Burlesque Christmas

Club Noir – Scotland's first and largest burlesque event – and exquisite boylesquer Cherry Loco are hosting more adult Christmas events. There is also the latest incarnation of new night on the block, Scarlet Fever. As Tina Warren, the woman behind the Noir throne, suggests, here are Christmas treats that are determinedly not for children.

Club Noir is driven by Warren's own restless imagination. “I am always on the lookout for new acts, otherwise it gets stale," she admits. "We have a bit of everything! Lots of short three, four minute acts. We have genuine Cossack dancers. If you are into break-dance, you want to see some Cossack dancing!”

Noir's format has included acts from opera through to breaking, and Warren explains that it is as much a club night as a show. The mixture of core cast and new acts even extends to the music. “The resident DJ is DJ Loveless, then we have Jim Gellaty, who was at the last Club Noir and loved it. So we asked him to come and DJ for us,”she concludes. "You can safely say it’s going to be the biggest Christmas party in Scotland.”

Cherry Loco, meanwhile takes up residence at The Classic Grand with "his very talented performance family that not only includes some of the top names on the UK scene, but also come from performance backgrounds as varied as circus, sideshow, belly dancing and cabaret."

In a competitive scene, Loco is looking beyond the usual yuletide fare. "There won't be any twee carolling," he insists. "Just a visual barrage of top live performance from fire wielding, glass walking, high-camp striptease and a great deal more."

Jacki Clarke of Scarlett Fever has been slowly building her night, with a mixture of talents old and new. "I started Scarlett Fever because I wanted to add more to a Burlesque night, and have each show tell a story and be set to a theme," she explains. "What sets SF apart is that it combines some theatre elements to take the audience on a journey into fantasy-land."

Clarke sees this as integral to the burlesque tradition. "The set has a some dressing as a backdrop, and each routine is a scene which forms part of the story through the music and actions of the performer. Burlesque began in the later 1800s as a bawdy social satire, and the themes of my shows tell a story and make a point in a humourous way."  

"For the Christmas Hullaburloo, the stage will be set for Christmas with a decorated tree, wrapped presents and a glowing fireplace with hanging stockings,"! she continues. "It will be a vaudeville variety performance, with Daiquiri Dusk, Hell's Belle, Miss Dancelicious, Azure de Corum, Smartii the Clown and more. It will be compered by the resident Baron Bartholomew Black and there will be some fantastic merchandise stands."

The contrast between Noir, Hullaburloo and Loco's Twisted Christmas emphasises the breadth of the current cabaret scene: there is little crossover bewteen the shows' aesthetics, apart from a mischevious adult humour and glamorous sensuality. As the scene comes of age, both Warren, Clarke and Loco are free to pursue their idiosyncratic and daring visions.