After performing in front of a sold out crowd last year, the SuicideGirls Blackheart Burlesque Tour is returning to San Diego Comic-Con for another seductive evening. Taking place at the House of Blues, the show promises to kick off the opening night of Comic-Con with an unforgettably erotic experience.
The girls are hard at work preparing to dazzle audience members with their unique blend of sexuality and pop culture references, but we managed to steal a few minutes with SuicideGirls founder Missy Suicide to ask her what’s in store for this year’s show.
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Can you tell me a little about the evolution of the Blackheart Burlesque Tour?
It’s been a lot of fun, and really just an amazing experience. Our first tour, that we did from 2002-2006, was a lot of work. It was a new area for us, and we didn’t have all the kinks worked out and we didn’t really have that thing that set us apart, so there was a lot that we learned.
Starting this tour has been amazingly fun. It’s been such a great experience to go out and meet all the fans, and the dancers are all incredible. We have a really great team, and it’s amazing how it all comes together with the pop culture focus and all of our nerdy references. All of our numbers are pop culture-themed, so it’s everything from movies to comic books to TV shows to video games – all the things that we love – and they’re all set to a modern soundtrack.
The part I nerd out about the most is pairing the theme with the perfect song – it wouldn’t be something that you think of, but when you see it, it’s so fitting. Our choreographer has put together an amazing show, the dancers are incredible, and all the costumes are super fun. It’s really an unforgettable show – it brings together all the elements that make up SuicideGirls, and it’s impossible to leave without a smile.
So what is it about the Comic-Con show in particular that makes it such a special experience?
The Comic-Con show is one of our favorites to play every year. It’s a little bit longer, because we try out all the new numbers that we’re thinking about for the fall tour. We also have more dancers than we have on the fall tour, so it’s a bigger show in both numbers and performers, and we feel like that audience is our most hardcore fanbase.
In addition to the Blackheart Burlesque tour, SuicideGirls is also involved in DVDs and comic and coffee table books and all sorts of different things. When you first launched the site back in 2001, did you have any idea that it would grow to become as large as it has?
No. [laughs] Back in 2001, the longest I had ever had a job was like 14 months. So to imagine that I would still be doing the same thing in 14 years? It was incomprehensible that I would still be doing the same thing, and working to develop the same brand.
As you continue to grow, what are some things you’d like to accomplish that you haven’t done yet?
Well, with the Blackheart Burlesque tour, we really wanna go to South America. It’s growing by leaps and bounds for us right now, and we’d love to be able to visit and bring some of these amazing girls. We’d also like to be able to expand into TV and books and movies, and more things like that.
And we’d also like to have another comic book! I’ve been bugging Cameron Stewart for ages, so the more people that see him and bug him about another SuicideGirls comic book, the better!
Looking at Comic-Con itself, you guys always have a presence there. You always have a booth on the floor, and you get the chance to interact with the fans. What is that experience like for you?
It’s so fun, and it’s so rewarding to be able to talk to people and hear their stories. Having women come up and say that their lives were changed because they never felt beautiful until they saw a woman who looked like them being celebrated on our site – it’s so rewarding. And it’s fun to just joke around with people and see all the costumes, and just get to be a part of that energy.
Is there anything at Comic-Con that you’re looking forward to, just as a fan?
I’m excited to see what the showrunners from Game of Thrones have to say about Jon Snow. That’s going to make up like 90% of the questions, so they’re going to have to tell us something!
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The Comic-Con performance of the SuicideGirls Blackheart Burlesque show will take place on Thursday, July 9th at the House of Blues in San Diego. Tickets are available at BlackheartBurlesque.com. Photos courtesy of lemathlemath.com