Tribulations of a Travelling Peepshow Part 2: On The Road

Welcome back! Allow me to re-introduce myself: I am Ruby, Purveyor-of-Peeps, and owner-operator of the first-ever travelling Peepshow.

Ruby’s Pop Up Peepshow is a mobile theatre unit, a 6 x 12 utility trailer refashioned as a sexy circus caravan, and these are the true trials and tribulations of our first year in action. 

The very first pop-up was on April 1, 2023, in our hometown, Victoria, BC, Canada. We were opening for a big burlesque show that annually raises funds and awareness for the sex worker support organization Peers Victoria Resources Society (PVRS). To say we were accepted with open arms is an understatement, as this is exactly the crowd we aim to serve! Despite setbacks and challenges, we were able to pull it off, proudly providing for our community with flying colours, and reserving a small portion of each peep to donate to PVRS as well. This is an integral part of our journey: promoting awareness of sex workers’ rights as we entertain the public with our PG Peepshow.

One of the first pieces of feedback we received was that the face-sized keyholes made anonymity of the viewer less possible. We learned that part of the draw of peeping is not being seen by the performer. After this gig, we added black fringe curtains behind the keyholes so viewers can peek through, controlling how much they see or are seen. We had masculine and feminine identifying folks performing, and while this is part of our mandate, navigating viewer expectations was another unforeseen test. Some people are very particular about who they want to see, gender-wise, and it’s something we shouldn’t make assumptions about. We had to be able to switch performers on a dime, after checking in with the audience, which were small groups of 2-3. Each time we switched gears, there was a slight delay as we paired a new phone to the speaker and changed outfits. April 1st was a day of learning!

One of the first pieces of feedback we received was that the face-sized keyholes made anonymity of the viewer less possible. We learned that part of the draw of peeping is not being seen by the performer.

In May, we embarked on our longest journey to date: driving the 1247 km to Edmonton, AB, a two-day trip with an overnight stop. We were booked to pop-up at a conference of our peers. The National Sex Work Assembly was put on by Answers Society, and was a weekend-long meeting of the minds which included panels, presentations, discussions, and celebrations, all normalizing and supporting sex work across Canada. What an honour it was to perform for our sex working kin! There was a true feeling of accomplishment, knowing we were entertaining those who usually do the entertaining.

The following week we were back in Victoria for a pop-up in Canada’s oldest Chinatown, coinciding with a party called Shag. All the sexy patrons embraced us with loving arms, while inquisitive passersby and tourists gaped and gawked, never having the courage to “step right up” and peep. This was my first hint at the real challenge of putting on a Peepshow: shy and conservative folks who are just too nervous to engage. What are they so afraid of? In part, I believe they don’t want to be seen looking… and those of us in-the-know understand how sex work stigma is attached to those on the “purchasing” side as well. But it is more than that! What I’ve realized is that the word “peepshow” elicits a certain kind of response from the public, and they’re truly afraid of what they might find inside. 

In June, we brought Ruby’s Pop-Up Peepshow to Otherworld, a regional Burning Man-style festival on Vancouver Island. We were right at home at this festival of arts, and the best part was that the trailer doubled as a camper! This show was certainly on the road! I’ll never forget the sound of the light rain tickling the tin roof. Is this what it feels like being a travelling showgirl, barking by day about passion and play, while sleeping in the Peepshow by night? Somehow it feels very authentic and honest, as though it fits the trajectory of my journey as an activist and artist, in one sassy swoop.

I’ve realized is that the word “peepshow” elicits a certain kind of response from the public and they’re truly afraid of what they might find inside. 

Later in June, we tried our luck downtown in front of a popular nightclub. This was by far our most heteronormative crowd yet, with unruly boys lurking around, curious but lacking the courage to actually take part. Here, we had a taste for the rowdy and rambunctious. What we realized is that while early evening is slow, with more hesitant folks, the later it gets means that while people are more willing and daring, they are also more disorderly. A Pop Up Peepshow is a fine balance indeed.

July is Pride month in our city, traditionally kicked off with a memorial baseball game called Drag Ball, which honours those in our community who were lost to HIV/AIDS. For this event we donated all our profits to masculine-identifying sex workers who access PRS. Drag Ball is a game between kings and queens, a family-friendly picnic style event attended by about four thousand people. Quite a few brave souls accepted the invitation to peek inside our delightful diorama. Through the keyholes they found dancers inside a black matte box decorated with rainbow strip lights and lasers. 

A mobile Peepshow is about truly living in the moment, repealing taboos and rebelling against norms. It is about wrestling guilt and shame out of and away from the public imagination. It’s a lesson in practicing radical joy: simple, fun, and innocent. Peepshow performances are empowering for individuals, and playful for couples and communities, engaging people of many backgrounds and yes, even families. This is why we have created it as a PG show: ushering in an era whereby bodies, gender, healthy sexuality and light-hearted play, is all actively normalized. Doing the thing, one small show at a time. It’s tongue in cheek! 

Later that week was the Pride parade and the chance to really speak my mind about Ruby’s Peepshow as an answer to overcoming the seriousness of life, while bringing sex worker rights to the forefront in a light, playful way. I sat on top of my SUV, towing the trailer through the parade, using the microphone to promote the passionate and proud message of the Peepshow. All bodies are good bodies! People are pleasure! Sex worker rights are human rights! 

A mobile Peepshow is about truly living in the moment, repealing taboos and rebelling against norms.

August saw us grace a parking lot or two, with some events being wildly more well-received than others, but each granting us new insights and opportunities for learning. To date, we count every pop-up as a success story because we were able to pivot as needed or grasp something new each time.

In the fall, we were once again honoured to be booked at a provincial sex worker rights conference put on by Living in Community. This pop-up was in a downtown Vancouver alley, which went well except for the musty smell of urine. Knowing this is part-and-parcel to life on the road, we came prepared. 

Halloween was our final showcase, and we had one last trick up our sleeve. By October, we had embraced our calling as a spectacle for the shy-but-curious. Sure, some were hesitant, but many minds were blown – not only by the idea, but our execution of it. “It’s the most innovative and interesting thing I’ve seen,” said one onlooker, and that is all the encouragement we need. With all the ins-and-outs of being a mobile show, we’ve learned that as we blaze the trail, what we hope to accomplish is no small feat. It’s a revolutionary act of radical joy; improvised moments of body and sex positivity that are cathartic for audience and performer alike. We aim to create an intimate relationship between dancers and viewers, subverting expectations and embracing the process along the way.

It’s a revolutionary act of radical joy; improvised moments of body and sex positivity that are cathartic for audience and performer alike.

Ruby’s Pop Up Peepshow will continue on this path of grassroots revolution, painted with fun and play in a world that certainly needs more of those elements. Our pop-up prides itself on being fiercely activist and advocating for the normalization and de-stigmatization of sex work and all its participants. Moreover, we intend to impact sex work and non-sex work communities across Canada with this message.

But wait, there’s more… The Peepshow also addresses a true need for intimacy in our culture. With this project, there is no reason to look away.

We are committed to education around the harms of criminalizing sex work, and how it affects vulnerable and marginalized folks the most. Activism can take many forms and our intention is to catch people when they least expect it – by promoting the human rights of sex workers against a colourful carnival backdrop, celebrating our community as the life force it truly is. “People are pleasure” indeed.

Xox Ruby

Tribulations of a Travelling Peepshow

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 pwwpshow 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 (IDTEVASQ-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 pwwpshow. 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 pwwpshow 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 set 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 community's 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