Do Go On - 70 - Marie Laveau, The Vodoo Queen of New Orleans.

Episode Date: February 22, 2017

This week, we dip into the Golden Hat once again and explore the legend of the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. Was she one of the good guys? Was she a bad guy? Did she possess powers, or was she just confident? All that as well as the usual amount of shit talk.Twitter: @DoGoOnPodInstagram: @DoGoOnPodFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/DoGoOnPod/Email us: [e-mail] the show and get rewards like bonus episodes:www.patreon.com/DoGoOnPod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Melbourne and Canada, we got exciting news for you. And we should also say this is 2026. Jess, what year is it? 2026. Thank God you're here. Right now, I'm in Melbourne doing my show with Serengy Amarna 630 each night at the Cooper's Inn Hotel, having so much fun. We'd love to see you there. Canada, we are visiting you in September this year.

If you've somehow missed the news, we are heading up Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto for shows. That's going to be so much fun. Tickets for all this stuff, I believe, are online. And I'm here too. And welcome to Do Go on for another week. Week. I was going to say week. All right.

We've lost it. We were weak. How many episodes have we started like this? Let's be honest. A few. And you know what? They're my favourite ones. Really you enjoy listening back to both of us speaking at all at the same time?

I think it's very funny because it really irritates you and Matt and I enjoy that. I was just going to, I was just beefing out some of the key words. You know, like a hype man sort of backup. You know, you were in the song 500 miles just to be the man. No, I'm wrong. I'm wrong. I'm like Beastie Boys. Don't you tell me to... Stop.

But I would have also said stop. Right, all right. Let's try that. My name is Dave. Oh, no, I don't think of you. And I'm here with Matt Stewart. And Jess Perkins. That's why I will never be the Beastie Boys.

I was right with that song because one of them sings it a bit like just to be the man who walked. And then the other one comes in and they sing together a little bit. That's what I meant. La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-a-ma-marina. I'm pretty sure I just did the old El Paso Mexican food. Oh, okay. Can't we have both? Yeah, Porcanos Los Dors.

Anyway, hello boys. Hello boys. Hello boys. How are you going? The boys are good. Well, this boy's good, man. The boy. This boy is in love.

That's a song. It is a song. I can't, the pan, not the panics, the presets. No relevant and apologetic. You're not in love? Well, I'm always in love with Tizm, the Sanctuary Football Club and the Meredith Music Festival, as you do well know.

The Big Three, the Big Three. It's like already a musical-themed episode. If you've looked at the title and you thought it couldn't be that musical, well, it is. You're wrong. You're wrong. Well, it could be musical. I don't know what we're going to talk about this week.

You don't know. You don't know. You don't know. You don't know. Shit, Warnackie. Thank you. I'm sorry. I just got really aggressive. It's very hot still. Oh my God, it's been like...

It's just like... 45 plus for weeks. No, it has it. But it has. It's dipped like a few times, like, right in the gap between pods. It's crazy, isn't it? Yeah. But I'm one of those...

There was a couple of weeks where Monday was super hot, and then there'd be a cool change, and the rest of the week would be, like, mid-20s. Did you notice that at all? It's like the Monday would be, like, high 30s and really humid and awful, and then there'd be a storm, and there'd be a cool change overnight, and then the rest of the week would be okay.

It happens like... two or three weeks in a row. Well, I once got my hair cut by talking about my haircuts again. Sure. By a lady and she was trying to tell me how, you know how it's always hot on Mondays? And then, and I was thinking, that's not how weather works. Yeah, it's when I was cutting his hair. And I thought that was one of the silliest conversations of my life.

Okay. Well, that is, that is pretty nutty. You know how it's always hot on Mondays. It's always always. But that's not what I said. I just said in the last few weeks, Mondays have been hot. But you can't tell the person. it's halfway through cutting your hair

that what they're saying is quite silly. Yeah. You just have to... You can't be like, no, you moron. It's like when the taxi driver starts being racist,

you just have to try and, you know... Smile and nod. Well, just try and give them so little that they pick up on the fact that you don't share these views. But you can't be like, look, mate,

shut up. And then as soon as... Especially when I'm on my own, I just get intimidated, so I just sort of get, mm-hmm. But as soon as they drop you off and you've got,

you're already half out the door, you're just like, your ideas are fucked, and what you're saying is incorrect Oh, left my phone on the back seat. Come back. Ah, he's gone. Yeah. Look, what I try and do is have an open dialogue with the driver.

Yeah, but you would because you're... You're old. Yes. You're of that age. More self-confident. Yeah. We're young and naive. I mean, I'm about to die. I've got nothing to lose. Yeah, what's he going to do? Hitting old man?

Yeah, I don't think so. Come on, mate. I can't go to jail, man. I just can't. I can't. I can't get a jail. I won't. Not again. I won't.

You know what? You know something that racist cab drivers are not into? What's that? Assaulting old white men. That's the last thing they want to do. They're not into it. They're all about the old white men and what they believe in. Yeah, true.

So, but what about a young white man such as myself? I don't know. Not about them. Is that a grey area? You're a grey area, yeah. Thank you. Much like Matt's grey area. His entire pubic region, which is as grey as...

Gandal? I'm a silver fox. In the pubic region. Just in the pubes, which is weird. I call my dick the silver fox. Also weird that we know that. I know it's great. We're very close on this podcast.

It's very hot. It's very hot. And we are very free and naked. We're very naked. Matt, do you dye your beard? My dick beard, yeah. You die it gray. You got started it.

You die your dick beard gray. Yeah, haven't you seen that new product? It's like a silver. It's silver spray paint. Is that new? That's actually been out. for a while. Man, I think that's quite tough.

It's relatively new to me. You should not be spraying out on here. My dick looks like the tin man. If I only had a hard, he often sings. If I only had a hard. Hard, yeah. If I only could get hard. You know?

That's a feel good movie. Oh, that was a weird way to start. You guys took it there. Yeah, I did. I regret it. I'm sorry. So you should. Lesson learned.

Thank you for teaching me that important lesson. I regret nothing. except not telling the taxi driver that he was wrong. Yeah, sure. And for not telling that woman she was an idiot for thinking all Mondays are hot. No, I just felt a bit sorry for her to be honest that she was thinking. You know how Mondays are really hot? No, that's not a thing.

And it's always cool. You know, like, no, what? This is how the conversation would have gone if you said, not, that's not really how it works. No, but you know what I mean. That's what would have happened next to it. Instead, I said, mm-hmm, and then I went home and I tweeted about it. Like, she was an idiot and I got a couple, like two favorites,

and I felt great. Two favorites. That's pretty good. changing the world. Cop that hair dress. Copy that. She probably doesn't have Twitter because she probably has a life outside of her.

No, she doesn't have. The weather app, because she doesn't need it because it's always hot on Mondays and it's always cold and thirsty. And what about the days in between? How do you know? Do I need a jacket? I wear something with sleeves?

Yes. Do I need to shave my armpits? What I like to do is wear clothes that are all zippable so you can zip down as much as you want. So you've got zip every inch of your sleeve and pant. You got cargo clothes. Yeah, yeah. But they're all button off like basketball as well.

You just rip them. So I just rip off layers as I need to. That's great. It's very efficient. It is in a lot of ways. Yeah. But it takes me hours the address in the morning. You've got to pin them all back together.

And there was a malfunction one day at the podcast, and that's how we know about your great dick feed. Silver fox. Yeah. Tin man dick. And on that note, Jess, shall we ask you what topic you will be reporting on today, or what question you'll use to get us into it? Well, I'd like to mention firstly that this is a golden hat suggestion.

I won't say who from. Golden Pube. Golden Pube suggestion. Beautiful. Okay, so for some of our Patreon listeners who donate over a certain amount, they get to put, their suggestions get put into a special hat. I like it. It sort of seems like we're being vague about it, but Jess and I just don't fully know.

Dave is much more on top of those. Also, no, actually, I know it's over 25. Oh. But... It's the Shineberg Club. It's the Shineberg Club, isn't it? There's only 10 people in the club, and I can suggest topics that we have to do a report on. But Matthew, because I, for a number of factors,

I don't like to mention dollar amounts because it's like it's putting them above everybody else, and that's not fair because we're all one big happy family. I see what you're saying. Yeah, no, I agree. Everyone's equal in this. But these guys are superior. Yeah. Superially equal.

So this is a suggestion for the dollar and that. Seinberg, a group on that level. What did I say? Sineberg. Sondberg. Oh, boy. There's 10 Macs in there, right? Someone left it not too long ago and was replaced almost instantly.

I love it. I love that. Did someone have like an alert on it? Yeah. Can you have an alert? I don't think so. Bang in there. They took that 10th low.

Like they happened to look and was just like, it's my time to shine. So funny. I loved it. It's my time to shine. Oh, very good. Very good indeed. So my question to you is, who is the voodoo queen of New Orleans? Oh, I saw this topic.

This is by Max sent this in. Yeah, very good. I have never, I don't know what that means at all, but it was in his message. And I can't remember, it was a lady. It's a lady. It was a queen. Dave, have you ever heard of the voodoo queen? The Elizabeth II?

Yes. Is that right? No. No, I haven't actually never heard of the voodoo queen of New Orleans. Yeah, it's kind of fun to say. One of those things that is such a good name, we've talked about this a lot on the show how a good name can go a long way. Oh, absolutely.

Absolutely. Well, I will tell you then, because this is suggested by Max, who is a long-time listener and friend of ours. Hello, Max. Hello, Max. And was a nice suggestion as a belated birthday gift to Max's boyfriend Jake, who also tweets to us quite a bit Jake Sullivan, hello Jake

This is so good This is so good We're sorry that I think of birthday sort of early January And we're I love the idea of this Is a birthday present

Yeah, so good Because didn't Jake get Max on to Do Go on? That's nice I like that I like when I hear Or when people let us know

That like they listen to it With friends Or with their partners Or something I think that's really fun Like we had an email Of this couple Who will like

Sit and have dinner Together and listen to the podcast And it's kind of like We're having dinner with them It's really nice God, they must have like an eight-course meal sometimes on the show goes to two hours. Sorry. Maybe it's like a week's worth of dinners.

Oh, wow. Because we do talk for a long time. And we're sorry about that, but also not sorry. We're sitting in a really hot studio to do it, so you're welcome. I've really turned there. Well, what do you often do? I don't know if I've said this before, but my personal favorite podcast are longer ones anyway. So that's why I sort of get it.

And we did put it out of the people once. Yeah, what do you want? Almost unanimously voted for longer. Yeah. Well, not two hours like bloody Ernie. They did say an hour and a half plus. So it counts two hours. Yeah, two hours is an hour and a half plus.

Yeah, there was no voting for two plus hours. But anyway, shall I tell you a little bit about the voodoo queen of New Orleans? Yes, please. Do you say New Orleans or New Orleans? I would say New Orleans and this because it runs with the queen and sounds awesome. Exactly. And also, I think that's just our accent. I believe that over there, they're more likely to say New Orleans.

Or Nola. I heard Nola a bit when I was there. I don't know if that was locals or... Nola. New Orleans, Louisiana. Oh, cool. That's just like some... I like that is...

I like that is... Super cool. And I feel like I'm part of some sort of cool club now that I know that. Well, that's it. We don't really have nicknames for any of our states. Tazzy, maybe. Tasmania we'd call Tazzy. Apart from that, we don't really nickname anything.

Vicky. We've never said Vicky. People have got... Like, the people that come from states have nicknames. Like banana benders, I think is Queenslanders. Yeah, that's a banana benders. I've never heard that. Sandgropers.

Western Australians? Sand gropers. Croaters are South Australians. That makes sense, I guess. We get called Mexicans. Is that our thing? Yeah, that's a weird... Queenslanders will often call us Mexicans.

Queensland is called... Because we're South Wales. South of the border. But that makes them... I never got it. It's like, so you think of yourself as the United States? Why?

That would be Queensland, Canada. No, no, it's the... I reckon it's the dumb... And it's meant to be like... It's also meant to be like a put-down. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, you're Mexican.

Like, no, yeah, I live in Victoria. It doesn't make, it's the weird, I don't get it at all. Someone about Queensland, we've got some Queensland listeners. I wonder if this is true, but it seems like they're more influenced by America than other places. So remember we've got like, they've got Hollywood on the Gold Coast. Oh, yeah. Which is an American thing. Oh.

And then they've got, like, I think they've got towns called stuff like Palm Springs and other sort of like Miami. There's Miami in. Whereas I think Victorian things seem to be more named up like Brighton and Richmond. Although everywhere's got a fucking Richmond. Anyway, this is such a tedious sidetrack. Just about an Australian city is that Perth is the most isolated capital city. In the world. Did you learn that from a tweet I sent out recently?

No, I learned that from my friend who's from Perth. Oh, that's interesting. I tweeted that last week. Oh, there you go. I learned that from a fifth. factory video that was filmed in Perth and...

Most isolated capital city. I had a Fear Factory reference that in a music video. The status is Perth, the most isolated capital city in the world or something like that or it was, I saw the making of because I bought that album. Anyway,

that doesn't matter. Any Fear Factory fans out there? No one's answering back. No one in here. No one in here, that's for sure. That's for sure. Good band. It's a cool name, I must admit.

So, yeah, well, I'll say New Orleans. and I want to apologise from the top that if I pronounce anything incorrectly obviously there's a lot of French. You'd have to call her the Quinn of New Orleans to make it wrong. I love the rhyme. Queen of New Orleans.

Yeah, that's good. The New Orleans Quinn. Quinn. Tasmania's also known as the apple aisle, I just remember. Apple Isle. Why? Because it was like an apple? That's a big apple place. They grow a lot apples there. Also, it looks a bit like an apple.

Yeah, I like that as a nickname. Apple Isle. Apple Is cute. For a while, Victoria was known as the... garden state, which is a rip-off an American state, I'm pretty sure. And Western Australia has also been known as the Golden State, which is the same as California. So I think Australia does do that. I mean, America is the center of the world, so it kind of makes sense that we steal references from them all the time. Yeah, that makes sense. Anyway, like my hero, Homer Simpson always says,

do go on. So yeah, I may get some French wrong and I'm sorry, and Max, I really hope I do this. justice for you because I'll be honest I was researching this with a migraine and... Look, Jessie, if you don't know how to say it, just saying bo-bon. Bo-bon. Exactly perfect.

So, you do it. So, known as the voodoo queen of New Orleans. This was a title, Marie Levoe. So good. Beautiful, beautiful name. Not only earned, but to this day has not relinquished.

She is still considered the voodoo queen of New Orleans. In fact, the crypt where she's buried, Spoiler, she did. The McRip where she's buried in St. Louis Cemetery. Oh shit. I've visited her grave. Have you?

Yeah. Have you really? And you didn't remember? Yeah, that's so bad. I'm the worst traveller. You're the worst traveller ever. You don't go to the rock. Hang on.

I did, but I went to this one. Hang on you just remembered. Alcatraz. He didn't go to the Van Gogh Museum, but you went to this lady's grave and didn't remember her name when we said it. Or that she existed at all. So tell me about the journey. Sorry.

Yeah, tell me about your... Yeah, tell us about it. Tell us about your trip. I was just, it's the kind of thing... In fact, you just did the report. A lot of my traveling, right, is... It's day by day. I don't plan it out.

Is drinking related? Well, some... Yeah, often, but... What's her crypto bar? And New Orleans is pretty good for that sort of stuff. But it, you know, it's where I'm saying, especially I'm traveling... I was there with one of a friend, another Matt.

And we, you know, we'd get up and you'd meet people with the hostel, and just go at the flow with what they were doing or whatever. So, people were going there that day. You're a sheep travel. Basically a sheep. So basically you're like a guy. The flow guy. Sure.

As long as that flow is on tap. Yeah. That's great. Yeah. We're on Alcatraz. Is there a pub? Is there a pub? I'm probably going to be at the pub.

See you after. See you. See you. Honestly, if someone said that day, let's go to Alcatraz, I'm at that may be the reason why I'd go to place. Which is not the best way to travel. You should probably have some plan. I like the idea of going with the flow. maybe I'm too committed to that, and it means I don't, I miss things that maybe I should see.

But I still have no regrets. San Francisco was such a good time, and I didn't see anything. Great. But I saw some great pubs, had some great food, and saw some really good bars as well. Well, did you know that you... Saw the seals. You inadvertently visited what is believed to be the most haunted cemetery in America. Yeah, I think someone probably mentioned that at that day.

So you went there, and it wasn't... It was daytime. Memorable if you remember her right now? It was a cool, it was a cool, it was a cool grave. There was, I can't, I can't really, I can't. Hers was either, like, very small. No, it was either really big or really small. It's pretty big.

I will talk about it. Was anyone else famous in there? I don't know, possibly. Probably. I didn't do a report on the cemetery. I did a report on Marie LeVoevote. I'm so sorry to Jake. And Max.

Say sorry to Max. I mean, Max. Say sorry to Max. Max. this to Jake, but sorry to you as well, Max. You fucked his gift. You fucked it.

I'm just, I'm two sentences in, you fucked it. You're all right, mate. I'm pretty excited for this before. It's pretty interesting. So visitors of the cemetery claim to have seen the ghost of the voodoo queen herself inside the cemetery, walking around tombs in her trademark turban

while whispering a santeria voodoo curse to disrespectful gawkers. If you visit her grave, you'll notice that people still leave offerings There's candles, flowers, voodoo dolls, all in the hope that she will bestow her supernatural blessings. When people make a wish at her tomb, they return if their wish comes true

and leave three X marks as a sign of their gratitude. Do you remember that at all? Because it's like a big white, like, plaster tomb, and there'll just be like red X's. Oh, over it, threes. What did you wish for? I don't practice Santa, I ain't got no crystal ball.

If I had a million dollars, I'd spend them all. Et cetera. As the Great Sublime once said. It's one of my favorite songs. So I lost you at Santoria, didn't I? Like you just didn't hear the rest of it. Yeah. Cool.

That song just started to kick around. Do you remember there being any red cross marks on this grave that you... I remember walking around. Were you day drunk? No, not necessarily. Probably? Probably not. I was probably more likely hung over.

Did someone leave her an offering of a bottle of vodka and you just thought you'd drink it? That's why you're cursed now. I mean, I went to it. I definitely went to a cemetery there and people were saying there's a famous person here and we should all look at it. It was a cemetery. I was semi-creped out. It was the 70s. I've started to get it after that trip.

But at that stage, I was like, I don't really like. walking around cemeteries you know I did it just to have done it and then I think it's something you start to do at your age like my parents I have I have when I went to Edinburgh I went I went out to towns that my ancestors lived in the Stuarts they've done went around this tiny village cemetery and it was just packed out with Stuarts wow yeah so that kind of stuff I find interesting but now yeah but now I would probably maybe it is definitely an older person thing now that I'm a retiree when I was Now that I'm on a grey nomad, I'm starting to get into that.

Because I guess, you know, I'm going to be there. When you're surviving pension to pension, you need free activities. Yeah, you got it. The grey, you know, cemeteries are free. And plus, you might see some of your friends. Exactly. Yeah, it's good to visit. On the way in or the way out.

Hey, okay. So little is known with certainty about the life of Marie Catherine Levo. As for the date of her birth, popular sources often say 1794, but the records actually indicate 1890s. So let's just say 1801, but possibly a little bit before that. Okay. She was a free woman of colour, and she was born in New Orleans on September 10, 1801, we're going to say. She was the illegitimate daughter of a free man of color and a Creole mother,

and historians believe that Marie's mother and grandmother were both voodoo practitioners. This is all kind of, like, it's all a little bit disputed. She seems to be this kind of like mythical, not mythical, but, you know, like a bit of a legend. So, cool. Total legend. What a ledge. In 1819, at the ripe young age of 18, Levo married Jacques Paris, Jack Paris. What's your name?

Jack Paris. I'm going to call you Jacques Paris. I'm going to call him Jack Paris for the rest of this. So she married, so she's on the young. She's 18, she's married to Jack Paris. She has two children, both of which are believed to have died young. Now, her husband also passed away under mysterious circumstances. Suspicious? Is that what you're implying?

Mysterious is what I said. You can read into that whatever you would like. I'm reading suspicious. Mysterious. But the time she was in her 20s, she was known around town as the widow Paris. And this name would also be etched onto her tomb, which, as we sort of mentioned before, is quite a popular tourist attraction. There's a little bit of speculation as to what her sort of jobs were. The only evidence that exists of any sort of occupation was that she was a liquor importer. But others, there's sort of a few different jobs. At some stage, people said she ran a brothel.

But then others say that brothel wasn't a brothel. It was actually a house where unmarried, pregnant women could come and, like, have their kids. They're very different. And have their kids in, like, a safe place. And then Marie would help them, like, put their kids up for adoption and stuff. So it was a bit strange. Did you pay your respects, Matt, because she was a famous liquor importer? Yeah, that would be good.

Cheers to you. This is my kind of lady. After the deck of Jack, folklore says Marie... He said deck. Did I? After the deck of Jack. Sorry.

That's the whole deck of cards. Remember the time I said I cried at my brother's funeral? You're both like, what? And I meant wedding. In a way, same thing. I'm alright. His life's 40 hours ago. After the death of Jack,

folklore says Marie became a hairdresser, and most of her clients were wealthy. white socialites, which allowed her to be privy to the myriad of rumours and gossip that floated around the French quarter. She could also suddenly predict the weather with great accuracy. She was like, how weird a hot Monday. Monday, Thursday's always cool. Always, chilling.

Always, without a doubt. So she got the hot goss, though. She's got literally, uh, get it like a hot weather, anyway. Yeah, let me just tell you my hot takes on hot Mondays. So this means that, because she's like a, hairdress and everybody chats to their hairdresser. Women in particular, you'll chat for hours. Sexist. Is that true? Oh yeah, oh my god, yes.

My sister-in-law is like one of the chattyest people. Okay, so that's a sister-in-law, but like, she's a hairdresser. She's a head-dress. All women. Oh, no, but I mean like... But is it just small... Is it just small talk that's just stretched over two, possibly three hours? Yeah, but it's quite... Oh, I'm not saying like, okay, and tell me about your first marriage.

Like, it's not quite deep and meaningful, but it's like, you talk a lot. I quite like, I find them relaxing when I get them done. I kind of like the no-chat hairdresser. Well, would you go to, like, a barber? But I do go to my friend of barber, and we definitely do chat. So there you go. I'm a bit annoyed that since I... Do you still get kids' rates?

I fucking wish. You're looking at a $50 haircut, and it wasn't even that good. Mate, don't talk to us. That haircut. Yeah, I'm sorry. That's at least a $50 haircut. Thanks, mate. Oh, okay, that turned.

You know how they're always so talking, they want to talk about something? since I actually got my first ever, like, proper job, I can actually, you know, you used to be like, yeah, you'd have to explain that I did trivia nights or that I wrote trivia questions, but now I could be like, yeah, work at a TV show, like something cool to say, no one's asked me.

No one's asked me. I find that, I reckon I prefer to give the tedious jobs. Yeah, I never say I do comedy. That's what I mean. I would never say comedy. No, I never say comedy. But if you say, oh, we can, you know, TV perhaps, I'm using a segment.

That's only going to lead to so many more questions. I like, I miss being able to say. It goes somewhere. That's what I mean you can kill. My haircuts quite quick, but still, I got something to kill for 20 minutes. But I used to be like, yeah, write trivia questions. We're like, oh, cool. I like to flip it.

Go, well, what do you do? Oh, very good. And then, yeah, depending on what it is, then we just chat about them for a bit. That's great. Talk about them. So this is obviously just your hobby. What do you really do? Yeah, what's your passion?

What do you really want to do? This is obviously just for now. and they're like, oh, I've been a hairdress for 15 years. Obviously, this isn't a career. I mean, nobody would do this. No, I reckon hair cut. I'm a great passion. If that's what you want to do, that's a sick idea.

That's a great skill. You got, there's creativity and using scissors. Practical skills. And it's basically... It's a trade. There's hair on your head, hair on your face. Are we just justifying the existence of hairdress? Because I don't think anybody had a problem with them.

No, no, I reckon I'm going to let them live. Good for you. Live and let live. me or good for hairdressers? Hey, a bit of column, a bit of columbet. Good hairdressers everywhere. But I will say that they all seem to win awards. You drive past every hairdresser.

It's like, hairdresser of the year, 2016. Yeah, bakeries. Bakery or best vanilla slush. They're always the best vanilla slice. Gold medalist, silver medalist. Oh, man. Who's getting the fucking bronze medal? No one.

Yeah, well, they're not advertising, that's for sure. Anyway, can I go on? Sorry, we just had to take down hairdressers and then bake it. I thought we were building them up. Anyway, because she's... So many good bakeries out there. Because she's a hairdresserer. to all the wealthy socialites,

she gets access to a wealth of information. From both the elite women she serviced, service is a weird word, to their servants and slaves, she was able then to convince people that she was a voodoo priestess with mystical powers. Ooh. Right, so she'd be like,

yeah, so how are things going in your love life? Also, I've got magical powers. Yeah, she just dropped it into conversation. Hey, you know, around this time, uh, John Wurke's Booth Dad came over to, from England. and became the biggest actor in America. I wonder if they saw each other.

Definitely. These two things are from the same universe. There's no information to prove otherwise, so we can assume, yes. I reckon he cut it, she cut his hair. Oh my God. Big time. And then she made him a big actor. There was something in it for her.

With her powers. There always is. She then entered, she basically, she got into a relationship. They call it a common law marriage, which is very cute. This guy's name was, oh man, it's long. Lewis, Christoph, Dominique, Dominique de Glapion. Bet she did not take that name When you said long

You can't have made it sound like it was going to be long That's a bit disappointing Jess I'm so sorry that one two three four Four names wasn't enough They apparently had seven children together Unfortunately only two of her children survived past childhood In all it's believed that Marie actually gave birth to about 15 children Which is a bit strange

And only I think only one Survived to adulthood I don't know what I don't know I don't have any information on The odds aren't very good there what happened with the kids, but yeah, her daughter plays a pretty big role later in the story. A bit of fun for you.

Now, of Lavo's magical career, there's a little bit that can be sustained, sort of like what I said at the start. Like, there's kind of speculation or there's different accounts of the story. So we're still talking about a hairdresser as a magical career or her career of magic. Her career of magic. Right. Her magical haircuting career. Hey, what are you saying? That hairdresser can't have magical career?

No, I just wasn't sure what we were talking about. You have got some weird issues with hairdressers. I'm happy. Just because she said Mondays were hot, just once. When you say magical career, she started doing it as a job. Like, as entertainment or as to help people? Not magic, like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. No, I know, but yeah, that's what I'm wondering.

As a career, so people come to her and she helps them with her magic. Yes, correct. And she calls it magic? Or is voodoo and magic similar? Well, no, voodoo is. actually like, religion,

isn't it? But it's a combination of like African rituals and like Catholicism. Right. It's actually not like

you know, witchcraft and witch doctors and stuff like that like it's kind of perceived I think in film and stuff. It's just, yeah, kind of ritualistic

and spiritual. Right. And generally like quite well-meat, it's well-meaning. It's not nasty. It's not like voodoo dolls sticking pins in voodoo dolls. It's positive.

Yeah. So, you know, healing illness and stuff like that, for example. Like witch doctors. Which doctors? No, but that's not. No, but it is. I guess it is.

It's sort of that kind of thing. But I didn't realize witch doctors, I didn't think that would, that was negative. I don't know. I shouldn't talk about things I don't understand, but which, which hairdressers? Yeah, it's a witch hairdresser. Yep. So there's like, there's a bit of speculation, things that, there's these common themes or common stories about her that they can't necessarily say for sure, but like one of them

is that she had a snake. that she named zombie after an African god and she's had the snake with her all the time just a snake around her neck God, that'd make it really hard to cut hair It would make it hard Um Zombie is a sweet name for a snake

Zombies a great name for a snake One of the other things is like Whether her sort of powers for one of a better word Were supported by a network of informants She developed while working as a hairdresser So rather than her actually, you know Being intuitive Maybe it's that she had informants telling her things

Oh so she was sort of a foreworderous a fortune teller? Ah, I wouldn't put it like that, but they just, uh, maybe I guess, or just all knowing,

you know, voodoo priestess, you know what they're like. I know what they're like. I know what they're like. To be honest, I don't, but I'm starting to get some idea

because you're telling me what they're like. Are you? I'm in the same camp. Yes. Um, it's hard to find solid evidence because there's so much

that's unknown about here, partly of course, because it was a long time ago, but also partly because there was mystery and intrigue around her life at the time anyway. I found a couple of stories that a guy called James Duvalier has written up. He's an author, spiritual counsellor and paranormal researcher. So he feels like a person much more qualified to tell these stories than me. I wish you get him in.

We should get him in. Is he still alive? I've got him on the phone. Yeah, I think so, yeah. This is only written kind of recently. Actually, even if he is dead, we could talk to him from beyond the grave, because I'm sure he's worked out how. He'd know how. But I've got a couple of stories here.

here that he's kind of written down that are kind of well-known ones about her. Would you like to hear those stories? Oh, sorry, Jess. I would. That's too. You and me? Okay, yeah, I want to hear it. He's turned Matt's headphones off. Well, I mean, we didn't get Jess's answer.

I say yes. Okay. Thank goodness. Look, I'm willing to be outvoted on this. I mean, you generally zone out anyway. I'm going to go with a popular vote. Just have a little... Unlike the election in America.

Am I right? Whoa, what a topical reference. What is this Brexit all over again, my mind? The people don't know what they want. I don't know. Okay, so sometime in the late 1830s, the son of a respected New York businessman committed the brutal crime

of raping and murdering a local Creole girl who he'd met at a ball. It was like a big gala affair where upper-class gentlemen would go to meet young women and take them as a mistress, you know, on these classy events. And he took her up to his hotel suite and did some terrible things,

and she died quite nastily. And this caused a massive scandal and sent waves of raids throughout the entire city. And people all through New Orleans just wanted to see this guy hanged. Like they were furious. Fair enough. The father of the accused man had heard of Marie's reputation as the feared and respected voodoo queen. And more importantly, as a manipulator of men, and he knew that if anybody in the city could save his son, it was Marie LeVoe. So Marie met with the worried businessman in her elegant apartment.

and over tea she listens to his pleas and agreed to help win his son's case and assured that he would go free. But on the condition that once his son was declared innocent, he would sign over to her the deed to a Creole cottage that he owned on the Rue St. Anne, one of his many properties throughout the city. Hang on, sorry, we're just going to stop me right there. So she's agreed to get a definite murderer off in exchange for a house. Correct.

What a piece of work! Yeah, that doesn't sound good. No, but it's like benefits her. she'll get a house. Yeah, yeah, but saying, but some reason I was thinking that she was going to be a good person. Me too. I thought she was going to somehow track this guy down

and using her powers and then they'll lock him up. Well, how, like, the story's not over, boys. Why are we jumping to some conclusions? Because we love to do that on the show. Yeah, so shut up. Okay, we'll try that. Interesting take. Not really understanding what you're saying.

Hmm, just settle down. Just settle down. Okay. All right, Matt and I were ready to turn on there, went, I was. Oh, I already have. Great. Just settle.

Turn back. Turn back time. The businessman, agreed, and the deal was struck. In the meantime, several onlookers had gathered below the balcony of Levo's townhouse and observed firsthand this historic meeting. And within minutes, the city was a buzz with gossip about Marie's involvement with the already sensationalised case. Later that same day, Marie left her home and walked with her pet snake zombie resting on her

shoulders. She's walking through the town. Zombie, everyone knew, was her animal familialized. Do you know how witches have familiars, like an animal companion? Yeah. That helps them with their magic. Ah, I didn't realize. You know, for example, on the Mighty Bush.

Have you seen the Mighty Bush? Yeah. There's, I can't remember any of their names anymore. Bolo is, um... The gorilla. He's the familiar of Naboo, who was a shaman. Yes. And in...

I never realized he was his familiar. I guess the monkeys... But he's a terrible familiar. That's the joke. Yeah, yeah. The witch of the, in Wizard of Oz. Yeah, she had those monkeys. Is that what that is?

I guess, maybe. Pirates have parrots. That's not familiar. You're just talking about characters that have animals. The lion tamer? No, that's not a familiar. My mom has a dog. Yeah.

Is this the sort of... You've got a cat. Yeah? That's your familiar. Well, there's a cat in my house. I wouldn't say I got no cat. Ah, good on the cat. Poor cat.

Good on him. Good on her. Thank you, Dave. Come on, mate. It's 2017. Cats can be women. Mrs. Chippy. Mrs. Chippy all over again.

That's a call maker. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Have you seen that at all? Yeah. Monkey was a woman. Women can be anything. It's great. So, Marie's walking along with her snake around her shoulders because she's just a cool dude.

So everybody's seen that, and they know that the snake is her familiar. So they assume that she's about to go undertake a spiritual working. Ooh. But doesn't the snake go everywhere? I constantly think she's about to do something, but she's just going for a walk. Obviously not. Maybe she leaves the house without zombie sometimes.

But when she's cutting hair... Zombies there. They're all spiritual... Yeah, it's a spiritual thing. It's real too working. So she makes her way through the city, and she enters the St. Louis Cathedral. She knelt at the front altar and began to pray,

all the while with zombie curled tightly around her neck and shoulders. She pleaded to her saints, spirits and almighty God to help sway the trial to the young man's, favour and forgive him the ghastly crime he had committed. Then she placed three guinea peppers under her tongue and asked God to let the searing pain that she endured serve as penance for his crimes to let her bear the punishment. That'd have to be some pretty hot peppers, I reckon. And she got three of them.

And then she went and told someone about this? How do we know that? Matt. I'm just curious. It's just an interesting thing. And then she's at the hairdress again. She's cutting her down. Anyway, so I put a few burning peppers.

A couple of them are then. That's the only way God works. It's the way he listens. An eye for an eye, a pepper for a pepper. Yeah. He gets it. Very similar to the brutal rape and murder of an 18-year-old. You either hang him or put three peppers in his mouth, make him close his mouth for at least three minutes.

Same, same. Give him some milk. We're all done. Lesson learned. Lesson learned. Penance. He's a good boy. He's a good boy, and he's fixed. So she stays in the church for hours and she's praying,

and her mouth is on fire and her tears are rolling down her face. Like, they're hot. How hot? Hot. Like a habanero? Yes. Jesus. Habanero!

Habanero! Thank God, have mercy on her soul. At the end of the day, she returned home, but not before making a surprise visit to the courthouse. To the milk bar. She did a drop in. Unbeknownst 21, she entered the courtroom, removed the guinea peppers from her mouth,

and placed one under the judge's bench, one in the jury box, and the third under the seat of the accused, where the businessman's son was to sit. There's no security, I imagine. No security. Back then, it's the 1830s, mate. It was like last week we were talking about the White House.

People just walk in and out. Just walk in. What are you doing? I'm just putting your pepper under the president's pillow. Carry on. Carry on. Check's out. The next day, while court was in session,

the doors swung open and Marie entered the courtroom with zombie in tow, resting happily around her neck. The crowd mumbled and whispered as she made her way to the front row and took a seat. From the court, was that you being... Yeah. Momom... I don't know what I'm worried or something about peppers Oh, that snake is weird

Oh God, get it out I'm scared of snakes, what the fuck? It's looking at me That's my hairdresser, why she here? So basically, from the comments of the judge And the half-hearted fight put up by the prosecution It was evident that the trial had swung in favour of the accused What, the half-hacked?

By the end of the day, both the defence in the state of Louisiana had rested their cases And the jury returned with the verdict of not guilty What the fuck? True to his word, the Yankee businessman right there in the courtroom, signed over his property on Rue St. Anne, and it became Marie's home until her death in 1881. The house was demolished in 1913,

but native New Orleans know the story of the ivy-covered mansion that once stood on the vacant lot, and how its infamous resident came to be the proprietress. So people know that story, that she, like, helped. So when you said the story wasn't over, it was over. I just didn't want you to jump to it. I was thinking, it's fine, she's going to shove it. pepper down his throat or something. No, because when I was reading it

and she goes to the courthouse and, like, puts them there I was like, it's going to, like, they're going to sit on the peppers, it's going to burn their assholes. I was like, yeah, that'll get them. Including the judge. That'll get them. Yeah, it was weird. The judge's assholes on fire, so he was like, we're going to get out of here. Guilty, kill him. I'm going to put some yogurt on my ass.

Got to go wipe my ass with yogurt. No, I just wanted you to feel the way I felt when I was reading it. And I was like, oh my God, it's just doing something. Oh, no, she's just going to free house. So she's really a bad person. No, she's not a bad person. We're all complex characters, Dave. If you believe that she had any effect, which I personally do not.

But she got a free house, that's... Yeah, no, that's a... For some reason I was thinking she was going to be the hero of this series, and it's kind of a bit disappointed she's sort of profiting from crime, almost. Yeah, no, but that was just one story, you know, one story in a... In a... In a life. In a life, what?

You've never done anything bad? I've never got a rapist and a murderer off. And if I did... I probably should be punished forever. But she didn't necessarily, as you said before, maybe she had nothing to do with it. Maybe all she did was got a free house out of it. I agree with Matt.

She did profit from it though. Yeah. She got the house. And she, you know, maybe back then people believed in more superstitious stuff. So maybe just the confidence, the placebo effect. Maybe. I don't know if that's anything. I mean, the jury didn't know.

There's a lot of hypothesizing, isn't it? The lawyer's like, oh, we got this. So he, uh, lawyered way better. It's similar to Looney Tunes. where Michael Jordan gave the Tune team Michael's juice, what was it called? Michael's special stuff. Oh yeah, and it was just water.

But they played and they beat the aliens. The real special stuff was in here. Yeah, all along. That's beautiful. Oh, Michael Jordan's great. What a guy. What a guy. There's another story that you might like better.

Yeah, best possible time, I think. Yeah. I just meant as a person really, really, wait. No, as a person and a basketball, he's my hero. Good golfer and not a bad baseballer, too. Hey, what do you got, Dave? Read and weep. At least he can hold a club.

Pardon? At least he can hold a club. You can't hold a club sandwich. No, you can't. You get a toothpick in your eye every time. What the fuck is the toothpick in there? It's holding it all together. Makes sense.

Mine always falls apart. I take it out. You take it out, but then you've got to hold on. Like, you've got to hold on around the toothpick. Take the toothpick out. What hold on somewhere you're thinking? It made me think Tom waits. I don't know

Hold on for one more day There's a lot of hold on songs That's a flume song Called on Your one was the best What was that one you said That's Wilson Phillips Wilson Phillips

Who adored as a famous Musicians or something Or I'm always strange Why do you lock yourself up In these chains These chains I can't think of my hold on song

I do go on. That's up to dimple-da. Remember from the tames. Anyway. So, another legend, popularly told in the popularly, it's hard word,

told in the voodoo community occurred about 20 years after the court case incident and beautifully shows the compassionate nature of Marie Louvo. All right, here comes. She's going to get the murderer back.

I can feel it. She's going to win us back. Especially towards individuals who were reviled and spat upon by society. So, Levovovo was a staunch opponent of the death penalty,

public execution in particular, and she often used her influence to spare convicted criminals from going to the gallows. In exchange for a free house? No free houses, this time. One notable case occurred in the summer of 1854 when a convicted thief and murderer was scheduled to be hanged in Congo Square,

the city central square. It was common knowledge and Marie had spoken out against this particular execution and that she tried to exercise her influence with the court magistrate to get the accused sentence commuted. In exchange for one free house, I will commute these sentences. There was no houses.

That's why he's going to die. But to no avail, so she was failure, and she failed in that. And her failure to win over the judges caused rumours to circulate about her waning influence. And this angered her as almost as much as the practice of public execution itself. She's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. My reputation is very important.

Okay. She got so mad she publicly murdered some people. The day of the execution was warm and bright and hundreds gathered under the cloudless skies to witness the event at Congo Square. The black-coord executioner read the death sentence and securely tightened the noose around the condemned man's neck. As he was getting ready to pull the lever and send the man to his death,

Marie arrived at Congo Square with her ever-present snake zombie. The crowd parted to make way for her and as she sort of approached and she looked up at the executioner and the condemned, and her face was stern with anger. And the crowd was completely silent. As she stood there, the once clear sky filled with clouds and a violent wind beat down on all of those presents.

So it got like dark and stormy. Okay. A dark and stormy. She ordered drinks for everybody. What was the weather like before we started this episode? Oh my God. We just had to have a little break because we wanted what the noise was. We came into the studio.

It was hot and clear skies. We just had a quick break because there was a noise. We went out, and it is storming outside. Like crazy. There's a bit of a flood in the driveway. Yeah, I'm not sure we can get our cars out. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, no, because we were just talking about how she was a bit of a bad person

for getting that murder off. Yeah, that's exactly when we had to stop. Oh, no. Oh, shit, it was too. The Ferris curse. Now we've got the voodoo curse, too. Oh, no, two curses are not better than one. Wow.

One of my favorite beers is the voodoo porter made by two brothers in Marabin. That's not. Is that enough? No, I did the case. it is. The voodoo people, a great song by the prodigy. I'll start practicing Sanderia.

I will get a crystal ball. You will get a million dollars. And I won't spend it all. I'll buy an old house or whatever. To get a house, you just have to get a murder and rape or stuff. Can I not do it that way? Also, the snake is...

Just saying get him off too. It's weird. The snake is still alive. It's still alive. How long does snakes live? 20 years later? That's amazing, isn't that? Yeah, wow.

I mean, it's a voodoo snake. Oh, actually. Pardon me. She's probably still alive. And also, like, there's comments as well, And I think I mentioned them later as well, but, like, she, like, doesn't age. People are actually, even into her old age, she is, like, she looks great and very young and doesn't age. Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. Which is probably just genetics. A little bit freaked out. No. Could be, but also, they all, like, the. Snake Venom. The stories that she was born in the late 1700s, but the reality. So they're sort of, everyone thinks she's 10 years older than she is as well.

That's true. Yeah. You never know. Or in 70s or whatever. There's actually another thing that may explain it as well. Which I'll talk about later. But for now... So it's storming up around the gallows.

Yes. Storming up, a storm. Okay. Okay. So the executioner who is just doing his job, he pulls a lever to send... Yeah, that's not all murderers to fucking say. Send the condemned man,

hurdling towards the ground. Very dramatic telling this story. Just then, the noose came undone, and the rope slipped over his head, and he landed on the ground unharmed. So he's going to land on a horse like that, muse film, but...

Now, according to tradition and law, this miraculous occurrence was considered an act of God, and the criminal sentence is then converted to imprisonment, and he was thus saved from death by hagging. What? So if it doesn't work by noose, that's an act of God. They don't die. They don't die.

That's fascinating. So if your mate is the executioner, he can... Act of God. That's great. Isn't that cool? So after that day, the people is New Orleans... So she only had to really... convinced the execution at her.

Oh, Matt. But it would be pretty hard because if you make it too loose but not loose enough, then you will just strangle and have a horrible, horrible death. Right, yeah, yeah. It's an act of bribery. I didn't say bribery. I thought maybe she put a chili under his arm. Did she bribe the weatherman?

You know what she did? She did the execution on a Thursday when it always gets cool. Yeah, always a cool change on Thursday. She knows, she's a hairdress. She knows how the weather works. She's a meteorologist, slash headdress. Slash fooded priestess After that day, the people of New Orleans

Never again doubted the power and influence of Marie Levo And they took the miraculous escape As a sign of Marie's unparalleled favour In the spirit world It's pretty cool I would have been 100% convinced in 18, whatever Yeah Well, that would have been the 1850s

Yes Because it was 20 years after 1830s That's my math Man, this is such a similar timeline to last week Yeah Yeah, I was thinking about that. So a couple of things. So according to official New Orleans records,

Marie Catherine LeVoe, Paris, Glapion, because she took everybody's name, died on June 15, 1881 at the age of 79. On June 17, so a couple of days later, the New Orleans newspaper posted her obituary, which, according to voodoo in New Orleans by a guy called Robert Talent, announced that Marie Levo had died peacefully in her home. However, oral tradition states that she was seen by some people in town

after her supposed demise. Hang on. So she died, but then was still seen around town. What? But then, one of her daughters also named Marie. Many of her daughters had the name Marie within their names because Catholic naming practices is what it says. I thought only one of her kids survived.

No, that was something out. Well, she had two daughters that survived. beyond early childhood. Only one that survived to adulthood, which is this one, Marie, possibly assumed her position with her name and carried on her magical practice, taking over as the queen soon before

or after the first Marie's death. She's like the phantom. Yeah, the legend of Marie LeVoe is actually two women. It's like her and her daughter. It is like the phantom. I love it. Yeah. Whoa.

And they sort of think that like her daughter was a bit more showy. apparently give the people a real show Storm's ain't enough she's got the hat she's getting the rabbit out she's getting a rabbit out

she's like is this your card and everyone's like what let him go let him go alright if I can get the you know if I can make the ace of clubs

appears this murderer and rapist shall be left off and I shall own all of your houses woo so yeah it's kind of kind of interesting like again

there isn't a whole heap of information I know there's like books and documentaries and stuff made about it. Most of which you've read. All of them, obviously. I mean, I researched these very thoroughly and never when I'm very unwell. But...

We've totally quit our jobs, guys. This is full time. This is what we do now. That's why... Next time the hairdress is, that's what I do for a job. I'm a podcaster. Wow. Yeah, full-time.

I'm a full-time podcast. And very hungry. Very hungry podcaster. I cannot afford to live. I have this haircut for free. Please. And do you have a spare couch. Please.

My house is couch. Do you want to say please? I refuse. Yeah, that's a sign of weakness. A difference between you and I, mate. Man is a sign of weakness. Levo's name and her history have been surrounded by legend and law

throughout history. In 1982, an actual 1988 282, not 1882, Matt, I can read properly. In 1982, the New Jersey-based punk rock group, The Misfits, were arrested and accused of attempting to exhume Levo

from her grave after a local concert. Oh my goodness. That's pretty full. That was like a fun fact that I just threw in there. That's cool. So there's a law against that specifically? What, exhuming the dead? Yeah.

Yeah, I don't think that's an okay thing to do. That's definitely a law. Wait, exhuming as in they try to dig her up. Yeah. Oh, I thought they were standing there saying like a... Oh, no, it wasn't like a seance. No, they probably like tried to... Oh, they were trying to dig her out.

That feels like that should be illegal. Yeah, that, and it is. But if they're going... If they're doing what, Matt? Just like saying, um... Like a chant. With something that they'd read that was not culturally insensitive, probably. Yeah, well, they tried to exhum there from a grave.

I just, I obviously didn't know what Exhum meant. Oh, right, right, right. Exhum just means dig up, does it? Because they've got, um... Misfits are the ones with the, they got the, what do they call that hairstyle? They curl it at the front. Oh, yeah. And it's called a Dreadnought or something like that?

That's a foe, is it not a foe hawk, it's a, um, death hawk. Death hawk. Torque. Treadnought is a, what is that, it's like an army ship or something. Yeah, that's like what, Glenn Danzig's band or whatever. Yeah, Glenn Danzig, so good. What a name. Name.

I'm a rock star from the band The Mistfits. My name's Glenn. Nice to meet you. Glenn. Like we've got to mention before, like tourists continue to visit her grave, her tomb, and some draw an X mark in accordance with a decade, with a, decades-old rumor that if people wanted Levo to grant them a wish, they had to draw an X

on the tomb, turn around three times, knock on the tomb, yell out their wish and if it was granted, come back, circle their X and leave Levoan offering. So it's almost like two different ones. Sometimes I'll do three X's, sometimes you've got to yell it out and knock, look. Sounds like a lot of admin.

Can you buy a woman that has everything that Slash has been dead for 150 years? An X with a circle around it. Yeah, she loves it. I don't know, flowers, a candle. Like an offering. An offering. Maybe some sort of a... I do that for most graves anyway.

Just, you know, keep some of your hair from that haircut. Give her a death hawk. Give her a death hawk. Tick-Tock-Tow, she might enjoy that. She loves that. Like a game or... A game of Tick-Tac-toe. Do you play?

How would she make a move? You just throw it on her tomb. Maybe that's what all she wants. She wants to play it. Tick-T-T-T-T-T-T. I don't think that's it either. Big fan of the X-Files. The only thing I could think of with Norts and Crosses.

The game Norts and crosses. As of The 1st of March in 2015 There is no longer public access To the cemetery Entry is with a tour guide only What So tour guide only

Did you use a tour guide man No you went two years before But I was in, So you just went in with your mates No I just went in with the mates There was, I reckon there was a tour there And I was you know doing that eavesdropping thing Oh I love that

But then they tell you off for it I did an Edinburgh castle And they were like this is for tours only And we're like okay Do they say that We're just standing kind of nearby Go fuck yourself It was very funny.

They can give you looks, but you can't mention it. No, she gives you. I wasn't. I wasn't. I was just happening. I was looking at this thing too. Yeah. It was very funny.

You just got to say, no English. No, ablo englese. Yep. Okay, you don't speak that, but you also don't speak Spanish very well either. So what do you speak? Latin? C. Oh, I should have said that in Latin.

Fuck. Should have said that in Latin. Fuck. At and lay? Should have said that in Latin. Dick Latin. I speak pig Latin. Latin.

I speak Latin. Latin. Big play out in the lame. So there's many, there have been many references to Marie Levo in art, pop culture and music. My favourite song title based on her is, it's quite recent,

it's from a Danish metal band. Volbeat, released an album with the song entitled Marie Levoe, and then in brackets, seal the deal and let's boogie. I was in the last year. I don't think Vol beat are very good. Well, I'll find that song.

Have you heard of Volbeat? I'm heard of Volbeat. I'm trying to remember who told me about him. I looked them up. I don't think I like them. I love that Matt knows Vol Beat. Of course he does. It's a metal band.

Fee Factory, Vol Beat. They're all together. Marie Levoe, seal the deal and let's boogie. That's beautiful. Yeah. Maybe I've got to give them an answer. Whatever's on Spotify. I'd love to hear it.

Yeah, I want to hear that one. We'll find it. I'll find it. This is kind of interesting, and this is a bit of a... This is just a few little things to finish up with. And this kind of ties in nicely with some previous topics. Most prominently in comics, a character named Marie LeVoe, based loosely on the real Marie Levo

appeals in my appeals appears appeals to young gentlemen appears in Marvel Comics she first appeared in Dracula lives number two in 1973 she's depicted as a powerful sorceress and voodoo priestess with great magical powers

and knowledge of arcane law including the creation of a potion made from vampire's blood that keeps her eternally youthful and beautiful They wrote vampires into it She's in Marvel comics Was there any Vampires is like a

That's a very different thing That's a different thing No but you just say it's in Dracula number two And a potion made from vampire blood Yeah it's interesting that they Yeah they wrote her into a story Like in there Well I think they all kind of intersect a little bit

Because they're in a different style Aren't they in Pennsylvania? Vampires Do you think of Transylvania? Transylvania sorry That I always do go to Pennsylvania is a That's where Pittsburgh

I'm thinking of the penguins. You're confusing penguins with vampires here. I do that a lot. The Pittsburgh vampires. He does this every time. The difference is vampires can fly, right? They definitely can. Yes.

Mirror and penguins have reflections. They do. They're the big two differences. They can tell them apart. I don't know. I've ever seen a penguin's reflection. You chuck a penguin and a vampire in a house of mirrors, and that's how you find out which is which.

It's the only way to know. Science has not evolved. It doesn't know yet. There was also a character named Marie LeVoe based loosely on the Marie Levoe, once again, appeared in the Italian comic book Zagor. I have no idea. I have no more information about... Right, so you don't speak English, Spanish or Italian?

Parlo and a po Italiana. Thank you very much. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. There have been several ghostly phenomena associated with Marie's tomb. Each year, countless people who kind of live within the cemetery, like homeless people,

claimed to see her ghost dancing from tomb to tomb and on one occasion a patron of the local drugstore claimed that Marie materialised in front of him and asked if he knew who she was when he responded in the negative she slapped him in the face and levitated out of the drugstore and over the fence towards her grave.

I love that. How cool's that? How dare you? Do you know who I am? It sounds like that he is quite a patron of the drugstore. Yeah. It's their number one customer I'm like oh Gary's back

Gary's back Hey saw a ghost again Gary She fucking slapped me Who slapped you guys There's nobody else here It's 11pm Well I don't know who she is And that's why she's fuck

She's got it again I'm sorry I'm doing my research I'm on Google now Oh Oh fuck That was Gary And sync

Many also claim that Marie Watches over the city In the form of a big black crow If you're over in New Orleans You can be like Oh, that big crow looks awfully menacing. It's also wearing a little turban, like Marie LeVoe do. Yeah, she's menacing.

I guess you just slap that guy. I don't think, like, a huge black crow is going to be a really, like, it's not menacing. Looking over the town, I was thinking like a guardian angel. Well, then if it was, it would be an angel. Going around slapping people. Slaping. She's a crow like draped in a snake. That's amazing.

That's the giveaway. Singing the Pete Paradise, put up parking lot. The black crow. Maybe, now that... Oh, okay, very good. Now that she's a crow. There was that big yellow taxi. Counting crows.

Counting crows. Counting black crows. Counting black crows. They made a supergroup into it. They did not. That would be good, though. Who was in Canada? When she was a crow, though, was she her own favour?

No, what was the... Familiar. Fuck. That would have been a much funnier thing to say if I knew the right word. Familiar. And yes. What's a favour? There's no...

Well, I don't know what a favour is. A favour is a... I bet you don't. You jerk. A favour is something you do for a murderer in exchange for a free house. Yeah, but a familiar is an animal that accompanies you on your magical doings. That you are quite acquainted with. Just to wrap up, in any case, voodoo practitioners know that Marie lives on in the spiritual form

and that their beloved queen can hear and bless them from the spirit world. Oh shit, she's heard this whole thing. So, she's a positive figure. Yeah, she's mostly a positive figure, but she was like a strong... Okay, can I just let me say this sentence and then we'll understand. Okay. Regardless of whether Marie LeVoe possessed mystifying supernatural powers or if her influence was due to bribery and espionage, the fact remains that she was a woman who lived on her own terms and refused to conform to the cookie cutter image that society had prescribed her and thereby made her own destiny.

So, yeah, she was kind of like this powerful, intimidating, uh, strong woman. who may or may not have, you know, helped a case to get a house, to get a free house. Terrible timing. Or she could have been a total hero in the town. She cured people of illness. To overlook the taking a free house in exchange for it. Whether or not she actually did get the murder off.

She believed she did or they believed. Or did the guy definitely do it? And she was just, the dad was just worried, and she's like, look, I'll sell, do it. It's a 50-50. Yeah. What do I lose? What does she lose? A house.

But she didn't have. I mean the dad was saying, what have I got to lose? And it's like, well, obviously he had a house. But he also had many, so he didn't really care. Right. Okay. It's one of many houses that he had, so he would take it. I'm getting you.

Yeah, but that's also just a story. We still don't have any, like, hard evidence that that's definitely how it happened. To any photos of her daughter exists? Because she would have been maybe a little... Not photos. No photos? Because she was in the time of John Wilkes Booth type people who have photos. Okay.

Yeah. No, you're right. And I am wrong. But there's... She sounds like she'd probably look like a pretty fascinating person. Well, there's images of her, yes. But that's the thing, because they're kind of morphed into like one person. It's sort of hard to say.

I'll show you a picture. So this is like a... Oh, it's not very good. It's very small, but like a painting of her. She was more just like... cool turban but then there's others Oh yeah she looks a bit like Beyonce in that photo She doesn't look a bit like that image

Who in her songs always talks about Well in one song It talks about her mother or father being Creole One of those Mother or Father So she's just a strong Make a Texas Bamar I believe she says I don't know what that means

She's just a strong cool lady Oh no it's a really interesting story No she sounds very fascinating I hope that I covered it enough Max There's not a lot of info out there I personally had never heard of her So I always love to hear about people that I've never heard of because that's cool.

It is pretty cool. Well, it is that time at the end of the episode to thank some Patreon supporters, some subscribers. And Matt, I believe you are going to kick us off with their name. Yeah, well, actually, this is the first time I think we've got one that isn't. It's a website. It's a community. And it's a place I like to go to chill out when I'm done, you know, being rad at the end of the day.

I like to go to a place to hang your kids. cape, my cape in this instance, but it's called a place to hang your cape. Boul cape? Boul cape. A place to hang your bow cape. Well, that's the beauty of the, uh, of the communities. You don't have to hang any particular kind of cape. Um, I think they're more talking about superhero capes. But they're pretty cape neutral. Pretty cape neutral. Oh, good. That's a website, AP2HYC.com. A place to hang your cape, but the, the two is number two. Oh, very good. Which is nice. And these guys and girls and people.

Humans. And capes. And capes. I mean, the whole organisation. It's really good to have them on board. We appreciate the support. Thanks so much. I also wanted to say thank you to the off-brand antihistamine.

I mean, we all know the well-known Australian brand Demazen. Of course. Take it regularly. Monthly. Monthly. First of every month, just in case. Because the first of every month is nearly always a Monday, and that's the hottest day of the week.

And that's when the pollen count is always at 99%. Obviously. And then you wait till Thursday, cools down. Everything's fine. So, but the other alternative that you have, if you don't want to take Demison, is Denizon. Denizon. I'm so bad at these and you keep making me do them. Denizond.

Can I just not do them in the future? I mean, you could just do a heartfelt, thank you. But I just don't know how to open up and be sincere. Yeah. Instead, you really, you do these. sort of mean, spirited jokes. How was that mean spirited? No, I think it's fine.

Denizond. Denizond. I've just had a look. His name is also Daniel Pratt. Oh, well, you could have told me that before. Oh, he could have made some sort of Pratt. I made some sort of Demoson joke. I wish I had.

But I had no idea you were going to... Thank you, Mr. Pratt. That's better. That's better. For contributing to our podcast, which is our favorite thing that we do, and we love this so much. And it means a lot to us that people want to be involved. and sincerely, I thank you so much. That was so sincere and beautiful.

Matt, wasn't that great? I was really nice. I feel sick for opening up like that. Oh, my God. Daniel Pratt, you've got to understand how lucky you were to get Jess, the real Jess. The real Jess. She nearly never shows that. Not to us.

Never. I've never been thanked. God, no. I would never thank you. Fuck off. Well, someone I'd like to thank and not tell to fuck off is sometimes people have great initials. And this person is a. BRB, be right back.

And they've constantly got our back with their pledges. And I would just like to say thank you to BRB. Benjamin R. Brisson. Thank you, Mr. Brisson. BRSEN. We appreciate you being there for our right back. Yeah. Doesn't make sense.

No. And our left back, to be honest. Yeah, just our backs in general. Just our spines. Thanks for the lumber support. Thank you. You are so ergonomic. I feel so supportive.

feel so loved by all the emails, tweets and Instagram messages, whatever that you send into us and Facebook messages. Of course, you can do that. Do go on pod at gmail.com. For the email on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, we're all at do go on pod. Patreon.com slash do go on pod if you want to get involved. You want just to sincerely thank you. I can't promise that.

Okay. It's really hard to open up to other people. Okay. I'm a closed book. Well, Pratt opened you right up. That's right. Sure did. He's got a bookmark and he's coming back.

Just like Benjamin Arbrisson, who will be right back. Anyway, thank you so much for listening to this episode. We'll be back with another brand new episode next week. But if you would like to review us on iTunes or wherever you listen to this stuff. But until next week, let you sit on that sizzle. And I will say goodbye. Later. Would anyone know that is?

Later's. Don't forget to sign up to our tour mailing list so we know where in the world you are and we can come and tell you when we're coming there. Wherever we go, we always hear six months later, oh, you should come to Manchester. We were just in Manchester. But this way you'll never, will never miss out. And don't forget to sign up, go to our Instagram, click our link tree. Very, very easy.

It means we know to come to you and you'll also know that we're coming to you. Yeah, we'll come to you. You come to us. Very good. And we give you a spam-free guarantee.