Mx. Pucks A’Plenty and Rebecca Mm Douglas Talk What the Funk?! Fest with Deaunte Damper

Recently on The Pop-Up!, guest host Deaunte Damper sat down with two luminaries of the Pacific Northwest performing arts community: Mx. Pucks A'Plenty and Rebecca Mm Davis. They stopped by the studio to discuss their work behind the seventh annual iteration of What the Funk?! Fest, a premier festival celebrating Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) burlesque performers happening this weekend.

An Alliance Rooted in Vision and Ethics

Mx. Pucks A'Plenty, honored as the 2022 Performer of the Year by Seattle Gay News and a 2023 Seattle Pride Grand Marshal, is a renowned burlesque performer, activist, and festival founder. Sitting to their left was Rebecca Mm Davis, an experienced MC, producer, and the creative driving force behind Stay Up Late Show production company.

Together, they form what host Deaunte Damper termed a "powerhouse partnership.” When asked what advice they would give to community organizers looking to build similarly successful collaborations, Pucks emphasized the necessity of shared values.

"Finding people whose ethics and vision align with your own personal ethics and vision is the biggest thing," they shared, adding that a great partnership allows for a "trust fall" during times of heavy logistical and emotional strain. 

Davis noted that when Pucks first launched the festival in 2018, Seattle had a severe shortage of burlesque producers of color. For Davis, stepping into the co-producer role was a soul-deep commitment to ensuring she wasn't just "the speck of pepper in a plate of salt.”

Birthed From "Oppressed Pettiness"

The history of What the Funk?! Fest is as defiant as the art form itself. Pucks openly recounted that the festival was born out of an act of what they call "oppressed pettiness".

Pucks recounted that a local white producer had booked them for a classic burlesque show but explicitly told them that funk music wasn't "classic enough" for the stage. Rather than conform, Pucks decided to build an entirely new space. They curated a two-night showcase featuring all performers of color dancing exclusively to funk music. 

What began as a defiant response to exclusion has since blossomed into a multi-day national institution that has inspired spin-off festivals, such as New York's all-BIPOC hip-hop burlesque showcase, Boombox Burlesque.

Dismantling Misconceptions and Reclaiming the Camera

The guests tackled major misconceptions surrounding burlesque, particularly the myth that the genre is historically or inherently white. Pucks reminded audiences that Black icons like Josephine Baker were OG burlesque performers who were historically labeled as "exotics" or "shake dancers" due to segregated naming conventions.

"He who holds the camera controls the narrative," Pucks said, pointing out that historical archives often left out Black and brown bodies. 

To counter this erasure, What the Funk?! Fest has meticulously documented every single year of its existence through high-quality photography and videography, resulting in their posters being curated by the Burlesque Hall of Fame for a national traveling exhibit.

Furthermore, they contextualized burlesque as an inherently political medium. In a society that continuously polices Black, brown, trans, and queer bodies, choosing to step onto a stage in a state of creative and sexual liberation is a radical statement of autonomy.

Looking Forward: Three Nights of Funk

What the Funk?! Fest remains a vivid representation of what happens when marginalized creators refuse to let their joy be snatched away. For three nights in Seattle, the music, the history, and the liberation will take center stage.

What The Funk?! Fest runs from Thursday, August 20 through Saturday, August 22nd at The Triple Door in Seattle. Learn more about the performance and get your tickets at whatthefunkfest.com 

Tune in to The Pop-Up! weekdays live at 7 p.m. on all Converge streaming platforms.

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