Mexican Masked Wrestling + Burlesque + Comedy = Lucha VaVOOM
Lucha VaVOOM is a non-stop, action-packed scream-a-thon, where Mexican Masked wrestlers flip and fly, performing breathtaking acrobatic feats. It’s good vs. evil played out in a one fall, Lucha Libre exhibition-style match for maximum enjoyment.
LuchaVaVoom is scheduled for Sunday May 16th at the Showbox, but will the show go on?
Last year Washington State Department of Licensing successfully shut down a local fight cabaret troupe, formerly known as Seattle SemiPro Wrestling. There was a lot of press around the issue at the time, but ultimately the performance troupe, which had been entertaining Seattle for over 5 years with their tongue in cheek parody of mainstream “professional wrestling”, ran out of money for lawyers and number of appeals available to them. This Sunday, Lucha Va Voom is scheduled to play at Showbox SODO and the DOL is at it again, trying to classify this show as “sports entertainment” and forcing them to jump through all the same hoops as the Mariners have to to play. This classification is incorrect and causes show stopping ramifications.
One of our writers here on Seattle Twist, Cissy Miller, came up with a fun women’s tag team wrestling show and performed at Neumo’s and then a 2nd show at the Showbox. Though she was never shut down, her trainers, the Seattle SemiPro Wrestling (SSP) were.
When asked about the history of her show Cissy had this to say:
The first year 2005 was a fund-raiser for the Theatre Off Jackson at Neumo’s…sold-out second year for 826 Seattle at the Showbox also at capacity…it was about a year later that the SSP (our trainers) who were a male group having shows at the Re-bar were first approached by the DOL regarding them being a “sports” event…which they were not….they eventually were faced with ridiculous amounts of fines and insurance issues which led them to their demise which is the main reason I have never brought the PDG’s back…An off shoot of the SSP has been the WXPFL Pencil Fighting Championships put together by Jake Stratton who was involved in the SSP and was the Emcee play by play caller at both PDG shows.
I came up with the idea for the show at a Girls Party I was having in my yard in summer 2004 when one of my guests insulted my taste in music–Niko Case– Really? (Doga instructor Brenda Bryan aka Chunga of Las Diablitas) and I had to take her down….in came Adrienne Taggart (an ex-model turned high-end carpenter) aka Crazy Fucker of the Mother Fucking Fuckers whose tag team partner was Ellen Forney (cartoonist) aka Mother-Fucker…who told me to ”pick on some one your own size” and in a moment blouses were being torn–art was bouncing off the wall and an audience had gathered mouths agape with a collective “that was hot” a show was thus born….womens wrestling which I quickly morphed into women’s tag-team wrestling….and focussed the show around an anachronistic style…think Mae & Moolah 1942.
If Cissy were to continue with her wrestling performances, no doubt she too would have faced the wrath of the Department of Licensing.
When asked what she thought of the latest DOL crackdown, Cissy say, “I think its crap and would be willing to attest to the contrary. In a sporting event you cannot predict the outcome. This was a choreographed event, not a free-for all unpredictable sport. My show was a stage performance strictly for entertainment and I stand behind that statement in no way shape or form were any of my girls (at that time) ‘professional’ athletes.” it appears the DOL is way off trying to classify burlesque and performance art in the same category as the WWF.
There were a lot of our friends who performed, with fun costumes and pseudonyms:
From Rat City Rollers
Throttle Rocketts…Jowanna Ass Kickin and Astro Glide
Sockett Wenches Clobberin Mame & Molly D’Molish
New Male Order Brides:
Lawyer Maura Donoghue Sasha
Chef Taylor Jonson Natasha
Westward Hos:
from Roq La Rue Celeste Fuechsel
Felisa Rosa…Churpa
Las Diablitas:
Doga Instructor Brenda Bryan Chunga
Bartender Jamie Burroughs Chimi
The BeerBarians:
The Pop Roxx
Cori Williams & Kamari Moeller
If the Department of Licensing can make an exception for performance art, perhaps Cissy and gal pals can have a rematch sometime soon!
