Only Erika Jayne could get thousands of people to gyrate their hips and pat their crotches at 10 am on a Sunday morning. And I happened to be a lucky participant at this very, in Jayne’s words, “cunty” church service.
It’s hard not to be a little resistant to most activities on the third day of BravoCon. If you’ve been here for the entire weekend, you’re probably exhausted. (I didn’t even spend my Saturday night “whooping it up” with other attendees and Bravolebrities at BravoCon at Dark, and I could take a nap at any second.) The infectious fanmania starts to wind down. Plus, Friday and Saturday tend to have the most highly anticipated panels—unless you’re a Southern Charm stan.
That said, I wasn’t necessarily jumping out of my hotel bed this morning to attend Erika Jayne and her creative director Mikey Miden’s Pat The Puss panel/dance lesson. However, once my hips started moving to the four-on-the-floor beat blasting from the speakers, along with hundreds of Erika Jayne enthusiasts, my exhaustion slowly left my body.
I know. I know. This is probably just the natural effect of doing any sort of exercise in the morning. But I really started to feel the sex-kitten fantasy Erika Jayne has made her entire brand—and maybe a little inspired? Dare I say, I might make this “pat the puss” routine a part of my daily morning ritual.
Before Jayne and Minden taught the audience the singer’s signature move, they talked to moderator, comedian X Mayo—who was great at getting the audience amped up—about their 15-year partnership and Jayne’s upcoming Las Vegas residency “Bet It All On Blonde.” The audience even got to see the trailer for a tw0-part documentary special on Bravo, premiering next spring, about the preparation for her show, which shockingly might be appointment television.
Jayne says the seeds for transition from the gay club circuit to Las Vegas strip were planted about five or six years ago during a book signing in Vegas, right across the street from Caesar’s Forum when a reporter brought up the idea.
“Cut to now, which is five or six years later, I was meeting with who's now my manager, Alexis Fisher,” Jayne explained. “It was our very first meeting. And she goes, ‘You know, I think you need to get back to grassroots Erika Jayne.’”
She also thanked the Senior Vice President for Las Vegas Residencies at Live Nation, Amanda Moore-Saunders, who was in the audience.
“It really was the right place at the right time,” Jayne said. “And I'm so grateful.”
After some more discussion about Jayne’s inspiration and career journey, the crowd finally got to learn how to “pat the puss,” the famous choreography for her song “Painkillr.” To no one’s surprise, it was extremely easy to learn. You do a bunch of neck rolls, some hair flips, and tap your crotch. Jayne invited some audience members onstage. (Unfortunately, I did not receive a special “Diamond” pass with my press ticket.) And the rest of the audience joined in like a giant Zumba class with Tito’s.
While the dance class was obviously fun, I was shocked to feel a little inspired by Jayne as a figure by the end of it. It certainly helped that X Mayo was a huge Jayne fan and spent most of the panel applauding her strength and perseverance following her ex-husband Tom Giradi’s legal troubles. I (reluctantly) found myself doing the same. As much as Jayne has vexed me over the past two seasons of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, I do find her “rising from the ashes” story compelling and one of the realest things that occurred on the Bravo franchise.
For the first time ever, as a RHOBH fan, I saw the star power. I experienced the fantasy. And I’m glad I got to pat the pass.
