Fleshbot: straight, burlesque

"The Corpse Wore Pasties": Dangerous Burlesque!

Gram Ponante — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:30:01 EST

You think today's strain of burlesque is all wholesome and sex positive? Not if you bogart someone's act, sister. Hard Case Crime's "The Corpse Wore Pasties" shows that there's no such thing as friendly competition when tassels are involved.

Burlesque performer Jonny Porkpie wrote the pulp tome (we covered Christa Faust's "The Money Shot" last year) and the book will be feted at the fetid Bleecker Street Theatre on November 21 and 28 with a stage presentation of "Corpse"'s plot performed by burlesque hoofers Dirty Martini, Jo Boobs, Madame Rosebud, and Clams Casino, as well as the book's cover models, Nasty Canasta and GiGi LaFemme.

When is the last time you saw one of your favorite storybooks enacted on stage? And was there almost-nudity in "Shrek On Ice"? No there wasn't.

· Lurid Lunch (pinchbottom.com)
· "The Corpse Wore Pasties" (hardcasecrime.com)

Carmen Electra, Burlesque Queen

Lux Alptraum — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EDT

You may have heard a little rumor about Carmen Electra performing in a topless revue in Vegas. You may have even wondered where you could find photos of this magic occurrence. Well, wonder no more: we have them.

(thesun.co.uk)
Carmen Electra (taxidrivermovie.com)
Carmen Electra (taxidrivermovie.com)
Carmen Electra (taxidrivermovie.com)

Burlesque Tourism With Michael Prior

Gram Ponante — Fri, 22 May 2009 11:30:01 EDT

Los Angeles burlesque darling La Cholita growls at the crowd and spins her tassels counterclockwise. Across the Pacific, Australian sirens throw on American drag and mix tight gingham blouses with sailor hats. Photographer Michael Prior gets the best shots from the footlights.

Based in Melbourne, Prior travels to international burlesque shows and photographs the dancers on and offstage, capturing the joy of performance as well as the athleticism involved in keeping those pasties from launching into the crowd.

His new book "Titzen Blitzen!" is an available-light travelogue through London's week-long Burlesque Festival, which drew an international roster of dancers. Sado vamps to naughty maids play to crowds that range from elegant to rowdy, which says a lot about burlesque's place as a living art form, as a "body type"-neutral treat, and as a mirror of class structure.

And that's all well and good, but I liked the women.

Prior's site also contains a wealth of studio shots of burlesque performers without those awkward nipple-obscuring impediments.

· Michael Prior (michaelprior.com)

Fleshbot Crush Objects Team Up For Burlesque Benefit Tonight In LA

Lux Alptraum — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:30:01 EDT

Diablo Cody, Masuimi Max, Lily Burana, La Cholita, and Ms. Redd: what brings these fabulous women together in one place? A burlesque benefit and book release party (happening tonight!). Would that we could go! (pinupgirlclothing.com)

Udderly Outrageous

auryn — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EDT

Professional Sensationalist and Burlesque Superstar Amber Ray was inspired by Ron English to put together one of the best git-ups we've seen at Dr. Sketchy's. Video clip of Amber in action after the jump.

We just love Molly Crabapple and Dr Sketchy's Anti Art School. Because really, what's better than hot, scantily clad women dancing around? Hot, scantily clad women dancing around for art.

· Check out more on Amber Ray here. (amberray.net)

Tassel Twirling With Ryan Keely

Lux Alptraum — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:30:01 EST

If you're not on the Ryan Keely bandwagon yet, just wait. While in Miami, Popporn's Josie Jacobs caught up with lovely Ryan, and got her to give her an extra special tassel twirling lesson.

Okay, maybe it wasn't so much a lesson as a demonstration—but we think it's taught us all something very valuable: Ryan is both hot and talented. And we're pretty sure she could put someone's eye out with those tassels (which makes her even hotter, in our book).

· Josie Jacobs (josiejacobs.com)
· My Night With Ryan Keely (popporn.com)

NYC Burlesque Pasties Will Get Your Tassels Twirling

Lux Alptraum — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:30:01 EST

The NYC Burlesque Pastie blog has got all kinds: big ones, little ones, round ones, flat ones, sparkly ones—oh, and they've got pictures of pasties, too!

· NYC Burlesque Pasties (burlesquepasties.blogspot.com, via Violet Blue)

Lucy Fur Makes Us All Warm And Fuzzy

Dashiell Bennett — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:00:00 EDT

What is there to like about Lucy Fur? What isn't there to like? For starters, she's one of the queens of Portland burlesque, which looks impressive enough on a resume, but that's not all. She's modeled for photographer Steve Diet Goode (among others), she takes photos, she's in photos—she's even published a picture book of her self-shot adventures in various seedy motel rooms around the country. Plus, there's the name, which is just makes us smile for so many reasons. See, it's possible to go naked and have your Fur too.

· Lucy Fur Presents + Studio Lucio (lucyfurpresents.com + studiolucio.com, via Otomano)

Mirth And Beauty: Smiles, Everyone, Smiles!

Jonnobot — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:40:36 EDT

Since we're drawn to words here at Fleshbot almost as much as we're turned on by a good sense of humor (looking at naked boobs all day is really just an excuse to write funny things about them, honest!), we were immediately intrigued by the title of Chicago artist K Leo's online portfolio. Finally, an art nude photographer who didn't take himself quite so seriously! Which isn't to say that the photos on display at Mirth And Beauty aren't professional or anything—on the contrary, they're among the most technically accomplished (and sexiest) art nudes we've come across lately. And while K Leo's definition of mirth may not include things like naked babes in clown makeup, there's still more than enough beauty in his work to make us smile. When one of your subjects is a Chicago burlesque performer named Kitten Kaboodle, it's hard not to.

• Mirth And Beauty: Artistic nudes and emotive portraiture by K Leo (mirthandbeauty.com, via Indie Nudes)
• Thumbnail star: Arwag)

The Gong Show Returns: Bring On The Naked Freaks!

Dashiell Bennett — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:46:03 EDT

Have you heard? The Gong Show is back! We were very excited to learn of this development, because we like nonsensical performance art and big shiny metal objects. But mostly we're just tuning in hoping to see whatever 2008's version of The Popsicle Twins might be. After all, the very first episode featured this bizarre, yet acrobatic, pseudo-burlesque act and because outrageous behavior and gratuitous nudity can only help you in this environment, the big finish involved clothing removal. It can only get better—and by "better" we mean much, much worse—from here, right?

· The Gong Show with Dave Attell (comedycentral.com)
Previously: Blast From The (TV) Past: The Popsicle Twins

Sandy Kane: The World's Worst Singing Stripper

Dashiell Bennett — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:47:14 EDT

People like to do crazy things to get attention—like competitive eating or growing a handlebar mustache or, ahem ... blogging. Or they can take their clothes off while singing their own made up novelty songs about hookers and blowjobs. Sandy Kane is sort of like a cross between Belle Starr, "Weird Al" Yankovic and that "Chocolate Rain" guy on YouTube. She's old (not that there's anything wrong with that), she has an awful voice, and she's possibly a racist ... but try watching this video of her version of "Gloria" without finding yourself mesmerized. We can't really judge her stripping abilities based on this, but the singing is definitely not going to help with the tips.

. . .

· "The World's Worst Stripper" (break.com)
· Sandy Kane on MySpace (myspace.com)
· Sandy Kane on the street (Flickr)

Dr. Sketchy's Gets Drunk On Absinthe

Lux Alptraum — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:05:53 EDT

We've heard rumors about the crazy things that absinthe can do, but we had no idea that it was capable of turning mild-mannered burlesque performers into wild, nearly naked absinthe fairies. Last weekend, Le Tourment Vert took over New York City's venerable burlesque life drawing salon Dr Sketchy's Anti-Art School ... and from we hear, no one escaped unscathed. Pictures of the madness after the jump.

. . .

· Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School (drsketchy.com)

Old Strippers Never Die, They Just Use Less Body Glitter

Dashiell Bennett — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:42:41 EDT

It's not often we stumble across a story about a stripper who is old enough to be our grandmother, but to find two in one day—well, that just makes us think of our own aging relatives and that always kills the mood. It also makes us wonder if we'll still be blogging when we're 80, because the side-by-side tales of two strippers still shaking their goods for audiences past the age of 75 teaches us that if you find a job you're really good at, you might be stuck there for awhile. Maybe they've stopped doing acrobatic pole maneuvers—but if you strutted your stuff for Frank Sinatra and banged Elvis before he was bloated, you can pretty much call your own shots.

· Stripper to appear at Edinburgh Fringe (timesonline.co.uk, via nerve.com)
· Stripper, 80, still taking her clothes off (cnn.com — thanks B)

If you're like us, you were probably raised...

Dashiell Bennett — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:30:00 EDT

If you're like us, you were probably raised on a steady diet of "Dynasty" reruns and an old VHS copy of "The Bitch." So that means you're probably also interested in seeing an old-timey photo gallery of a burlesque star teaching Joan Collins how to take her clothes off. It's sexy and educational! (Flickr, via Otomano)

Here's some fun trivia: The Palms Casino...

Dashiell Bennett — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:45:00 EDT

Here's some fun trivia: The Palms Casino in Las Vegas does not allow underboob! (Seriously, it's written into their gaming license.) So why would they book a weekend of erotic burlesque dancing at their hotel? More importantly, why is Las Vegas still calling itself Sin City? (canada.com)

And speaking of those horned-up chroniclers...

Jonnobot — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:30:11 EDT

And speaking of those horned-up chroniclers of contemporary pop culture at the New York Times this morning, it was sorta cute to see them discovering this sexy new phenomenon called "neo-burlesque" which all the kids in New York City seem to be hip to these days. Next thing they're going to tell us is that people show up with pencils and paper to draw the semi-naked models at these events too! (nytimes.com)

Boing Boing visits artiste and provocateuse...

Jonnobot — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:34:17 EDT

Boing Boing visits artiste and provocateuse Natalia Fabia's first annual Miss Hooker Beauty Pageant and sees lots of pasties and burlesque-style wackiness, if little by way of actual hookers. We won't spoil the suspense and tell you who walked away with the crown, but we will just say that we were expecting a lot more from Miss Squirt's act in the talent competition. (Then again, we guess it wasn't that kind of a pageant.) (video @ tv.boingboing.net)

Porn Valley (Adjacent) Dispatch: Kylie Ireland Makes A Burlesque Of Her Porn Career

Gram Ponante — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:05:52 EDT

Many of us can't keep a job; sitting here at the tentacle bar of the China Star 2, we wonder how many of these ironically-bandannaed fry cooks will be here next week. But Kylie Ireland has been a porn star since the last century (she won AVN's Best New Starlet award in 1994) and this weekend she will bump and grind her way into your heart in her very first burlesque show.

"While this is classic old-school bump-and-grind burlesque, I'm still going to end up mostly naked," Ireland said. "Also, my dance partner (Shelby Jones) is gorgeous, and there are a bunch of other super-hot burlesque chicks on the bill. You're not going to get that at Spearmint Rhino."

Hell no. You don't get away with a $10 admission fee at Spearmint Rhino, either.

Sunday's "Devil's Playground" show at downtown L.A.'s Bordello Bar also features Courtney Cruz, Lux LaCroix, Kitten DeVille, and Cinnamon Britches.

Seriously? Cinnamon Britches? I mean, Kylie's great, but how can you miss an event when someone named Cinnamon Britches is performing? Does she know Strokahontas?

· Kylie Ireland (kylieireland.com)
· Shelby Jones (myspace.com)
· Bordello Bar (bordellobar.com)

Meet Cherry Bomb: Burlesque "Badass"

Dashiell Bennett — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:30:02 EST

Depending on which bars you happen to hang out in on a Saturday night, burlesque is either a dying art form or an entertainment that's been undergoing an extended rebirth. Truth is, there are many places where burlesque dancers thrive and twirl to the delight of hip young things who know how to appreciate babes with sexy moves. Self-proclaimed Brooklyn "badass" Cherry Bomb is one such lady of the stage who not only shakes it for her fans, but chronicles her world on a smart and entertaining blog. We sat her down to see what makes her tassels spin.

· Cherry Bomb's New York City Burlesque Blog: The Queen of Cream (blog, photos + more @ cherrybombnyc.blogspot.com)
· Shot by Richard Blakeley/Edited by Nick McGlynn

Exploring The "Demimonde" With Molly Crabapple

Lux Alptraum — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:25:18 EST

The last time we found ourselves enjoying the hospitality of Fleshbot crush object Molly Crabapple, we were at the Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art Show, a fabulous night of gogo girls, debauchery ... and, yes, art. This Friday, Molly's back in the art spotlight with "Demimonde," a solo show at New York's Arena Studios curated by friend of Fleshbot Audacia Ray. We stopped by the gallery last night for a preview of her work (and a chat with Buck Angel, who happens to be featured in one of the portraits). Click through for a preview gallery of Molly's art, and be sure to stop by Arena Studios this Friday at 7pm for the opening reception. (And a session of sexy burlesque life drawing. It's not just about culture, you know.)

· Molly Crabapple (mollycrabapple.com)
· Arena Studios (arenastudios.com)
· Audacia Ray (wakingvixen.com)