Velveteen Dustpan
May 26th, 2026
I am utilizing these beautiful portraits Alexander Coggin took of me to grab your attention. I have been getting lots of compliments on the rust-dyed garments I’ve been wearing lately, made by the incredible Mary / Real Rust, whom I met at a XOIR session in Portland, but who lives in New Orleans. I am both scrappy and glam. Velveteen Dustpan.
Something is going on. When I look back on the month of May, I am both in awe and aghast at how much has happened. I met Bonnie Erickson, the creator of Miss Piggy at The Whitney Review Issue 007 Launch. I cried tears of joy a little bit! & I saw many great performances this last month. Tyler Ashley’s “Don’t Kidnap Us” at QNCC. Tess Dwortman’s WIP at Performance Space’s Open Movement series. Reona, a Japanese tap dancing noise artist at the venue Foood on Canal Street. Hyd at Club 101.
While at the Pioneer Works residency, my parents came to town, and then my cousin/collaborator Peter J Bowling visited to help put the pieces together for a new record and 8-channel portable speaker array. The speakers will eventually be mounted on puppets and used as a roving, ambulatory system, with different voices and instruments assigned to different puppets operated by an ensemble. I am looking for the support and infrastructure to put this live show together in 2027. I am getting closer to finishing my fourth record while working on a soundtrack for a 2027 film, my only soundtracking gig since Martine Sym’s The African Desperate. I love soundtracking and have found the process to be incredibly liberating to make music for a film instead of my own shows.
There are some very special things on the horizon, including DOING DOING DOING, the Performance School showcase fundraiser on May 30th at Pageant.
This event dovetails nicely with the recent exciting news that we were anonymously nominated and received a $50,000 grant from the Ruth Arts Foundation. (!!!!!) When I found out, I had just landed at JFK and broke into tears right there at baggage claim. This grant will be integral to the school’s continuation and future iterations, and I am overwhelmed with gratitude for this support. Along with this award comes the new knowledge that most schools run on much more. We are hoping to at least match this amount, so please feel free to forward this link to anyone interested in a tax-deductible donation. The show at Pageant will be a very special celebration of all the prior years of Performance School, and if you cannot attend, you can still donate.
Then comes a very special and rare Metropolitan-to-Metropolitan booking. On May 31st, I will be joining my inimitably brilliant performance sister, Charlene Incarnate, at Metropolitan Bar in Brooklyn, NY, for the Metro BBQ series. She is a legend in her own right, and we are cooking up something very special for giving shows together. This is a bargain of a pairing to bear witness to, so don’t miss it!
AND THEN…. I am elated to announce that The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be hosting a very special XOIR session in the Medieval wing on June 12th. (!!!!!) This is all a part of their Pride “date night” series, so please feel free to bring someone you think is hot! We are going from the Metro bar to the Metro museum. High-brow and low-brow and everything in between. This is certainly not one to miss, and if you haven’t ever attended a XOIR session before, I think this would be the one.
To be honest, all of these three events are quite special, so if you are in NYC, come through!
Being back in New York for this long has been incredibly energizing and inspiring, and I’ve never felt so spirited from the chaotic swirl and collective hallucination of this city. I have been so deeply moved by the performances and encounters here, and I really get to be my favorite version of myself. New York is loud, expensive, annoying, chaotic, and stinky. I, too, am loud, expensive, annoying, chaotic, and stinky, so things really feel good here despite the psychotic prices. While my cousin Peter was visiting, he remarked one day about how nice it was to see me so happy here in New York. The comment took me back for a moment, where I had to realize that Peter has seen me in many places and many states, and that all things considered, I get to be in full bloom when I am here.
I am, however, leaving soon to assist a General Contractor in Oregon as a part of my long arc of learning how to build! I’ll be in and out of the city this summer with some summer shows forthcoming in Portland, Chicago, and a few other places, so catch me if you can! Thank you to everyone who has made the transition to following me here and becoming paid subscribers. It is truly a gift to have people escaping the psychic hell of short-form media.
DEEP LISTENING:
CURRENTLY READING: The Whitney Review Issue 007
