What the Funk?! Relishes QTBIPOC Body Inclusion in Year 7
Cast of What the Funk?! 2026
Keith Johnson / Courtesy of Puckduction
Once again Puckduction, The Stay Up Late Show, and Stormy Chance has brought the Funk to Seattle for its seventh year! I had the absolute pleasure of attending the opening night of What the Funk?! Festival at The Triple Door. With each night featuring a different cast, I have faith that the other nights exceeded anything my imagination could conjure up.
Uncle Nik (he/they) was the emcee for the first night, and as he hit the stage to a Miz Floes and Jazzy Soul Band rendition of “Get Up Offa That Thing” the crowd was already buzzing. Uncle Nik skillfully hyped up the crowd, engaging with the audience and building anticipation (and setting expectations) for the performances to come with the band and sign language interpreters.
One after another with Uncle Nik fanning the flames, performers dazzled, teased, and stripped with sensuality and humor to the musical stylings of funky classics such as “Let’s Get it On”, “Thank You”, “Get Down on It”, and more. The crowd was grooving and energetic, comprised of fellow burlesque dancers and burlesque lovers, as the kittens (stage crew who clean the stage and collect thrown money) came around for cash between sets.
The What the Funk?! showrunners paid special attention to creating a safe and accessible event with the interpreters doing their best to capture the vibe and fat-body accommodation in seating.
The celebration of funk—featuring an all-BIPOC cast—took the time to highlight the performers and their other creative ventures, the sponsors that helped make it happen, and the crew supporting the event from behind the scenes.
I love attending shows that expand my mind as well as entertain, and I was thrilled to have What the Funk?! reshape what I thought burlesque looked like. With each performer dancing to funk music, the slow tease took on a different form, with gloves pulled off to hit quick beats, hips bumping to brass instruments, and the rhythm carrying a pace of exhilarating sensual stamina.
The music also brought a different cultural context to the experience. Taking beloved classics and cementing the need for rhinestones and tassels. Seeing an evolution of classical burlesque creating a musically and physically inclusive modern spin while still paying homage to the spirit of striptease.
After having a taste I, of course, left wanting more and fortunately secured an interview with Puckduction’s founder, burlesque performer, and co-producer of What the Funk?!, Fat Con, and Fatlesque: Mx. Pucks A’Plenty.
Grand Master Funks old and new
Keith Johnson / Courtesy of Puckduction
Having seen Mx. Pucks A’Plenty (they/them/yas/Queen) in action, I had many questions.
When asked about what led to the creation of What the Funk?! and what the mission was, Pucks described the inception as an “act of oppressed pettiness.” They went on to explain the marginalizing experience of navigating white spaces and wanting to do a performance to a song that was shut down by the producer of a show. The performers were mostly white, and the style of burlesque emphasized a specific image.
“A lot of marginalized people have been there, where someone’s conscious or unconscious biases just sort of spill out onto you, this person gets to make a mess in front of you, it’s on your feet, and you’re expected to clean it up… The pettiness is a way of minimizing a thing and reclaiming it as a way for there to be some empowerment, to not be disenfranchised.” (Pucks)
Originating as a 2-night event with a different cast each night in 2018, the decision to turn it into a festival brought a new wave of excitement and fears for 2019. The simple mission was “funk music, Black and brown people.” With co-producers Rebecca Mm Davis and Stormy Chance, they braved the uncertainty of a larger venue. “Would Black and brown people come? Would the burlesque community, which was largely white—though well intentioned—attend? Would it be career suicide?” Pucks had wondered.
We talked about the importance and fears surrounding creating a show with an all-BIPOC cast in a majority white city and arts scene like Seattle. I mentioned how much mental space was taken up and how creatively stifling it could be to feel constantly othered.
“It’s sort of horrifying… So much of marginalized people’s—Black people’s—existence is having to know how to navigate around a group of people to make sure you make it home at the end of the day, and that not being held, respected, seen, or acknowledged in a way that doesn’t make you feel like you’re mentally ill.” (Pucks)
Before it all, their burlesque journey began surprisingly with the Netflix documentary A Wink and a Smile, which followed a cohort of students attending Ms. Indigo Blue’s Academy of Burlesque. Pucks began attending shows, but having recently had a baby and seeing straight-sized, white bodies heavily featured in the burlesque scene, they figured (similarly to ballet) that the art form wasn’t for them.
After attending a few workshops and performing a burlesque-inspired set in a showcase, the doors began to open, and Pucks attended the Academy of Burlesque, in one of the final cohorts Ms. Indigo Blue would instruct herself.
These strides, experiences, and the closing of Ms. Indigo’s Academy during the pandemic led to Pucks creating their own school, ShowThem Burlesque Basics. Students would learn about Gypsy Rose Lee, but also Josephine Baker and Bremerton local Big Fannie Annie.
While chatting, we discussed the interconnectedness of the newest venture Fat Con and Fatlesque, an educational convention that centers BIPOC, Queer, disabled, and fat people.
“Fatlesque opens the door to a (pun intended) bigger market to serve more marginalized and oppressed communities,” said Pucks. The crew that runs What the Funk?! also runs and supports Fat Con and Fatlesque Fest. The aim is to run shows that take care of the performers.
D’Monica Leone, featured performer 2026
Keith Johnson / Courtesy of Puckduction
I knew the inquiring mind would want to know what advice they would give to someone looking to get into burlesque now. They stressed the importance of “not creating your burlesque in a vacuum” but taking the time to build community and learn the history by attending workshops—not just at their school, but also at events such as BurlyCon.
Pucks also described looking at burlesque not just as an art, but also as a business. Acts need to be entertaining and crowds don’t respond well to burlesque in place of therapy. The market is saturated, and with the current hellscape, it’s tough to be a performer, but now is a good time to build and hone skills for the days when the sun will come out again.
And finally, because these events give so much to the community, and allow people like me to see themselves represented in art, I asked what the community could do to support in return. Besides money, Pucks detailed all the ways: showing up, even in tough times when self isolation seems very attractive, buying tickets early, volunteering (for anything you might feel strongly about; Pucks themself feels very strongly about “titties covered in glitter”), and finding ways to get involved whether that be grant writing experience or connection to sponsors.
Last but not least, here’s a teaser from Mx. Pucks A’Plenty themself:
Stay tuned for more, because Puckduction isn’t stopping any time soon.
