Hello … My name is Kat … but I go by a couple of different names … My submissive call me Katrina Black … and … on paper … I’m Katrina Blackburn … On stage … I’m Queerella Fistalot … I was born and semi raised in Columbia Missouri … and then I found out that I had an aunt that lived in Chicago … she let me move in with her … So I moved here to go to high school … Last day of eighth grade I marched in the marching band parade … and played my French horn … and as soon as the parade was over … last day of school … jetted off to Chicago … and had my horn and two trash bags of clothes … and really … truly … started living once I got here … I was fourteen … I believe … and I grew up in Ravenswood Manor … Now … my worlds … I’m involved in a variety of different worlds … which keeps life really exciting … There’s the sailing community that I’m really passionate about … being on the water  … sailing as a sport itself … that’s eventually what I want to do with my life … And equally passionate about the fetish community … BDSM work … and human sexuality in general … I guess that’s the two main worlds … Then I work at a desk job … but that’s not at all worth mentioning … I don’t see that as a part of my identity … As far as the sailing … A friend of mine invited me out … to go on my friends boat … I was completely captivated with it … I think I went out maybe three times and then I asked if I could start deck handing … because I saw everybody pulling lines … and … working on the boat … and I had no idea what was going on … but I didn’t want to just be one of those … girls … that laid out in her bikini and drank cocktails … I wanted actually … to know how to work the boat … So I deck handed for … a couple of seasons … then started racing with Vayu … maybe … four seasons ago … The boat is a 40 foot Beneteau … French boat … Quite lovely … It fits … about twenty  people on there … you can pack on twenty  … but we usually race with … twelve  … fourteen … people … We do races every Wednesday night in the summer … called beer can races … and … occasionally long distance ones … We do the Mac race very year … and … I haven’t done the Mac yet … I always do shore support for them … But I did what’s called the Baby Mac … Which was fantastic … It was two nights out on the water … really rough storms … bad seas … It was the most exhilarating ride of my life … I’ve always fantasized about doing a circumnavigation … going around the world … solo … getting my own boat and just leaving … that would be the ultimate dream … We spent … um maybe … four months … we wintered in the Bahamas in 2016 and that was really cool to experience … Just being away from humanity … for that period of time … I like the feeling of being in the middle of nowhere … with no technology … you’re not worried about how you look … or what your wearing … it’s just very organic … thinking about … the wind … the weather … and what you’re going to eat next … As far as my interest in fetish cultures … I started … I went to Columbia for theater for a few years … because when I was younger I always wanted to be an actress … actor … And around that time a friend sent me an invite to an intro to burlesque class … and at the time … I thought it was just a joke … I ignored it … And then she sent it to me again … and I was like … you know what … fuck it … I’ll go do this … and I was such a tomboy … I only wore boys clothes … I never owned a pair of heels … I didn’t know how to walk in heels … I didn’t know how to apply makeup …. and I showed up (laughter) … and I had on boxer shorts … It was just a hot mess … and I really really loved it … because it’s just like … almost making fun of yourself … and also having to expose yourself in front of people … It was just eye-opening to me … I never thought I’d put myself in that situation … because I always kind of hid my body … I think just being naked in front of everyone … there’s very little to hide … and it’s very freeing … once you’re … completely exposed … So … that’s how I started … And then I left theater school because I started booking gigs regularly … I loved that … Versus being in a play and having to be a particular character … I could … book my own gigs … create whatever character I wanted … It was very freeing … And that also intertwined with the fetish community because a lot of performers are Doms … or in the kink world … and instantly I was attracted to it … and that’s what I want to do … So I started researching … reading … and watching videos … and going to class’s … and then I had my first submissive client when I was nineteen … and it just went off from there … And now … all I ever really think about is kink … The first place I ever worked at was … a little wine bar in Andersonville called Joie de Vine …  and performed in the bar there … And that kicked off a summer of … we would do maybe three or four shows every week there … And it was really intense … having to come up with that many new acts every single week … but a good way to learn … So that’s where I started … And then … I think the coolest place … the place I’m always going to love is … Berlin (Chicago club) … It’s such a great club-kid scene … You see so many oddballs … It attracts people from all-over the States … And pretty much anything goes … I’ve pissed on stage … drank blood … like … they don’t care (laughter) … Interacting with the community … It’s fantastic … I forget how lucky I am … every time I leave the city … and am exposed to people that aren’t as welcoming … To most of my friends … nothing is shocking anymore … and we’re so accepting of everything … If someone looks weird … that’s awesome … we want to be their friend … I forget that not everyone is like that … Yeah … I’ve made … most of my friends I’ve made are connections through performing … and really solid … We’re just a family of oddballs … A lot of us … don’t really have a biological family … but we’ve created this safe community of weirdos … and perverts … and it’s full of more love then I’ve ever experienced … Just having that sense of community … it’s quite extreme … because … it’s very rare … none of us are ever alone on holidays … like we all take care of each other … So … I’ve definitely pulled in holiday orphans … brought them to my aunts home … and had to tell them … ok … she doesn’t know what I do … so … please don’t wear fishnets … and booty shorts … and just tone it down … or don’t talk about the sex shop you work at … Yeah … It’s quite beautiful … It’s really lovely … And … about not telling my aunt … she’s my only real family member that I have in my life … I always say I was raised by aunts because all of her friends stepped in when I was in high school and helped her out … She never had kids … never dated anyone … never lived with anyone … then she got a teenager … and a troubled teenager at that … So our relationship has been interesting to say the least … I think it’s really really solid now … But unfortunately she knows nothing about what I do … other then sailing … and I think … some of the best parts of me are … the secretive parts … I think that’s what I’m most proud of … It’s a generational thing … If she knew … what I do … she would definitely lose her mind … My aunt … I’ve always looked up to her so much … She’s what … a second wave feminist … a really powerful woman … she built her life herself … I think that taught me a lot about how to be independent … not rely on others … But … she’s also of the feminist generation that’s very anti-porn … very anti-nudity … showing your body … expressing your sexuality … So … as much as we are both fighting for the same thing … it’s vastly different … and there’s something in there that I just don’t want to push … As far as what I do … in our present social climate … I don’t feel necessarily that I’m treated differently by audience members … You’re always going to be in spaces where you don’t necessarily feel safe … after a certain hour … If there’s an open bar … you have to be on your feet at all times and be prepared to be aggressive and protect yourself depending on what type of club environment your in … But … on the performer and organizer side … I think we’ve gotten a lot better about taking complaints … or reports seriously … We have a burlesque … underground … sort of board … where we make sure … that we make sure that anyone that’s a predator or abusive … gets banned from the shows … So I do think that the performers do feel a lot safer … now that we have this network … Feedback … No … I don’t think I’ve ever gotten any negative feedback … I did have someone pass out … I was drawing my blood on stage … and then I painted my body with it … and a guy in the front passed out … And then I had someone vomit once … but … to me … it’s just like … Oh … I must have done something thought provoking … So that’s always an honor … That is … after you make sure the persons alright … It really does help … I get a lot of messages online from women … whether it be talking about … something revolving around sexuality … where they’re all … Thank you … Thank you for mentioning that … or I never saw it that way … I’m gonna go try this with my partner … And other people comment a lot on my scarification … and say … Oh … You’re so brave … It helps to see this … And … your so beautiful … or … I feel so empowered that you … don’t harbor shame over your body … And that always feel good … As far as networking … I mean you kind of have to … that’s the part most of us really don’t like … In order to remain relevant … you have to consistently update yourself for the public … constantly posting … you have to promote your ass off for shows … And I hate being on my phone all the time … I hate … just having to make myself look cool on the internet … And I think sometimes it gives people the wrong idea … because … you know … the character that I play … it’s a character … it’s not really who I am … But as far as my favorite way to network … I guess … I really like Instagram … just cause I personally really like looking at photos … That’s my favorite platform … Fuck Twitter … it’s the worst … Facebook … there’s so many terrible memes … and complaining … yeah Facebook … it’s just such a downer … But for show promotion … usually the best places … I found Twitter … unfortunately is necessary to use for fetish marketing … since now … our other sites have been shut down … Where I get most of my clientele now … is Twitter … As far as being censored on these sites … Oh My God … so much … I’ve been banned from Facebook so many times … and had to write a letter and change my name … I get shut down from Instagram all the time … Which is probably the hardest … because that’s kind of where I save my photos … my own little photo journal to look back on … Now I’m trying to be more careful … not posting any images that might show too much skin … But those are always the best images (laughter) … Those are what I’m most proud of … It’s always going to be a struggle … Is our culture prudish … Oh My God yeah … Our culture … We are such a sexual culture … I mean we make so much money off of sex … Sex is everywhere … You go online … You drive down the street … there’s a billboards … and cabs with the Admiral advertisements on it … But sex is everywhere … But yeah … yes … we live in such a shame based culture … We can market sex for money … But sex for pleasure … hmm … no … that makes everybody uncomfortable … I feel like … if we were able to talk about sex and pleasure … it could be the answer to so many problems that we have … if we could just be more honest with ourselves … In parts of Europe … their whole culture is vastly different … even down to drugs and alcohol … The first time I went to Amsterdam … I was expecting it to be this party city … where everyone was wasted … and trashing the place … But it wasn’t like that at all … because stuff is legal … It’s just that … they know how to consume appropriately … And it’s liberating to be in a place where sex is everywhere … It’s empowering … It felt really good to be there for the first time … So … I got my passport in 2016 to go down to the Bahamas … and then after that I realized … Oh My God … The world is my oyster … I can go anywhere … So … I’ve been to Holland four times … and I’m planning my next trip back again in February … I’m just in love with Holland … I’ve also been to Edinburgh for the Fringe Fest … which was eye-opening … The Fringe Fest … it’s a month long festival where there’s thousands of shows going on … every single day … and you can’t possible pick and choose what to go see … but … it’s every type of performance that you can imagine … It was really cool to be immersed in that environment … I did that last year … And then I went and flew over to Morocco … I went to Marrakech … I was thinking … I had about five days … where could I go that’s most exotic … and I went there … and it was my first time … I hadn’t really been anywhere alone for that period of time … outside of the US … So it was a beautiful journey … I went and did a trek through the Sahara … woke up under the stars … It was such a great … great trip … that I really want to go back to Morocco soon … Other places I’d like to visit … Berlin is really high on the list … Just because … besides Amsterdam … the other place that people like me should go … but Germany … I really want to do a bike trip from Amsterdam to Utrecht … Just sort of bike around Holland … I’d love to go do ayahuasca somewhere in the jungle … In the States … I love Leland … in Michigan … It’s called Fishtown … It’s so great … every year … heading back from Mac Island … we always stop there … my aunt has a cottage there … It’s just a tiny little fishing village … I went to Denver … and there’s an all nude hot spring called Valley View … That’s about three hours outside Denver … I don’t know exactly where … but that was a really cool experience to have … Just being out in the mountains with a wide variety of other naked folks … And just being able to hike in the buff was really really fun … San Francisco … LA … Fantastic … because most of my friends now live there … I love to go out to LA to immerse myself … in the crazy underground world there … The US is pretty great … because we have all of our little cultures … and so many different … like … you can drive for three hours and be in the mountains … or drive for six hours and be in the desert … I feel that I’m lucky to live in such a vast place … And … if everything goes as planned … I don’t like to make big goals … because then you’re always disappointed if you don’t achieve the goals … But my dream … my current dream … is to go to Alaska and work on a fishing boat in the Bering Sea … And see if I can even do it … If I can … it would be a great way to save on money for a boat … But … currently I do ten hour days … at my job … behind a desk … and it’s slowly … slowly killing me … and I like to work with my hands … I like to be out in nature … and I think it could be the dream job … If I could make it work … Final thoughts … I’m really excited that I get to light my partner on fire tonight (laughter) … The play party I’m attending … Doing a little fire demo … We practiced last night and I didn’t kill her … So … I’m thinking a lot about that right now …