Jessica Thorp

Jessica Thorp is a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto's Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Johnson.

Her academic career has been eclectic, to say the least, starting in the social sciences, transitioning to communications and cultural studies, and finally landing in performance studies. Thorp's current research interests include neo-burlesque performance, fandom and pop culture, vaudeville and burlesque history, performance as research, gender performativity, disability and performance, and feminist and queer theatre. 

Since entering the PhD program in 2013, her personal performance practice and academic work have been completely intertwined. The primary focus of her work has been on the study of nerdlesque, the collision of neo-burlesque and fandom culture. Her dissertation is an oral history, ethnographic, and phenomenological study of nerdlesque in three hub cities for the genre (Toronto, New York, Seattle). She is also the artistic director and a founding member of local performance troupe Nerd Girl Burlesque. Select performance credits include The Nerdlesque Festival (New York), The Toronto Burlesque Festival, PrideTO, Red Rum's Satanic Panic (Chicago), and the Southwest Burlesque Showcase (New Mexico).  In 2017 she was invited to sit on the selection committee for The Nerdlesque Festival. 

Thorp's performance and academic work have been profiled in The Toronto Star. She has guest lectured and delivered papers on nerdlesque, burlesque history, and popular performance at the University of Toronto, NYU, and for the Atlas Obscura historical society. Under her performer and fandom culture alias, she has been published in the popular anthology, The Secret Loves of Geek Girls (originally a $100,000 earning Kickstarter project) which was picked up by Dark Horse Comics.  She also contributed to the book's follow-up, The Secret Loves of Geek Girls Redux.