In my previous life I worked as a teacher in a college, and there I met Nick Tann, who now runs 'Is This Thing on Productions.' Nick asked me to take part in his night at the Railway in Winchester a few weeks ago, and it was a good opportunity to pay him back for all of the work favours! A very different kind of night to what I'm used to, as the focus was on new music artists, and I closed the first half with my Mary Poppins act. I was able to meet the wonderful Sarah Saville and Grant Sharkey, and I am now firm fans of theirs. The day after I hot-fotted it to Kingston to perform at an old favourite - Bawdsville Cabaret and Curry, and Mary had her second outing of the weekend.

The week after I was back in Leeds for The Wet Spot, performing alongside Dusty Limits, Velma Von Bon Bon, The Great Aziz, Missy Malone and Gwendaline Lamour. Lovely to see Velma and Missy again, and a true pleasure backstage, with some fantastic chats and Aziz's doves! I've shared a dressing room with plenty of snakes, cats and a small dog called Mr Piffles - but doves were a first.

We have all been hard at work at LISPA. It's now the final week of working with the neutral mask, which is wonderful and infuriating!
Last Thursday a few of us went to the Double R club. I love the whole set up and atmosphere of the night, and as a David Lynch fan, it was perfect for me. However, some of the early acts were slightly disappointing, although the finale from Julie Atlas Muz and Mat Fraser was worth waiting for. I didn't know whether to laugh or scream!

Then after a hungover acrobatics class, more neutral mask and a session of getting in touch with our masculine principles, we were ready for another party. This time it was the Small World Winter Warmer in Peckham. It was a 12 hour marathon of reggae, ska, gypsy jazz and swing. Somehow I managed to last until the cold light of day. Below is a picture of a few of us from earlier in the night - representing seven countries, it was indeed a small world.

In the photo opposite it looks like I have magically drawn my name in the air. In fact is is some clever post-show camera trickery courtesy of the lovely Violet Blaze. On Sunday 20th January the snow kept most of the audience away from Miss Odelia's Opium Den at Distiller's Bar in Hammersmith, and it ended up being an extremely intimate gig, with more photographers than audience! Still, it's never a chore to hang out with a gorgeous bunch of ladies, and we spent some time (while waiting on an audience that would never appear) pouting into the dressing room mirror - evidence below! With Sadie Sinner, Moi, Violet Blaze, Raven Noir and Miss Odelia Opium.

So, I'm at the end of the fourth week at LISPA, which has been incredible. The week of playfulness with Angela DiCastro was fantastic - she remembered me from all those years ago, when, despite being two thirds of the way through an English and Drama degree, I had no pleasure in performing. I took her weekend workshop 'How to be a Stupid' in 1999, and that was the start of a long journey back to the stage, discovering the pleasure in failing, and being happy with who I'm am. Meeting her again reminded me that life happens in cycles, and in many ways I'm at the start of another journey now. There is no time for self-doubt at LISPA, we are encouraged to take risks, and attempt everything with our whole being. Above all, it's recognising the relationship between technique and playfulness, intuition and analysis, and being both grounded and alert as a performer and creator. The devising tasks we have been assigned are really useful - I'm able to try out things I would never attempt on the polished cabaret stage, where audience expectation is that something is finished. It will be interesting to see how my next few burlesque performances go in terms of what the training has thrown at me so far.

Of course, being a student again has many benefits, not least the legendary parties! This was taken during an amazing musical jam, that seemed to lift the roof away! See if you can spot me. The party was in full swing until dawn, I must've hit the deck around 3am. Thank you to our hosts Paulo (Brazil), Fabio (Italy) and Carlos (Chile). Here's to many more, we have time, it's not a weekend workshop, thank goodness!

Tonight (Saturday 9th February) sees me perform at the Railway in Winchester, for Nick Tann, who happens to be a good friend of mine from my last employment. I was very excited to be featured in the Hampshire Chronicle. See the event page here. Photo courtesy of Gemma Betts.

Then tomorrow afternoon I'm back at a favourite of mine - Bawdsville at the Ram Jam Jam Club in Kingston.

Next week it's back to the glorious Wet Spot in Leeds, with Dusty Limits, Missy Malone, Velma Von Bon Bon, Gwendeline Lamour and the Great Aziz. I'm thrilled to be part of such a stellar line up!

And after that it's au revoir from the cabaret stage for a little while, as I get deeper into my work at LISPA, work on a new act and prepare for the 7th Annual London Burlesque Festival. Here are a few snaps from some of this Winters performances to tide you over until Spring! Courtesy of Richard Edwards at Burlesque Fever, and Rhinoa's Photography at Jamboree.