Art can be a form of liberation, a gateway to self-discovery, and, for many, a method of expressing one’s identity freely and fearlessly. One Pittsburgh performing artist has utilized their work with the arts for all of the above and more.
Jami Starling is a drag and burlesque variety performer, producer of themed shows, and active member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce Players, or JCCP for short. Starling first encountered the world of queer performance as a self-described “baby gay” surfing Youtube when she came across the channel for Ivy Les Vixen, a lesbian burlesque dancer based in Orlando, Florida. Though it wouldn’t be until later, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that Starling would take the leap and enter the world of drag and burlesque as both performer and producer, the channel proved formative in Starling’s exploration of her identity through art.
“[The videos] were [about] what it was like to be a burlesque performer, and on top of that, being a queer person and performing [and] being lesbian just in general,” Starling said, referring to what initially drew them to the content, adding that “her channel helped me out a whole lot as a baby gay.” The channel also introduced them to Nerdlesque or costume burlesque, in which performers will dress up as their favorite characters.
“Burlesque doesn’t have to be just Vegas showgirl stuff,” Starling explained, expanding on the different varieties of burlesque that may differ from the popular depictions most are more accustomed to. “Not to diminish [that] style, because obviously, that’s very important to the world of burlesque,” they continued, but burlesque can be serious, scary, sexy or silly…it’s an art form, so there’s a lot of different ways you can take that.” Starling also pointed out the same applies to drag, an art form she feels can go hand in hand with burlesque; it’s all about exploration and creativity.
Starling’s first performance was online only due to the pandemic, “My first ever performance was on Instagram Live, if you can believe that like first ever performance period,” she said with a laugh, noting that though the quality might not be the greatest, it’s likely still floating out in cyberspace somewhere. Around this time, Starling attended WVU and found community with the small but highly supportive queer community in the area.

This community, which Starling describes as like family, helped her when she was just beginning to explore her queerness through performance.
“[Performance] made me approach my gender presentation and my sexuality and…it’s made me question my sexuality I’m not going to lie.” Starling said of how these initial forays into performance has helped her on her journey to where she is today. “I think everyone should question their gender and their sexuality at least once in their life…I started out as a drag king, and ironically, performing masculinity made me appreciate my femininity even more.” Starling continued.
When doing drag, Starling today is mostly known for their characters and impressions when performing, citing such favorites like Beetlejuice and the Goblin King from Labyrinth. But when they perform as just Jami Starling, they take some inspiration from famous drag king Landon Cider.
“I take a leaf out of [his] book of glamdrogeny…you can look and present masculine with sharp eyeliner and colorful eyeshadow”
Once Starling began to gravitate towards burlesque, they had some apprehensions. “Burlesque was something I was very nervous to try…I mean, I have some shock value in my [drag] acts…but I was nervous to take my clothes off, it’s different.” Soon however, this nervousness was replaced with confidence. “It’s made me so much more confident in my body and I feel much more comfortable not just in my own skin, but also in how I move…It’s made me more confident in who I am as a person, and it’s made me more gentle with myself.”
Starling’s own story of exploration and discovery comes with some words of encouragement for others who may want to explore their identity through the arts.
“It does not matter what gender you are, what’s between your legs or how you present outside of performing on stage. You can be a drag queen…a drag king, or you don’t have to choose either of them…the same thing goes for burlesque.” Starling said, adding that, “nonbinary drag [can be done] as a king, queen or androgynous,” emphasizing that this is true regardless of how a person presents in the outside world, giving a safe space to explore and play with identity without any expectations or pressure. “You can bring your outside experience to the stage as a drag performer, but that’s not required…no matter the gender is of that character.”
To further emphasize the need for a safe space to explore identity, Starling shared that there have been people who have found their identities through this exploration, “I’ve met so many trans and nonbinary people who, through drag and burlesque have found their identities…through dabbling in different gender presentations, they found that ‘Oh, this is actually something I want to carry into everyday life off the stage.’”
This desire to make a space for everybody through the arts is at the core of Starling’s work as a producer. Their first production credit was the Twitch-based show The Baby Shower, which started around the same time Starling first started to perform in 2020. True to its name, the show was for “baby drag artists and other burlesque performers…[It was] basically a chance for us to spread our wings,” Starling said of the fairly successful show, which saw a run of about a year and a half.
Though Starling had some smaller outings in production in Morgantown, it wasn’t until she worked with the Space Bar that she felt she really started to come into her own as a producer.
Though the bar had the occasional show themed after space or more general themes, Starling saw an opportunity that could really draw in the crowds and performers: shows themed after pop culture. Inspired by San Fransisco based Misfit Cabaret, known for their pop culture themed productions, Starling approached Space Bar about doing themed variety shows, citing one themed around the works of David Bowie and another around Star Wars as examples of shows performed in the space. As it turns out, this worked really well.
“There was like a love for nerdy, specific shows. We had general space themed shows and they did okay at Space Bar, but when we do things like Bowie or Star Wars; that does really, really well.” Starling explained, reeasoning that when you do something from a popular franchise or around the work of a beloved artist, it speaks to people and can even draw in people who maybe wouldn’t have been interested in burlesque had it been more generally themed.
Starling was particularly proud of their latest show, One HELLUVA Hazbin Variety Show, based on the popular animated series Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. Starling was pleasantly surprised when the show completely sold out, as she felt it was “kind of niche.” She also acknowledged that this show might be particularly special to people because both shows have “queerness, like baked into [them],” each featuring a main cast filled to the brim of canonically queer characters.
“One thing I take pride in from HELLUVA Hazbin is that we brought out some people that don’t normally go to drag shows…that might not be as comfy with going to a space to see a live show,” Starling said, before sharing an anecdote of someone driving four hours from Toledo just to see a show with their favorite characters represented.
Not only do these themed shows bring more people out, it can also help new performers feel more comfortable with the idea of putting themselves out there They can don the persona of their favorite characters and be surrounded by supportive people and decide if this was something they want to explore further, something that Starling finds to be a major driving force behind the production of these shows.

When asked for some final words, Starling had a few things to say. Firstly, they wanted to shout out the Junior Chamber of Commerce Players. “Performing Rocky Horror has made me into the pop culture performer that I am today…it really helped me appreciate the performance aspect of cosplay,” Starling said.
Starling also wanted to acknowledge how important it is that though performance is fun, it is also an act of resistance. “Drag [and burlesque] is under attack,” Starling began, “so every time that people step on stage as a drag performer or a burlesque performer, it’s a big middle finger to the cishet patriarchal norms out there. I don’t want people to forget that, because it’s another example of queer joy being an active resistance.”
Finally, Starling concluded with the following,
“If you are a nerdy queer person, who maybe doesn’t like being out in a very overstimulating, club, I want to try to make space for you. I want to make space for the queers who want to participate in nightlife [and] variety entertainment and maybe you also want to be in bed by eight Or nine. Basically, if you ever felt like an outcast growing up because of the things you liked or who you loved, you have a place at my shows .”
Jami Starling can be found on Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and Youtube. as jami__starling and on Youtube as Jami Starling Performances.
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