeager, Irving Klaw, Helmut Newton and living legend Ellen von Unwerth. That sleek fetish aesthetic works really well for this show, and it just so happens that leather is one of the least flammable things you can wear. This year, I worked with the incredible kiwi legend of showgirl costumes Flo Foxworthy to make one of my act costumes. She has been working at Wetta Workshops for the last few years on some amazing movie costumes, and showgirls everywhere have been missing her incredibly crafted G-strings (I’m not joking when I say she makes the best gusset in the business.) So, when I saw she was dipping her toe back into sparkles and strippers, I jumped at the chance to work with her and I am so in love with what she created for me.
Club Kabarett is described as a place where you can shed your skin and be whoever you want to be… what do you think makes this show so unique and successful?
Bernie. I think this iteration of her show is a labour of love and a testament to her adoration of and dedication to this cabaret niche. I have been working in Bernie’s shows on and off for many years and it has been an incredible place for me to explore and expand my repertoire (there aren’t a lot of shows that will accommodate a three meter fireball.) There also aren’t a lot of shows of this scale in Australia that are platforming queers and femmes that genuinely hold the performers up in a way that doesn’t feel exploitative. It’s the difference between saying hey come and be shocked by these crazy colourful freaks… and saying, hey we are all a bit freaky in our own special ways so let’s celebrate it together. Bernie has definitely created a space for me to be unapologetically myself on stage over the years, and I know the audience feels that too.
If you had to describe your act in three words what would they be?
Aggressive oral fixation.
And lastly, what do you want people, particularly women, to take from your act?
I love performing for women — and by women I mean all women, trans women are women — but honestly, I create and perform for myself. In my experience, if I am enjoying what I’m doing, if I feel empowered and excited by what I’m doing, the people watching will feel the same. If I did have to choose though what women felt inspired to do after seeing my acts right now, it would probably be… Take up arms and stockpile accelerant.
