Heather Henderson (born March 7, 1973) is a professional

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

host who uses the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Baby Heather. She is an advocate for

skeptical inquiry Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism (also spelled scepticism), sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking scientific evidence. In practice, the term most commonly ref ...

and

atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...

and won the 2012

People's Choice Podcast Awards The People's Choice Podcast Awards, better known as the Podcast Awards, are global awards given annually to the best podcasts as voted by the general public. Founded in 2005 by Todd Cochrane of Podcast Connect Inc., the Podcast Awards changed han ...

in the religion/inspiration category for her ''Ardent Atheist'' podcast. From 1989 to 1991, Henderson was a regular performer on the

Dance Party USA ''Dance Party USA'' is an American dance television show that aired daily on cable's USA Network from April 12, 1986, to June 27, 1992. It was originally a half-hour, but was expanded to an hour in 1987. The program was always shot at, and aire ...

television show.

Early life

Henderson was born on March 7, 1973, in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

. Her mother was a Hungarian Jew. When Henderson was 10, in 1983, her father left the home. She attended

Camden City Public Schools Camden City School District is a public school district that serves students in pre-Kindergarten through twelfth grade from the city of Camden, in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The district is one of 31 former Abbott distri ...

. She describes herself as a "shy and quiet girl" who did not talk back and believed everything her mother told her. At age fifteen, she appeared on a nationwide teen dance show called ''

.'' She appeared on the show regularly for three years and went by the nickname Baby Heather. When Henderson's mother became involved with

Jews for Jesus Jews for Jesus is an international Christian missionary organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, that is affiliated with the Messianic Jewish religious movement. The group is known for its proselytism of Jews and promotes the b ...

, they started attending progressive Christian churches, making Henderson very uncomfortable. As soon as she was old enough, Henderson told her mother she would not attend church again. In 2011, Henderson moved to Los Angeles with friends. In order to raise money to purchase a plane ticket, she organized a fundraiser for herself with burlesque friends who donated their talent for a one-night show.

Film and television

Henderson was a regular dancer on the local television show ''Dancin' on Air'' and the nationally televised ''Dance Party USA'' from 1989 to 1991. In her last year, she became a co-host. Henderson has also appeared on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'',

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

's '' Double Dare'', in the film '' Mannequin Two: On the Move'', and on

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

's ''Annapolis''.

Music and recording career

In her teens, Henderson released a single called "Give It Up" using her ''Dance Party'' nickname “Baby Heather.” ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' gave the single a positive review. Henderson played with

Penn Jillette Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American Magic (illusion), magician, actor, comedian, musician, inventor, television presenter, and author, best known for his work with fellow magician Teller (magician), Teller as half of the t ...

's No God Band in 2011.

Burlesque career

Henderson worked from 1993 to 2010 in the erotica industry, doing stripping,

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

, foot fetish parties,

dominatrix A dominatrix ( ; or dominatrices ), or domme, is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. The BDSM practice is called female dominance, or femdom. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily l ...

work, and

lap dancing A lap dance (or contact dance) is a type of erotic dance performance offered in many strip clubs in which the dancer typically has body contact with a seated patron. Lap dancing is different from table dance, table dancing, in which the dancer ...

. Henderson got involved with burlesque after a friend who was doing a "variety" show asked her to sing background. She left burlesque in 2010. In 2013, Henderson returned to perform at the first Hollywood Burlesque Festival. Time Out Los Angeles listed her as one of the "Best Burlesque" performers and called her "the singing emcee with 'ferocious vocals.'"

Film making

Henderson filmed several short fetish videos. Inspired by friend Norm Walker, her film ''PODONUTS'' features Walker eating cream-filled donuts off the feet of women (one of which is Henderson).

Philadelphia Weekly ''Philadelphia Weekly'' (''PW'') is a website based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a newspaper in 1971 as ''The Welcomat'', a sister publication to the ''South Philadelphia Press''. In 1995, the paper became ''Philadelphia Week ...

states it "routinely wins over even the most squeamish spectators with its sex-positive message and thrillingly syncopated movement sequences.". Henderson's 2009 film ''Marcella and Sofia,'' a fetish film about a young couple being sexually corrupted by two female captors (one of which is Henderson), won a ''Claw Award'' for best cinematography from the Terror Film Festival.

Podcasts

Henderson is the co-host of two podcasts with

Emery Emery Emery Emery (born December 25, 1963) is an American comedian, film editor and producer, and outspoken atheist, known for his contribution to numerous comedy-related films and TV shows, his two podcasts, ''Skeptically Yours'', and the award-winnin ...

, ''Ardent Atheist'' and ''Skeptically Yours''. They started producing the ''Ardent Atheist'' podcast in February 2011. In 2012, ''Ardent Atheist'' won best podcast in the religion inspiration category for ''The People's Choice Podcast Awards''. From November 2012 to April 2013 Henderson appeared as a featured segment on the ''

Skepticality ''Skepticality'' was the official podcast of The Skeptics Society's ''Skeptic'' magazine. Beginning in May 2005, the podcast explores rational thought, skeptical ideas, and famous myths from around the world and throughout history. Each episod ...

'' podcast. Her segment was called ''News in Religion''. Heather Henderson at John Edward Protest

References

External links

Official Audio
''Give it Up'' by Baby Heather
''Ardent Atheist''
podcast
''Skeptically Yours''
podcast {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Heather 1973 births Living people Jewish American atheism activists American women podcasters American religion and spirituality podcasters Musicians from Camden, New Jersey African-American activists African-American atheists 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century African-American women singers