Life & Work with Knotty Orchid of Brookside, Kansas City MO

Today we’d like to introduce you to Knotty Orchid.

Hi Knotty, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started doing burlesque in 2018 with Rude Revue and Burly Q produced by Annie-Mae Allure. I had already been doing Ballroom dance, Hawaiian Hula, and Belly Dance for about eight years prior. I also have a background in theatre both in high school and college.

I fell in love with the art form seeing a performer by the name of Cher D Blame on stage with a similar body type to mine showing me how she absolutely commanded a stage. I knew then that I wanted to get on stage to share both my heritage and love of performance.

Since then I have performed all over Kansas City with traveling performances into Columbia, MO and St Louis. In 2021 I took over my old troupe from the previous producer who wanted to wind down to retirement. From there it was rebranding and making the hybrid show into one of the top burlesque and variety shows in the city! Including being nominated two years in a row for Best Burlesque Troupe in The Pitch, winning the first runner up position in 2024.

Risqué Revelry is the only Latina and Native Hawaiian owned and operated burlesque show in town. Uplifting marginalized voices has always been the forefront of our shows. We want to make sure POC and different body types always have a safe space to create anywhere we go.

Our main show space for the last couple years has been Arts Asylum in Brookside, which has been a match made in heaven. They are incredibly supportive and are even a sponsor for our upcoming KC Fringe 2025 show called Chatelaine Gaze which will showcase the history of burlesque from Commedia del’Arte to the modern age!

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The biggest struggle has been learning the ins and outs of business. How marketing and branding plays such a heavy role in what kind of audience you get. As well as relearning what kind of person I am talking in front of a crowd versus what kind of person I am just as performer.

As always finding good venues I found to be a bit of a producer’s right of passage for me. The safety of my performers are always the top most thought for me and making sure that they feel safe and supported to give their best to the audience. I definitely had to go through a few bad eggs before finding our home with Arts Asylum which has always been welcoming to our art forms!

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As a performer I am well known for my jack of trades versatility. I love creating costumes from scratch and interesting music mixes. It is one of the reasons I am so excited about our show upcoming for KC Fringe 2025 because the costuming for Commedia del’Arte and Victorian are so fabulous and lush it will be a feast for the senses!

I am most proud of hearing people recognize Risqué Revelry as a top tier burlesque experience. That our performers feel like they are held to a high caliber of professionalism and creativity. Hearing that people strive to improve their acts to be in one of our shows makes my heart sing.

This was also my first year running a spring Burlesque Intensive class for ten students. The class had a nice mix of brand new performers, people who had never done burlesque before, and some established performers wanting to polish their abilities. They take to the stage on April 19th for the Student Showcase held at our secondary location Whim Space in the Northeast (tickets can be found on our website for all of our shows).

The level of proud I am for these students and what the have accomplished is hard to put into words as it makes me so giddy I just want to shimmy! I will be teaching drop in classes over the summer at Inner Space KC and then another intensive will be released for the fall/winter session.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
My fellow troupe members have been instrumental in keeping me afloat through hard times both professional and personal. They are friends and confidants whose enthusiasm for this art form are absolutely unparalleled.

Ulla La assists me with our marketing and double checks posters and submission forms to make sure I don’t miss anything as I move a mile a minute. Tiana Charming keeps me grounded so I don’t just float away and helps me make our shows more accessible to a wider range of performers.

Kimberly has an effervescent smile that could light up a city block and keeps us all pumped even as we work through choreography that might be a struggle to learn. Naja VeNim gives us a different viewpoint as both someone new to performance and someone who is utterly dedicated to the craft. Meanwhile Eva Amora brings the softness when my business brain makes me a touch too direct.

Psyren Damson, who moved to Tennessee last year, still pops in to help spread the word about shows and demonstrates how much support can really strengthen a group and a production — even if it’s not physical. Annie-Mae Allure was kind enough to offer lessons for production and her services as an advisor, performer, and filmographer have all been money well-spent.

And of course the person who has given me unconditional support and truly invaluable advice throughout the years has been Audie Oh. She assisted with the logo design and her 40 years of show business know-how has helped me steer through muddy waters and keep clean of fiasco while keeping true to my goals for Risqué Revelry.

I could go on and on with praise for all of the amazing people in our Kansa City community and even beyond into St Louis and Des Moines. So many people have helped make these shows happen and without them it would just be me shaking my tassels on stage.

Pricing:

• $25 – General Admission Ticket
• $35 – Front Row Admission Ticket
• $45 per hour private lessons
• $25 per drop in class

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.risquerevelry.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/risque.revelry
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therisquerevelry
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@knottyorchid

Image Credits
Photographers: Page2 Media, Chris Rodriguez Photography, Moonspell Studios. Performers featured: Knotty Orchid, Tiana Charming, Naja VeNim, Rey Markable, Trixy Treat, Vilma Noir, Cryptits, Shanel Oh She Slay, Miss BabyDoll, Pillow Top, Kimberly Guanciale, Dame Electrique, Serafina Skai, Purris Stilton, Ulla La, Academixxx, Little Miss Spitfire, Miss Killer Diller, and Blythe Lunarian