Katie Thayer – Analog Artist Digital World

This post is sponsored by a very delicious mango flavored prosecco consumed on the Green Lawn of Fabulousness that left me floating in a wide zig zag pattern across the lawn not sure if my feet were touching the ground.

Katie Thayer is a powerhouse at the Orlando International Fringe Festival. She has become known as Bikini Katie for her unique advertising campaign where artists can advertise their shows on her bikini clad body with body paint. Placing an ad on her arm is cheaper than an ad on her shapely legs and an artist must pay top dollar to advertise on the the prime real estate of her chest.

Katie now has artists who help her by wearing bikinis to expand the advertising campaign. Katie purchased the award that Bobby Wesley had left unattended last year. He jokingly said he online that he owed Katie, and volunteered to wear a bikini at this year’s Fringe. Bikini Bobby honored that commitment, which I can verify since I saw him briefly at the beer tent. The ads were smeared and running because he had sprinted to a show at the Savoy, working up a sweat. The ads were legible but faint and dripping downward.

Back to Katie’s show Intimi(dating): A Cabaret About Sex and Dating which is at Savoy this year. Waiting in line to get into her venue in the Starlight Room there was a pre-show since we got to watch a male dancer in his thong gyrate on a platform near the bar. He kept nudging the thong down to his pubic arch as if about to reveal the not so hidden package.

Katie’s show was refreshingly honest and candid. I loved that two of Katie’s Bikini models were in the front row of her performance. Fringe is all about artists supporting artists. Katie held nothing back to reveal her sultriest scandals. When the sex was hot she was very honest about why. When she spoke about one relationship, the sex was no longer just about sexual pleasure, they became truly intimate.

Married men hid their secrets. She joked about how all women are master detectives when dealing with men. The trouble with her dating pool was that many of the men were international artists. She had less than stellar experiences dating Canadians.

Between stories Katie would play her ukulele and sing songs that helped musically define the bristling points of each story she related, followed by jokes about how she takes her men like she takes a cup of coffee. For the delicious punch lines you will need to see the show. Each sexual foray would lead to her questioning her choices. But she lives fiercely and loves with absolute passion and abandon. Any failed relationships don’t knock her down; they make her stronger and more determined moving forward.

Experiencing this cabaret, you will leave feeling uplifted and hopeful that love and passion is always the right choice. As Katie says, “Life is more fun when you kiss and tell.” Hidden gems like this show are what makes Fringe great.

Remaining show times for Intimi(Dating): A Cabaret About Sex and Dating by Bikini Katie Productions, Orlando Florida. The Venue is the Starlight Room at Savoy (1913 North Orange Avenue Orlando Florida). Rating is 18 and up. The show lasts about 60 minutes. Tickets at $15. Be sure to get a Fringe button for entry. Happy Fringe!

Tuesday May 19, 7:00pm

Friday May 22, 8:30pm

Saturday May 23, 12:00pm

Sunday May 24, 7:30pm

Katie Thayer, an attractive local actress and comedian, came up with the idea of Bikini Ad Space at the Orlando International Fringe Festival several years ago. The idea is pure genius and simple. She wears a sexy bikini and you can body paint your message on any of her prime body parts. Her lower shins, and her upper or lower arms, front and back go for $5 each. $10 gets prime exposure on her upper calves, front and back, and her belly. You can “get cheeky” by purchasing ad space on both butt cheeks for $15. Of course the most expensive ad space is the $20 chest ad which can nestle in her cleavage.

We bumped into Katie on the first day of the Fringe Sketch Tour and arranged to sketch her the next day. She works inside the Shakespeare Theater lobby which is always crowded with people buying tickets and waiting for shows. She had her leg propped up on a table covered with show flyer’s. The layer of flyer’s was an inch thick which meant you often had to dig down to find a flyer for the show you were interested in. Usually clients had the opportunity to paint their ad on Katy’s flesh. In this rare instance Katy was painting her own ad to get people to vote for Bikini Ad Space as the best “Bring Your Own Venue” in The Daily City Audience Choice Awards. I don’t know if she won that honor.

Cootie Catcher in the red venue had purchased the prime cleavage ad space while Valence had invested in belly ad space. I saw valance, an introspective dance performance that inspected touch in human interactions, but I never saw Cootie Catcher. My sketch protege sketched me sketching Katy and I’m sure photos were shot which made it a very “Meta” performance. The day before, Katy had left her kit of brushed behind and it vanished. Luckily she found a loose brush in the bottom of her bag, but it was a rather blunt brush which meant she couldn’t add any refined touches. I offered her one of my brushes but she was too proud to take it. I hope that the ads she sold will help pay for a new set of brushes because quality brushes are expensive. Her palette was a clear plastic plate. Friends stopped to ask her advice on the best shows to see. Katy had seen tons of shows, so she was a great resource.