Monday Night Tease

Bar Opens: 9pm
Seating Starts: 9:30pm
Show Starts: 10pm

Cover charge: $12
****$9 with flyer****

Ask about the $5 drink specials!!!

3 Clubs
1123 Vine St.
(Vine at Santa Monica)
Los Angeles, CA 90038

Hosted by:
Mr. Snapper and Mr. Buddy

Burlesque performances by:
Red Snapper
Lily Soleil
Holly Go Darkly
Angelita Purrvertina
Vestal Vixen
Scarlett Letter
Crystal Swarorski

More Muppet of Burlesque

Here are a few great shots of my number by S.H. Photo.  He also shot me for the L.A. Burlesque Calendar for 2010.  He's an incredible photographer.  You can see more work here.

He's especially great at the action shots.

Slideshow from Muppet Burlesque 2009

L.A. Weekly came to our show Monday night.  You can see more photos here.  I grabbed these two photos shot by Shannon Cottrell to show you how Mr. Snapper and I spent our evening.

This is the end of the act.  The crocodile strips me as I don the Elton John "Crocodile Rock" costume from "The Muppet Show."  We have a dance break in the middle, and then the croc takes my top at the end.  This year I chased him off the stage as he ran with my top.  Last year I ran off the stage with him biting my ass.  It's a crazy good time.

The really delightful part of my act is when the audience joins in with the crocodile puppets we made (with decorating help from our Los Angeles burlesque family).  They sing along for the la-la-las.  This year the crocs were joined by their operators who weren't satisfied just letting the puppets sing along.  You can tell by the happy, open mouths that they loved singing along.  The puppets were souvenirs for the audience to take home and enjoy.

Monday Night Tease presents the Muppet of Burlesque Show!

MNT! presents: The Muppet Burlesque Show! Nov 16th, 2009

Bar Opens: 9pm
Seating Starts: 9:30pm
Show Starts: 10pm

PLEASE NOTE TICKETS FOR THIS SHOW ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE IN ADVANCE!

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/81339

Cover charge: $15
****$18 at show if available, this show sold out last year****

Ask about the $5 drink specials!!!

3 Clubs
1123 Vine St.
(Vine at Santa Monica)
Los Angeles, CA 90038


"The Muppet Burlesque Show
with an all star parody of
The Muppet Show

Hosted by:
Waldorf and Statler (Stumpy Putz and Rex the Impossible)

Starring:
Dizzy Von Damn! as The Great Gonzo
Vixen Violette as Fozzie Bear
Scarlett Letter as Sam the Eagle
Lux La Croix as Rizzo
Anastasia Von Teaserhausen as the Swedish Chef
Isabella Star as Miss Piggy
with additional performances by
Jewel of Denial and Emmet Otter's Riverbottom Nightmare Band
Vixen Magdalene and the Dr Teeth Show
Red Snapper as Elton John with the Crocodile Rock Puppets
Anna Bells and her twin
Kimberlee Rose the Muppet of Burlesque!
Read our review in LA Weekly here:

http://blogs.laweekly.com/style_council/nightlife/last-night-monday-night-tease

See photos here:

http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/view/206447

NOTE: No one under 21 years old will be admitted.

No photography. Performers subject to change without notice.

Free Gift With Purchase

I like thanking my audience because they keep me employed and I couldn't do what I do without them.  At Monday Night Tease's Muppet of Burlesque show last year, Mr. Snapper and I made more than thirty crocodile hand puppets to give to the audience to participate in my number.  The puppets were decorated by me, Mr. Snapper and several performers from the Los Angeles burlesque scene.  (Why crocodiles?  I dress up like Elton John from his Muppet Show appearance and dance to "Crocodile Rock" and conduct the choir of little crocs as I'm chased around the stage and stripped by a big croc puppet.)

This year we made more than fifty to share with the audience.  While they're cheaply made from leftover fabric, trim & glue, the audience loves that they get to participate in the show and take something home with them.  People still have them from last year's show.  We had help decorating forty of them last night at craft night.  You can see personalities in these creations.  The photo represents about half of the creatures.  Personalities you can spot above: Satan, Edgar Winter, nerd croc, Mister T, bondage croc, beaver croc, cardinal croc, Miss Angie Cakes, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, angry Indians fan croc, cyclops croc and Marge Simpson.

If you're in Los Angeles, you don't want to miss this show and my little gift of appreciation for your support.  Go here for advance tickets.  You'll know when it's time to participate.

Quality of Performance

I read a great article on how to become a headliner.  Even if one doesn't become a headliner (or want to become a headliner), there are great tips in the article for improving one's quality of performance and building better acts.  The major points I'm going to try applying are:

• Keep studying the art form and related arts.
• Maintain a characterization through an entire piece, not just the snippets where it seems important.
• Keep the message the audience is supposed to get from the piece consistent.
• Push the boundaries.
• Put my own spin on everything I do.
  

Chipping Away

I pride myself on being completely honest with my readers.  I'm struggling as an artist.  I remember a discussion in my college humanities class about how Michelangelo was trying to free the slaves from the marble.  While I'm not working with marble, I am working with a body that's not getting any younger and a mind that's in creative overdrive.

How does one strike a balance between artistry and athleticism?  I'm always studying some kind of dance technique or other.  I want to put all those skills to use when I confidently have those techniques down cold.  I want to reach the highest aesthetic I can with each piece.  I read an article in Dancespirit magazine about balancing artistry and athleticism.  It seems that most dancers and choreographers agree to use technique to the degree that it still serves the story in each piece.

The communication of the story or concept is the most important part.  When one doesn't achieve that communication successfully, it's time to regroup.  I'm focusing on my communication for my new act, what I want the audience to take from it, and molding the technique to that.  Hopefully my own marble will be as beautiful as Michelangelo's.

Dancer Emergency Kit

Over my brief career so far as a professional dancer, I've found a handful of things useful to myself and others.  I've needed these things and/or have been asked by other dancers for these things on more than one occasion.  These are the top six things asked for in the dressing room:

1. Safety pins.  The strap on my character shoe broke a second time during my last show.  I used a safety pin to fix the shoe before I danced.  Broken bra straps, busted zippers, torn dresses all benefit from a well-placed safety pin.
2. Bobby pins.  Hair falls down, wigs need to be secured, hair accessories need to be attached.
3. Hair spray.  This is something I always forget to carry with me and always seem to need.
4. Lady supplies for when Mother Nature doesn't care about one's schedule.
5. Eyelash glue.  It seems like the edges of my strip lashes always come up before I perform.
6. Spirit gum or double sided tape.  These are both for pasties.  It's important to have secured pasties to comply with the rules of the venues.

I also recommend carrying bottled water.  Nothing hydrates quite like it and it's perfect for those times when the venue doesn't provide a drink ticket.

Movie Starr Model

I am pleased to announce that I'm the face of Movie Starr burlesque costumes.  (Actually, I'm more like the body of Movie Starr burlesque costumes, but that sounds a little strange.)  Check out these wares, designed and constructed by Penny Starr, Jr.  I have a Movie Starr bra and shimmy belt that I wear as part of two numbers and I love the products.

Backstage

My friend John Nelson, amazing portrait and editorial photographer, shot backstage photos at October's Sassy Classy show.  Check out a few of the photos and get his thoughts on being backstage to shoot here.

California Nights

October is a big burlesque month in Southern California.  I was originally booked for two shows in October but I wound up dancing five gigs and turned down a couple others because of my play.  I think it's the busiest work month of the year.

Early in October, I was booked last-minute for a private party.  (Note: I'm not complaining about being booked last-minute.  This was one of the three added gigs.)  I knew very little about the party because it was booked through a friend who passed it to another friend.  I was doing my fan dance in the emerald and pearl costume, so I was very surprised to find out we'd be dancing outside by the swimming pool.  That costume is a bra, shimmy belt and thong, and I had two feather fans.

California has warm days and cold nights.  We don't have the humidity to hold the day's heat at night.  It's also windy.  I danced by a swimming pool in my sparkly skivvies on a windy, cold night.  I was happy to be dressed at the end of the night, an unusual thing for me.  Fortunately I had a fancy robe to keep me free from drafts before and after I performed.

You never know everything about private parties.  We were a surprise for the birthday girl so we had to be sneaked into the house to dress when she wasn't looking.  We also got dressed in the bedroom that had all the coats and purses of the guests so someone knocked on the door every two minutes to come in to check a cell phone or lipstick or something.  It was crazy.  But these adventures are great story fodder.

Slideshow from Famous Monstergirls of Burlesque

L.A. Weekly came to Peepshow Menagerie last month and posted a few photos from the show.  They got some great action shots of me.  Check out the slide show to see my walkaway dress in action and to see a tassel mid-twirl.  Here's one action photo shot by Erin Broadley.