i keep a diary

November 04, 2016

Grants 40th Birthday

Grant invited us to celebrate his 40th birthday at a formal-wear banger at the Slipper Room, New York's premiere burlesque venue

Thursday, November 3rd

me, vin
All dressed up!
blue steel ˆ dressed up ˆ mirror ˆ me ˆ vin
The Slipper Room at 930! Everyone finding their seats and getting ready for the show.
birthday
grant, liz
Liz with the birthday boy!
birthday ˆ dressed up ˆ grant ˆ liz
jane anne, me
Jane Anne and I found our seats...
jane anne ˆ me
...and around 10pm the show got started!
burlesque
Grant specifically booked a show where Sir Richard Castle would be the emcee.
burlesque ˆ slipper room
Our first performer of the evening!
burlesque ˆ slipper room
carla
Carla & Justice.
carla
cheeky
Cheeky, who Grant was dating, was up next!
burlesque ˆ cheeky
cheeky
She had really cool costumes that she designed and made herself.
burlesque ˆ cheeky
bruno, catrinel, danny, sarah h
I was trying to take some sneaky friend / crowd reaction shots too but there was so much going on!
bruno ˆ catrinel ˆ danny ˆ sarah h
This woman was great! In this act she had her phone with her...
burlesque ˆ phone
...and she'd go into the crowd to take videos with everyone...
burlesque ˆ phone
and it would be projected up on large screen on the stage.
burlesque ˆ phone
Between performers the emcee would do skits where...
burlesque
...he would invite audience members to participate.
burlesque
This woman went up again and did a hula hoop routine. All sorts of skills!
burlesque
Brief intermission...
cheeky
...and then Cheeky came back out...
burlesque ˆ cheeky
cheeky
...with another really cool hand-made costume as Ganeesh!
burlesque ˆ cheeky
There's an artist to the side of the stage drawing impressions of the performers in real-time.
drawing
Sir Richard came out and did some lasso tricks and then he called...
lasso
cheeky, grant
...Grant and a few of the dancers up to the stage...
birthday ˆ cheeky ˆ grant
cheeky, grant
...so they could sit on his face in front of ALL his friends!
best ˆ birthday ˆ cheeky ˆ grant
sasha
Yes! (Take the time to check out some of the crowd reactions. Worth it!)
crowd ˆ shock ˆ surprise ˆ wtf ˆ sasha
cheeky, grant
After bouncing their way up, they turned around and face-bounced their way down!
birthday ˆ burlesque ˆ cheeky ˆ grant
frank, liz
The joy that it brought Frank was priceless.
phone ˆ frank ˆ liz
grant
Happy 40th, Grant!
40 ˆ birthday ˆ burlesque ˆ grant
Afterwards the girls danced for some tips.
cheeky, jessica j
Approach the stage at your own peril.
cheeky ˆ jessica j
catrinel, me, sarah h
Sarah & Cat!
catrinel ˆ me ˆ sarah h
fatty, liz, sascha
Dave, Lize & Sascha.
fatty ˆ liz ˆ sascha
Next up was a male performer and his rope routine was rowdy.
crazy jen, frank, jessica j, liz
Meanwhile the audience was ripe with...
girl on girl action ˆ wtf ˆ crazy jen ˆ frank ˆ jessica j ˆ liz
...monkey business!
burlesque ˆ gorilla ˆ slipper room
crazy jen, geronimo, grant, jessica j
Crazy Jen will always be the party wildcard.
awkward ˆ birthday ˆ tuxedo ˆ uncomfortable ˆ crazy jen ˆ geronimo ˆ grant ˆ jessica j
cheeky, rachel h
Next, Cheeky & Rachel, the two women Grant was dating at the time...
burlesque ˆ cheeky ˆ rachel h
cheeky, rachel h
...came out to perform a birthday skit they'd put together for the occasion.
birthday ˆ burlesque ˆ cheeky ˆ rachel h
cheeky
The skit was about...
birthday ˆ burlesque ˆ cheeky
cheeky, rachel h
...Rachel making a cream cake on Cheeky's bum.
birthday ˆ burlesque ˆ cheeky ˆ rachel h
grant
They clearly knew their audience.
birthday ˆ excited ˆ grant
cheeky
With a lit-candle finale...
burlesque ˆ cheeky
grant
...that made Grant so happy I literally can't look at this photo without smiling.
birthday ˆ excited ˆ grant
crazy jen, matt h
Matt's been tangling with hecklers for twenty years but even he wasn't sure what to do with Jen decided to just climb on stage and grab a hold of his leg in the middle of his act. Keeping the party moving, he invited Grant and all the performers up to the stage...
crazy jen ˆ matt h
grant, matt h
...and proceeded to get into formation to put Grant through...
40 ˆ birthday ˆ burlesque ˆ spank ˆ grant ˆ matt h
grant
...a seven-person spanking machine!
40 ˆ birthday ˆ burlesque ˆ spank ˆ grant
grant
Easy does it.
40 ˆ birthday ˆ burlesque ˆ spank ˆ grant
Last performer of the night!
burlesque
Thanks for inviting us all to watch the spectacle!
burlesque
bruno, cynthia, vin
After everyone left...
bruno ˆ cynthia ˆ vin
frank
...Frank comandered the piano and we sang some songs.
piano ˆ frank
grant, jane anne, jessica j
Jessica and Jane.
grant ˆ jane anne ˆ jessica j
frank, jessica j
No better singalong than singalong with Frank. <3
piano ˆ frank ˆ jessica j
chris a, grant, jane anne, jessica j
Happy 40th, Grant!
40 ˆ birthday ˆ dressed up ˆ chris a ˆ grant ˆ jane anne ˆ jessica j

1 comment

  • buzzgirljune 7, 2022

    It's been years since I last visited IKAD. I'm so glad you're still here. I found you in 2006, and I so loved seeing your young life with your friends. To come back and see that you're still friends brings me such incredible joy (when did "Fatty" become "Dave"?!)

    My daughter is now living in Brooklyn building a life with friends (we're from San Francisco), and I hope she has the same good fortune to find a group of life-long friends.

    Best to you!