Road trip! We recently hit the road for a Queertini Time mini-tour, performing with Dem Damn Dames in Houston and Viva Dallas Burlesque. We packed up two of our favorite numbers, gassed up the car, and made our way to Houston first!

Oh man, Houston in the summer! How can a city be only a couple of hours away, but the heat be so much more punishing than at home?! We were pretty much drenched in sweat our entire visit! We got to town in time to drop our things off at our Air B&B in Montrose (Houston’s gayborhood) and then head to Numbers Nightclub for tech rehearsal.

We were so excited to see our favorite Dames, Tifa Tittlywinks and Emma Dilemma, for the first time in too long! After some amazing bear hugs, we eventually rehearsed and got ready for the show. Two other Austin performers, Goldie Candela and Chola Magnolia, were also performing and the show was hosted by Austin’s newest burlesque transplant: World Famous BOB! The lineup was stellar, BOB was the greatest host, and the show ended with Tifa doing some pretty inappropriate things with a chocolate cake to celebrate the Dames’ birthday. We also had a wonderful time at the show after-party – seriously, Houston audiences are some of the nicest and most complimentary EVER!

We were determined to get a good night’s sleep before hitting the road to Dallas in the morning (seriously, we aren’t spring chickens anymore) so we made our way back to our Air B&B where we were greeted by the cutest, tiniest baby frogs on our doorstep! After ensuring their safety, we showered off the glitter, makeup, and humidity and hit the sack.

The only things on our mind the next morning were COFFEE and pastries! We swung by a popular bakery in Montrose for some morning fuel and then started the next leg of our journey. Even though both of us were raised in Texas, neither of us had ever made the drive from Houston to Dallas. It is actually a beautiful drive (if you ignore the few penitentiaries along the way) with amazingly tall trees and interesting landmarks.

We made it to Dallas, checked in to our hotel, and grabbed a quick meal on our way to Viva’s Lounge, the beautiful venue of Viva Dallas Burlesque. There were tons of Austin performers hitting the stage in Dallas too: Jolie Goodnight as well as Coco Lectric and her Muses of Musicality! There were so many great numbers in the show and we were big fans of Miss Malicious and Smoulderin’ Scully’s lyra Top Gun duet that closed out the show!

Post show we answered the age-old question: How many Austin burlesquers can fit in a photobooth? We also chatted up our favorite bartender, Milo Cox, who we will be seeing at Viva’s Lounge again at the end of July for the Texas Queerlesque Festival, which he co-produces and co-hosts. We said goodbye to our co-performers (including some nutty Austinites who were driving back home that night!) and made our way to the hotel for one of our favorite post-out-of-town show traditions: watching HGTV in bed until we can’t keep our eyes open!

The next morning it was all about the COFFEE again at an awesome brunch spot in the Design District and then we hit the road for home. Thanks so much to producers Tifa Tittlywinks and Shoshana Portnoy for having us! Maybe we will make the Queertini Time Summertime Mini-Tour a tradition!