Joe's Pub

Harriet Halloway

Artist Description

Harriet Halloway was born and raised in the ghettos of Manhattan’s Upper East Side. All through school, Harriet was a class clown, playground bully, and perpetual heartbreaker and earned the nickname Harriet “give me your lunch money” Halloway and, of course, because of her large stature and deep voice which came early in life: Harriet “Bea Arthur” Halloway.

When she was sixteen, it seemed like overnight the tall, skinny string bean of a girl became immensely well endowed. One night, she went on a date with one of her many older male suitors who took her to a burlesque show in New York’s Lower East Side. Harriet gazed at the milky, curvy beauties and was determined to be one of those girls. She figured with her jailbait wiggles and jiggles she’d be a shoe in. Harriet auditioned for one of the clubs bookers and charmed the pants off him (figuratively, of course!) and began a successful and glitzy career in the downtown burlesque scene using a name she created, “Utterly Udders.” Many nights she could be seen sneaking down the fire escape of her building while her parents were sleeping, in glitter boas and stiletto heels to go and drop the jaws of hundreds and return to high school the next morning as if nothing had happened, reeking of Jack Daniel’s, cigarettes, and tattered marabou feathers.

It wasn’t long until club owners took notice of Harriet’s natural sense of humor and engaging storytelling and asked her to emcee the burlesque shows. Harriet graciously complied and was surprised at the audience’s reaction to her off-the-cuff humor. The wide-eyed blonde decided to take advantage of this newfound talent; she hung up her pasties and began a successful career as one of the most beloved comediennes in New York and has performed in the top comedy clubs all over the country. Her biting, often dirty and sadistic sense of humor has won her praise and recognition among the veterans and heavy hitters of the entertainment industry, as they’ve remarked: "Harriet is a throwback to the old fashioned entertainer with but with a sharp modern tongue and a casual approachability."

Along the way, Harriet has been one of New York’s most popular underground “It” girls and a muse for artists, fashion designers and musicians; she has studied with some of the most prestigious acting teachers in the world, starred in several music videos. She has been a pin-up and editorial model, appeared in dozens of magazines and has acted in independent films and local theater.

Harriet lives and jokes in New York City.

http://www.harriethalloway.com