The *100th Session* of Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore is Monday, February 10th with Nona Narcisse and Jason Moffett!
100 sessions. That’s nearly 6 years of Dr. Sketchy’s Baltimore—300 hours of drawing, 600 hours of keeping the train on the tracks and shoving chairs around, and 2178 hours total (that’s including working on flyers, booking models, etc.) that Alexis and I have spent keeping the wheels turning on this runaway cart.
When we started this, we honestly had no idea what we were getting into. If we’d had the faintest idea how big it was going to get, we probably would have run like a dog out of a butcher shop with a string of sausages in his mouth. We really, truly, honestly thought it would last only a year and fit in someone’s living room if we had to in a pinch.
So, come celebrate with us.
Who are the muses for your pad and canvas?
Nona Narcisse and Jason Moffett.
The founder of New Orleans's Slow Burn Burlesque, Nona Narcisse is one of our favorite models—I’ll give you her bio in a second, but take a look at this 3 minute video of her last session with us. That video is worth a thousand paragraphs. (And if you watch the stinger clip at the end, you can see Alexis tell the crowd about our engagement, if such a thing tickles your fancy.)
Here’s what I wrote for her the very first time Nona ever posed for Dr. Sketchy’s…
“Alexis and I have traveled all over the country, and sometimes out of it, over the last three years catching every burlesque performance we could. I say this without the slightest bit of exaggeration or hyperbole - Nona Narcisse is one of the best performers we've ever seen. She very well may have my favorite routine of all time too, period. When you see her Day of the Dead routine & costume, you are going to collectively lose your beautiful, artistic minds. To be honest, I'm kind of scared. You may not be able handle this much sexy, this much gorgeousness, this much bone-chilling terror.
“The next day you'll be telling your half-cousin in Boise, "Yeah, it was the best Dr. Sketchy's ever! Nona was the best model I've ever drawn! It was amazing! Well - right until those idiot Dr. Sketchy folks meddled with forces they didn't understand and accidentally summoned the Aztec goddess Mictecacihuatl, the Lady of the Dead, onto the stage and she bit off Russell's head! Dude, it was awesome! Shame about the Windup Space going out like that though."
“If you ever pay attention to anything I ever write, heed this: 1) bring your "A" game, Nona is one of a kind, 2) if you're on heart medication, for God's sake take it beforehand, 3) don't tell you loved ones where you're going. If we accidentally open a gate to Hell in Russell's bar, it's better for them to think you were the victim of some random serial killer instead of being devoured alive by some Aztec god.”
Ignore that bit about an Aztec god at the end—Russell, quite understandably, banned meddling with dark forces after that particular go-around. (If anyone lost a loved one or relative at that session, we are truly, heartfeltedly sorry.)
Your second model will be—wait, there’s a SECOND MODEL???
THERE IS.
Famed magician, actor, and skateboarder Jason Moffett, who migrates with Nona between his hometown of Baltimore and New Orleans, will be posing as well. If you have a sharp eye, you’ve seen him performing down in the Inner Harbor and on The Wire. You probably don’t know this, but as much I love burlesque, magic and the circus have the true grip on my “I should have been a carny” heart—and Jason is very, very, good. Y’all are in for a treat.
The two of them on stage at once? I guarantee you’ve never drawn anything like this. I only pull that phrase out every now and then, and when I do, I mean it.
There’ll be contests with prizes from Turtle Creek Coffee and Baby Tattoo Books, not to mention adult beverages and an all-around hootnanny.
Doors at 6, start at 7. 18+ to draw, 21+ to drink. Show up early to get a good seat. This is our 100th session—you’ll want to get there early.
$10 at the door, $8 if you buy by midnight the night before.
No photography or messy paints, please (watercolors are fine).
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Photo of Nona Narcisse and Jason Moffett by Paul Cheenne-Photography, Cinematography, Music. https://www.facebook.com/
By the way, none of these 100 sessions would have been possible without the various folks who’ve helped us run the show over the years like Maeve, Styger, and Bill; the folks who’ve lent a hand when we were in a pinch like Todd, Fred, Dahlia, Brian, Scott, Eliza, Melissa, Maria, and oh-so-many-others; the owners of our two amazing venues over the years, Russell of the Windup Space and Lynn of Dionysus; our various sponsors over that time—Atomic Books, Baby Tattoo Books, Artist & Craftsman Supply, Turtle Creek Coffee, Flying Dog Brewery, What Katie Did, Sweet Sin (now Sweet 27), and more; our photographer Jeff and our occasional backup now and then Jen Swanson; Molly Crabapple and the wonderful folks in NYC for being so nice to us and helping us out when we needed help; and of course all the models who’ve posed for us . . . . and that’s over a hundred names, I’m so not dropping that in here.
Maybe for the recap video.
