18.12.13

2013

For the past four years I've posted a blog round up of how my year panned out. This year I thought I'd do exactly the same. Here are some of my highlights of 2013. A year I travelled, turned 28 and transformed into a grown up (sort of).

January
For the past few years I've spent the first month of each year hidden away from my bank balance. This year I went on retreat to Margate and instantly fell in love with the place. Like Mary Portas I want to help invigorate its faded sea side glamour, unlike Mary Portas I want to live there. You can read a blog about my time on the Isle of Thanet here. January also saw the holy trinity of feminist writers attack the trans community - I blogged about my anger here.

February
My first solo gallery show! I was invited to show five films in at the Cork Film Centre Gallery. I packed my bags and headed to the south of Ireland. Cork is relatively small compared to London but it packs a punch and everyone loves a bevvy - bona!

I was also invited to perform at The George, Dublin's premier drag and performance bar. There I met some wonderful queens including Veda and Davina Devine who made me feel extremely welcome - if you are ever looking for a knees up in Dublin head to The George!

Whilst in Ireland, on a train I invented a new idea for a podcast. After The Tone got members of the public to leave voicemails for me and I ranted back at them - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/after-the-tone/id604822935

Next stop - Germany! I flew directly from Dublin to Berlin and met my chubby partner in crime Lamé. We spent a week on residency in the space Kommune 1 was located. After eating various sweet dumplings, trying various local perfumes. get lost on the S-Bahn and seeing nothing of the Berlinale it was time to leave. Without sounding like a hipster I love Berlin - its a little bit rubbish, freezing cold and very old fashioned - what is not to love!

March
The third annual Burger Queen! Each year this show throws some very strange things at me and this year she out did herself. In early March I received a letter from a Scottish business man telling me he owned the name Burger Queen and he planned to take me to court if I didn't rent the name off him. Yawn. After much kerfuffle I opted to change the name to Hamburger Queen. I think this fire in my belly helped make this years contest the best yet! We saw naked tribal dance, emotional stories of fat teens killing themselves and a history of dance (as seen through the eyes of a fat girl). This years chubby crown went to Ashleigh P Owen of Liverpool! You can watch weekly webisodes here.

March also saw my debut music video as a director. Armed with 3 buckets full of black gunk I made a short film for Rex The Dog's release Do You Feel What I Feel starring Figs in Wigs.

April
April saw my first proper gig on BBC Radio 4 with Loose Ends. The subject of my first interview was Cleo Roccos who made me drink tequila, on air at 10am on a Saturday morning and told me of the time she put Princess Diana in man drag and took her to the RVT!

I have since gone on to become a regular on the show interviewing Lisa Stansfield, hit on by Joan Collins, got unsolicited career advice from Jamie Callum, a kiss from Arthur Smith and signed autographs with Clive Anderson outside Broadcasting House - LOL!

Another quick visit to Dublin for more frolics at The George, Live Collision festival and a workshop of local performers.

May
May turned me into a grown up - I became the Artistic Director / Landlady of Scottee inc. a charity set up to support my community minded shows with Executive Director / Money Man Shaun Glanville. 

We were awarded some money from Arts Council to set the company up and to make and tour my debut solo show The Worst of Scottee (WOS).  I was then locked in a room with Chris Goode for three months... the rest is history / we don't talk about

Every Saturday in May I tried out some new work from WOS in front of the punters at Duckie, they then decided if I was any good in X Factor style vote.


June 
Continuing my plight in becoming an adult I was signed to Curtis Brown agency. It then quickly turned into a very bizarre month appearing in Franz Ferdinand's new single Love Illumination, a quick trip to Basel, Switzerland to perform on a boat on the Rhine for 500 people and the Swiss equivalent of Jonathan Ross, supported Rudimental at the Cambridge, St Johns May Ball and debuted a new film piece Eau de Toilette in Enfield and of course Glasonbury.

July
In true working class style I fucked off to Spain for July before coming back to London and getting back into the rehearsal room for WOS. Looking through my iCal that month I can see there where lots of hangovers. On the 29th I headed up to Edinburgh for August's onslaught - The Fringe Festival

August
Every performer will tell you Edinburgh changes you and this year would be no different. I was fully expecting to endure one star reviews and the obligatory audience walk outs Edinburgh has become notorious for but that didn't happen. I received 4 and 5 stars across the board and even won a Total Theatre award.

The strangest thing is I ultimately received this praise for doing horrible things to people in my past.

September, October, November... The Worst of Scottee began its UK tour - first stop - Isle of White. Bestival almost killed me - we packed 4 shows into a minibus and drove it to the Island - watch them all here. WOS sell out shows followed in Brighton, Margate, Chichester and Glasgow.

I travelled ALOT performing in various variety shows - Copenhagen, Paris, Amsterdam, Basel, Barcelona, Belfast and back to Paris again. Not to mention a week in Cornwall developing a new show with Knee High.

December 
I found myself in Emma Freud's living room singing a duet with Alison Moyet, knocking back shots with Miranda Sawyer and Nikki Bedhi as the London Gospel Choir sang Ain't No Mountain (you can listen to what happened and why on BBC Radio 4 on 28th December at 6.15pm)

After another generous grant from Arts Council we were able to make Camp (on the Estate). A special edition of my variety show held in my local community centre / members club. Over 600 people attended the 5 shows and the local Mum's had me in tears each night telling me it was the best thing to happen to the estate - a lovely way to end such a genius year.

This blog might seem like a wank in the mirror but it's more an account of how grateful I am to have such a fantastic job. Next year is already shaping up as being even better than 2013. WOS opens in Melbourne on 20th January at Midsumma festival (this will be my first trip to Oz) and its a quick dash home for its London debut at Roundhouse. Plans are already underway for Hamburger Queen 2014 - I can tell you that this year will be the final year of the contest but its going to be MASSIVE and even have a little trip out of the M25!

Thank you for reading, following, liking and spending your hard earned cash on tickets for my various shows. Your enthusiasm in my work means I'm able to pay the rent and continue doing this sort of thing.

Have a brilliant Christmas, eat yourself stupid and see you on the other side. X

No comments: