People are pleasure! Ruby’s Pop Up Peepshow is a project that advances and transitions entertainment by adopting a utility trailer into mobile peep-show. A safe, interactive performance space whereby guests “peep” into the mobile theatre to view burlesque, stripping, drag, and other performances. These cheeky acts are sexy but still leave something to the imagination. Think of it as a side-show of celebration and body acceptance that engages people regardless of gender and sexuality!
Step right up step right up!
These are the first hand, true trials and tribulations of a travelling Peepshow. That’s right, the inaugural year of Ruby’s Pop Up Peepshow offers wild tales of wonder and inspiration!
You are probably thinking, what is a Pop Up Peepshow? Who are the performers and who are they performing for? How does it work and how has the public accepted this unprecedented project of great creativity and challenge? Listen, as we delve into an experience not for the faint of heart, explaining the process of creating this “diorama of delights”!
The Peepshow is a theatre unit on the go-go: a small trailer done up like a sexy circus caravan. We showcase sassy performances inside a black matte box illuminated with colourful lighting. By putting a spotlight on the need for honest connection, and through the performative arts, the peepshow has the power to get us thinking about and celebrating: body positivity, healthy sexuality, play, and, most importantly, sex workers rights. It is about wrestling guilt and shame away from the centre of the public imagination. Performances are beneficial not just for individuals, but also couples, communities and yes, even families.
The peepshow has the power to get us thinking about and celebrating: body positivity, healthy sexuality, play, and, most importantly, sex workers rights.
My name is Sarah Smith but many people know me as Ruby Peepshow. By day I work at the non-profit Peers Resources Society (PRS), in Lekwungen Territory, on wild and wet Vancouver Island, Canada. PRS, by-and-for sex workers since 1995, has a rich history of supporting workers of all walks of life, through a myriad of programming. We cover everything from street outreach to health, housing, drop-in programming, and so much more. For roughly 10 years I’ve worn many hats at PRS.
I truly believe that sex work is a noble profession and continue to fight for the decriminalization and destigmatization of the trade through activism and advocacy. Furthermore, as a performer, poet, and playwright, I believe art is a valuable tool to do this work. This brings me to my travelling peepshow, a metaphorical and literal vehicle of change.
Building Ruby’s Pop Up Peepshow was a long time dream, dating back to trips to Amsterdam in my 20’s and 30’s. There, I experienced shows from behind a faded and foggy window. For years I worked in a strip club, so I’ll admit that for me it was an attractive consideration, that you can be dancing without interacting with customers. What really piqued my interest though, was the idea that a peepshow could showcase a variety of performers from different backgrounds, with a range of ages, and body sizes. Something that was not common in my strip club experience.
What really piqued my interest though, was the idea that a peepshow could showcase a variety of performers from different backgrounds, with a range of ages, and body sizes.
I imagined a subversive and queer stripping space, seeking to take away power from anyone who sought to earn from our labour. The pop up peepshow is a free space for creativity that cannot be tamed by any powers that be, period.
I’ll never forget the moment when we really put the idea on the map as a goal. It was a dark and stormy December 17th (IDTEVASW - D17), after the Red Umbrella March, a few of us got together at my place. Over drinks we posited the possibilities and fantasized different scenes that could be put on through a peepshow. Scenes that reimagined sexuality and gender. In our beginning stages we haven’t yet been able to pull off such subversive scenes, but that idea is a seedling yet to germinate. As the peepshow continues to forge new ground, nothing is off the table and everything is possible.
Innovative and interactive performance art such as drag, burlesque, and erotic dance all share a common thread: a cathartic and therapeutic experience for the artist and audience alike. It is about revealing more than skin, it is about the stripping away of layers of social mores and expectations. It’s about truly living in the moment, rebuking taboos and rebelling against norms. But could this dream ever become a reality?
Innovative and interactive performance art such as drag, burlesque, and erotic dance all share a common thread: a cathartic and therapeutic experience for the artist and audience alike.
During the pandemic the idea suddenly had more merit and I began looking for arts grants to help fund us and our dream. After applying for arts funding, the real opportunity came out of a small business grant put forth by the province of British Columbia. This is because, in addition to working at PRS, I have been the owner-operator of a humble event planning enterprise since 2008. This was parlayed into pandemic grant applications. Pitching a travelling peepshow had its own sets of challenges. But the mobility of the project, combined with the COVID safety of it, created a perfect storm.
At some point the fear was that they would read my application and throw it out on the basis of it being erotic entertainment. So I plugged the burlesque aspect of what we do and tried to soften our image for the BC government. Imagine my surprise when I was not only granted what I asked for, but more! In the end the grant was spent, half on the 6x12 utility trailer, and the other half on the original design and aluminium wrap for the exterior. A friend (you know who you are) was integral at this stage, and for that I’m always thankful.
So now the peepshow has been built, a sexy caravan to pop up at various events. Some folks wonder, how is it legal? How does it work?
Since 2014 Canada has employed the Nordic model, essentially criminalizing buying sexual services, as well as sex worker advertising and working together. Stripping, on the other hand, is something largely governed by liquor laws. So, we do Peeps-by-donation and there is no alcohol involved. This has kept us within the law. That and parking – it’s all about proper parking permits in the 21st-century.
We do Peeps-by-donation and there is no alcohol involved. This has kept us within the law. That and parking – it’s all about proper parking permits in the 21st-century.
Since April 1st 2023 we have been known to pop up at a party, event, festival, or even just a parking lot, opening up the back doors of the caravan, inviting folks to peek inside through life-size keyholes. In public people peek in twos or threes, and no two shows are alike. Performers of all genders improv a sexy go-go style of dancing. We accept private bookings for more risqué shows, such as interactive duos, private dances, or squirt shows. It is exactly what you think it is.
I am very grateful for the business grant as seeding money and feel that this could be indicative of a new era. Erotic entertainment is becoming more acceptable and we will be right at the helm of this exciting moment! Sex workers rights are human rights! And what we have to share offers so much to the social and political fabrics of life. Moreover, part of our peepshow mandate is to bring awareness and celebration to sex workers and the unique nonprofits that support us.
This visual experience connects many of all to the world of intimacy and the inherent beauty of the sex work. We aim to illuminate our communities diversity and all the ways sex work is truly beneficial.
From parking lots to parties we have been bringing our version of radical joy on the road and into folks’ lives. It has been an enlightening experience that truly brings the vulnerability of humanity to the surface. And we are only just getting started.
Xox Ruby
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