This is SuZette CoQuette reporting for Anti-mag and before we commence with the interview I would just like to say, as a journalist, I do find it hard to feature people who are prettier than me. Now, on with the show:

On May 28th, 2007, I received the following message:

"Dear Sugar Shack Burlesque,
I am La JohnJoseph and I would just love to do a little number at your devilish hot-spot.......
My own shows are dirty little collages of gender and the absurd. I have been doing boylesque in NYC since Feb, at Unisexx, Galapagos, Luke and Leroy, Supreme Trading and Rapture Cafe. I'm doing Coney Island this Summer, and Kitty Nights, I won Miss Galapagazonga too.

So, yes, that's me.

X La JohnJoseph "

And thus the skies opened, the heavens rang, and my life was vastly improved. And in the spirit of karmic responsibility I now offer to you your very own introduction to the sensation that is La John Joseph.

You owe it to your artistic development to see him in person. The most lovely creature, La John Joseph continually develops and produces performance pieces rich in perspective and engaging in content. You may not know what to expect, but you will never be disappointed. And behind all this talent, is a heart as big as Britain - a country to which I hope he never returns.

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Name: La JohnJoseph
Age: 26
What are you listening to at the moment? Clips from Justin Bond’s show Lustre.

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La JohnJoseph, where did it all begin?
Liverpool

What are you artistic intentions?
To liberate myself and other queer (by which I mean non-white, gay, female, disabled, trans, older, fatter) bodies from the lies and limitations imposed on us.

I recently saw your one-woman piece, Notorious Beauty, at Dixon Place. I found it to be engaging, sweet and tender. How much of your "real" life did you draw on and what were your motivations for creating that piece?
Everything in the show is true, I think that’s why it resonates with people so much, it all happened. I find it so strange when people think I made it up - it’s such a peculiar story to fabricate! I wrote and reshaped the show over the course of a year and can honestly say it’s exactly how I wanted it to be. I didn’t give myself any limitations, I made the show to suit myself which is quite a luxury because usually I have to make pieces to very strict guidelines of time and content. I do a lot of three-minute strip-numbers, so to be able to spend an hour onstage doing whatever I pleased was just divine. I had a lot to get off my chest I guess.

And, I've got to ask - Who were you talking to on the phone?
When I’m on the telephone in the show, I’m telling tales about the eldest of my younger sisters. I imagine I’m speaking to some fictitious combination of old friends. Some impossible, mythological creature, who has known me for a long time and yet still wants to speak to me.

In Notorious Beauty you had a rotating cast of guest performers. How important do you think a sense of community is to the current art scene and how do you choose who to invite?
I can really only comment on the scene I am apart of, and I would say community is one of it’s defining elements. The downtown performance crowd is intergenerational and interdisciplinary in a way which allows for reverence of established artists and celebration of new performers.

The performers I invited to guest in the show, I felt, all produce work that has blossomed on different branches of the same tree as my own. I had real old school legends, such as Flawless Sabrina, through future legendary children Max Steele and Glenn Marla. It felt like we were erecting our family tree onstage! Having different guests really recontextualized my show each night, all of the opening performances worked so well with what I wanted to say in Notorious Beauty.

You also co-produced your show, correct? How difficult is it to both produce and perform in the same show? And how were you able to switch hats when the show started?
Well, the theatre provided the space and the technical equipment but more or less everything else (from promotion to funding) I took care of myself, so I’d be inclined to say that I self-produced the show. I did of course have a deeply supportive director (Tucker Culbertson) without whom I’m not sure I could have held it all together. He gave me the confidence to go out and present this incredibly personal material and to believe it was worthwhile.

It only really gets difficult to produce and perform simultaneously on the night of the show itself when everyone calls to say that they’ll be late or that they’re lost or drunk or whatever. You’re all flustered trying to put your lipstick on and make sure the box office have the comp list, and that wretched cell phone will not stop ringing! It’s always at that moment I wish I had someone.

What do you think the primary responsibilities are of a producer? What do you think are the greatest challenges?
Producing at this point is just part of the creative process for me, it’s the logistical, practical end of the game but it’s inextricable from making work. The challenge is always the same too, right? Money! I spend a lot of time at the dollar store.

If you could distill the necessary qualities of a performer down to three traits - what would they be and why?
Patience, humor, discipline. Jack Smith once said that people often imagine art to be made in great fits of ecstasy where as in reality it’s hard, boring work. You have to be patient and disciplined. If you’re going to make anything you have to work hard at it and give yourself the time to develop. Jealousy is the absolute death of creativity, you have to recognize that other people’s careers, successes and triumphs do not detract from your own. It’s also necessary to keep a sense of humor in times of tension, and remember that you aren’t in fact negotiating a peace treaty, but rather running around naked and covered in food dye.

You are a gift to us from England. How do you feel performance art and burlesque differ between our two continents?
Well, in the UK, burlesque is definitely a lot more classic. I don’t remember seeing anyone in London stick a bottle of Jack Daniels up their ass during their number, but maybe I just wasn’t paying attention? Jo Boobs pointed out to me that in New York the new burlesque evolved from the drag and fetish scenes, whereas in the UK I think it’s a more straight-up homage to the golden age of striptease. There’s a significant difference, aesthetically at least.

What sort of training do you have and how important to you think formal education is to an artist?
I make it all up as I go along; it’s like freefalling. I have virtually no theatre or performance background. I studied American Studies and Art History at King’s College and Berkeley, but I was educated by Penny Arcade. I think it’s important for everyone to be educated, so that they can comprehend the world they live in. Education is the best defense against political manipulation, it’s just too bad really that in the US especially, higher education is little more than an economic screening device.

An artist’s education has to be a practical one, you have to learn by doing. I think too formal an education trains artists to think in very limited channels and to worry far too much about making marketable work. That’s all well and good for financiers but artists need creative freedom, Lord knows they’re cornered enough in this mercantile economy as it is. The trick is I suppose, to balance independent practice with the study of one’s predecessors. Apprenticeships and mentorships are really the best basis of an artistic education.

How do you stay so kind?
Rosewater, twice a day.

What does the future have in store for La JohnJoseph? And, how can we find you?
Oh, I’ll be around. I’m really keen to go back to Berlin and, fingers crossed, I’ll go on tour again next Winter. Before then I want to write another solo show and an ensemble show; I very well might disappear for a few months to do so. You can read my blog at www.boyfriendrobotique.blogspot.com. and see my performance schedule at: www.myspace.com/johnjosephbibby

Hot pink or turquoise?
Well, turquoise is just that little bit more understated don’t you think? I’m nothing if not understated.

**Editor's Note: I would like to say that witnessing the talent that is La JohnJoseph was a charismatic and memorable. He is truly mesmerizing to watch and truly is a gift to his art. We were honored to have him be a part of the Anti-Mag Family. - Lady D Here are some clips from his very charming and heartfelt one man show, "Nortorious Beauty":



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