My very best Austin day with Nikki DaVaughn
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Illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Courtesy of Nikki DaVaughn
We recently caught up with Nikki DaVaughn, cabaret performer and host of the recently launched "City Cast Austin" podcast, to ask about her ideal Austin day.
Background: DaVaughn has spent her life around Austin, having grown up by Alamo Park, and went to Kealing for middle school before heading to Manor for high school and then the University of Texas, before stints working in North Austin and Round Rock.
- She now lives near East Seventh and Chicon streets, and is a member of Fat Bottom Cabaret, a plus-size cabaret troupe that has its next show at Sky Candy on Sept. 13.
What they're saying: She's worked as a bartender, as a janitor cleaning buildings at night, in the mailroom for the state environmental agency, at a car dealership, and for Austin City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison.
- After a life of balancing day jobs with performance gigs, "I had friends teasing me the 'City Cast' job was written for me," she tells Axios.
Tell us about your ideal day.
"It's a Saturday, and typically my partner and I go get coffee from Fleet, on Webberville. We'll go get a kolache, and this Saturday I'll have rehearsal for my cabaret troupe.
- "After that, I'm going shopping, at the Black Makers Market or any kind of vintage market, looking at stuff.
- "I likely have something to sew, so I'm making a trip to HomeGoods or Joann, perusing some fabrics.
What are you doing about lunch?
"I'm not great about remembering to eat. At about 3pm, I'll say to my sister or partner, 'Have we eaten?'"
What are you doing that night?
"Around 7pm, I'll find somewhere to have a drink — I'm trying all the speakeasies and recently stopped at Retail Therapy."
What's your drink of choice?
"I'm a bourbon girl. Any play on an old fashioned — I like that full-mouth warm feeling. That's what I'm trying first."
How are you topping off the night?
"I'll see some music or some drag. I've gotten to the age now where I want to be home by 12:30, before the witching hour, as I call it. People drive crazy on Seventh Street. I'll typically watch a Bobby Flay cooking show before I go to bed."