THICK: a crumbling freak show

THICK: a crumbling freak show is a multimedia solo performance by Jenn Freeman | Po’Chop that confronts the making of otherness through the Black femme body. Blending burlesque, drag, ritual, spoken word, and projection, the work examines spectacle, consent, and survival. It asks what becomes possible when refusal, tenderness, and pleasure are centered as tools for remembering and reimagining ourselves.

The project has evolved through several key iterations. An early in-process showing was presented in 2021 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (Bamalama Legs). The work officially premiered in 2025 at Columbia College Chicago, followed by an excerpted presentation at the Chicago Cultural Center in response to the Blondell Cummings exhibition. A later iteration emerged in collaboration with Court Theatre, manifesting as an one night installation and exhibition (Studies in Refusal).