If you’re a Mad Men fan and missed last session with Lauren Marleaux of Gilded Lily Burlesque, your life pretty much sucks at this point. Take a gander.
I wanted so badly to either use the Mad Men theme song or “Zou Bisou Bisou” for that video, but we probably would’ve been sued out of existence if I had. [sigh]
In any case—wow. Eat your heart out, Joan Holloway.
We had a bunch of contests: the ye’ old opposite hand contest, a “Put a bird on it!” challenge, and best incorporations of John Waters and Betty Page (who both had birthdays on or around that date), and gave away a giant bottle of Disobedience Abbey Dubbel from Flying Dog Brewery, Sparrow Vol. 0: Ashley Wood Sketches and Ideas from Atomic Books, and Symptomatica from Baby Tattoo Books.
Most of the photos you see are by the talented Jeff Schock, except when they’re labeled as taken by Alexis.
Thanks to the amazing Lauren Marleaux for a rocking Mad Men themed session; thanks to our sponsors for this session, Atomic Books, Flying Dog Brewery, and Baby Tattoo Books; thanks to Jeff for the snazzy photos; thanks to Styger for helping with the door, set-up, and break-down; thanks to Russell and Liz for slinging booze & tunes; thanks to Alexis for manning the mic; and thanks to anyone who helped put up a chair at the end.
Next session is Monday, May 14th with Marla Meringue of Sticky Buns Burlesque! (It’s our last event before our 4th Anniversary session in June, btw, since we’re taking off for Memorial Day.) If you’re coming, go to the event page and let us know. Marla’s pretty popular, so show up late at your own risk.
Eyrie Twilight of Black Tassel Boolesque brought her A game, not to mention a pretty snazzy car trunk full of props. If you get the chance, check out her and the rest of Black Tassel Boolesque at the Red Palace for Fairy Tail: An evening of Storybook Burlesque. Anyways, here’s the video from this session; take a gander.
Thanks to Eyrie Twilight for posing for everyone’s pencils and brushes; thanks to this session’s sponsors, Atomic Books and What Katie Did; TONS of thanks to Styger, who has many times helped setup up all those annoying chairs and manned the door and my dumbass idiot child brain keeps forgetting to write that here—if she wasn’t there to help, I’d be in a foul mood by the time y’all showed up to draw; to Jeff for the amazing gallery of photos you see below (and one above); thanks to Russell and Liz for slinging booze and tunes; and to anyone who helped collapse chairs and whatnot; and thanks to Alexis for emceeing the whole thing.
Our next session is Monday, April 23rd with Lauren Marleaux of Gilded Lily Burlesque! Doors at 6, start at 7! If you’re coming, let us know on the event – it makes it easier to figure out how many chairs to put out.
GiGi Holliday is easily one of our new favorite people. We’ve been hoping she’d model for Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore for years, but as a general rule we rarely ever approach someone. We wait for them to approach us, because we’ve learned this lesson the hard way: unless the person comes to us, they seem much more likely to be unreliable, cancel at the last minute, what have you.
So, we just patiently waited for someone to introduce us. There was a flaw in our plan, though—everyone just assumed we’d already met. For two years we twiddled our thumbs to no avail.
Luckily, one night after an Ottobar show and about four shots of Jager, I said “Fuck it,” walked up to her, and basically said, “Hey, Alexis and I run Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore. You interested in modeling?”
We took a quick break so GiGi could have a breather, and then it was time for the 5-minute poses, the first of which was the non-dominate hand contest, where if you’re right-handed you draw with your left, if you’re left-handed you draw with your right, and if you’re ambidextrous, you draw with a rabid porpoise.
The two winners received mystery concoctions from Russell at the bar. Nope, I have no idea what was in them. Bad decisions and shame, I suspect.
It was then time for GiGi’s halftime performance! You’ll have to go to one of her shows if you want to see a full routine, but here’s a few teaser photos.
The 10-minute poses were next. the first of which was our second contest of the evening, which was the best incorporation of “Be Kind, Rewind” (in honor of the closing of Video Americain‘s Charles Village location) for Blood by Mark Ryden, from Atomic Books up in Hampden. Extra points were given for incorporating The Fifth Element, since GiGi’s performance was based on the movie’s Diva Dance.
A quick break and it was time for the first 20-minute pose of the night and our third contest, the best incorporation of Tarzan, for one of two prizes: Animus by Seonna Hong, from Baby Tattoo Books, or a copy of Sabrina Chap’s Oompa! Sabrina is raising funds for her next album, if you want to help, head over here. As of this writing, she’s only a quarter of the way to her goal.
Thanks to GiGi Holliday for doing a stunning job; thanks to our amazing sponsors, Atomic Books, Baby Tattoo Books, and Sabrina Chap for the great contest prizes; thanks to Jeff for the photography above; thanks to Russell for spinning tunes and booze; thanks to Alexis for rockin’ the mic; and thanks to all of you for making it a particularly fun session!
By the way, we’re going to start experimenting with our blog post formats. Between you and me, I think they run a little long, and carry a little more punch if they weren’t a big ol’ novel. Don’t be surprised when the next one of these is a little different.
What’s next?
Mab Just Mab, DC’s Own Sideshow Girl! A glasswalker and blockhead, escape artist and ukulele fanatic, she has been featured in several documentaries and books on sideshow revival, and performs solo, with The Accidental Circus and as a pillar of the Cheeky Monkey Sideshow.
Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve brought you performers from such faraway places as Australia, New Orleans, and Essex, but I can guarantee you have never, ever, drawn anything like this. I’m not even talking about drawing at Dr. Sketchy’s, I’m talking about drawing ANYWHERE. Unless you were raised in a circus, and were allowed to just loiter about all willy-nilly for hours on end with your sketchpad, you’ve never drawn this.
We’re talking nails, broken glass, and stuff I don’t want even to allude to just in case you’re so appalled, so horrified, so frozen in fear you won’t come!
I’m telling you, folks, bring a spare pair of drawers. You might need them.
Oh, and one last thing, Mab Just Mab is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. If you’re in one of those “I broke eight ribs so don’t make me laugh” situations, your life might be in mortal danger.
There’ll be great prizes from Atomic Books & What Katie Did, not to mention beer specials from Flying Dog Brewery!
Dr. Sketchy's Baltimore 