I’m Crocodile Lightning … I’m a burlesque performer … Originally I’m from Thailand … I moved here … eight years ago … What brought me to Chicago? … I got a job after I finished my graduate program … So … I got a job here … so here I am … Growing up in Thailand? … It was beautiful … everything is so vibrant … it had a vibrant personality … a vibrant … slash … chaotic home … Very fun … stereotypical asian family … I was born and raised in Bangkok … So very busy … bustling … no personal space … people run into you … no personal space … It feels big … but at the same time it’s so small … There’s a lot of people in a small city … that’s what it feels like … When I was young … I wasn’t really into painting or drawing … I knew I liked it  … but it was such a taboo in my family to pursue any artistic journeys … Why would it be a taboo? … Unless it’s piano or violin … and it better be good … because we’re very strict about academic things … When I was young … I was really into people … Talking to people … Listening to people … There’s such shear curiosity that I have about people … yeah … The natural progression at the time … when I was little … that I would be a teacher … because I like children … kids are fun … So … teaching was the goal I was pursuing … And then … I found burlesque … And as previously mentioned … the human interaction and exchange during the performance … is just … beautiful … Did I plan on staying in Chicago? … Not at all … I was planning to go home after I finished my studies … and then I got a job here … I’m always following my gut … and my gut feeling at the time just  said … stay … see what comes up … So I stayed … Burlesque came up … How did I become involved in burlesque? … I took classes at this studio … it’s still around … called Vaudezilla … I didn’t know at the time what burlesque was … I thought it was like Zumba … that I was going for a workout after work … and then “Striptease” … It was such a surprise … I was nervous … I took a class and then I did the student recital … And then … it was so much to process … I took a year off … to think about it … it was so foreign to me at the time … for women to use their bodies as an instrument … for art … I was so blown away … “Oh you strip”? … and it’s political … and it’s artistic … and it’s beautiful … I didn’t know that it was an option growing up … So … I took a year off … thought about it … thought about what it meant to me … and why I would like it … if I wanted to go back and pursue it … because I’m asian … and there’s no hobbies … if I want to pursue something … it’s 1000% committed … What else was I doing? … So … I was a therapist … I still am a therapist for children … for my day job … and … I’m still doing therapy now … Do I have to keep the two worlds separate? … That’s what thought … and I learned big time that I was wrong … I mean … I keep it personal … I’m not telling the children parents … “Hey … Come to my next burlesque show” … But my therapist supervisor encouraged me to integrate the two worlds … and find creativity that I put into burlesque … to support parents … to integrate that into other peoples healing … and that’s been … this year … so it’s been new to me … At the end … I work with humans … on stage … or off stage … the connection … the empathy … the kindness … the compassion … they’re  the same … It’s lovely not having to code switch … Where did I first go in America … It was Thailand straight to Champaign Urbana … and I went to the University of Illinois … I had an option of going to Columbia in New York … or Illinois in Champaign Urbana … I studied early childhood special education … It was a big shock to go from Bangkok to Illinois … And in a graduate program … I feel people expected me to understand all the pop culture references … all the American norms … etiquette … and all of those things … I was fresh off the boat … knew nothing … about America … except from movies … So … It was such a big adjustment … How was my English? … It got better … Before my therapist life I taught English as a second language … in Canada … before … just a little bit … couple of months … before Champaign … After graduating from school … There are more therapeutic clinics for children in Chicago … more resources … I visited Chicago when I was in school … when I needed to go shopping I took the Amtrak from Champaign to Chicago … Chicago is a city that fascinates me so much … It’s so beautiful … but so segregated … I feel that I have the honor to … go do therapy in peoples homes … and I go from Lawndale to Uptown … and the Southside to Austin … So I hit all the neighborhoods … and I see so many differences … It’s a lot to wrap my mind around … I do have an office … but therapy takes place primarily in peoples homes … Getting back to burlesque … What drew me back to it after the year off?  … Something felt right … It’s the aspect of creating a piece of art that I have a sense of ownership to … and I can speak whatever I want to speak about … politically … and then make it entertaining … I was so hooked on developing my first burlesque solo piece … which is about a woman’s choice … to choose both options … whatever those options may be … I was so drawn to it … the story telling aspect of it … I had no background in dance … or theater … or anything like that … so I was … “How do I do this” … It was challenging … I was hooked … because I wanted to be good at it … So I came back wanting to accomplish that … During the year off I stayed in touch with some of the performers … some of the teachers … I certainly took the first eight months for myself … it was just a lot to think about … I was thinking … what it meant for me to do it … I’m such a big believer when things happen in my life … that it’s a good thing for it to come into my life … I was thinking … what about myself … at that moment is going to help … bring out … or … enhance … And after one year … I was ready … “Lets do this” … I immediately thought about creating … and finishing my first solo piece … I started with … what kind of story do I want to tell … the beginning … middle … and end … so to speak … and how am I going to tell that story within four minutes … on stage … So it started with story telling … and then I mapped dancing on top of that … mapping props on top of that … with just pizza … and dildo … And then mapping costumes on top of that … And there … I had it … A whole solo piece … The music … it was burlesque classic Night Train … I was such a burlesque baby back then … Everything was stereotypically burlesque … The teachers were certainly helpful … The peers were helpful as well … They were helpful … saying this … thinking hard about it … I had a hard time articulating my vision … because I didn’t know how to talk about my art … to artists … It was just … trial and error … and asking for feedback after … Now … I think I’m a little better at articulating myself … When I started … four years ago … I was exclusively with Vaudezilla … which took place at Stage 773 … in Lakeview … As far as cultural awareness … Hypersensitivity … is the only thing that’s changed for me … Because in my daytime job … I’m in a field that’s already very political … Through art … doing that … and using my body as an instrument … I find that I have to be very strategic about how I talk about these politically charged … issues … so that the listeners don’t feel force fed … and art remains artistic … and the same time political … So the way I go about it is … a lot of times … listen more … rather then talking more … about it … if that makes sense … As far as respect … I think the people that are in my circle … respect me … in relation to how much I respect myself … and how I carry myself … The MeToo movement … and other movements that follow … have certainly increased the level of awareness … that people have … so it’s easier to use burlesque … as a dialog opener … to talk about these issues … After a long day of talking … and listening to people … I just step on stage … not having to use words … but still connect with other people … Social Media? … I’m so glad that I’m doing burlesque now … in my thirties … because I’m more grounded … I’m not saying I’m doing everything right … I have more wisdom to pause and reflect and factcheck … and not be swept away by all the fame of social media … In a way it really helps with my bookings … so I can connect with photographers … and artists like you … and people who are outside Illinois … and then can travel and perform there … On the flip side … I get messages from people I don’t really want to engage with … and they feel entitled to … ask questions … to share opinions that I don’t really have time or willingness to engage … So … pros and cons … I … like Instagram … and partly because I’m not very tech savvy … and I try to keep Facebook for my friends and family … so I don’t try to post burlesque things as much … before … but now I just have … zero fucks to give … just … have at it friends (laughter) … Sometimes I just want to look at something artistically … There’s enough stress in life … Travel? … I’m addicted to traveling a little bit … I’m not a citizen here … and I don’t feel like Thailands “home home” anymore … It’s the life of an immigrant … the world is my home … I’ve been to … this year … Berlin … Last year Geneva … Stockholm … New Zealand … This year I’m going to Australia … and back to Geneva again … to perform … These are the international ones … The domestic ones … all over the place … Where would I like to go to perform? … I’d like to go to Dubai … (laughter) … I know there’s shows there … I just want to go … Is it tricky going to a place like Dubai? … I think so … because they love skinny … blond … beautiful woman … That’s exotic to them … And I’m asian … and I’m not that exotic to them … But I kind of want to go because of how they treat women there … and I just want to go … To visit … I would say Nepal … Tibet … Yeah … This year … I feel like its been a year that I … stepped into my power … so to speak … I feel like life has risen to meet me where I’m exactly at … so it’s more about doing more for the transgender community … I’m a transgender artist … I’m teaching a workshop … It’s more like a support group … for transgender and trans-fem individuals … just co-facilitating the group for them to be in touch with their bodies … learn more about sensuality … and femininity … I’ll be doing more of that this year … I’m so grateful and excited … I’ll see where it goes …