Las Vegas Profile: Jackie Daneri Freelance Performer & Entertainer Extraordinaire

When you first meet Jackie Daneri you feel as if you’ve just gone down the rabbit hole and landed in Wonderland. Her vibrant personality is only further perpetuated with her lavender hair, multiple facial piercings, Lisa Frank beanie and oversized Hello Kitty glasses.

“I don’t feel good unless I look like this,” she laughs. “And I’m feeling good with my glasses and unicorn hat.”

Daneri is a freelance performer here in Las Vegas that jokingly describes herself as a “jack of all trades, master of some.”

“All I ever want to do is create and be creative,” she said.

Daneri moved to Las Vegas a year-and-a-half ago and already she’s created quite the repertoire of skills for herself. As a performer, her talents prevail as a fire dancer, burlesque performer complete with a grinder, yes, an actual grinder, clumsy circus clown, club promoter, hoop entertainer, body painter, show girl on The Strip, rave dancer, and so much more.

“It’s awesome,” she proclaims. “All of my dreams came true – it’s happening.”

While there are thousands of women in Las Vegas working as freelance performers, Daneri manages to present herself as a one-of-a-kind.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with the people around you,” she said.  “They either love it or they hate it.” “

Denari came to Vegas for a career in music, – yes, she is also a vocalist – she, as many do, found herself with several setbacks, but part of her success comes in her positivity.

“Life as a freelance entertainer can get discouraging,” she explains. “When you’re a freelancer, so I’ve learned, you don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.”

After losing her first job because of a business closure, Daneri learned that “it happens all the time,” according to sound reassurance from fellow entertainers in town.

“You just have to keep going,” she said.

And going is exactly what she’s doing. In fact, as we talk, Daneri informs me that she’s on her way to mud wrestling or rather “chocolate pudding” wrestling. “They auction us off to towel boys,” she jokes.

Prior to our interview, Daneri was coming from a casting call audition. Two days before she was body painting at The Beauty Bar on Fremont where her and her husband, Johnny McNazty, manage Church Las Vegas bass worship – an electronic, bass music inspired evening out.

In addition to her latest mud-wrestling gig, she has been practicing for her Dirty Circus a new act premiering on March 4 at 11 p.m. in the Tommy Wind Theatre (3765 Las Vegas Blvd).

“I do a lot of silly, ridiculous things,” she says of the show. “I’m doing a strip tease to ‘I’m Sexy And I Know it,’ but as a clown – think Chris Farley plus a clown plus a funny girl.”

Since moving to Las Vegas, Daneri has encapsulated the Las Vegas lifestyle; even marrying her husband last October at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel with Elvis presiding over the ceremony.

Living in the now, though, Daneri can only be sure about one thing in regards to her future in Las Vegas.

“You can’t stay too long; you want to make your mark,” she said. “In Las Vegas, it’s kind of like L.A., but smaller and you’re either here to party or you’re here to entertain. I’m here to entertain.”