Hi everyone,

For those of you who may not know me, my name is Imogen Kelly. I’m a foundational artist in burlesque, fetish and underground queer performance in Australia — and a passionate historian of our scenes.

Many people know me as Australia’s Queen of Burlesque, and I was crowned World Queen of Burlesque (Miss Exotic World 2012) at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas.

I’ve been performing since 1989, which places me in a rare position: I am a living link between the wild, smoky strip clubs and underground stages of the past and the thriving burlesque scene we see today.

Along the way I’ve collected a rather eclectic and exceptional education — a BFA, a Master’s in Sound for Film, a Master’s in Directing from National Institute of Dramatic Art, and diplomas in filmmaking, circus and scriptwriting. More importantly, I’ve spent decades inside this world — learning directly from the dancers, drag queens, strippers, fetish performers and sideshow artists who built it.

And here’s the problem.

Australia’s burlesque history is disappearing.

The real story of this art form — the clubs, the avant guard strippers, the outrageous characters and the queer underground that nurtured it — has largely been overwritten by imported American narratives about burlesque. Many of our own legends have been forgotten.

I want to change that.

My goal is to document the living history of Australian burlesque by recording in-depth interviews with the performers who created it: the strippers, drag queens, stage mums, club owners and radical artists who shaped the scene from the 1970s onward.

These are people I know personally — my mentors, colleagues and old friends — and I want to capture their stories before they are lost.

The project will become:

✨ A podcast series

✨ A zine documenting these artists and their stories

✨ An online archive accessible to performers, historians and audiences across Australia

To do this properly I need to raise $10,000.

This will allow me to:

-Purchase professional recording equipment

-Pay stipends to the artists being interviewed

-Cover travel costs across Australia if needed

-Produce the podcast and zine

-Build an online resource to preserve this history

As this is a full time enterprise, I need funding to make it happen.

I’m also applying for grants and other funding sources, but some of our legends are currently in my state, and time is precious. I want to begin documenting their stories immediately.

Some of these extraordinary people are facing health challenges, which makes this work even more urgent. As soon as the funding is in place, I will begin recording.

This is a chance to preserve a vital piece of Australian performance history — the glittering, rebellious, queer, outrageous story of burlesque in this country — told by the people who actually lived it.

Thank you in advance for helping make this possible.

It’s going to be fabulous.

—Qween Imogen 1st