STRANGERCROMBIE WINNER! This article was bought-and-paid-for in The Stranger’s annual charity auction—which this year raised more than $50,000 for the Seattle nonprofit Treehouse, helping foster kids since 1988. Thank you, everybody!
Actress, songstress, and comedian Joan Larson may spend her days
working as a human-resources manager at a consulting firm, but she’s
quick to point out: “I am definitely not a traditional HR
person.” Let us count the ways.
She performs risqué solo shows, wears shoes with
skull-and-crossbones patterns around the office, and has five tattoos:
a Hello Kitty version of Rosie the Riveter (Larson loves Rosie), a
Hello Kitty memento mori (she has a touch of the goth), a Hello Kitty
witch (Larson is Wiccan), a “tribal goddess figure” (ditto), and “defy
gravity” tattooed above her left breast. The quote is from the musical
Wicked, but is also a kind of mantra for Larson, who strives to
treat life as a diversion.
“I have to have every person I spend any extended time with be
amusing,” she says, sitting in her office—which is decorated with
Rosie the Riveter paraphernalia—during her lunch hour. “I won’t
even go to a gynecologist who isn’t funny.”
Larson treated herself to the “defy gravity” tattoo for her 50th
birthday and vowed to do two things a year that make her feel
uncomfortable. This year’s challenges: enduring a photo shoot (“I hate
having my picture taken more than anything”) and taking a burlesque
class with Trixie Lane. Next year, she plans to go skydiving and
perform one of her solo shows in a women’s correctional facility.
“That,” she says, “would definitely be outside my comfort
zone.”
Larson worked in Portland as an actor in the 1980s: The Best
Little Whorehouse in Texas, Funny Girl, Sunday in the
Park with George, and others. Her ticket out was Angry
Housewives, which she performed in Portland, Seattle, and
Anchorage. “After 800-some performances of Angry Housewives, I
still never tired of that show,” she says. “It was that much fun.”
She returned to Portland, performed in Nunsense, and then a
deep, intractable case of stage fright settled inside her. “There are
times when a person’s confidence just leaves them,” she says. “I was
going through a depression, and that can suck the life out of anything
you like to do.” She couldn’t bring herself to audition for anything.
She was working at a doctor’s office at the time and thinks the hostile
environment there was partly to blame.
But the people at her current job are much more supportive. “I saw
one of Dina Martina’s solo shows,” Larson says. “And I thought, ‘I
could do that!'” She mentioned the idea to one of her bosses, and he
started bugging her about it. “He said he wants his people to do
whatever it is that would make them feel successful,” she says. “He’s
really great.”
Her triumphant return to the stage last year was titled Feminine
Hijinx. She told jokes, chatted with the audience, and sang with
her piano accompanist Mark Rabe (a prolific pianist-about-town, from
cabarets to Seattle Children’s Theatre). Especially popular was “The
Cat Song” with its call-and-
response chorus:
Pussycat was sitting on the front porch,
Sun got too hot and my pussy got scorched.
Hot pussy, hot pussy…
This December, she performed Holly Jolly Hijinx at the
Rendezvous in Belltown, wearing a massive Marie Antoinette wig
interwoven with glowing Christmas lights. The wig had a reprise during
the recent snowstorms, when she walked around with it at night: “People
were asking, ‘Do you come in peace?'”
Now Larson says she feels more comfortable on the stage than off.
“When I’m onstage, I feel like people judge me on my skills as a
performer but not as a person,” she says. “In social situations, I’m
afraid of people judging me.” She pauses and laughs. “Obviously,
I’ve been to a lot of therapy.”
Feminine Hijinx will return to the Rendezvous in March and
tour to Portland. Then, this fall, she’s planning a third show called
High Heels and Low Expectations. (“The Cat Song” will return, by
popular demand.) And maybe she’ll screw up the courage to audition for
a few musicals again. “I just love musicals,” she says. “I wish that
life were like that, and people just burst into song.” 
I would like to mention that although I do HATE having my photo taken, that the photo in the article is from a very wonderful and FUN photo shoot with Lance Wagner of Old School Pinups. For me it was a great experience. I may never enjoy having people wave a camera – but I had a very positive and fun time and got some wonderful photos as well. Lance’s wife Trixie Lane teaches the Kindergarten of Burlesque class which is a hoot and empowering to boot. Both of these experiences were the highlights of my summer.
I was lucky enough to see both of Ms. Larson’s shows last year, and they were JUST GREAT! She has a beautiful singing voice and a lusty sense of humor. Joan and Mark worked beautifully together, too. I’ll be in the audience at her next show, when-and-wherever it is. I’d even like to be in the chorus of the musical that must be playing in her head!
There is a wonderful Rosie the Riveter national park in Richmond CA (east San Francisco bay).
http://www.nps.gov/rori
There is also a liberty ship, the Red Oak Victory, built all by Rosies for the WWII effort on display nearby.
People often ask who does my tattoos and they are all are done by the wonderfully talented Joe Who at Pierced Hearts tattoo in the University district. He is a Master with ink!
We have witnessed Joan Larson- Blossom right before our very eyes! She accredits so many with inspiration, but does not realize just how inspiring SHE IS! I truly enjoyed her Holly Jolly Hijinx show and we will be returning to every show she has to offer! She is funny and lovely all at the same time! Oh yes Joan, that IS smoke blowing up your deserving skirt! Cheers, Trixie n Lance
When is the show coming to Portland?
I thought Joan was great in “Angry Housewives” and I’d love to see her new show.