Author Diary Entries

186: The art of creative weirdness (and an ode to Z Nation, burlesque dancing, and My Lady Jane)

• Sagan Morrow • Episode 187

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What is the art of creative weirdness? What are some great examples of creative weirdness, and how can YOU tap into your own creative weirdness when you are creating art (of any kind)? What is the ONE situation in which creative weirdness is NOT effective? Does art NEED to be “weird” in order to be powerful and incredible? What social commentary and feminist lenses can we view mainstream blockbuster action movies like Die Hard and Top Gun? 

We answer all of these questions and more in this episode of the Author Diary Entries podcast! 

We collectively, as a society, do NOT share our weirdness enough! So let’s talk about that today, through the lens of creative weirdness in TV (this is essentially a rave review of Z Nation), creative weirdness in performance art (burlesque dancing and what makes the burlesque community so special in general), and creative weirdness in novels (My Lady Jane). 

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You’re listening to the Author Diary Entries podcast — formerly known as Indie Author Weekly. I’m your host, Sagan Morrow, and this is episode #186.


We collectively, as a society, do NOT share our weirdness enough! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the art of creative weirdness, more so through the lens of performance art and visual art rather than the written word, but that too. 


SO, let’s talk about that! I have 3 examples for you today — creative weirdness in TV (Z Nation), creative weirdness in performance art (burlesque dancing), and creative weirdness in novels (My Lady Jane).


Let’s start with one of the most underrated and iconic TV shows of all time, Z Nation. 


I JUST finished watching all of Z Nation a couple days ago. It is a top tier TV show, and it is absolutely bonkers. It truly feels as though the people making this show said, “There’s no such thing as bad ideas,” and then took every single idea that came up in the writer’s room. Or like they just sat around in a bar drinking and said, “Let’s make a list of all the possible different interactions a person could have with zombies,” and then turned all of those drunken ideas into a show.


…and I mean that in the BEST possible way. I am obsessed with the weirdness and bonkers creativity of Z Nation. It is uninhibited creativity at its finest. And honestly I’m gonna need to do multiple podcast episodes about it because there’s also a lot of depth to the show — many many MANY lenses which through you could view it. I really hope someone’s done a dissertation on Z Nation. If they haven’t, someone should 100% do it. I want to read that! 


I don’t want to spoil anything about the show if you’ve never seen it, but truly — the most ridiculous zombie ideas you can imagine are PROBABLY in that show. Okay I’ll give you ONE spoiler, and just say this; “Sharknado.” That’s it. 


Z Nation is unafraid of being its wacky self. It doesn’t worry about “what will people think” — it just IS, and it invites the viewer to come along for the ride. That mentality is at the heart of creative weirdness. 


One of the other really impressive things about this show is that it’s great, right out of the gate. So often, when people encourage you to watch a show, they’ll say something like “Once you get past the first few episodes or the first season, it gets really good!” — but Z Nation isn’t like that. It’s strong and weird and compelling from Episode 1. That’s pretty rare in a TV show. Right from the start, they were unconcerned and unapologetic about whether people would think they’re “too campy” or “too out there,” etc.


Every time I watch Z Nation, I feel so grateful that the creators of that show were willing to take those weird creative risks. 


I’m someone who LOVES the zombie genre — Resident Evil is unironically one of my absolute all-time favourite movie franchises, if not my MOST favourite. The zombie genre in general does some pretty weird things! And yet, Z Nation takes it all to a very different, very fascinating level. It combines the humour of something like Shawn of the Dead with the multifaceted, many-layered themes of Resident Evil, with the shock factor and ominousness of the 28 Days Later franchise.


(I’ll also admit that, as you may have guessed, my experience with the zombie genre is much more modern takes. I’ve seen some of the older classics, but MANY years ago and I don’t really remember them. So I can’t speak to them. That’s okay! At some point I’ll do a full deep-dive into all things zombies and enhance my education.)


Z Nation is the type of show that brings you through a whole range of emotions, has you screaming with laughter and “omg did they just DO that,” while being very clever in its representation and the way it addresses a lot of very serious issues through the lens of the zombie apocalypse. It has so much humour in it, without being a comedy. It is a social commentary, and sometimes it does that in a surprisingly subtle way. It is simultaneously so smart and silly, and it explores the weirdest ideas with absolute artistry. 


Can you imagine if, in the writer’s room, they said “No. We can’t be that outlandish. That’s too weird.”


Can you imagine if they thought, “No one’s done zombies like this before, there must be a reason for that. This is probably too ridiculous. There’s no point in pursuing it.”


The creators of Z Nation saw an opportunity and they weren’t afraid to pursue it. And again, I am SO happy that they explored it. It’s weird, ya’ll. Please watch it and then message me, @ Saganlives on Instagram and Threads, so we can discuss the show. It makes me so happy and I hope it does the same for you. 


Okay, that’s my first and definitely not last ode to Z Nation on this podcast. 


Let’s move along to another example of creative weirdness, this time in performance art — burlesque dancing.


As you know if you’ve listened to this podcast before, I am a hobbyist burlesque dancer — my stage name is Babe Maverick, and I’m pretty active on Instagram so you can check out that account, @ babemaverick for more info on my work as a burlesque dancer. I essentially use that Instagram account as my burlesque journey “diary,” so if you enjoy getting the behind-the-scenes “diary entry” style of this author podcast — or of my diary entry emails in the Solopreneur Diary Entries weekly newsletter — then you’ll probably like my Babe Maverick Instagram account, too! I’ll share those links in the show notes for this episode.


I’ll be performing another dance solo next week, called Jurassic Park, But Make It Burlesque. In that solo, I’ll be acting out the first Jurassic Park movie as a burlesque showgirl. 


Now, the reactions I’ve gotten from this are REALLY interesting, because people in the burlesque community will be like “oh, cool! That sounds really fun.”


…and people who are NOT at all in the burlesque community tend to kinda just look at me, and go, “wait… What?” 


Acting out Jurassic Park as a burlesque showgirl honestly isn’t that weird in the burlesque community — but OUTSIDE of it, it sounds kinda weird!


I recently saw a short video clip of another burlesque performer, and they were dressed as a human-size slug while opera music was playing. It was hauntingly beautiful and also, just… AMAZING. Who does that?!


That’s really the main question, I think, that burlesque gives us: We see these truly wild, weird creative choices, and you’re just stunned at the artistry of it. Who does that?!


Burlesque performers, that’s who.


Burlesque is a fascinating artform because yes, it can absolutely be simply fun and playful, AND ALSO, it can be multifaceted and multilayered. Burlesque is often highly political, it’s often a social commentary, it’s often a satire, it’s often an expression of joy for marginalized people. It’s a reclamation. There are countless interpretations of burlesque art.


When I was chatting with a friend about my Jurassic Park solo, she asked me if I’m playing the role of Dr Sattler. And It’s funny, because I was like, “No. I’m playing a dinosaur, and Dr Grant, and Dr Malcolm, and Muldoon.”


The dinosaur is female, of course, but it’s interesting that I deliberately chose these men as characters, rather than any of the women.


…and the thing is, the movies I choose to portray as a burlesque performer are very “men’s action movies.” My burlesque name, Babe Maverick, is an homage to Top Gun. I’ve performed the entire movie of Die Hard as a burlesque dance (acting as the characters of John McClane and Hans Gruber), and I’ve even also lipsynced Eminem’s Lose Yourself while performing a burlesque dance. 


I was thinking about this, and how it’s just… it’s an interesting choice, that I choose men to portray. Because I LOVE a lot of women as action stars, too — Alice from the aforementioned Resident Evil is one of my heroes; so is Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Xena. Why haven’t I portrayed them yet?


(Key word, of course is, “yet” — I’m absolutely going to do acts as those characters. But I haven’t yet. Why is that?)


The truth is, I love these action movies for themselves, but I also love subverting those movies. I am a very feminine person — even when I’m playing men, it’s not “masculine” presenting. I love exploring the themes of these movies through different lenses. When I acted out Die Hard, it was for a Christmas show, so the teasing question of that act was, “Is Die Hard a Christmas movie?”


…and that’s a valid enough question on its own! But there’s MORE to it. It’s also about, “Can John McClane be portrayed as a woman?” 


We can also explore questions about John McClane being a rebel, and how that rebellion is the entire reason that the good guys win: He doesn’t follow the rules. The FBI guys DO follow the rules, and — spoiler alert! — that does not end well for them.


In my mind, Die Hard is actually a film about how we SHOULD question authority; we shouldn’t blindly follow the rules. 


(And again, my stage name is literally Babe Maverick. I chose the name Maverick, which is a nod to Tom Cruise’s character in Top Gun — who constantly bucks authority — because the word “maverick” itself means being a dissenter, being a rebel. Doing things on your own terms.)


This is one of the reasons why I LOVE these blockbuster movies. There are so many layers to them! And when I choose to feature them as a burlesque dancer, part of it is me inviting the audience and saying, “Hey. Let’s look at this through a different lens. Let’s watch this movie for the fun action of it, AND ALSO for the feminist readings or the other themes within it.”


Again, we can read however deeply or not that we want into my burlesque acts. We can view them as pure fun — or we can read them with that lens of social commentary. 


Just like with the movies themselves.


That’s pretty cool! That’s pretty powerful. And I love and am so incredibly grateful that the burlesque community is so enthusiastically supportive of those kinds of ideas. 


My teacher, Coco La Creme, creates truly the weirdest concepts for our group numbers — like, one of our upcoming acts is a dinosaur laser fight party, and it has sharks and aliens, it’s SO SILLY and we are just killing ourselves laughing the entire time.


Can you imagine if she thought to herself, “Nope, that’s too weird.” We’d miss out on so much laughter and joy and play! Her ideas get progressively weirder with every dance semester and I am HERE for it, I love it so much. That kind of creativity is awe inspiring. And it truly opens the door for everyone else in the burlesque community she’s created to also embrace our weirdest selves, and explore the edge of our creativity.


And THAT, in and of itself, is ALSO a radical act.


Creative weirdness is radical. You’re allowing yourself to be more of YOU, and to express that and share that with the world. 


In doing so, we allow the space for OTHERS to do more of the same. When I first started writing my polyamorous romantic comedy novels SEVEN years ago, it was pretty “out there.” A lot of people hadn’t heard of polyamory before. It was viewed as kinda weird. Nowadays, the vast majority of people have heard of the concept of polyamory. It’s not as completely foreign of a concept anymore. 


Now, my books have yet to go mainstream! BUT, I do think that it’s people like me who were publishing stories like that in past years who have helped to get polyamory INTO the mainstream by this point. That’s really powerful — and it happens by being true to ourselves, by being unafraid and unapologetic about sharing those creative choices with the world, even if the world isn’t always immediately accepting or understanding of them.


Back in Episode 179 of the Author Diary Entries podcast, I announced that paperbacks of my romance novels (Small Town Stilettos, as well as the Polyamorous Passions series), are now available in a local shop here in Kamloops: Haus of Misfit. 


Haus of Misfit is a really good example of a weird shop, filled with all kinds of oddities and alternative gifts and indie brands that you wouldn’t find at your average boutique store — and I think it creates a sense of home for people when they walk into this space: “Ahhh. Finally, someone gets it. Someone gets me. This is a space for me.” 


That’s really special, and that’s one of the beautiful aspects about embracing your creative weirdness: It creates connection points with others; it gives people a sense of belonging with you; it helps them to see themselves in your weird art. What is more powerful than that?


The last example of creative weirdness that I want to share with you today is from a book — because this IS the Author Diary Entries podcast, after all! — and that book is My Lady Jane. What I want to point out here is that it’s gone pretty mainstream because it was turned into a TV show — that’s how I first heard about it, and I suspect that’s a lot of people’s introduction to it. It’s wonderful to see this weird novel taking the spotlight, and the positive response so many viewers had to it.


I really enjoyed both the novel and the TV show, and the book has very Princess Bride vibes to it, which is delightful. What makes the book so special is that it DOES embrace its own creative weirdness — the writing style and the tone of the story are similar to The Princess Bride, and the actual things that occur in the story are very much where you almost do a double-take: “What? Did that just happen? How did they even come up with these ideas?!”


This is the art of creative weirdness, that it’s so magical and otherworldly and weird that people can’t help but go, “wow. How did you even think of that?”


…and the thing is, most of the time, it’s not because you’re TRYING to be “creatively weird.” In fact, the only time or way that creative weirdness DOESN’T work is when it’s contrived — because as with any kind of art, it needs to be true to you for it to be its most effective. If it doesn’t feel true to you, it’s going to fall flat for the viewer or the reader of your work.


To be honest, that’s what I felt when watching the first couple episodes of New Girl. They tried WAY TOO HARD to be quirky in those first few episodes, and once they toned it down it became a very cute show. It’s a silly, weird show! But those early episodes felt like they were trying to “prove” themselves *as* “the weird quirky show.” That’s not necessary. 


Quirky weirdness comes out of the ridiculous storytelling and dialogue and interactions between actors etc — not by trying to BE the weird quirky show. And in contrast, that’s exactly what makes a show like Z Nation so fantastic. 


An important distinction here is that it’s not as though the people behind Z Nation, for example, didn’t put effort into it. That’s not what I’m saying at all! Effort is always a part of creativity. But rather, they didn’t try to *force it* to be weird. Weirdness can’t be forced. It shines through of its own accord, IF it happens to be in there. It is simply about whether that weirdness is at the heart of the creativity or not; if it is true to that particular form of creative expression. 


Art being “weird” vs “not weird” doesn’t make one better than the other, either! There is plenty of art that is NOT weird, and it’s still fantastic. For instance, I love a lot of mainstream books and movies and TV shows and dance and regular boutique shops; we can absolutely, 100% appreciate the non-weird alongside the weird. One is not better than the other; we are not pitting either against the other. We can appreciate both simultaneously and for different reasons.


Art doesn’t NEED to be weird in order to be incredible — but the entire reason why “weird art” IS so important is because so many creatives tend to shy away from it, out of concern about whether people will “like” it or “get” it… because creative weirdness is a reflection of a deep inner part of yourself that you might not be used to sharing with the world. It has another layer of vulnerability because it’s a part of yourself that’s a little *different* than what the world might be used to seeing, and it’s an important part of YOU and your own truth.


And at the end of the day, that really is what creative weirdness IS: It’s about you being more of you. Embracing more of those little hidden parts of you that think, “This would be fun… but is anyone going to *get* it?”


The more that you embrace your SELF, the more you’ll get in touch with your beautifully weirdly creative side, and the more that the world will get to benefit from your creative weirdness, and probably the more fulfilled and happier you’ll be because you won’t be diminishing your light.


Now, if this is one of those things where you have a hard time reconnecting with yourself, or you don’t have the best relationship with yourself, then I would recommend that you watch my free masterclass, How to Activate Your Intuition. It’s a fantastic resource for you to improve that relationship you have with yourself and get in touch with that deeper core part of you — which is essential for sparking your own creative weirdness. You can watch it on-demand for free at SaganMorrow.com/masterclass. 


That’s a wrap on today’s episode! Find me on Instagram & Threads to share your thoughts on this episode — my handle is @Saganlives. As always, you can access the show notes (including links to various things I mentioned today) plus the transcript of this episode at SaganMorrow.com/podcast.


And if you are enjoying the Author Diary Entries podcast, please take 2 minutes to rate and review it on your favourite podcast platform. 


Thanks so much — I appreciate you!


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Sagan Morrow

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