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A woman of many hats, talents and diagnoses, Twen Peeks is a multi-talented performer, activist, and podcast producer who has left her mark in the world of entertainment, all in 7-inch heels and backwards. With a captivating stage presence and a passion for human rights, she has become a prominent and outspoken figure in the burlesque and non-monogamous communities.
Utilizing her more than 10 years of experience in and around sex work, Twen brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her performances, delighting audiences with her unique blend of sensuality, creativity, and comedy. A dedicated human rights advocate, her drive to center Latinx voices and advocate for their rights and representation lead to the creation of Noches de Cabaret. New Orleans’ first and only recurring Latinx-centered Burlesque Show.
With her partner, Tyr, she launched Spicier Than Therapy, a podcast that sheds light on important issues such as neurodiversity, non-monogamy, and healthy kink and relationship practices. Twen’s unwavering dedication and commitment to her community makes her a force for inclusivity and equity, uplifting marginalized voices and promoting understanding of diverse experiences. While she’s been hailed as many things, “proper” is rarely one of them; because while she may not be a Lady, she is one Classy Fuckin’ Broad.
I myself accidentally stumbled upon Twen and her partner Tyr by complete accident- thank you Tiktok algorithm. I was hooked by the funny yet educational content. Though I am not part of the kink community, I stayed for Twen and her outspoken passion on burlesque, sex work, neurodivergence and the LatinX community. I legitimately had a fangirl meltdown when I learned I would be meeting with her as part of our recruitment efforts to bring new and prominent creators on to the platform. Twen has been with the platform for a couple of months now and with her upcoming appearance with Tyr at DragonCon in Atlanta this fall, I wanted to take the opportunity to get to know her a little better and introduce her to the Unfiltrd Community at large.
Q. What got you started as a burlesque dancer? And what is your favorite thing about burlesque vs other forms of performing?
A. When I got into it I already had a fascination with pinup culture. I grew up really enjoying the aesthetic of the vintage glam which led to pinup and eventually burlesque. When I was 20 I found Burlesque magazine that had all of these wonderful creators and I fell in love with how confident and powerful they all looked. This was right around the time that the movie Burlesque came out. (Ask anyone in the Burlesque community about that movie and they will tell you, THATS NOT IT. Kind of like the BDSM community with the 50 shades debacle. Don’t tell a burlesque dancer that the movie was BURLESQUE. You’re likely to catch some hands.) I started trying to find everything I could get my hands on in regards to burlesque. As a bartender I was further exposed to the art form and fell into the Glitter, so to speak.
Q. You went to the burlesque hall of fame in Vegas. What was that like?
A. It was fucking WILD! It was incredible! Literally a must do for anyone in Burlesque who is really passionate about it. For me it was meaningful in a bunch of ways, getting to see people who I consider friends winning these huge titles and crowns. I saw one of the most influential creators doing an act that has never been seen before, and we will never see again, as their stepping down act. It is such a gloriously loving community. There was a little bit of controversy and a few people “showed their ass” so to speak with some toxicity regarding Masc. and trans performers, but overall the community as a whole is just wonderful and strong. This incredible performer, Loulou, who is part of Canadas First Nations community, did this amazing aerial straps act that left me in tears, it was so breathtaking.
Q. What made you and Tyr want to start Spicer than Therapy?
A. Spicier than Therapy came about because we separately were already having conversations about kink and Consensual Non-Monogamy. I’ve been on Tiktok for a couple of years as Twen and my account was already talking about the CNM part of things. Because Tiktok is what it is, I’ve had at least three accounts Yeeted, so now I’m Spicier Than Therapy, and that account is just a few months old. Tyr was much more educational in his content on Tiktok. We literally only moved in together a week before we got married and people were asking about different facets of our relationship, so we would check in with each other like “hey is it okay to share this”. After we got married people were asking us what would change about our dynamic and the answer was the same from both of us; “Nothing”. Now we had a piece of paper from the government saying we were spouses, but we were still practicing CNM and other Kink lifestyles as we were before. More and more often we found that people were asking questions that would require multi-part series on Tiktok because there was a lot of depth and nuance that couldn’t be covered in a three minute videos. Or the questions required a more conversational approach to fully get the concept. People started suggesting we do a podcast and with all things in our life we said “fuck it, lets give it a shot”
Q. How has the podcast evolved since you started?
A. Since we’ve started we’ve gotten some brand deals, and as we mentioned, we’re guest speaking at a couple of educational panels at DragonCon. Once the podcast launched it steadily grew, starting with around 50 viewers an episode, we were ecstatic to reach that much of an audience, and with our last episode, after a three month hiatus, we were up to 500 viewers and listeners a day! Literally in the top five precent of podcast on Spotify, That’s a big deal! The podcast has also opened the doors to some amazing opportunities for us. We went to DragonCon last year and we were sitting in the crowd of the “Femme-presenting on the Internet” panel thinking how cool would it be to be up on stage, speaking at this panel. This year, in September, Tyr and I will actually be on stage at these events, guest speaking and sitting next to other educators like Catieosaurus, It’s such an incredible opportunity! Over all the podcast is still the same. It delivers the same educational content, in a fun, sometimes silly and conversational way that’s easy for listeners to digest. Twen and Tyr haven’t changed and wont, but the brand is looking to bring on a social media manager and possibly a transcriber for the podcast to be more inclusive of the deaf and hard of hearing community, as well as our Nuerospicy community.
Q. One of my favorite series on the Tiktok accounts is Your Kink Based on Your car. Tell me more about how you guys came up with that concept.
A. So this just came about as we were stuck in traffic one day and one of those big, Yeehaw trucks passed us. I made a comment like “Sorry ‘bout your dick!” Because here in the south we think someone is compensating for something when they drive a truck like that. (We have this in the north too, my momma says “Big truck, lil fuck”) So we had a good laugh but then, because we were stuck in traffic and had nothing better to do, we started talking about how different cars could relate to different kinks, Audis are Pleasure Doms, Subaru’s are Switches, BMW are Sadist, Fords are Masochist, etc. And as we were coming up with the list we would think of friends of ours in the community who drive these vehicles to see if it works. So it really did just come out of a shit talking session while stuck in traffic and having a laugh. But it works!
Twen grabbed Tyr for me real quick so he could explain a pleasure Dom to me as my husband drives an Audi ( I don’t drive) and when he was finished with his explanation all I could do was grin and agree 😅
Twen and I spent so much time between questions here gabbing about being Nuerospicy and how we each deal with that, life events, our experiences as Sex Workers and so much more. She, and Tyr, are absolute gems and treasures to our community and theirs. If you’re at Dragon Con make sure to stop by and say hi. You may learn something from them (and also about Unfiltrd!)
I’ll wrap this up now with a gentle reminder to be kind with yourself, graceful with your humanness and that consent is SEXY!
Check out Twen’s Unfiltrd at:
Her podcast is on Spotify & Apple on her linktree found here:
Xoxo Sara Lyn Chacon
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