Introducing the Tiki Oasis Producers…
Otto von Stroheim
Author/Disc Jockey/Publisher/Promoter Otto von Stroheim was born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Young Otto was never more than a short car ride away from various Tiki restaurants, hotels, and apartments, Disneyland, and the beach.
Otto got his Exotica start publishing his tiki (bar) travel memoirs resulting in the award-winning ‘zine Tiki News (1995 – 2001). After launching Tiki News, Otto set out to publicize it by DJing and hosting Exotica-related events, the first of which was “Exoticon” – the first Tiki/Exotica music festival ever. From 1995-2001 he hosted a dozen local art shows featuring the cover artists from Tiki News. In 1996 Otto teamed with La Luz Gallery to launch “21st Century Tiki,” the world’s first group Tiki art exhibit in a proper gallery space.
Between 2001-2004 he curated and published catalogs for three Tiki Art Now! group shows. In 2017 Otto curated current art and penned the catalog intro for “The Art of Tiki” exhibit and book by Sven Kirsten with preface by Josh Agle.
He has appeared on local and national television (Home and Garden’s “That Sixties Home” and Food Network’s “Unwrapped”), National Public Radio’s “California Report”, Internet Culture Guide “Flavorpill”, and has been quoted in nearly every major newspaper in America.
Baby Doe von Stroheim
Baby Doe is the Artistic Director and Producer of the first ever burlesque convention Tease-O-Rama (2001). In 2011, Baby Doe was honored by the Burlesque Hall of Fame with the “Sassy Lassy Award” for Outstanding Contribution to the Art of Burlesque, in recognition of Tease-O-Rama’s impact. At BurlyCon Seattle, Baby Doe has been both a Guest of Honor (2009) and Guest Speaker (2011/15-17) and now serves on the BurlyCon Board. She has been a judge at many burlesque competitions including Burlesque Hall of Fame, Viva Las Vegas and the Hollywood Burlesque Festival. Baby Doe is the Artistic Director and Choreographer of The Devil-Ettes, San Francisco’s first (and only!) synchronized 60’s go go dance troupe. Her passion for preserving the historical dances of the 60’s has led Baby Doe to create Pip Squeak A Go Go, a children’s dance party that teaches the lost art of go go to the next generation. Little Known Fact about Baby Doe: in 1994 she created a webpage called Baby Doe’s Obsessed. It covered her love of tiki, tiki collectors and other wacky collections. This mysterious tiki lover sparked interest in a young man named Otto… and the rest is… well… Tiki history!!
Baby Doe’s events have been covered in the NY Times, LA Weekly, Bust Magazine, The Village Voice, Newsweek, Playboy, ABC News, LA Times, SF Chronicle, Hustler, Spanish GQ, The New Orleans Times-Picayune, Mademoiselle, Utne Reader, NPR, USA Today and more!