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| "SHOWGIRL CONFIDENTIAL" (Cover Photo by Dusti Cunningham) |
PLEASANT
GEHMAN, AUTHOR OF “SHOWGIRL
CONFIDENTIAL”
BIOGRAPHY
Pleasant
Gehman is a true renaissance woman: writer, dancer, actor, musician and
painter. A Hollywood icon, during the 1970’s, she was one of the first punks in
Los Angeles, documenting the scene she helped create in her fanzine “Lobotomy”.
During the 1980’s, she toured across North America fronting her three bands,
all of whom released multiple recordings: The Screaming Sirens, The Ringling
Sisters and Honk If Yer Horny. She was also the booker for the seminal Los
Angeles clubs Cathay De Grande and Raji’s.
Since the early 1990’s, under the stage name
Princess Farhana, she has appeared internationally as a professional belly
dancer and burlesque performer and teacher. She has danced and acted in
numerous motion pictures, in music videos and on television. She has appeared
in many documentaries on belly dance and burlesque, performing and as an
interview subject. In 2009, she was the star of Steve Balderson’s film
“Underbelly: A Year In The Life Of Princess Farhana” which was released
worldwide in theaters as well as on DVD.
From the age
of sixteen, Pleasant worked as a journalist and cultural commentator with
literally thousands of articles published nationally and internationally on
everything from rock ‘n’roll to homeless teenagers. Her memoirs, short stories
and poetry have been widely anthologized and many works were recorded on her
spoken word CD Ruined.
She is the
author and/or editor of eight books.
Showgirl Confidential chronicles
just some of Pleasant Gehman’s
amazing adventures from over thirty
years spent constantly on the road. From
cross-country punk rock tours in the early 1980’s to her extraordinary belly
dancing escapades in Cairo during the Arab Spring, from the dressing room
antics at burlesque shows to unnerving paranormal experiences, this memoir is
as finely crafted as it is riveting. The easy finesse of her writing, her keen
memory and eye for detail will leave the reader devouring each story while
remaining hungry for more.
“Pleasant Gehman (aka Princess Farhana) is
possessed of talents too numerous to count. But she is, most of all, a
formidable wordsmith. Her writing surpasses all her talents and that’s actually
saying a lot because she is so goddamn good
at everything. Each time she writes anything I am anxious – jonesing like a
junkie sweating for morphine – desperate to get my hands on it, devouring every
word in a kind of literary binge. Her descriptions and details are devastating.
She’s like a seasoned jazz musician in her approach to literary pursuits,
making up her own chords and time signatures, defying every convention while at
the same time adhering to every one.”
Just read her. You need to.
-Margaret Cho
xox INTERVIEW xox
1. Your wild punk rock n' roll
chapbooks were the first I ever read, in Junior High (they blew my mind).
Were your wonderful books inspired by an earlier writer or were you, as far as
you knew, the only person at the time creating that kind of work (the funny
lists of purse contents, the punk poems, the boozy self portraits)?
When I was writing and compiling those chapbooks back in the
1980’s and ‘90’s, my roommate (and current publisher) Iris Berry and I were
doing those independently, with no outside influence. We were both working
crappy temp jobs and bartending and we wanted to make books, but there were no
avenues for “street poets” like us to really get published, so we did it
ourselves, stealing paper and copying them from our temp jobs! At
that moment in time, we were both unaware that anyone else was doing anything
like that.
2. I consider you a quintessential Los
Angeles personality. Are you originally from L.A.? Have you ever
lived anywhere else?
I always wanted to live in LA, as long as I could remember-
but I didn’t live here until I was fifteen. I was born in New York City, and
lived in Carmel, New York ‘til I was nine. Although, I did live in LA the year
I was three- my whole family came out here for the year because my father was a
writer. I remember walking down Hollywood Boulevard and going to Coffee Dan’s
every morning! I’ve also lived in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
3. Who is your favorite L.A. writer?
I’m rather partial to my life-long friend, the
aforementioned Iris Berry. We were roommates in the 1980’s, wrote together,
and were were in bands together. Aside from her, Eve Babitz, Pamela
Des Barres and Lauran Hoffman are probably my favorite LA authors. Of course, I
also love Charles Bukowski and James Elroy- who doesn’t?
4. How did you get involved in belly
dancing? Would you like to expand on your involvement? I understand
it's a big part of your life.
Belly dancing is a huge part of my life… and has been for
almost 25 years! I started dancing in 1990. I was on the dance floor
at the long-defunct Club Lingerie in Hollywood, just dancing to a band that was
playing; I think it might’ve been Fishbone. A woman came up to me the ladies
room a girl asked if I was a belly dancer. I asked why she thought
that and she said to me “You move like one”.
I’d always been fascinated with belly dancing, and when I
found out she was a belly dancer, I begged her to teach me. She
didn’t teach, but she introduced me to people who did. I became obsessed with
it immediately, and I had a knack for it.
Soon after, a friend gave me a ticket to Greece, so I quit
my job, added on Cairo and left. When I came back, I was still taking classes,
but I started working professionally, and started using the name Princess
Farhana for belly dancing- cause nobody in the Arab clubs could pronounce
“Pleasant”. My involvement with burlesque started in the mid-
1990’s, when I was “drafted” into The Velvet Hammer by the troupe’s creator,
Michelle Carr. I was with the Velvet Hammer until it ended.
5. It may not be your style to kiss and
tell, but in case it is, do you have any past relationships of particular
interest to share? Ever run your fingers through Axl Rose's carroty
locks, etc?
Ha! I already Kissed And Told a lot… in Pamela Des Barres’
book “Let’s Spend The Night Together: Backstage Secrets Of Rock
Muses And Supergroupies”! I have my own whole chapter in that
book! You can see me on the back cover of that book as full-on
jailbait, lying across Iggy Pop’s lap.
6. What projects are you currently
working on? Tell us about your book.
My new book, “Showgirl Confidential” is almost all touring
stories from the 1980’s to the present, from punk rock tours with my bands to
belly dancing in Cairo. It’s a memoir of fabulously misspent time on the road!
I have another book coming out in November 2013 too.
It’s called “The Belly Dance Hand Book”, and of course, it centers on belly
dancing. It’s not memoir, and it’s not a how-to, it’s more of a lifestyle book
for belly dancers.
Also, two films I was featured in will be coming out soon. “The
Far-Flung Star” is making its debut at The Raindance Film Festival in London
next week. I play a washed-up B movie actress in that. The romantic comedy,
“Occupying Ed” will be out in 2014. Steve Balderson directed both films.
7. What is your favorite band?
Movie? Show? Visual artist? Song?
Favorite band/ musician: David Bowie…favorite movie:
“Cabaret”…Favorite show: “Mad Men”…Favorite visual artist: Larry
Johnson…Favorite song; too many to name!
8. Are you familiar with Love and Rockets
comix? In some ways your work reminds me of them.
Yes, I LOVE them! And a lot of people have told
me that they think the work is similar, which is very flattering.
9. How is your cat's health? Do you
only have the one cat?
I have three kitties right now- Ni-Ni, who is twelve,
Tab who is nineteen and Sphinxie, who’s six. They’re all good right now, Ni-Ni
had an operation recently, but she’s doing great. I’m a card-carrying crazy
cat-lady!
10. What is your favorite and least
favorite LA restaurant and clothing store?
My favorite restaurant is Moun Of Tunis, a North African
restaurant in Hollywood. When I’m in LA, I belly dance there on the
weekends-come and see me! As for clothing , I prefer garage sales and swap meets.
11. Any parting thoughts?
you can get "Showgirl Confidential here: http://www.amazon.com/Showgirl-Confidential-Life-Onstage-Backstage/dp/1940213754/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1379912557&sr=1-1&keywords=showgirl+confidential
And please come to my up-coming “Showgirl Confidential” readings!
They’re all free and open to the public:
Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013 NORTH HOLLYWOOD CA
Book Release Party Skinny’s Lounge
4923 Lankershim, North Hollywood, CA
6:30-9:30pm 21+ FREE
Monday, Oct. 14, 213 AUSTIN, TX
The Continental Club
1315 S. Congress, Austin
8:30-10:00pm FREE
Wednesday, Oct. 15, LOS FELIZ, CA
Skylight Books
181 N. Vermont Ave, LA 90067
7pm FREE
Thursday, Nov.14, 2013 ECHO PARK, CA
Stories Books & Café
1716 Sunset Blvd, LA 90026
7:00pm FREE
Sunday, Dec. 14, 2013 LOS ANGELES, CA
Chevalier's Books
126 N. Larchmont, LA 90004
4:00pm FREE
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| Pleasant as Princess Farhana ( BELLY DANCE), Photo by Maharet Hughes |
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| Photo by Maharet Hughes/GRAPHIC VIBE |
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| PLEASANT 1977 - PHOTO BY THERESA KEREAKES |
