Renaissance Faires are a beast unto themselves—and for attendees, they can be almost anything they want. It’s all encapsulated in a viral video of a Renaissance Faire barmaid serving a drink to a customer that led to a debate about the horniness on display.
Last week, TikToker @birdiesocal posted a video from a recent visit to the Irwindale Renaissance Pleasure Faire in which a barmaid dressed in what appears to be a Cinderella-inspired costume pours a beer directly into @birdiesocal’s mouth.
“I just go to the Rennisance [sic] fair for the articles,” @birdiesocal wrote in the video’s description, which has been viewed more than 12 million times in the past week.
The video shows @birdiesocal’s interactions with the barmaid; for the former, it’s the first time she’s been given a drink that way.
“Oh, you’re a virgin?” the barmaid asked. “Oh, that makes me so excited. I’m gonna pop your cherry.”
@birdiesocal I just go to the Rennisance fair for the articles 👀#rennisancefestival #renfaire #medieval #beerwench ♬ original sound – ZemosSugarBaby
Once the beer can is opened, the Renaissance Faire barmaid offers encouragement entangled with double-entendres. It’s dirty talk, purposely so, but it’s also meant to be in good fun. When asked by one commenter what the experience cost, @birdiesocal responded, “A beer and a good tip.”
Many of the people commenting were not only in favor but found themselves being persuaded about going to a Renaissance Faire.
But on Twitter, where people regularly debate about whether there is too much sex in movies or whether works of fiction should depict sex at all, the reception was decidedly more mixed.
Amid questions about historical accuracy, there is a focus on the barmaid’s dialogue, which some people found to be cringey and entirely unsexy; many speculated that she was uncomfortable or possibly even bored of pouring drinks into customers’ mouths. But some people also thought it was a real interaction and not something that @birdiesocal paid for with the drink.
Twitter didn’t take long to find the barmaid on social media, who posts videos at @joyful_aura. She’s posted many of the pouring videos onto her own account—some of which are sent to her by customers—that have gotten tens of thousands of views apiece; on her TikTok, she has an entire playlist of these videos and leans into the persona, which is titled, “The Naughty Wench.” While most of them feature her pouring a drink into a customer’s mouth, others feature the customer holding onto handcuffs before the pouring begins.
@joyful_aura emphasizes in one video that even though she’s a bartender, it’s also an acting gig; in @birdiesocal’s viral video, which @joyful_aura also posted to her account, she is dressed as a character she calls “Sinderella.” Her response also changes depending on who requests the drink that particular way.
@joyful_aura I made them both giggle, such cuties! #goodgirls #renaissancefestival #renaisancefaire #renaissancefair #renaissancepleasurefaire #renaissancechallenge #naughtybar #suckit #giggle #cottagecore #cottagecoreaesthetic #naughtywench #acting #model #funjobs #renfairebar ♬ original sound – Aura
“My show is definitely different depending on how you respond to me!” she replied to one commenter on the video with @birdiesocal. “If you’re nervous or sweet vs belligerent or antagonistic (as most hetero men are).”
But more importantly, it’s not something that’s done on a whim. Purchasing alcohol and tipping is required for the show, but it’s also something that everyone has to opt into.
“This is a private show for tippers,” @joyful_aura writes in the description of one video. “Consent is sexy & required.”
