Saturday, May 22, 2010

Scene on "Stage": Burlesque @ Jokers Wild


Last Sunday, regrettably flying solo (Jackie Scenic has other friends or something), I checked out the monthly "Burlesque & Variety" night at Jokers Wild in New Haven. As my counterpart was not there to make hilarity ensue, this write-up will be proportionately less funny than usual.

Jokers Wild is ostensibly a comedy club, and it's totally cool that a such a club exists, and exists to cater such sexy fun as burlesque nights. But it must be said that the physical setup could not be less appropriate to the medium of sexy dance, as there is no actual stage and some awkwardly placed bars where the stage would be that must be there to keep the comedians "caged in," which left the ladies with nowhere to dance but a narrow strip of floor between the comedy cage and some tables. The Real Art Ways theatre, where I saw the same performers back in February, was far better suited and lent some pomp and circumstance to the affair that was severely lacking here.

But it was still fun to watch the dancers, who made the best of a crappy space and a friendly crowd. Nicki Le Villain was particularly impressive. This night she was showing off her belly dance skills (and costumes), which were quite formidable. She can work her hips in ways I... can't. Kind of like when Shakira's ass looks like it has a mind of it's own. Actually, your ass kind of does have a mind of it's own, but that's an Anatomy & Physiology digression I'm not going to get into right this minute. In addition to her mad dance skillz, Nicki also showed off her albino python. Yes, she danced with a big goddamn live snake. She wins. All hail Nicki Le Villain, hats off, we're not worthy, etc.

If you'd like to see some more burlesque (and why wouldn't you), the Burlesque & Variety show at JW will be taking June off, as the third Sunday will Fathers Day, and something about burlesque and daddy issues, but will return July 18. See you there?

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