Show Boys Chris Harder

Coming to Broadway: he’s a baritone black belt with a love for Les Misérables and a degree in kicking ass–it’s Kindergarten Cop, the Musical! I chatted with the self-described chocolate charmer Samson Night about swapping Arabic 101 for Intro to Show Choir, teaching children by day and commanding the stage at night, eschewing striptease archetypes and channeling the Shaft, saying no-no to go-go and yes to demystifying charisma, getting crowned Queen of Exotic World and contending with criticism, and how preserving the future legacy of burlesque is dependent in part on the nuanced conversations our community-industry is having today. 
Shout Outs to Ben Vereen, Bawdy Suit, Margo Mayhem, Ruth or Dare, Ray Gunn, Jezebel Express, the Slipper Room, Veronica Viper, Jimmy Guilford, Jo Weldon, and the late great Dixie Evans.
Follow Samson Night: @TheSamsonNight @midnightmayhemburlesque and @bawdy_suit on Instagram and SamsonNight Boylesque on Facebook
Follow Chris Harder: @TheChrisHarder on Instagam, Twitter, TikTok, and www.HarderChris.com
Follow Show Boys: @ShowBoysPod on Instagram
Questions for Chris? Email him at ShowBoysPod@gmail.com or HarderBurlesque@gmail.com
More about Samson Night:
Samson Night is a cross genre artist with over 25 years of professional experience in the businesses of TV/ Film, Broadway, Voice Over, Commercials and Print. Currently starring on Broadway and at Carnegie Hall, he is also a theater educator and utilizes techniques learned and used from those experiences to teach a variety of burleque and performance workshops. 
Voted #6 on the 2022 Burlesque Top 50, Samson has been featured as the closer for the opening night of the New York Burlesque Festival and has won multiple titles including "Queen Of The Roses" at the Oregon Burlesque Festival as well as "Best Group" with his partner Margo Mayhem and most recently, Queen of Exotic World at the 2023 Burlesque Hall of Fame. 

A snowman, an Englshman, and an eclair with a questionable medical degree all walk into a bar... I chatted with emcee extraordinairre and everyone's favorite ex-husband Bradford Scobie about MY personal journey with body hair, the do’s, don’t’s, and donuts of hosting, why you should always carry a spare engagement ring, being the Marina Abramovic of burlesque, penis etiquette at a “family” strip show, our mutual admiration of birthday girls and bachelorette parties, and why staying open to the unexpected always leads to the sweetest moments onstage. 
Shout outs to Kate Valentine (Miss Astrid), the Slipper Room, Scotty the Blue Bunny, Hotsy Totsy, Melody Sweets, and The Big Sh'Bang.  
Follow Bradford Scobie: @BradfordScobie and @Sir_RichardCastle on Instagram
Follow Chris Harder: @TheChrisHarder on Instagam, Twitter, TikTok, and www.HarderChris.com
Follow Show Boys: @ShowBoysPod on Instagram
Questions for Chris? Email him at ShowBoysPod@gmail.com or HarderBurlesque@gmail.com
More about Bradford Scobie:
Bradford Scobie has been a show-host of burlesque since the dawn of the millennium.  His many stage personas include Doctor Donut, Mister Peaches, Moisty the Snowman & Johnny Rooster, but he is best known as naughty English gentleman, Sir Richard Castle.  He has hosted everything from festivals to fetish balls throughout New York City and beyond and can be seen hosting regularly at the Slipper Room in NYC.
 

We have officially entered the glitter apocalypse, where the heels are high, the kiwis are in season, and the room is always moving, baby! I chatted with pillar of Portland queer nightlife Isaiah Esquire about his Biblical beginnings with Burlesquire, standing out in a sea of Suicide Girls, serving stunts and saying “no thanks” to Ameria’s Got Talent, traversing the midwest with a Caravan of Glam, the coolness of otherness and the most mysterious fruit, and how to show up authentically onstage and MOVE! THAT! ROOM!
Shout outs to Your Morning Drip, Inferno Cabaret, Perle Noire, Kevin Aviance, Burlesquire, Johnny Nuriel, Rose City Sirens, Caravan of Glam, Angelique DeVil, and BOYeurism.
Follow Isaiah Esquire: @IsaiahEsquire and @Izohnny on Instagram
Follow Chris Harder: @TheChrisHarder on Instagam, Twitter, TikTok, and www.HarderChris.com
Follow Show Boys: @ShowBoysPod on Instagram
Questions for Chris? Email him at ShowBoysPod@gmail.com or HarderBurlesque@gmail.com
More about Isaiah Esquire:
Isaiah Esquire is dancer, performer, and the producer and headliner of the hit bi-monthly show BOYeurism in Portland, OR. As a dancer and performer, Isaiah has graced many stages acoss the United States as well as internationally, including Jamaica and Finland. His many titles and honors include Mr. Gay Pride 2010, Mr. Oregon Gay United States 2012, and Mr. NW Fierce 2014. He was also the winner of the 2013 Carribean Burlesque Festival where he was crowned "Queen of the Island." Besides showcasing his work on America's Got Talent, Isaiah is also featured in the 2017 documentary, Burlesque: Heart of the Glitter Tribe. 
 

Caution! Mess with this bear and you’re gonna get the claws-or at least the pinky one. I chatted with the dexterously debonaire Broody Valentino about being a bear of paradise in a land full of flannels, bringing the DRAMA to New York City Boylesque, gothing out with the gurls of SqueezeBox, supersizing the glamour and burlesquing beauty standards, cuddling with pigeons and making marionettes cry, structured madness with the inimitable Susanne Bartsch, and why you don’t have to try so hard to be sexy because, baby, you already are. 
Shout outs to Matt Knife, Jonny Porkpie, Violet Chachki, Dirty Martini, Patti LuPone, Susanne Bartsch, Amanda Lepore, and the timeless Kermit the Frog. 
Follow Broody Valentino: Broody Valentino on Facebook, @Broody_Valentino on Instagram, and @Broody-Valentino on Venmo
Follow Chris Harder: @TheChrisHarder on Instagam, Twitter, TikTok, and www.HarderChris.com
Follow Show Boys: @ShowBoysPod on Instagram
Questions for Chris? Email him at ShowBoysPod@gmail.com or HarderBurlesque@gmail.com
More about Broody Valentino:
Broody Valentino, the “Teddy Bear With Claws,” is a Boylesque performer based in New York City. A graduate of the New York School of Burlesque, Broody's mixture of the classic and the irreverent has made him a fixture on the NY Boylesque scene. Balancing theatricality and camp has garnered him the epithet “The Telenovela of Burlesque” which has allowed him to: perform for the 2020 Virtual Burlesque Hall of Fame (VHOF), the 2018 Life Ball in Vienna, Austria, headline at the 2019 Capitol Burlesque Expo in Ottawa, Canada, receive the Legends Award at the 2018 Burlypicks World Championship, and be crowned the reigning King of New Jersey Burlesque at the New Jersey Burlesque Festival. His other awards include the titles Best Overall, Master of Improv, and Master of Amazement at the first New Jersey Burlypicks Regional, the Golden Tassel for Best Boylesque at the 2017 Philadelphia Burlesque Awards, and The Beautiful Weirdo award at the 2017 Alterna-tease Neo-burlesque festival. A proud member of the Latinx Burlesque community, Broody enjoys challenging the concepts of masculinity and body image through the use of humor, sensuality, and style showing audiences that the big guys can sparkle with the best of them!
 

Where do you go for rock hard go-go boys and soft shell crabs? TESTOSTERONE, baby! I chatted with ever so handsome Mr. Gorgeous about unlocking the mystique of the Baltimore accent and the city's history of striptease queens, juggling fire with his father and finding burlesque through bull fighting, the trials, tribulations, and condiments of the Testosterone variety show, constructing costumes for Broadway and growing his Gorgeous by Gorgeous empire, and why technique isn't as important as doing things your own way. 
Shout outs to Kev Beverly, Reid and Harriet, Trixie Little,  Kitten and Lou, John Waters, Jinkx Monsoon, and the late Baltimore burlesque legends, Blaze Starr and Lady Zorro.
Follow Mr. Gorgeous: @MrGorgeousNy and @Gorgeous_by_Gorgeous on Instagram
Follow Chris Harder: @TheChrisHarder on Instagam, Twitter, TikTok, and www.HarderChris.com
Follow Show Boys: @ShowBoysPod on Instagram
Questions for Chris? Email him at ShowBoysPod@gmail.com or HarderBurlesque@gmail.com
More about Mr. Gorgeous:
Mr. Gorgeous has been charming audiences around the globe since 2009, with his comedic and charismatic approach to contemporary burlesque. He has become a frequent persona in NYC nightlife, working several iconic venues including The Slipper Room, Le Scandal, and Galapagos Art Space.
Gorgeous has had the opportunity to perform in Dita Von Teese’s touring show Strip Strip Hooray and Europe’s largest HIV / AIDS benefit, Life Ball. He’s also been presented as the headlining performer for numerous national and international burlesque festivals including Helsinki, Vienna, Rome, Vancouver, Colorado, Las Vegas, among others.
Gorgeous was awarded “Most Comedic“ at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas in 2013 and was named Mr. Exotic World, King of Boylesque in 2014. He's also appeared multiple times in the Burlesque Top 50 by 21st Century Burlesque.
In addition to performing, Mr. Gorgeous owns and operates his own costume company, Gorgeous by Gorgeous. Self-proclaimed Spandexpert, Gorgeous designs and sews everything from intricate circus leotards to playful underwear and bodysuits. If you are looking for a flashy pair of trunks to party in or something a bit more extravagant, he’s got you covered. If it stretches, he sews it!

A PSA to all bachelorettes: today is NOT your day. I chatted with the disarmingly charming Ray Gunn about the overlooked connotations of the word “boylesque," the best practices for dealing with Australian hen parties, why lactose and codpieces should never meet, the two sexiest things a performer can do onstage, drinkin’ white wine and pissin’ on Coney Island, pillow talk with the late Toni Elling, the main difference between Chicago and New York burlesque performers, and how to use the “whole chicken” onstage.
Shout outs to Due Damage, Hot Toddy, Jett Adore, Bazuka Joe, Perle Noire, Egypt Blaque Knyle, Isaiah Esquire, Tigger, Bettie Blackheart and Epe, the Burlesque Hall of Fame, and the late Toni Elling. 
Follow Ray Gunn: @iamraygunn on Instagram and Ray Gunn on Facebook
Follow Chris Harder: @TheChrisHarder on Instagam, Twitter, TikTok, and www.HarderChris.com
Follow Show Boys: @ShowBoysPod on Instagram
Questions for Chris? Email him at ShowBoysPod@gmail.com or HarderBurlesque@gmail.com
More about Ray Gunn:
Crowned King of Burlesque at the 2013 Burlesque Hall of Fame, Ray Gunn has headlined at burlesque festivals and shows across the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand with his smoldering, sexy, and frequently avant garde solo acts. Trained in contemporary dance, acrobatics, capoeira, and pole dancing, Ray creates imaginative works of strip-tease art that show off his athletic ability and inspired choreography. Ray served on the creative team of ‘Beggar’s Carnivale’ in St. Louis and is also the creator of the Vertical Side Show of Chicago.