Dead Flowers Circus-Sideshow, an LGBTQ-friendly performance group, is debuting its new show, “The Smokin’ Gun Revue: Winter Holidaze Edition,” Dec. 17 at Tabu.
The troupe has been operating for four years, producing variety shows, benefits and festivals throughout the area, largely in South Philadelphia, striving to make the city a weirder place, one show at a time.
The Smokin’ Gun Revue’s host, Mister E., known as Jason Lutz offstage, says being the group’s ringleader can be somewhat taxing.
“My role can be very demanding because I am the producer, a performer in the shows and the emcee most of the time,” he said. “It’s a lot to take on and the work is not just the nights of the shows; it feels like a round-the-clock job but it’s OK because I love doing it. Sideshows are wild and fun, or at least they should be. Ultimately, people want to be entertained.”
Lutz added that he doesn’t want Dead Flowers to be lumped in with the numerous burlesque troupes that call Philadelphia home.
“We are more of a circus-sideshow,” Lutz said. “Embracing sexuality and burlesque, especially the comedic side of it, is something that is highlighted in our shows but we feature a variety of performers. Our troupe’s identity went from heavy on the circus to two sideshow performers amongst a handful to burlesque performers, and finally at this point I feel like we’ve found our identity. The troupe is eclectic and multi-faceted.”
Performances include sideshow acts, bellydancing, “oddball comedy” and “unconventional drag,” dancers, burlesque and more.
“We keep it weird with our own Philly flavor. Audiences should know that our shows have an element of rock ’n’ roll to them. Anything could happen,” Lutz said. “We are a very queer-centric troupe. Half of our team identifies as LGBTQ. We are a progressive group of performers that welcome everybody and anybody.”
Lutz added that the group plans on making Tabu one of its regular performance spaces and hopes to dazzle audiences there, as well as in other venues — Dead Flowers also stages the murder-mystery Devil’s Carnival every third Tuesday at the Raven Lounge that is going to tour the area — with their boundary-pushing performances.
But people will have to show up to fully find out what they have planned.
“I don’t want to give away too much,” he said. “We’ll be tackling all the major winter holidays, not just Christmas. Typically we do a troupe Pollyanna that incorporates some of our acts and stunts. Last year, I gave Miss Rachel Rottin’ a pie in the face and she gave me a live, poisonous scorpion on a leash to put in my mouth. We do a stunt called the ‘Kiss of Death,’ where the scorpion rests on my face and in my mouth to the audience’s terror and delight. You get the idea: weird stuff.”
Dead Flowers Circus-Sideshow presents “The Smokin’ Gun Revue: Winter Holidaze Edition” 9 p.m. Dec. 17 at Tabu, 200 S. 12th St. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/deadflowersphiladelphia or www.facebook.com/events/672166796295061/?ti=icl.