When Bushwick was Bizarre (Bar)
A venue where "assorted madness, erotica and the unexpected" reigned supreme.
Located at 12 Jefferson Street between Broadway and Bushwick Avenues in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Bizarre, much like its name, was an eccentric bar open in the 2010s that attracted the city’s artistic underbelly and which became a breeding ground for unconventional performances, screenings and parties, many of which were heavily LGBTQ-driven or themed. Events there over the years would range from fetish variety shows to "goth dragstravaganzas" to Sasha Velour's much beloved monthly queer performance art and drag show called "Nightgowns", which helped propel her to stardom.
Bizarre, or Bizarre Bar as it was sometimes called, first opened in January 2013. It was the brainchild of Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire and his friend Greg Babeau, but came about in a happenstance sort of way. Sauvaire was a French film director looking to make his next movie in NYC, who, while searching for a derelict mansion to use as his next film’s set, stumbled across the house at 12 Jefferson and felt it was exactly what he was looking for. Sauvaire, who was 45 at the time, was coming of the festival circuit for his first feature film, Johnny Mad Dog, about an African teen leading a band of young fighters on a bloody rampage through local villages, and had been determined to make his next movie set in New York.
In fact, Sauvaire specifically wanted to adapt Jean Cocteau’s novel, Les Enfants Terribles, and set it in an actual derelict mansion rather than on a fake set, and thus he began looking for one all over the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn, eventually stumbling upon the house on Jefferson Street. Sauvaire then got a tour of the place by a Puerto Rican woman named Iris, whose family had owned the building since 1968. “The ceiling was caved in; there was water inside,” Mr. Sauvaire told Whitney Mallett in a 2014 NYTimes article, “but I fell in love with this house.” Within weeks, Sauvaire sold his apartment in Paris and in 2010, he moved into the mansion. "It was a squat,” he said, “I was stealing electricity, stealing water, and there was no gas.”
Sauvaire began working on the film shortly thereafter, but the project ultimately ran into numerous roadblocks and Sauvaire eventually abandoned the house, heading back to Paris to begin working on another project. But Sauvaire returned to NYC in 2011, still thinking about how much he really loved the house. He began chatting with his friend Greg Babeau, who also worked in the film industry and who at the time was managing a bar/restaurant called Café Charbon on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Together, the pair decided to instead turn the Jefferson Street spot into a bar: "I wanted kind of an artistic place for people to meet,” Mr. Sauvaire explained. Bizarre opened shortly thereafter in January 2013.
According to TimeOut Magazine, Bizarre took its name from Cafe Bizarre, a onetime beatnik institution that was located at 106 West 3rd Street in Greenwich Village. Cafe Bizarre in fact had its own queer history—Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg were regulars there while Andy Warhol first saw the Velvet Underground perform there, eventually becoming their manager. When Bizarre Bushwick opened, Pulsd New York wrote that the vibe of the space “conjures a David Lynch film” while TimeOut described Bizarre thus: “Victorian lamps and chandeliers lend the room a sepulchral dimness, while projectors screen experimental films on bare brick walls. A row of eight taps—ornamented with a grinning skull—pour brews both German (Köstritzer) and American (Left Hand Milk Stout). Drinkers in search of a stiffer slug can order classic cocktails (like an Old Overholt Rye Manhattan) or original tipples, including the Naked Susie (cognac, dry vermouth, pomegranate juice, chai tea and simple syrup) and the Abominable Snow Man (rum, curaçao, honey, whole egg). Head downstairs to the basement stage to catch burlesque performers, bands and art shows.”
The burlesque performers, bands and art shows are ultimately what Bizarre became known for, as it quickly developed into a hip bar with a clubby vibe reputed for its edgy, live entertainment. Many of its recurring and one-off parties and shows were queer-driven, such as "Baby Tea: Brunch" with Charlene and The Dauphine, Monroe Lily's "Queen!", "Daddy Dirty Disco" with Chris Harder, and Honey Burlesque's LGBTQ Womxn's Party "Dip Me In Honey", among others. One of the biggest shows to be borne out of Bizarre was Sasha Velour's "Nightgowns" which started there in August 2015 and has now become a global sensation.
Long before winning Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, Velour really began making a name for herself at Bizarre. Elyssa Maxx Goodman, in a 2018 article for Billboard, explained: “Nightgowns came about because of Bizarre Bar. Sasha says she had been begging for opportunities to perform at other shows but had been offered a booking at Bizarre. If she had her own show then she’d get to do whatever numbers she liked, but she’d also get to feature the work of performers she adored. Plus, having spent time doing drag in Brooklyn, she knew the diversity of experiences she encountered but she hadn’t seen a space where that diversity was at one single show. She wanted her show to exemplify this range of experiences.”
And “Nightgowns” did indeed did showcase a wide range of queer performances. In a single show, one could find Gilda Wabbit singing opera, Untitled Queen dancing to Fiona Apple’s “Shadowboxer” donning a get-up of elaborate wire and felt arms that she built herself, Lypsinka performing elaborate lip syncs of iconic cinematic diva performances, delivering lines from films like Mommie Dearest, Chinatown, The Best of Everything, and more. Another “Nightgowns” performer, Vander Von Odd, told Goodman that the show allowed her to think about drag in a new way: “I think when you’re surrounded by so much creativity and so many loving people, it inspires so much more creativity.” “Nightgowns”’ success ultimately led to it outgrowing the petite Bizarre Bar, forcing it to move over to National Sawdust, a concert hall and events venue that could hold up to 300 people at a time.
And “Nightgowns” was just one of many a wild, queer time to be had at Bizarre Bar. Simply combing through the flyers and ads for events held at Bizarre over the years showcases the breadth of queer creativity that the place fostered. At Bizarre, one could catch a drag king show called “Beef In Space”, shake your butt at a goth/darkwave dance party in homage to Twin Peaks, go to a Sailor Moon pool party, attend a queer workshop on the topic of “Failure” and so much more. Other raucous sounding events held at Bizarre include “Satanic Bingo”, “Dumpster Bitch Theatre”, “Spring-A-Lingus”, and “The Fuck You Revue”.
Meanwhile, sifting through the incredible photos taken of the wildly diverse shows and performers from Bizarre feels like an insane drug trip that just won’t let up. For example, there’s Divina GranSparkle, a queer Latinx drag and burlesque performer with wads of raw meat saran wrapped to her breasts. There’s Wendy Blades deep-throating an actual sword while wearing a leotard made to look like a human’s internal organs. Another night, Tigger!, dubbed the “Godfather of Neo-Boylesque”, is dressed like a sexy priest while pulling a never-ending set of rosary beads from somewhere between his legs. Another image showcases a nearly nude individual donning a gas mask while staple-gunning dollar bills all over his body, while yet another has a woman in nothing but nipple pasties and a ball-gag in her mouth fully shaving her legs on stage with an old-timey razor blade. Clearly, it was anything goes at Bizarre, and it was a place where experimental, daring, queer artists could hold nothing back and push the envelope.
Sadly, behind the beautiful madness at Bizarre, disaster loomed, and the bar ultimately shuttered in September 2019 after numerous employees filed a lawsuit demanding over $100,000 in unpaid wages. Andrew Karpan for the Bushwick Daily heavily reported on the controversy, noting that Bizarre allegedly paid its bartenders $8 an hour, but cut off salaried pay after 8 hours a week. Most bartenders there, however, worked between 40 and 60 hours a week and were paid for the rest of their time solely in tips. One former bartender told Karpan that Bizarre “was lawless”, a place where bartenders could be fired on a whim or where the bar would frequently run out of stock on necessities. Several bartenders got together with the National Legal Advocacy Network, sent a letter to Sauvaire’s attorney and Bizarre closed down immediately, never to reopen again.
Despite the toxic work environment that ensued behind the scenes, Bizarre was still a much beloved venue upfront. “It [was] a great place with questionable ownership” said Lady Bearica, who performed there regularly. Other patrons and performers also commented on their love for Bizarre: Miss Bussy wrote: “Omggg memories”, Tyler Ashley added: “The memz!!!”, while Renee Glitch reminisced: “Wow what a time.” While there are certainly still queer bars operating today in Bushwick like House Of Yes (Opened 2015), 3 Dollar Bill (Opened 2018) and Pink Metal (Opened 2020) helping to carry on Bushwick’s queer and quirky legacy, in the early 2010s it was Bizarre Bar that reigned supreme and that helped put Bushwick on the map for LGBTQ folk looking for a place to gather where they could show off their peculiarities and just be plain old weird.
