Comical

Baby, I like it raw,  which is just as well, seeing what's in store this week. Dance Base kicks off their programme and I am ecstatic. Last year, they gave me Iona Kewney, a live art gymnastic mash-up to the roaring loops of Glasgow's guitar terrorist Joe Quimby. This year they have a reclamation of the world's most famous exorcism, Irish astronauts and four dancers going underground. Also, I've sauntered around Zoo and loved the obscure Russian mayhem and poetry. And, of course, I can hardly wait for Derevo.

Further edification for my dark soul has come from the apparent turf war building up between burlesque and stand up comedy. For my blog on Central Station, a Scottish art forum, I have promised to develop a comprehensive analysis of the burlesque aesthetic – essentially seeing plenty of cabaret shows and being opinionated.

Fortunately, both Adam Hill and Jim Jefferies have attacked burlesque in terms that verge on misogyny. Hill has a gag about how burlesque is "mingers in corsets" while Jefferies tweeted "I have decided that burlesque is crap. if you want to be a stripper be one. But stop thinking what you do is art."

Elsewhere, variety nights are going light on the burlesque. If this is good for acts like The Creative Martyrs and Pippa the Ripper, as well as chaotic Japanese mimes like 2 R Mansion (now on the Royal Mile), it suggests that even the cabaret scene is fighting shy of the fag-end of the burlesque revival.

I do have reservations about the current state of burlesque. The British scene is full of hobbyists who mistake their ability to get gigs for talent – genuinely creative artists who have been pampered by indulgent audiences and critics and have failed to advance their art – and nights that are little better than school shows. But there are performer – The Wau Waus once again – who to shame the comedy of the stand-ups and the political engagement of worthy agitprop through fearlessness and skill.

The sudden enthusiasm for slagging burlesque could be a simple turf war. The comedians have owned The Fringe for years and cabaret is now threatening their dominance. Unable to directly attack the variety scene, since they get plenty of extra spots from it, they have gone for the soft target. Incidentally, burlesque is, as Blonde Ambition have suggested, a form predominantly made and enjoyed by women. The boys club locker room atmosphere of stand-up is fertile ground for a spot of old school sexism.

The best art – and sorry, Jim, but stand-ups are not my authority for what is art – causes debate. So it looks like burlesque is earning its status this year. On the simplest level, the use of sexuality within a performance is always a hot topic. When it is used well, it creates the same discomfort and excitement as the taboo busting comedian, or awkward physical theatre.

Of course, there are problems within burlesque. One is the level of critical engagement. There are few writers taking it seriously, and the scene itself is far too happy to share the rhetoric of the adventurous acts without acting on their intensity or intelligence. But that is a problem that crosses art-forms. Equally, burlesque is being regarded as an easy way to get a sell-out show by some promoters – never mind the quality. Now and again it gets sleazy. A bit like comedy, then.

In the meantime, let's hope the battle flairs up a little. In the war for equality there might be more important issues but few with the potential for as much entertaining heckling.