Nerdy Neo-Burlesque: An Interview with Chocolat Swirl

Queer Burlesque and Nerdom, What More Can You Ask For? This past month, I had the utmost pleasure of interviewing a good friend and phenomenal entertainer: queer, body-positive, neo-burlesque performer, Chocolat Swirl I had not seen neo-burlesque before, and this was my first introduction to my friend’s character ‘Chocolat’. In a small town in western Massachusetts, Hors D’oeuvres Entertainment presents fun queer events for the community. With their host Hors D’oeuvres, “hors as in multiple prostitutes” they like to say, the group presents quality events such as, Drag Brunch with Hors and Friends in Holyoke, MA and Bon Appetit Burlesque in Florence, MA. The theme for the night I attended was ‘Hollidaze’. Each performer chose a national holiday to pay homage to. Chocolat did a Serial Mom act for Mother’s Day in the first half of the show and an ode to 4:20 to close. The show was mesmerizing, with clever costumes and concepts done by all performers. Chocolat and friends, Jeza B Fierce and Jāne Doe, stole the show for me. Chocolat’s attention to detail and commitment to full out performance was a pleasure to watch. She went into a full on scene from Serial Mom, lip syncing to audio straight from the movie and pulling off her housewife polka dot dress to bring out the crazy in red lingerie. Her fire comes out on the stage in a way you could not predict from her giggly fun presence behind the scenes. It is something precious to find one’s self out in the open, and Chocolat is unap…