Ilise S. Carter is an author, journalist, copywriter, and award-winning sideshow performer based in New York City. She has written for Allure, New York Times, Racked, and others, with a focus on pop culture. Her debut nonfiction book, The Red Menace (2021), received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.  

Carter has spent over a decade as a consulting copywriter for beauty brands such as Shiseido, bliss, Laura Mercier, Avon, L’Oréal, and Madame CJ Walker, specializing in brand voice and identity. As her stage persona, The Lady Aye, she has worked as professional sideshow performer (sword swallower, fire eater, blockhead, and pain-proof girl) and emcee with acts ranging from Rob Zombie to Cirque du Soleil, and has appeared on TV’s Gossip Girl, Odditties, The President Show, Mysteries at the Museum, and Dickinson. Carter holds a BA in American studies from Barnard College and a certificate in film production from NYU.

Represented by: Alice Speilburg