Ep 31: Steampunk, Pt 2 (Even Greater London)

Note: Part 1 of this double episode is here

One way of thinking about steampunk is to divide it into two parts: the steam and the punk.

The steam is the Victorian element: the fascination and engagement with the 19th century – whether satirizing or poking fun at Victorian conventions and ideas, dealing with problematic aspects of empire and colonialism, celebrating the people and places, or utterly rethinking the science and technology of the era.

The punk, on the other hand, is very much about building collaborative communities in resistance to contemporary capitalist consumer culture and technology. It’s about maker culture and a DIY aesthetic, about fan groups, conventions and meetups. There’s a strong connection, as we’ll see, with other non-mainstream areas of performance culture: cosplay, circus arts, street performance, burlesque. All of these different areas come together in the rapidly growing number of guests I’ve spoken to about this topic.

On the “steam” side of things, I chat to Chris and Jen Sugden, creators of the wonderful comedy / detective / steampunk audio drama Victoriocity. As for the “punk”, I explore the overlaps between burlesque and steampunk with Bella Agogo, an award-winning burlesque performer and producer.

Guests

Chris and Jen Sugden are the writers and creators of Victoriocity, a detective comedy podcast set in a re-imagined Victorian past.

The show has just completed its second season and it is utterly fantastic! Check it out wherever you listen to podcasts. I also wrote a short review of the show here, on PodStuff.

Bella Agogo is multi award-winning Irish burlesque performer and producer, crowned Miss Burlesque Ireland in 2018. She organises, and performs at, regular steampunk events in Dublin.

Follow her on Instagram here

Keep up to date with her latest events on her Facebook page here

Professor Elemental and Prof Rachel Bowser also featured in this episode, having featured more extensively in part one. You can find out more about them in the show notes for part one here

Like Clockwork is available here
Prof Elemental’s music is here

Music

All the music in this episode was by Professor Elemental

Track Listings (in order heard):

Sweet Cold Colation (featuring Ms Faye) (instrumental)

Elixir (instrumental)

Cup of Brown Joy

Splendid (instrumental)

Fighting Trousers (remix instrumental)

Steampowered

Looking for more Victoriana? Try this episode one Victorian time, or this one on Baroness Orczy and Victorian detective fiction.

Maybe some Cesare Lombroso and more Victorian crime?

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