I’m Brooklyn Britches … or I go by Brooklyn Britches … My real name is Brook Umbril … I’m originally from … outside of Toledo Ohio … farm country … technically … so I say Toledo Ohio … The area I grew up in … didn’t actually have a name … It was between Neapolis and Grand Rapids Ohio … There was a cornfield across the street …  county roads all over the place … Twenty minutes to get to the closest grocery store … But  I grew up in Ohio … I moved to Chicago eight years ago … and fell in love with the burlesque scene … I had just started dating someone and I was hanging out with them a little too much … and they kind of encouraged me to take a class … So … the first thing that I thought of was … Oh … I’m going to take a burlesque class … I didn’t grow up as a dancer … I loved dancing … I just never took classes … I grew up singing … with my family … through the church … So I thought … well … this will be fun … it will be something empowering … embracing my femininity … I started dancing with Studio L’amour … with Michelle L’amour … Studied with her for about three years … and … she kept encouraging me … to … perform … Finally … after a few years … it was time … So we went through the whole process of … finding your name … for who you are as a performer … I feel like I’m pretty spunky and ornery … and I wanted a name that had … something kitschy to it … So … Brooklyn Britches came to be … Brooklyn was something I would answer to because … growing up … my name was Brook … my sister would call me Brooklyn … as a nickname … and my dad always said I was getting too big for my britches … Now … I would be taking my britches off as a burlesque dancer … so Brooklyn Britches sort of fit … I couldn’t find a song … to dance to … for my first performance … so I looked at Michelle and I said … you know … there’s a song I want to use … but the only way that I want to use it … is if I sing it … Now I had known her for many years at this point … but she had never known that I was a singer … She looked at me and said … You sing? … Yeah … she said … Then thats what you should do … go for it … So I started training with a vocal coach … Getting ready I hadn’t sang for years … I had never done it professionally … I just kind of dabbled here and there … So I did my first performance as a singing strip … a song that was specifically used in Swing Kids … It was a real upbeat swing version … It was very successful … I kind of ended up being the one in the troop … who sings Thus it started my career as a singing dancer … What I realized pretty quickly … as a dancer … was that I got intense stage fright … stage fright that I had never experienced in my life … as a singer … all growing up … and doing theater … I would get nervous … but never stage fright like I had when I was a dancer … After a year or so … of dancing in Michelle L’amours troop and the Chicago Starlets … I decided it was time for me to go off on my own … and start singing … It was a matter of being a mediocre dancer … and a mediocre singer … or being … a really good dancer … or a really good singer …And I choose singing … I felt that was my path … With singing … I never got stage fright … I would get a little nervous … Again … going up on stage … was much easier for me … I felt it was a much easier transition … then dancing … The good thing about having had that training as a burlesque dancer is that … I definitely am somewhat aware of my body language … and how I’m moving when I’m on stage … Training with Michelle who was very strict about the way we presented ourselves … our costuming … that really has played a large role in my performances as a singer now … Big … Glamorous … Costumes … and lot’s of jewelry … What’s nice as a singer is … I don’t have to worry about … taking off my clothes as much … so I can wear five or six different necklaces … and not worry about them getting caught on things … and they do … at times … But yeah … I started singing … and got a band together … and have been singing all over Chicago … and bring to expand … through out … I would like to eventually do a tour … I have two guys that I play with … an upright bass and a guitarist who also sings … and many other guys throughout Chicago … that kind of fill in … It’s been a nice little trio … for about … I guess … three years now … We’ve been playing … and enjoying our time together … As far as … when I grew up … My grandfather … and my uncle were both Baptist preachers … So I grew up going to church every Sunday … and my family wasn’t … we weren’t crazy about going to church … my family wasn’t crazy religious at all … It definitely was a huge influence for me … my mom played piano … using chords … she didn’t play by reading music … because she played chords … I was constantly hearing harmonies … Also … within the church … we didn’t have any other instruments … other then piano … so most people would get up and sing … it would be either completely a cappella … or just with a little bit of piano as the backing … I was hearing harmonies … all the time … Now … because I was in such a rural area … when we would have parties … we would always have big bonfires … we would bring our guitars … When we would have church people over … banjos … and things like that … everybody was singing … all the time … I was constantly hearing that music … So … definitely growing up in a place … where … I was kind of inundated with … with that music … all the time … And … because we weren’t going to … shows … there wasn’t a lot going on … out there … we were just creating our own fun … so a lot of times it was … singing together … or like I said … having bonfires … having people over … and playing outside … In high school … I was in all of the plays and musicals … I was actually a pretty shy kid … I was scared of everything … I was scared … if it would rain outside … I was scared if we were at the store and it was closing … I really liked to stay close to my mom and my family … Once I got into middle school … I always had my core group of friends … There was somebody I met in middle school and she was doing a lot of theater … and she encouraged me to try out … audition for … one of the musicals … I was probably in sixth grade … when I did my first show … I was always involved in choir … and arts … drawing … painting … I always enjoyed that … I wouldn’t say that I was a really …  great student … I don’t know that I had the … I didn’t like history or science … it’s not that I didn’t like it … I just had to try really hard to be good at it (laughter) … In the arts … it’s all about interpretation … it allowed me to show my creativity … I was really involved … and interested in … fashion … I collected Bazaar magazine …when I was a kid … so … I would tear out pages and make collages … and things like that … as a kid … I was creating art all the time … drawing on my walls … or making things to hang from the ceiling … I was always pretty creative … It really wasn’t until … I guess in high school … I was in all of the shows … plays and musicals … things like that … After high school I started working in … retail … doing makeup … behind the counter of a couple different makeup lines … just to make money … I really wanted to go to art school … I had actually come to Chicago to go to school for fashion design … and quickly realized … you have to have money to do those things … and I didn’t … my parents didn’t … they both went to a trade school … My mom’s a hairstylist … My dad works in factory … but … they both went to school … it just was … trade related … So … when I talked to them about going to fashion design school … they were … “great” … do it … also … we don’t have any money for you (laughter) … Financial aid … was just looking … super daunting to me … I didn’t feel like I was … really prepared to take that leap … So after design school thoughts kind of tanked … for me … I thought about going for theater … And then … decided on my own … that theater was experiential learning … and so I should just start doing some shows … but I never auditioned (laughter) … I never did … what it would take … to get there … So … I was stuck behind a cosmetic counter … and my sister looked at me one day and said … just go to school for aesthetics … and get your license … and work in a spa … And I go … ok … I’ve been doing makeup … I might as well do that … So … backtracking … I went to community collage … just tom go to school … Just to get out and start studying some things … I was still in Toledo at the time … I was studying anything I could think of … art history … anthropology … dance … I got involved in the theater department there … I saw that they were having auditions … and I was a day late … So I went to the theater department head … and I said … I’ll help you with … whatever … I just want to get my hands in there … I kind of became his right hand gal … I ended up assistant directing that show … and then … helping to direct another show … and then … staring in … all of the shows up until I graduated (laughter) … from school there … and I really went to school there until they kind of kicked me out (laughter) … Yeah … so I got a associates degree … and … again … I wasn’t doing anything with it … I really didn’t have a path … I didn’t know what I wanted to do … and that was when my sister encouraged me … you went to school … you’re working in retail … this is not what you want to do … go to school for aesthetics … I had met somebody at that time … and we had moved down to Columbus Ohio … Living down there … I went to the Aveda Institute for aesthetics … Graduated there … started working as a … esthetician … and still do that as my day job … I do that a few days a week … and I love it … for me … it’s easy … very relaxing … I light candles … I play Billy Holiday … I do facials … with the lights dimmed … It’s just as relaxing for me … as it is hopefully it is for clients … I also do waxing … which is the exact antithesis of relaxing (laughter) … but I get a lot of joy out of that (laughter) … So … I had moved to Columbus … and lots of things had changed in my life … I started dating … the first woman I had ever dated was living … in Chicago … I started coming out here … to visit her all the time … I was going to move here … and ended up being diagnosed with crones disease … and not being able to leave the job that gave me security … or medical care … She said … “Well … stay where you are … if this works out … I’ll move to Columbus to be with you” … And … we split up … and I met somebody else … The salon that I was working for … burned down … to the ground … we went through some management changes … and I got into a fight with one of the new managers … and left work in tears for the first time in my adult life … I said … this is crazy … I don’t want to feel this way at work  … I feel like I need to make a change … So my partner and I decided it was time to move to Chicago … was there a better time to do it … then when neither of us have jobs (laughter) … so … we moved here … and … I started working in salons … and spas … then … went through a breakup … and started dating my first girlfriend … We started dating again … and she had encouraged me … like I said … to do burlesque … Or rather … she did not want me to do burlesque … she just wanted me to do a class … but I think she thought … maybe I would do painting … or needlepoint … or something … not burlesque (laughter) … So … Burlesque … when I started … it was awesome … It was a room full of amazing woman … just owning their sexuality … and their sensuality … and … all different types of people … I was taking classes with … big advertising executives … and lawyers … and scientists … who would go on archeological digs … in Egypt … These woman who were just … really owning their power … in so many different ways … It was a chance for me to move my body … get in tune with myself … sexually … and also … be around really cool people and get to express myself in a different way … but also … we would always do warmup before class … I was in such great shape … it just made me feel good in so many different ways  … not just mentally … but physically … for sure … the first class … I took with a woman named French Kiss … she was an amazing performer … and I really looked top to her … and she would encourage me to take the next class … and then the next class … so after a while … I’m a performer … I grew up performing …. Though I never thought I would be doing this for a living … I didn’t really put that limitation … on myself … It wasn’t a goal … but it wasn’t a limitation … I had really gotten to a point in my classes where that was the next step … it was like … you’ve done the basic … you’ve done all the beginner classes … you’ve gone through all these extra things … and you’ve gone to all of the shows … now the next step is … either you just continue taking classes forever … or you put yourself on stage … you put it out there … and you see how it goes … I’ve never been a great student … I’ve never been a great student in really anything I’m doing (laughter) … I want to work at my own pace … I want to do things when I want to do them … So … going through the last class … where we were going to do the performance … it was the show class … every time we were supposed to go in … and show her something … you know like … prepare one minute … of your dance …. and I would come in with nothing (laughter) … It was always just kind of  fumbling myself through … seeing what felt right … at the time … I somehow pulled it together to do that first performance … and had so much fun … it was super exhilarating … very terrifying … They always say … when you mess up on stage … especially when your first on stage … after that … you cant really fail … you’ve already done it (laughter) … you’ve already tripped over something … a piece of clothing has gotten caught … My first performance … the very end of my performance … I take off this fringy piece of clothing … and it would always get caught in my shoe … it never failed … through every rehearsal … it would get caught on my show … and sure enough … the show … gets caught on my shoe … won’t come off … I … I think I ended up … finally at the very end of my performance … getting it off … and then  proceeded to … walk up the stairs … but trip … up … the stairs (laughter) … I thought … Well … I got it over with … I did all the flubs … at the first performance … so … I know how scary that feels … I know how bad that feels … It’s fine now … I can survive (laughter) … When did I first start performing … almost five years ago … One of the most amazing places that I’ve gotten to perform … which was always a goal of mine … was the Green Mill … I used to visit …  all the time … and every time I’d come into town … it would be my Sunday night thing … I would stay here until Monday … so Sunday night was … the Sunday night poetry slam … and I always thought … If I ever start performing … anything … I’d love to perform on the Green Mill stage … Maybe a year … year and a half into performing … professionally as a musician … I was invited to perform on the Green Mill stage … Thankfully I’ve gotten to perform there twice … I sang … yeah … As a dancer I performed … I think it was … The Abby … Pub … it was over on Elston and Belmont … something like that … And … City Winery … and some other small places … The Drifter was one of the first places I ever performed in … and has kind of become my performance home … I think I only ever did a couple of dances there … before I stopped dancing … and really focused on my music … usually a few times a month … I’ve gotten to perform at … there’s … one of my favorite places is … the … Tiny Tap … down on the Chicago riverwalk … Because … the sound echos from all of the buildings down there … I have friends that live … above the House of Blues … in Marina Towers … They say … they always know when I’m performing because they can hear me in their apartment … which is fantastic … we have people that come down from the bridge … “Oh … we heard music … We didn’t know where it was coming from … So we decided to come find you” … I get to perform at a brunch show every Sunday … at the Dearborn downtown at Dearborn and Randolph … It’s awesome … super cool … restaurant … owned by two women … Cool … support women owners … and female run businesses … which is really great … that whole family … they have a few restaurants in town … Now … I sing with my band … Brooklyn Britches and the Whispers … That’s me … and my two guys … which are the Whispers … Num Chuck who plays guitar … and Just Martin who plays upright base … we play all over the city as a trio … My brunch spot … The riverwalk … that’s all us as a trio … And then … I also produce shows … I produce shows for weddings … and private events … I coproduce shows with burlesque performer by the name of Eva la Feva … she has Feva Pitch productions … and Brooklyn B productions … coproduce … a show called … The Siren Song Cabaret … and also The Sinners Sing Easy … and they’re two shows that are live band variety … and burlesque shows … The Siren Show Cabaret is a … live band burlesque show … that usually has three burlesque performers … and they’ll come in and they’ll choose … from our song list … do a live … improve dance to the things that we’re doing … the songs that we’re playing … I also get to perform … once a month … at the Sanctuary Circus show … It’s an underground … show … that is done in Logan Square … it started out as El Circo Cheapo … at ALoft Loft Arts … they’ve been around … I don’t even know how many years … but it was one of the first things I did when I came to Chicago … was … went to El Circo Cheapo … We used to sit on the floor … and watch all these amazing circus performances … something I had been in love with for years … I would be there … every month … and then they asked me to perform there … It was like … “Yeah … I’ll perform there” … I get paid to be at the show that I would be at … every month … anyway … so I get to perform … along side … and for … some of the people that I admire most in the city … which has been … just spectacular … As far as reaction towards what I do … I haven’t gotten a lot of backlash towards what I do … There are a lot of places that will say “This is a pretty conservative event” … Letting me know … don’t let your boobs out (laughter) … or something like that … no pasties … wear one of your gowns … There was one time … that I’ve ever really experienced somebody being negative … about what I’m doing … or how I’m wearing my clothing … while I’m doing what I’m doing … It was on Youtube … it was somebody who commented that … “Oh … she’s a great singer … she docent need to wear an outfit like that” … And I thought … “Well … I don’t have to … but I want to “ It makes me feel really good … I’ve never been forced to wear the things that I wear … or not wear … when I’m performing … I do what makes me feel comfortable … as a performer … there is a bit of this … you said something about the Me Too movement … For me … my ex and I used to argue about me doing burlesque all the time … She was … very offended by me taking my clothes off on stage … though she was a photographer that mainly did nudes … and would also take photos of herself … and post them … in very public places … But there was something about … movement … on stage for her … with a lot of people watching … while I was taking off my clothes … that was bothersome to her … and … for me … I really had to search my sole … to think about … why it was so important for me … to continue that … with my partner liking what I did … why was it still so important to me … And I was sitting down one night … watching TED talks … and there was a woman who did … she started a pole dancing class … and she was talking about woman … and how … how there are woman of all types … who love doing pole dancing … and from all over the world … all walks of life … and she was saying why … we come from this really … sexually repressed society … that woman aren’t supposed to be … sexual … or sensual … and we have this desire to find that … in ourselves … I really related to that … I was … you know … yeah … that feels very similar to how I feel … And … there was another TED talk the same night … it was about rape culture … and it dawned on me … and I sat … on my couch … sobbing … and I thought … why am I crying so hard … and I thought … Oh my gosh … this is why I do what I do … This is my chance … through sexual assault … that I’ve been through … rape … that I’ve been through … For me … to have the chance … to … actually own my physical body … and to still be sexual … and sensual … in a way that is … positive for me … and meaningful … and represents who I am … and gives me the ability to say … No … I’m up on stage … I own this body … It’s mine … you can’t touch it … unless I want you to … Right? … unless this is a mutual … there’s a mutual agreement there … and I … it was that moment for me … that was like … I don’t care what my partner thinks … She might not like it … This is important for me … It’s really healing … to do this … to be able to show myself in that way … Also … I mean … for me it’s about … feeling feminine … glamorous … showing that side of myself … feels that way for me … Yeah … people aren’t always going to like it … My dad definitely … is (laughter) … “Oh Honey … Honey … you don’t have to to that” … That’s fine … you don’t have to watch it … you know … you can come when I’m wearing a gown … There’s always going to be that … Anytime you’re showing yourself … in a sexual manner … somebody’s going to be uncomfortable … That’s ok … It’s not really for me to … decide … what’s right or wrong for them … they have to decide that for themselves … The positivity … one thing I really strive for … in the shows that I produce … and coproduce … we’re very conscious of who we put on our stage … we don’t want … just the skinny white girl show … We want all types of bodies … skinny white girls … and … everybody else in-between … we want to celebrate the body … however it is … I think there’s something to be said … and it feels so good … after every show … especially when people come up and say … “That was really phenomenal … It made me feel like I could do that” … “The fact that you had so many bodies and so many types of people up there … made me feel like something I could do“ … And that’s important for me … To go up there … I think it’s hard sometimes … because I am a thin woman … I’m petite … My family is that way … I don’t try to diet … I’m happy with my body … shape size … with how it is … I feel like I can embrace it with the people that I’m around … and the kind of culture that I get to work in … it helps me to embrace those fluctuations in my body … a little more … I also … have crones disease … So … the fluctuations in my body are pretty quick … I can loose five pounds … in a week if my body isn’t cooperating with me … I think it’s important to … be able to share those things … One thing with burlesque … when I first started … They would say … Don’t wait until you feel you’re at your ideal size … Come in and do it now … embrace the body that you have … and be happy for that … be happy for the way it jiggles and moves … and embrace that … and use that in your performance … there are people who don’t have that … that can’t do those things … show off that movement … It’s been super positive … in that sense … just the community that I’m with … that embraces all of that … and for the audience members that are like … Man … it’s so awesome that you can do that … You can get up .. with so little clothing on … and still feel confident … I wish I could do that … It’s nice to hear that every now and again (laughter) … Social media … Yeah … It’s a beast … completely … it’s not something I grew up with … I’ll be forty this year … I’m … constantly … trying to figure out how to use certain things … for social media … It is … imperative … in my business … to use social media … If I wasn’t on it … I just think it’s so good for making connections … in so many different ways … whether you want to travel … tour … if I want to tour with my band … or if I want to take my show on the road … with my burlesque dancers … I have to be able to connect … through social media … to show people … what I have … what we can put out there … If you don’t have anything to show anyone … how are you going to promote yourself … how do you move forward … There are places that want to hire me … and they’ll say … what’s you’re following like … They really want to know … what’s you’re social media following … it’s the biggest thing I look at … when I’m looking at new performers … I go to their page … I want to make sure that they’re promoting shows … That they’re putting their stuff out there as well … It’s something I hate doing … it takes me forever … to post … but it is … one of those necessary evils … I think Instagram … That’s my go to … I use Facebook as well … I have a normal human being account … and then I have my alter-ego account … which sometimes blurs … I don’t know which is which … yeah … Facebook … we do invites … to remind people … Instagram … you do that quick little blast … you can use the stories and things like that … it’s something that makes me crazy … but is completely necessary … for what we’re doing … Jumping around … I went to Italy … It was kind of a funny string of events … I was dancing … with Michelle L’Amour at … for a show called Wriggle Room … We would have … a lot of the same people that would come to … every show … I was walking out of the show one night … and there was a guy … very quirky … well dressed … British guy … said to me … “Your hair should be in MOMA” (laughter) … I said … “Your outfit should be in MOMA” … and we started chatting … and … I said … “Come to my show on Sunday … I’m performing at this other place … where I’m singing” … and he started coming to all of the shows … and we became really good friends … and … he ahas a great job … and and he loves to shop … Gucci … He’s one of their best clients here … and they invited him to go to the fashion show in Milan … He was telling me about being invited … and I said “Oh … do you get to take somebody with you” … as a joke … and he said … “Actually I do … Would you like to go with me”? … I said … “I would absolutely want to go with you … What do I need”? … He said … “It’s all taken care of … don’t worry about it” … I kind of went back and forth on it … because … I’m married … I talked to my wife about it … you know … is this something … that she’s going to be ok with … me going on a trip … with a guy … who I met through the shows … that I don’t know … we had become friends … but … I didn’t know him all that well … I talked to her about it … and I said … I really want to go … how do you feel … She’s so supportive … of everything I do … and she not only is … I don’t want to say that she’s my number one fan … because she’s a fan … but she’s also a critic for me … That’s really good … because I want that feedback from her … she’s not always going to tell me that I’m the best … she’s going to be like … “Well .. you can also work on that” … or whatever … I asked her about it … and she said … “Oh my gosh … This is a once in a lifetime opportunity … I would never hold you back” … So … I goto two for … I think it was three days that we were there … Before we went … my friend said … we should go shopping … and I said … well … I think I have what I’m going to wear … and he said … “Oh … You’re going to wear Gucci”? … And I said … “No (laughter) … I can’t afford Gucci” … He said … “Don’t worry … I’m going to take you shopping” … So … I got to go … Honestly … a little girl dream … I got to go shopping at Gucci … get a full wardrobe … and take it to Milan … I got to fly business class … which was amazing … and terrifying for me (laughter) … I kept feeling that I was going to get kicked out … at any moment … that they were going to find out that I was a fraud … I decided before the show … I picked out this outfit … it was this really beautiful silk robe … with really deep green meek cuffs … and I had a silk scarf that I wrapped my head with … that matched the robe … I was wearing … and I decided that I wanted to do something a little … scandalous … a little risky … and I asked my friend … “Would you mind if I went topless … under my robe” …  And he said … “ I don’t mind … But I don’t know how the people who are taking us are going to feel” … so I asked the guy who was taking us … and he said “I don’t know … if you can just maybe put something up top … The CEO is going to be there … and I don’t want anybody to feel … offended … by you being topless … so … I had this beautiful bra that my sister in law had gotten me for Christmas … and I had rhinestoned it … it was really beautiful … laced piece … and … when I came down to meet everybody for the show … it was maybe a combination of an uncomfortable laugh … like … You look really great …. but this is risk-ay … we don’t know how people are going to take it … And it was …for sure … the right move … As soon as I got out of the car … the cameras were … going bananas … People were shooting me all over … I had these great sunglasses on … they were mirrored … with rhinestones on the side … my hair was all wrapped up … The New York Times … took a picture of me … going into the fashion show … and posted it to their Instagram page … We watched afterwards … as the lights just kept dinging up (laughter) … and I was laughing so hard … And I thought … Never … in my life … did I imagine … that I … Number one … that I would get to go to … a large fashion house … fashion show … sitting front row … next to … people who work for the Prince in Dubai … and these other big fashionistas … And here’s me … from Toledo Ohio … I just was … over the moon … It was one of the most amazing experiences in my life … watching the models come through … trying to keep myself together … and when people would come up and they were like “Oh … Who are you”? … I was like …what am I supposed to say to this (laughter) … I didn’t really establish myself as a performer … at that time … it was years ago … and it was really at the very beginning of my music career … So … It was a really cool way to kick that off … I had just started Instagram … through a recommendation of a friend … she said … “Before you go Milan … You have to start posting on Instagram” … she said … “What if you’re in Vogue Magazine … and you don’t have a picture of that on your Instagram page” … And I thought … She makes a good point … and … coming out of that show … Vogue was taking pictures and a couple other Bizarre … had taken photos of me … I just thought … Wow … This is … This is really a dream come true … as far as I know … my photos didn’t end up in any magazines (laughter) … But that New York Times fashion page … On Instagram … I’ll take it … It’s a life goal checked off …