London Theatre: October

London Theatre: October

01 October, 2008
by: Joe Harrod

Will Burlesque Eat Itself? Opening minds and raising belly laughs in the capital of the dark arts.

October is the month of burlesque. This weekend sees the launch of London Fetish Week, with a particular highlight being Chas Royal's Sexy Circus Sideshow in the opulent confines of Bush Hall. Two variety extravaganzas open in marquee venues over the coming weeks. Finally, with Halloween on a Friday, there are two spectacular parties featuring a number of variety performers alongside the dressing up, getting down and generally sinister tomfoolery: Hendricks Halloween Ball and The House of the Sandman.

Burlesque is an amalgam of styles, based on the music hall vaudeville of the nineteenth century but revived in the '90s by performance artists with an interest in giving their shows an edge: partial nudity, titillation, physical stunts and shocking humour are the staples of the art. In context, burlesque is the basis of a wonderfully debauched night out. We've stumbled across many a Soho entertainment that gripped our imaginations for weeks to come and inspired our parties beyond even their normal levels of depravity.

But can this depraved artform survive co-option into the mainstream? Two shows are coming up in London in huge venues. In November the Hurly Burly Show opens in the Leicester Square Theatre, while the London Hippodrome once again opens its doors to the public this month for a 'Burlesque Spectacular' by internationally renowned troupe La Clique, plus an impressive assortment of guests. While it's fantastic news that this venue is back on the London circuit, the impression is definitely that burlesque is storming the arena of mass entertainment. Glowing profiles in bland tabloids like Metro only serve as confirmation. There's another burlesque spectacular at the Soho theatre next month, entitled Burlesque-Esque – is this scene about to go past itself?

To find out some more about the burlesque scene and assess its future, we caught up with two highly rated performers who are central to the scene. Dusty Limits is one of Soho's most notorious hosts and has been a compere and performer at dark cabaret evenings since before the 'burlesque' sobriquet was applied. He is, in fact, MCing the forthcoming Hurly Burly gala in addition to his regular commitments which include the brilliant, deviant KUNST at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. Miss Vicky Butterfly is a performer whose act harks back to the music hall era, with butterflies billowing from her clothes as she performs acts that balance eroticism, humour and horror. She is the descendant of an Irish showgirl and a Viennese aristocrat, with performance in her blood – what's more she's part of the modernisation and expansion of the scene, having performed on MTV for The Verve, Kings of Leon and The Hoosiers, among others. You can currently catch Vicky at her Proud residency.

Spoonfed: What is the best part of burlesque, (shock, laughter, tease) or does it require a balance of every element?

Vicky Butterfly: Burlesque is derived from a form of satirical theatre, so technically I would have to say the laughter. For me the best part is that a Burlesque performance can encompass anything... My father used to describe Burlesque as 'the world upside down': anything could happen and nothing is impossible.

Dusty Limits: A good burlesque act is like a visual joke. It has to have a setup, a build and a punch-line (the reveal). It needs an element of humour, an element of surprise, and yes, it needs to tease. But which element is most important depends what point the performer is trying to make.

Spoonfed: What are most excited about on the burlesque scene at the moment?

Dusty: The Hurly Burly Show at the spanking new Leicester Square Theatre - which I am hosting - because it's a fun troupe and a terrific space.

Vicky: Every week I perform as part of a residency at the Proud gallery, and I often get a much bigger adrenaline rush from it as I'm not preaching to those already converted - the events that most excite me are those that take Burlesque to a new audience.

Spoonfed: With Miss Behave at the Roundhouse all summer and now La Clique at the Hippodrome, is burlesque in danger of being over-exposed?

Dusty: Burlesque really took shape in the US as vaudeville for adults, so you could have partial nudity and blue jokes. Most people think of it as striptease. But the emphasis was always on humour. I think Miss Behave and La Clique are probably best described as contemporary variety rather than burlesque.

Over-exposed? It still sells tickets, but the cutting-edge has certainly moved on. A trend never dies – it has to be killed off.

Vicky: A lot of the cliches about Burlesque have become commonplace (you just have to see adverts for online poker websites featuring men in tassels, and Richard and Judy frolicking with dancers), but none of that stuff really gets of the heart of Burlesque. It's paraphernalia but without content.

Spoonfed: How do burlesque aficionados feel about their style being appropriated by brands?

Vicky: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but… it makes it easier to dismiss Burlesque as a 'fad'.

Dusty: Appropriation is obviously part of post-modernism. In fact, it's been a part of all cultural movements. It would be vexing to see [burlesque] dumbed-down and diluted to raise the cool factor of a brand, but I haven't seen it yet. By the time it has been completely appropriated, all the real burlesque artists will either have made fortunes, or have moved on. They won't really care.

Spoonfed: Originally burlesque was for huge music hall audiences and now performers are coming back into that kind of arena. Are modern audiences harder to shock, or more prudish?

Vicky: I think that audiences may have got more prudish - although they may be prepared to watch something that's visually more graphic than you'd have had 100 years ago, we're not as imaginative about our filth.

Dusty: My feeling is that now, people aren't generally shocked, just pleasantly surprised. There are some neo-burlesque acts that have a lot more potential to shock, but you won't see them at mainstream events.

Spoonfed: Do mainstream club goers and theatre fans 'get' burlesque and does it matter if they enjoy it?

Dusty: If an act is good, people get it. Everyone can enjoy it, provided the acts are good enough. But you can't please everyone all of the time.

Vicky: It's much harder to get across something more subtle in a club atmosphere, and I must admit that often I feel it's not worth trying something particularly left-field, but when you do the rewards are greater. For a performer, there's no better feeling when someone approaches you to tell you that they didn't like Burlesque, but they'd really enjoyed the show.

Spoonfed: Neo-burlesque in the late 90s was visceral, erotic and scary; now burlesque is a staple style for music videos. Is the scene moving in the right direction?

Vicky: As more performers from different disciplines apply their talents to Burlesque, and as people have to find more original ways of doing things there is always something to get excited about!

Dusty: There are more venues than ever before, a much greater audience, and lots of exciting new acts. One thing I slightly miss is the rough-and-ready atmosphere of early nights, because that encouraged a lot more risk taking. As the profile is raised, the commercial pressure increases, so you can lose that marvellous, anarchic feel that neo-burlesque had when I first saw it. But one very exciting thing is the rise of male burlesque, or 'boylesque'; the nights I've seen have been fantastic with really bold, fun performances.

It's expanding outwards, and it's a very accessible, democratic and friendly scene. But I think the cutting edge has moved on into entirely different territory. If you're interested in that, I'd look at the new cabaret and performance art scenes.

Vicky: The rules are... that there are no rules! And speaking as someone who does pop up on MTV, I've always had a lot of encouragement from other performers and encountered no resentment. I think hearing that someone's doing well spurs you on to be creative, to raise your game or to pull your socks up on the business side of things!


Great stuff. We can't wait to check out the new popcorn big marquee variety shows, and maybe carry on the party afterward with some authentic Soho naughtiness. Meanwhile, if you're after something even more shocking, but without the requirement of getting involved, why not check out Ontoroend Goed's new show about teenagers? It's a heady mixture of realism, brilliant staging techniques and straight up dirty-mack voyeurism.

Have a delightful month.

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Joe Harrod