PeachClub Cabaret miami minx montreal

Miami Minx. Photo by Josh Kirschner

Theatre

PeachClub Cabaret celebrates two years in the business of sassy activist entertainment

by Savannah Stewart

We spoke with PeachClub founders Cat and Margaux ahead of the cabaret’s two-year anniversary extravaganza at Stock Bar on Nov. 14.

Quarterly feminist comedy cabaret PeachClub turns two this month, and its Nov. 14 anniversary show promises to be an eventful one.

Cult MTL caught up with co-founders Cat and Margaux, also known by the pseudonyms PeachClub Barbie and Gomar Babe, at a restaurant in the Plateau to talk about their upcoming event and their work using comedy to make the statement that sex work is real work. 

The two best friends/business associates, one anglophone and the other francophone, are like a snapshot of this city in all its eccentricity — they switch between English and French at a rate that would be dizzying for anyone outside of Montreal to keep up with. Their vision for the PeachClub cabaret was born on the streets of this sexy, sassy city, too: an unabashedly pro-sex work, bilingual comedy night interspersed with drag, burlesque and pole-dancing cabaret numbers, putting women and non-binary, LBGTQ+ folks and sex workers in the spotlight. Can it get any more Montreal than that?

“Montreal is a bilingual city, and it’s important to us to reflect that,” says Margaux. She and Cat host the cabaret comedy, and their rapport is apparent across the table from where they sit in the booth of the cozy bistro we meet in. 

They’re even linked in the story of how they got into comedy. 

“We kind of ended up in comedy against our will,” Cat jokes, explaining that their mutual friend, a comedian, sensed their aptitude for humour and tried enlisting them for a show. “We were like, absolutely not.”

Luckily, their friend didn’t take no for an answer and booked the two of them anyway, putting their names on the flyer and sending it out. They had two weeks to put their sets together, though neither of them had ever written a bit before.

“And we killed it!” says Cat. “Our first performance, both of us, we did amazing.”

Cat ended up writing her bit about her experiences as a sex worker. She wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but unbeknownst to her, it was the start of a journey that would eventually lead to the PeachClub cabaret.

“The reception was just so unbelievable,” she says. “People not only want to know, but they are a lot more open-minded than we would have given credit for.”

They realized that comedy was a way to talk about the realities of sex work that was accessible to people who didn’t have a personal connection to it. Margaux takes on the role of the ally, symbolically representing that they, too, have a part to play in helping to bring the lived experiences of sex workers to light and mobilize for safer working conditions. 

And it’s not just jokes about sex work on the menu, but the whole gamut of experiences for women and queer people today.

“We want to also take out the, la lourdeur du sujet,” says Margaux. “So, you listen to a bit from a sex worker, or from a feminist experience or from someone from the LGBT community, and right after, you have a beautiful cabaret performance — it brings fun!”

PeachClub cabaret shows are designed to be unique and non-repetitive, with different performers and themes each time, ensuring that every event feels fresh and different. Usually held at Café Cléopâtre, the two-year anniversary show on Nov. 14 will be their first time having an event at Stock Bar, the gay male strip club. 

“On est allé des danceuses au danseurs, because we’re inclusive,” Cat jokes. 

The lineup for that upcoming show demonstrates the eclecticism Cat and Margaux strive to create, featuring three comedians, a draglesque number, a go-go dancer and a genre-bending pole-dance artist. 

The comedy acts include Toronto-based Adrienne Fish, as seen on Crave and Just for Laughs, promising “all-around very high energy, a badass like us,” says Cat. 

Saad Fennich, a Moroccan-born, Montreal-based comedian blending humour, theatre and poetry, and the local comic/sex worker and organizer of another pro-sex work comedy night (Putes en Criss) Toni Bâtard, are also on the lineup.

Drag/burlesque performer Envy the Clown will bring their high energy to the stage with a performance that’s all about empowerment. “If there’s one way to define Envy the Clown, it’s ‘Power,’” Cat remarks.

Palestinian performer Moonshine Sunshine will bring the go-go number, so attendees should certainly remember to take out some cash to participate in the performance. And rounding out the evening is Khadija Mbowe of Operatika, which fuses pole-dancing and opera. 

“That they’re all going to bring an epic energy to our show and just embrace the message and help us get it out there,” says Margaux. “We’re very excited for this one.”

With nine shows already under their belt, the two co-founders have been keeping busy for the last two years. But their vision for PeachClub is even broader than the cabaret. 

As a nonprofit, they are working to expand and create educational events as well, inviting speakers and working with organizations in Montreal who support the communities they highlight, namely sex workers and queer, femme-identifying communities. 

Still, it’s tiring work, and the two spoke of the challenges they face staying true to their vision in a world where the arts are always struggling for funding and sex work is still criminalized. 

“There’s something special in acknowledging how difficult it is, and that’s just not a part that is necessarily shown or seen,” says Cat. “And especially with the kinds of subjects that we’re engaging with, the kinds of challenges that those subjects present us with.” 

Something as simple as advertising their events on Instagram becomes an obstacle, as some of their posts referring to sex work have been taken down, resulting in the PeachClub Instagram account being penalized in the algorithm. 

“We are confronting the shadow-ban experience, in a world where social media is your first most important tool to promote,” says Margaux. “It’s very frustrating because we’re facing suppression and everything, but at the same time we see masculinism content, extremism. We see all those subjects that really brainwash and are propaganda that we all know shouldn’t be there. And us, talking about the truth, not even talking about opinions, just talking about the truth, and we’re faced with (censorship).” 

Rather than accept defeat, Cat and Margaux have taken to the streets to promote their upcoming events the old-fashioned way, handing out flyers and talking to people one-on-one. Their previous shows, attended by 150 to 250 people, prove that they can fill a venue.

“I think there’s a million reasons to come to our show,” says Cat. “And even if you can’t find one, you’ll probably find one once you get there.”

PeachClub’s two-year anniversary edition is happening at Stock Bar (1171 Ste-Catherine E.) on Thursday, Nov. 14, 7 p.m., $35

This article was originally published in the Nov. 2024 issue of Cult MTL.

For more Montreal arts coverage, please visit the Arts & Life section.

Posted in Theatre

by Savannah Stewart

Contributing editor for Arts
Savannah Stewart is a freelance journalist and Managing Editor at The Rover. She is passionate about community reporting and is happiest writing about art, language and culture in Montreal.