If you’ve seen Julie Atlas Muz’s genre-bucking burlesque acts (a couple of which she’s performing throughout the summer at Absinthe), you know she has a thing for food. The blonde dynamo has subjected sausages and ice-cream cones to unspeakable acts. “It’s much better if you use ghetto ice cream,” she says of incorporating the latter. “I prefer old-school frozen popsicles that are stuck to the back of the freezer at the bodegas.” But what does she actually eat? Nothing at all till 4 p.m., it turns out.
Thursday, July 19
I had yogurt with raisins inside — I like cold raisins because they’re chewy — and cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off. I don’t usually eat till 4 p.m. I like when I’m hungry onstage. I’m like a wild animal. People are like, “You should eat a little all the time.” I disagree. That’s if you have a cow body and eat like a cow. I’m a night predator — I fast a lot, and I don’t eat till I’m starving.
Wednesday, July 18
Usually at 5 a.m., I’ll wake up two or three hours after going to sleep and have a handful of chocolate chips. This morning I was like, “Did I shit the bed?” because there were a couple of melted chocolate chips on the sheet.
I went to La Casalinga and had the spaghetti puttanesca, which means “spaghetti of the whore.” After all, I’m a burlesque performer and a nightlife whore. I like Casalinga — it sounds like cunnilingus, which I really like. All of the food is home cooked. It’s fancy restaurant food at an affordable hole-in-the-wall. The kitchen closes at 11:30 p.m., which for a nightlife person is a very good thing.
Tuesday, July 17
I had chicken and watermelon. This summer I’ve been eating a lot of watermelon and a lot of chicken. [Joking] I want to be more black. I love watermelon juice — it’s the best thing for you. I also had a fair amount of wine. My husband was asleep, and I kept on drinking by myself.
Monday, July 16
I threw a party on the hottest day of the year, and I don’t have A/C. I gave everyone popsicles to cool off. I made a coleslaw. I also like to make homemade ginger ale by boiling a bunch of ginger and then adding a jasmine flower and some honey. I keep it on ice in the refrigerator. I get bored with water — I drink Emergen-C a lot, since it’s like drinking water but it’s not boring old water.
My husband also made gazpacho. I like it when it’s a little bit chunky and it’s a purée of tomatoes and cucumbers. Salad through a straw, mmm.
Sunday, July 15
It was a two-show day, so they brought us guacamole and finger foods in between the shows.
I had seviche and a mini-paella with my mom Sunday night. We ate at this little Latin fusion place at South Street Seaport. I’m fond of seafood. I work as a mermaid, so 20 percent of my meals are seafood. I don’t like meat — it makes me really, really, really high. I get a meat hangover. It really puts me to sleep.
Saturday, July 14
My mom visited. She brought scones, so I had a blueberry scone. I didn’t eat till after the show, and I had raisins and nuts and a Bartlett pear and watermelon. I’m a watermelon fanatic. I try to eat it every day.
