Come on toe, share the story
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danielle_Colby-CushmanPerformance career [edit]
Colby-Cushman owned and participated in a female roller derby team, the Big Mouth Mickey's, for three years until injuries forced her to give up the sport.[6]
Colby-Cushman decided she wanted to do burlesque when, while living in Chicago with her family, she attended a burlesque performance starring comedienne Margaret Cho and legendary dancer Satan's Angel. Colby-Cushman characterized the event as "amazing", saying in part, "Growing up in a strict household, I think I went into that evening thinking that burlesque was taboo and wrong and bad. But what I realized after I left that event was how absolutely liberating it was, to be in a room with women on stage who were ranging from a size zero to a size of, easily, 28 - all different types of women, with all different strengths."[3]
When she moved back with her family to Iowa, settling in the Quad Cities area, she became determined to make her desire a reality.[3] She created her own professional burlesque troupe, Burlesque Le'Moustache. The troupe features nine performers, including Colby-Cushman herself, who dances under the stage name of Dannie Diesel. It tours nightclubs and other various venues in eastern Iowa and western Illinois.[2]
American Pickers [edit]
Unknown to some of the show's fans, Colby-Cushman had been a close friend of Mike Wolfe for ten years before the concept of the show had even been developed.[6]
Once the show was sold to the History Channel, Wolfe asked Colby-Cushman to work at the office of the antique shop, called Antique Archaeology, because he "wanted someone that did not look like they would work in any antique shop because I wanted our show to be looked at in a different way. I wanted people to look at antiques like they're fun, they're rad, they're killer, they're awesome. I wanted people to know that they didn't have to have a blue blazer and ten cats to be an antique dealer."[7]
American Pickers premiered on History, formerly known as the History Channel, on January 18, 2010.[8] As of September 8, 2010, it was the #1 new non-fiction series of 2010 among total viewers and adults 25-54.[9]