HOTEL SERIES #9 - UP ON MY SITE!

I took a spontaneous trip out of the city yesterday. Rented a car from the neighborhood, put Chewie in her travel bag, and we hit the road with no plans. Originally we were going to Bear Mountain but about 20 minutes after we crossed the GW Bridge, we stumbled upon a little town called Piermont in Upper Hudson. We were hungry so we pulled over and found a cute French bistro with sidewalk seating. The town was quiet and the weather was perfect. Not nearly as hot and humid as the city when you don't have all these high rises trapping the heat. We stopped by some of the shops that were open and went into a well-curated, upscale Manhanttan-y boutique shop called The Editor where the pretty owner mentioned that a new boutique hotel had just opened in nearby Nyack called The Time.

A photo posted by Calamity Chang (@calamitychang) on Aug 16, 2016 at 1:37pm PDT

I looked up the rates on Hotel Tonight right away and found a great deal for $120 a night! What sold it was the pool and interior decor for me. So we booked ourselves in, found a Target nearby, bought some bathing suits on the clearance rack, and I bought a bottle of foundation and a pair of lace underwear. What I love most about doing my Hotel Photo Series is the challenge of working with what is available. Day light, interior light, whatever clothes I have with me. And in this case, we had nothing. I didn't even have makeup other than the standard red lipstick in my day-to-day purse.

I'm pretty happy with the results considering we had about 2 hours left of day light, and using only our iPhone 6s. Check out the rest of this set and more on my site.

Photo by Mike Webb Photography

Photo by Mike Webb Photography

A photo posted by Calamity Chang (@calamitychang) on Aug 17, 2016 at 6:40am PDT

Day 01: Advent Striptease Calendar 2015 at Hotel Holiday!

It's that time of the year again when I release one of my favorite social media projects - the striptease advent calendar! This year I was able to secure a very cool and modern hotel in NYC to feature all 25 days of tease. If you are a hotel-aficionado like me, you might recognize the location. ;-) I enlisted Mike Webb Photography to do all the filming and some creative lighting as we were working with a very lean system (ie: scarcely anything); and he managed to even add to my ongoing photography project "Hotel Series" while on location! Grace Gotham also helped me to come up with some of the copy for each day.

Follow me on Instagram to see how naked things go at Hotel Holiday.

Hope you enjoy this year's tease. This is Day 01.

Welcome to Hotel Holiday 2015! Day 1 of 25 begins now! Check back every day for another tease clip👀💋 what happens at Hotel Holiday...doesn't always stay 🎞by @mikewebbnyc Writing help by @gracegothamnyc the wordsmith of burlesque #advent #stripteasecalendar #burlesquetease #adventcalendar #hotelholiday #calamitychang #stripaday #holidaycalendar

A video posted by Calamity Chang (@calamitychang) on Nov 30, 2015 at 9:17pm PST

Holiday Striptease Advent Calendar - Getting Ready!

It may be another steamy, humid 90+ week here in NYC, but I'm already thinking ahead to cool, frosty, beautiful winter and started to prepare for my holiday burlesque striptease calendar! It is one of my favorite personal content driven projects to work on and I only release it on my Instagram account. It starts on December 1 to 25. If you missed last winter's calendar, you'll have to scrub through my IG feed to find all 25 mini striptease clips.

This past weekend I shot with Mike Webb Photography again to create the film clips for the calendar. We found a really great hotel deal in awful Times Square, but it is one of my favorite neo-gothic boutique hotels in town that won't break the bank. Everything in the hotel is monochromatic, there is NO color used at all. We shot film and more stills to add to my "Hotel Series" on my website. We were able to get 3 great shots in addition to all 25+ mini clips for the calendar, but the struggle is real, ya'll! Of course halfway through I got tired and just wanted to order champagne and snacks to the room. I swear I was one of those Southern, overweight, filthy rich ladies of the yore who lounged around on a chaise bed eating bonbons all day in a past life. The only way I powered through was promising myself a bowl of decadent pasta (my forbidden food!) after the shoot. And reward I did! I even went to Olive Garden nearby for this awful "treat". Should have gone to Frankie's though because the food sucks at OG. You can taste the over saltiness and low grade ingredients...

I've got many hours of photo processing and film editing ahead, and it's the perfect week to work on this since its really too hot to be out and about anyway. I can't wait to share all the final products! The advent calendar will release on December 1, 2015 but the stills will come out a bit sooner. Here's a little teaser for you!

What a productive day shooting and filming w/@mikewebbnyc for more of my #HotelSeries AND my favorite project of the year: holiday striptease advent calendar for Dec 1-25! If u missed my advent calendar last winter, don't miss this year! Follow me on Instagram (for FB fans) cause this is EXCLUSIVE content only for my IG fans! #calamitychang #hotelphotography #stripteasecalendar #burlesque #trysts #striptease

A video posted by Calamity Chang (@calamitychang) on Aug 30, 2015 at 8:26pm PDT

Here is a clip from 2014!

Merry Christmas everyone! This is the last oft advent calendar for 2014. Til next year. Thanks for viewing! #adventcalendar #adultadventcalendar #calamitychang

A video posted by Calamity Chang (@calamitychang) on Dec 25, 2014 at 10:17am PST

Adding More to My Hotel Series Photos, This Set By Bettina May!

Only a Texan would plan a trip to Texas in July, and only a burlesque performer would plan a TOUR in Texas in July! And that is exactly what I did last month. I organized a nice little tour in my home state and managed to get in a week's worth of time with my family as well. The trip coincided with two other NYC performer's traveling schedules (Grace Gotham and Bettina May) so we all decided to try to organize as many shows together as possible while we were all in Texas. Since I lost my drivers license years ago (not due to anything as salacious as DWI but mere expired for too long...) I told my parents I was going to "borrow" my older brother and make him chauffeur us around the 100+ Texas heat. And chauffeuring he did! He drove us to Houston, Austin, Corpus Christi, and all my local gigs in Dallas/Fort Worth. I've never gone on a road trip with my brother so it was actually kinda sibling bonding time and for us, it was bonding over many episodes of the classic Twilight Zone series.

While we were in Houston, Bettina (ever creative and industrious) pulled out her camera in our hotel room and we shot a few photos for my Hotel Series. I love adding to this growing series on my web site especially photos from different photographers.

There is a funny story about this photo. I tend to not like photos of myself laughing or smiling. I find that I have to have a real laugh for the photo to appear genuine. In all the fake smile/laugh photos, I look like a demonic clown so I tend to prefer photos of myself like this:

"Hotel Series #5", Photo by Michael Webb.
See All in "Hotel Series" >

 Or this.

"Hotel Series #3", Photo by Michael Webb. 
See All in "Hotel Series" >

But Bettina managed to capture me in a moment of genuine joy and laughter mainly because of what Grace Gotham was doing in the background which a lady can not divulge! Let's just say that I will forever think of this photo as the wonderful moment where Grace Gotham elicited an authentic laugh from me during a photo shoot.

"Hotel Series #7", Photo by Bettina May
See All in "Hotel Series" >

"Hotel Series #7", Photo by Bettina May
See All in "Hotel Series" >

"Hotel Series #7", Photo by Bettina May
See All in "Hotel Series" >

See All in My "Hotel Series"

Bettina is also for hire if you would like to have her style you for pin-up photos >
Check out Bettina's Pin Up Class >

Hotel Series #5 - Hotel Pierre Du Calvet in Old Montreal Quebec

Here is a sample photo from HOTEL SERIES #5 from my latest travels to Montreal.

One of the loveliest cities in my opinion for the poor New Yorker's "Paris". I couldn't afford another Paris trip this year so I opted for the next best thing, Montreal. Only a 1.5 flight or a 6 hour scenic drive away. I love Old Montreal even though our Québécois friends think it's totally touristy. It's like me saying "I love Times Square!" But the architecture, the old cobble stoned streets (a la Crosby Street), the history and the charm win me over every time! I did stay in Hotel Zero 1 for a couple nights before Hotel Pierre Du Calvet just to get a democratic sense of Montreal. Hotel Zero 1 is a boutique designer hotel right across the street from the Chinatown gate. Ironically every time I've stayed in a hotel in Canada, it has always been right by the Chinatown there! Hotel Zero 1 is beautiful, modern, chic, and conveniently located right by all the prostitutes, pimps, dingy strip clubs and some unsavory characters mixed in with hipsters and young people. It is also on the same block as the famous Cafe Cleopatra! I love myself a modern hotel but I love myself an old historic landmark hotel even more. Hotel Pierre du Calvet apparently is also haunted according to several internet accounts. Room 3 is where most of the sightings have occurred such as a woman or a man sitting by the foot of your bed in the middle of the night, or sensing a malevolent presence in the room. We were in Room 6 so luckily nothing strange occurred... at least not when my eyes were closed. This hotel is just absolutely to die for. Simply out of time, extravagant, old world, and romantic. I highly recommend going with someone you love (or lust).

Photo by Mike Webb Photography. Click here to see more of Hotel Series #5 >

Photo by Mike Webb Photography. Click here to see more of Hotel Series #5 >

Hotel Series #4 - The Atlantic, South Hamptons

I know 3,000 Twitter followers is not a big deal to really famous people who have over K's of followers, but I am still very happy that my artistic work as a burlesque performer has garnered this many followers. I have a tradition that at every 1,000th mark, I release a semi-nudie photo of myself.

This release coincides with the 4th set in my Hotel Series on my web site, a series that I really enjoy doing in whatever hotel or motel I happen to be staying in overnight while traveling to perform or on a short weekend trip somewhere. We never use a fancy set up and only use natural light. Some sets I am wearing no makeup, some I have day time makeup, and no body makeup. We both enjoy the guerilla tactic of a photo challenge to work with what you got. And the best part? I get to tell you about the hotel!

This set was taken at The Atlantic in South Hamptons. It looks like it was an old motel at one point. You can see how old the faucets are and the carpeting in the room made me a little worried about putting my clothes on it or walking barefoot. The sheets smelled clean. The front desk was rude one day and nice the other. When Michael went to get batteries for the remote control (it was empty), the woman at the front desk snipped at him for not saying "Thank you." She said, "Thaaaaaank you." You can also hear every footstep above you, creak creak creakity creak all morning long. Luckily we weren't at the hotel that much anyway so it was fine for one night.

Photo by Michael Webb. Vintage hat from an old antique shop (name I forget but owned by a friendly older gentleman who seemed to know everything about everything) in Greenport, NY See the rest of Hotel Series >

Hotel Series

Photo by Michael Webb. See more of the series >

Photo by Michael Webb. See more of the series >

Uploaded on my web site is the "Hotel Series"! You can see more from this series taken in two hotels in 2011 and in 2012. I will keep adding to this series this year whenever I stay in a hotel or motel. High and low!

View the series >

Sneak Peek Part II

Photo by Michael Webb

I've changed the background image of my blog, Twitter, and the cover photo of my Facebook page to another shot by Michael Webb for my "Hotel Series." Here is the image on its own for a better look. Sorry about the faint watermark. I've had problems in the past of people using my photos without permission, or more offensively, without crediting the photographer. I almost always allow people to re-use my photos given the right publication as long as they extend the courtesy of asking first.

This was the last shot we did in Room 402 called "Echame Flores" (throw me flowers in Spanish). I will post a new shot through this week until the series is done and viewable on my Gallery page of my web site.

Sneak Peek of New Photos

It's a new year and a new resolve to blog again! I'm sorry, readers for my lackadaisical blogging towards the end of 2012. My focus had shifted. I was consumed with creating 2 new acts as well as working out the kinks of a couple of new shows. I could feel myself burning out so I decided months ahead to not perform on New Year's Eve and treat myself to a small town party in Canada with close friends and relatives. What a great decision that was! I just returned from that epic trip which have renewed my desire to blog-gab! Stayed tuned for LOTS of photos plus more from this series Michael Webb took of me at the famous Gladstone Hotel in Toronto!

And here's Where & When to See Me in January 2013.