Slips and Giggles

I’m quite a busy wee entertainer these days.  My vocal stylings seem to be quite “of the moment” and a night off is quite a novelty in my calendar, especially when it falls on a weekend evening. Anticipating nothing more exciting on Friday than A Question of Sport, I was relieved to receive an call from the perkily petite Dolly Tartan inviting me to visit her cabaret night at La Cheetah, Queen Street, for what she coyly referred to as “sh*ts and giggles”. 

“You’re having a laugh, Dolly!” I replied, phone receiver under my jowl as I mixed a dry martini.

“Noooo Charlie, you’ll be the one doing the laughing! It will be a greeeeat night! Teee hee!”

I could never say no to such a happy woman, so I necked the cocktail and grabbed a cab.

A collection of cosy candlelit tables surround the central stage, cabaret style, and some rather comfy leopard print covered benches line the painted red brick walls. As I made my way to my reserved seat, I was warmly greeted by various harbingers of bonhomie. The assembled audience comprised many of the regular crowd of burlesque followers and some fellow performers, similarly attracted by an opportunity to really enjoy a night off (though I doubt Dolly took the time to personally invite each of them by telephone. Not that I’m smug).  

It’s really very nice to walk into a cosy room and see a host of smiling pretty faces (mostly with their clothes on for a change). It’s a scene, for sure – but a happy one. Perhaps because of the prevalence of familiar faces, performers and burlesque-learners in the crowd, the atmosphere was one of an open-house party, rather than a ticketed formal show - which made it feel very natural to casually start a conversation with the charming brunette beside me! 

Dolly had selected an interesting combination of genres for this compact yet flavourful show.   Each performer brought a different essence into the mix:  parody and raucous slapstick from Impressive Johnson; Daiquiri Dusk used well-defined characters and narrative in visually dramatic burlesque; musical interludes and good humour were provided by Rufus T and his unfortunate stagehand Ben;  Lady V peppered her burlesque routines with influences as diverse as big band swing and classical ballet; and headliner Honey Wilde defiled a repugnant, unsmiling Margaret Thatcher to universal approval.  

With a keen eye for variety, and her own delightfully cheeky persona, Dolly achieves a perfect balance between the visual sexiness and allure of burlesque and the engaging fun of musical comedy, with a consistent theme of utter irreverence running through the evening.  No targets were sacred and key people from all corners of history received a gentle poke in the ribs– from Eve’s temptation in Eden to Thatcher by way of Cinderella and Darth Vader – not to mention the burlesque queens and kings in the audience and off-stage.  

People keep telling me that parody is the true meaning of burlesque, and I’m happy to finally start believing them.