Kaytlin Bailey performing at HERE Arts Center in NYC October 2024. Photo credit Ashley Euckland.
The Oldest Profession is a mad dash through 10,000 years of history from a sex worker’s perspective.
Kaytlin Bailey offers a new angle on the world’s oldest profession, reframing the story of western civilization. Weaving history, stand-up comedy, and lived experience in a fast-paced and profoundly moving hour-long solo show. The performance is punctuated by a projected art history slideshow.
The show opens with a comedic monologue introducing Kaytlin Bailey, her background as an Army brat, history major, and sex worker. She quickly transitions into the promise of the show, which is to cover 10,000 years of history from her perspective as a sex worker.
Alternating between her own family history, lived experience, and contemporary observations, we meet many canonized characters from history, and trace the evolution of the sacred whore from deified, to demonized, to diseased. We spend time in the ancient world revisiting the Epic of Gilgamesh, the story of Genesis, and meet historic figures including Phryne, Veronica Franco, and Victoria Woodhull. We learn the origins of the emergent sex worker rights movement, complicating figures like Gloria Steinem while lifting up Margo St. James and Carol Leigh.
Special interest is paid to the comparison between Kaytlin’s own experiences as a sex worker and her father’s experiences as a soldier. The vast history covered in The Oldest Profession is deeply informed by the relationship and divergent narratives between warriors and whores, which can be traced back to some of our oldest myths.
Kaytlin Bailey performing at the PEN Theatre in London December 2024. Photo credit Jamie Mykaela.
This show is for adults who want to laugh while they learn about a historically stigmatized community in a funny, approachable, and safe way. The show appeals to academics, comedy fans, history nerds, and sex workers alike, but also appeals to conservative dads, informed moms, libertarians, progressives, feminists, and folks in the LGBTQ+ community.
“A show that everyone, regardless of their personal views on sex work, simply has to experience.” –Shemia Dixon, Theatreview.
Writer & Performer
Kaytlin Bailey is an activist, scholar, and provocateur who is changing the way people think about the oldest profession. She is an internationally recognized leader in the sex worker rights movement and an internationally touring performer. She is the Founder & Executive Director of Old Pros, a non-profit media organization that uses storytelling to advocate for sex worker rights. She hosts The Oldest Profession Podcast where each episode focuses on an “old pro” from history, contextualizing that figure in their own time and connecting their story to the ongoing struggle for sex worker rights.
Kaytlin has written for the Daily Beast, HuffPost, Vice, Reason, and her work has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, Politico, and The Nation. Her work has been featured on NBC, ABC, Lifetime, SiriusXM, and HBO. She has been invited to speak and perform at colleges and conferences all over the world. Kaytlin’s views are backed by Amnesty International, The World Health Organization, Human Rights Watch, and UNAids who all agree that the decriminalization of sex work is the only policy that reduces violence.
Director
Emily Olcott is an actor, singer, writer, comedian, and director. Off-Broadway: Kafkaesque! (Theater 154); Live Laugh Love… (solo show developed at Ars Nova’s CAMP residency). Comedy: Joe’s Pub, Union Hall, Ars Nova, The Bell House, Lincoln Center, JFL Toronto, and The Kennedy Center, opening for Amber Ruffin. Directing: The Story Pirates National Tour; My Dead Wedding (UCB); Beth (Joe’s Pub); Bada Swing! (Joe’s Pub). Emily performs musical improv with UCB house team Rumpleteaser and indie team Cookie, and also co-hosts a comedy podcast about spirituality called Savior Complex. You may have seen Emily in a long-running commercial campaign for the New Jersey Lottery, in which she was wearing a lab coat.
Credits/Show History
The Oldest Profession is an Old Pros production. Old Pros is a non profit media organization that uses storytelling to advocate for sex worker rights. Originally titled Whore’s Eye View the show was Comment end developed at an event to celebrate the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers in Manchester, NH 2019. The show was further developed at the Barbershop Theatre in 2020, UNDER St Marks in 2021, The Tank in 2022, and Caveat in 2023. Whore’s Eye View toured to 25 cities in 10 countries throughout 2024 including a three week run at HERE Arts Center.
Carole Montgomery worked to develop Whore’s Eye View from 2019–2022.
Dr. Charlene J. Fletcher contributed research to the show from 2020–2022.
Stephanie Alvarado Prugh provided dramaturgical support from 2021–2024.
Vanessa Morosco directed the show in 2023.
Leah Moon contributed design work to the show from 2020–2024, and executive produced the show from 2023–2024.
Katherine Wilkinson directed the show from 2024–2026.