The Mae Westesque Miss Kitty Crimson came out hard-boiled, wearing baggy black pants and a gray trench coat, then proceeded to strip down to sequined panties and strategically placed tassels in time to a live rendition of "The Theme to 'The Pink Panther'".
Jeepers creepers, I blew my wig!
The evening was held together by the double-entendred banter of MC Kitten on the Keys, who also shared a few musical selections of her own. A brief off the cob dialog with a cat hand puppet segued into the song "My Friend's Pussy", which was followed later by "Grandma Sells My Panties on eBay" (no explanation necessary for that one.)
The swanky fun ended with Miss D'Lish taking a swish in a giant champagne glass, nearly splashing some rubes in the front row, before striking that archetypal Girl-In-Large-Champagne-Glass pose. The crowd went from percolating to panic by the end of this showstopper.
A little naughty, definitely bawdy, and not a dead hoofer or cement mixer in the bunch - Burlesquefest featured a little song, a little dance and a little seltzer in the pants.
With the twist of an ankle, or the shake of a hip, the troupe succeeded in returning burlesque to its roots - when "stripping" was still an art form, one that took talent, practice, and subtlety of detail.
Not like nowadays, when pretty much any hard-bodied chick that can find the pole can call herself a stripper. Whether she has style or finesse — or not.
Maybe I'm a little jaded. One too many ex-girlfriends who were strippers.
However, I found Burlesquefest to be "ironically refreshing". If nothing else, it reaffirmed what I've long suspected. I was born about 50 years too late.
If you didn't catch its show during the summer tour (see website for the few remaining dates), then heads up, pally — another, slightly different, tour starts this fall. So shake a leg!
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From the "What the Hell Was He Saying?" Department: A 'translation' guide to the archaic slang I used. Remarkably, being an aficionado of the period culture, I actually use some of those words in everyday conversation. But you might not.
Article comments
1 - Frank Giovinazzi
There was a great Bill Geist segment on CBS Sunday Morning last week, when he visted 'Exotic World,' a one-woman museum run by a retired B-Queen.