Absinthe and whores

On Friday me and a gang went to a burlesque poetry reading at the Poetry Brothel in Williamsburg. It wasn't as fun as it might sound, but I'm glad I went cause it was interesting. When you came there an actor playing Rimbaud served as doorman. You paid him the cover charge and he gave you instructions and everything you needed for the night: a little pamphlet with pictures and descriptions of the whores, a green coin which would give you an absinthe in the bar and a golden coin which was to pay for your first reading.

The inside of the brothel was decorated with impressionistic paintings and velour. The Baby Soda Jazz Band, who was playing live, really sat the mood. I'm definitely going to check them out at the Moto. Three burlesque gypsies, two popes and and some of the poetry whores were dancing wildly as if it were the 1930ies. One of the gypsy girls found it hilarious that I was so scared of the whole situation. She was persistent in making it worse by dancing in front of me waving her feathers in my face, which I found quite intimidating, asking "Are you scared boy?". And I must admit, I was. It was at this point I decide not to go easy on absinthe nor beer.

It is when it comes to the readings that I was disappointed. The way it worked was that you told the hostess, Tennesie Pink, which whore you wanted a reading from and then she followed you down in the cellar were there were many small "rooms" (spaces divided by cloth). She showed way to your chosen prostitute. It was a one to one situation and it was this I was scared of. Didn't really know what to expect. It turned out to be neither as scary or interesting as it could have been. It was quite low key. It started out as a conversation and from what she heard she picked out one of her poems for you and read it. It's not often that I find performativ poetry very interesting, I have to read them my self to find meaning in it. I must admit I haven't been to many of the kind, I'm sure there are really good ones out there, but this wasn't one of them. But I can really appreciate the dedication, the concept and the effort that was put in to this happening.

On the L-train home we met the gypsy girl again, she was hardly as scary this time.