Trixie Little is the incredibly gymnastic, athletic half of a dynamic duo with Evil Hate Monkey (whose hilarious act in a yellow tutu with a banana at last year's New York Burlesque Festival is not to be missed).
JNU: How long have you been in Burlesque?
TL: Since 2002, so 9 years.
JNU: How did you get started in Burlesque?
TL: Right after college, I created a non-profit arts group that specialized in community water ballets and other quirky shows. After several years of doing that, my style evolved and I wanted something edgier, more physical and even sexual. The minute I heard about the neo-burlesque revival I started working on my own version of it! Once I cast The Evil Hate Monkey (my significant other for the past 10 years) as my onstage partner, it all fell into place.
JNU: What did you do before that?
TL: My first real performance was after college, I created a 10 minute miniature puppet version of the opera, "Carmen," performed with elaborately dressed tofu hot dogs. Carmen got stabbed with a fork at the end and squirted ketchup all over. The puppet show was a huge hit and I spent a year performing it at cabarets and festivals in Baltimore before I got my first water ballet off the ground.
JNU: What or who are your biggest inspirations and how do they translate into your act?
TL: Originally, I was inspired most by Lucille Ball, Pee Wee Herman and Esther Williams. Now I'm inspired by Blaze Starr, Tina Fey and all the performers we work with at The Box. They are bad asses. I like sexy, athletic and smart!
JNU: How long have you lived in New York?
TL: We are about to celebrate our first year living in Brooklyn! But before that, we had done three serious years of couch surfing in NYC. When we lived in Baltimore (and while in circus school in Vermont), we would gig in the city at least two weekends out of every month. I used to joke that we would one day have a rest stop on the NJ Turnpike named after us.
JNU: Do you travel for work? And if so, which show in which city was the most memorable?
TL: We have made burlesque family in many cities, but in the places that have brought us back every year, we have deepest roots: Seattle and Key West in particular. But I also loved Stockholm and Helsinki!
JNU: How do you stay fit?
TL: Four to six days a week I try to alternate between running, yoga, trapeze conditioning and P90X. Performing five times a week helps too.
JUN: What's your upcoming schedule in New York? (Or if not New York, then you’re next show).
JNU: If we're not on the road, we're usually at The Box Tuesday through Saturday. We also perform at Slipper Room in Exile at Casa Mezcal often and we have our own big show planned at Southpaw in Brooklyn on Nov 11th.
JNU: How did you get your name?
TL: My name was given to me. Way back when I had a day job, a co-worker thought I was spunky and used to always enter the room and ask me "What's up, Trix?" Eventually she added the "Little" part. When I started performing, I didn't even think about what to call myself, I already knew. I think good names are mostly given, not made up.
JNU: Do you make your own costumes?
TL: Sometimes I make the starter version of a costume for a new act and then I take it to Garo Sparo when I've worked out the kinks and am ready for the next level. He's a genius! And he has a new reality show about his studio on the Sundance Channel called "Unleashed by Garo". Monkey and I will even be in episode 4.
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