Jonny Porkpie

The Mayor of Burlesque

Jonny Porkpie, burlesque performer, writer, producer and emcee, is both the the self-appointed "Burlesque Mayor of New York City" and a occasional candidate for "actual" mayor of NYC. He is a frequent emcee at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender, as well as Head of Showcases for the event. Past projects include burlesque gameshow Grab My Junk/The Naked Truth, which toured to over 30 cities in 5 countries on 3 continents; BQNY Theatrical (formerly Pinchbottom Burlesque), the "Best Burlesque" in NY (New York Magazine, The Village Voice) which produced the Off-Broadway shows "The Pinch Brothers in The Bawdy House," (currently slated to return for Marxfest 2024) “Pretençión: un cirque de burlesque, un burlesque de cirque," and "Dead Sexy: The Off-Broadway Play"; as well as productions at the House of Yes, PS122, and numerous other venues across the country and around the world.

Press: The Burlesque Hall of Fame

  • "...there was one other BIG WIN of the night: the adaptation of the classic Abbott and Costello routine, “Who’s on First,” re-written by Jonny Porkpie and performed—to perfection—by Porkpie and Blanche Debris, was knock-down drag-out brilliant. This throwback act, done without nostalgia, with Blanche as the hysterical moron and Jonny as the cool-as-cucumber-vodka straight man, was sheer comic genius. I love these two hosting together; they keep getting better every year, this year adding the gag of hosting on roller skates. But “Who’s On First?”—my only criticism is the audience: I felt half the folks weren’t getting it. How can such a low-brow act become suddenly high-brow? Wait 80 years, apparently. (The act was a hit for Abbott and Costello as early as 1937.)

    The well-known baseball routine was revamped to refer to the show order of a burlesque—Who’s on first, What’s on second, I Don’t Know—”Third act!”—the confusion increasingly frustrating Debris. Porkpie’s redux followed the structure of the classic act impeccably, and continued the burlesque into the other players, with Why as the sound man, Because on pickup, Tomorrow as the producer, and the Headliner—and ultimate punch line—I Don’t Give a Damn, which is practically a Turducken of a joke about burlesque. I’d like to see this again and I hope someone at some festival somewhere (I’m looking at you Jen Gapay) has the sense to book it—it’s the best comedic retro-vaudeville act we’ve seen in forevs."

    JD Oxblood, Burlesque Beat

Press Clippings

  • New York's "Best Naked Impresario"

    New York Press

  • "Porkpie owns the evening with the unfaltering wit of his rapid-fire banter."

    Erotic Review

  • "Impresario, fiction writer, comedian, bottom-pincher and good-natured bon vivant."

    Time Out New York

  • On "The Corpse Wore Pasties": "Much of the fun lies in Porkpie's witty and telling observations of life in the raunchy burlesque world, and the tone is more playful than pornographic despite plentiful references to sexual activity. Readers will enjoy the twists and action and hope for future Porkpie investigations."

    Publishers Weekly

  • "Most Innovative" 2006 (co-winner)

    The Burlesque Hall of Fame

  • "Full of double entendres, rattling them off as smoothly as an adept playa runs game."

    The Huffington Post

Jonny Porkpie in Competitive Burlesque

Teaser for The Pinch Brothers in The Bawdy House

News

  • Bibliodiscoteque names "Corpse" one of Hard Case's Top Ten Essential Reads

    January 22, 2013

    "Hilarious... more than just lite-comic intermission its a skillful detective tale wrapped around a love for showmanship and theatre."
    full article