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"Burlesque is a recent hobby of mine," said Critical Role Campaign 4 star Whitney Moore, "And the main thing behind it is just, 'Can you make it work?'"

Some context - Popverse recently sat down with Moore for a wide-ranging conversation covering everything from her 2010 cult film Birdemic: Shock and Terror to her current stint as one of the (many!) players in the world's biggest actual play webseries. But as you've just heard, we also got to chat with the former Geek & Sundry host about a fairly new hobby of hers - an more than just burlesque itself, we got to hear how Moore was adapting one of her favorite films to the medium.

That is, John Carpenter's The Thing.

Moore claimed she "had a silly idea to be the husky" from the film's iconic opening sequence, "and then sort of transform into the monster that you see to the tune of I Wanna Be Your Dog, by The Stooges."

"That's something I really love about burlesque," she continued, "It’s kind of like, the stupider, the better. If you have an idea and you really feel like you can sell it, it does not matter how dumb the idea is."

First of all, I don't know if I'd ever describe this absolutely brilliant idea as "dumb," but we see what you're getting at, Whitney. Even deeper than that, though - we wanted to know why so many good ideas that have come out of the burlesque or drag scenes recently have been tinged with the horror genre, and Moore had some thoughts.

"Burlesque is inherently subversive," said the actor, "It takes women's bodies - that are categorically commodified and sexualized and put in a very small or small category - and flips it to something where you can take a femme body and make it scary, make it funny. Do basically everything but turn you on. And you still get to see boobs. I think that people who like that sort of subversion also are naturally drawn towards horror."

From the lands of Exandria to your very own smartscreens, Popverse has everything you need to know about the TTRPG phenomenon that is Critical Role. Here you'll find:

• Popverse's Critical Role watch order
• An interview with GM Brennan Lee Mulligan
• The cast's appearance at C2E2 '25

...and more. Roll initiative, player. Adventure awaits.