BHoF 2009 Poster

Best Debut: Melody Mangler (Vancouver, B.C., )

Best Group: Nanda (Portland, OR and Port Townsend, WA)

Best Variety: Gigi & Pop (Brooklyn, NY)

Best Boylesque: Hot Toddy (Chicago, IL)

Reigning Queen of Burlesque 2009 (formerly Miss Exotic World): Kalani KoKonuts (Las Vegas, NV)

Reigning Queen First Runner Up: Roxy Dlite (Windsor, ON, Canada)

Reigning Queen Second Runner Up: Perle Noire (New Orleans, LA)

Burlesque Hall of Fame Legends Award: Satan’s Angel

Most Innovative: Arabella Trapeze (Brooklyn, NY) (Harvest Moon & Mr. Fantastic)

Most Classic: Knicker Kittens Burlesque Revue (Stockholm, Sweden)

Most Comical; Little Brooklyn (Brooklyn, NY)

Most Dazzling: Kalani KoKonuts (Las Vegas, NV)

Note: A few changes this year, including dropping the use of the “Miss Exotic World” title to now “Reigning Queen of Burlesque”, as well as the addition of a Burlesque Hall of Fame Legends Award. Results via World Famous *BOB*.

There’s a wonderful interview with Living Legend Satan’s Angel on American Ethnography that you should read!

Satan’s Angel, known for her fiery tassel twirling, to me also epitomizes total rock n’ roll. Though sweet in nature, she’s also known for her blunt, take-no-shit sort of attitude. And if you’ve ever seen her perform, you know she puts on one hell of a dynamic act that leaves you feeling energized and wanting more!

In the interview, Satan’s Angel dishes about today’s burlesque:

At the Miss Exotic World pageant you took the stage as part of “the legends” section of the program. In the recent years there’s been renewed attention to the art of exotic dance. What do you think of the new burlesque acts?

See … Burlesque is all about the tease. It’s all about the journey, not the destination. So when we came out there, back when I used to dance, we had gloves on, coats, and we used fur stoles, we used feathers, we used props. And it was tease, it was sexy! And so the thing is, you’re there to please the whole audience, and that’s including the women. That’s hard to do! The problem with some of the contemporary burlesque performers is that they are not very good at that, they’re not good at pleasing everyone. I think a lot of them are closer to performance art than they are to burlesque.

But surely some of them do burlesque the old way?

I like Dita Von Teese. She does old style burlesque, and I love her for that! She started from the bottom, and worked her way up. And she was very well known before Marilyn Manson! But now she’s more notorious. There’s Dita, and then there’s Catherine D’Lish. And Michelle L’Amour. Vivienne Vavoom … Kalani Kokonuts! She’s gorgeous! There’s a lot of them that I do like.

… and talks about her own experiences starting out and creating her acts.

So, you started out in the early 60’s, right?

My first time on stage was in an amateur strip contest in this place in North Beach. My friend and I went to see it. I decided that it looked easy, and I figured I could win. So I went home that night and practiced in the mirror, and the next day I went back and entered the competition. And I won. And the next day I entered, too, and won again. And then, instead of me coming to win the amateur strip competition every night, they offered me a job.

How much money could you make?

I had worked as a telephone operator, earning $99 every two weeks. And in the amateur strip contest I would pocket $100 a night. So I thought this is the type of jobs they should have told us about at the career fairs in school! Working as an exotic dancer I could make $350 a week. In other words, 7 times the pay I had as a telephone operator.

Link: Read the full interview.

The word of the weekend was “underboob”.

Somehow in Vegas, city of sin and beacon of debauchery, excess and immodesty, a burlesque show of all things was censored this weekend. Never mind that there are strip clubs every five hundred feet, including all nude joints where everything ends up on the floor. Never mind that just outside Clark County limits anyone of age with a bit of cash can indulge in a sexual escapade at a totally legal brothel. The Nevada Gaming Commission simply cannot allow these women, professionals dancers some of whom have traveled more than 13 hours to disrobe in alluring fashion, to perform unimpeded.

This is not just any striptease. This is the queen of take-it-off revues – an evening in which countless satin gloves, sequined bras, and feather boas are flung across the stage. Tonight boasts so many jeweled pasties, jeweled high heels, jeweled hats and jeweled G-strings that the rhinestone industry must enjoy a marked spike in sales in the weeks prior. This is Miss Exotic World 2008, and as mistress of ceremonies Miss Astrid informs the audience, “They’ll be covering it up, bitches.”

“It” is the bottom of the breast, an area of flesh that is, as Astrid deadpans in an affected German accent, “so inflammatory that when met with gambling is like putting a flame to a powder keg.” The crowd gathered around the Palms pool boos in unison, but law is law and the show must go on.

A pretty well-written, positive article, by someone who seemed to enjoy the show! Read more at the Las Vegas Weekly Blog.

And here’s a quickie from the Daily Fiasco:

This was a crowd fascinated by its own history. As one former great after another climbed on stage, the shrieks and cheers could have been for Jagger in ‘72 as much as they were for 60-some-odd-year-old dancers.

Make no mistake: The veterans weren’t shy about dropping pearls of wisdom (”She said, ‘There’s only two things important in life. Sex and work.’ And I thought, OK. I can live by that.”) or about dropping their clothes. As elder stateswoman after elder stateswoman showed there was a little bump left in their grind, the crowd worked into a bigger and bigger frenzy, culminating in a show by Satan’s Angel aided by younger assistant Pyra Sutra that climaxed in a four-by-four frenzy of spinning, flaming tassels.

Pseudo-vaudeville revival act Doc (Who did his doctoral dissertation on burlesque at NYU) and Stumpy (a former Universal Studios employee) kept the variety show aspects of burlesque true to form with a well-received bawdy golf routine (Yes, it traded on balls-and-shaft puns).

“One of the things we’re trying to do is show comedy has a place in this burlesque scene,” Doc said.

Still, the girls in the crowd were focused on the girls on stage. Saturday night saw Miss Exotic World 2008 battle the wind — and state regulations preventing the girls from showing any underboob, much to everyone’s dismay — at The Palms pool.

After more than four hours of routines ranging from the funny (Clams Casino’s tennis tournament victory dance act) to the sultry (Amber Ray’s “Whatever Lola Wants” show) the showcase of the quaintly naughty ended in victory for New York’s Angie Pontani around 1 a.m., cutting into Tiger Army’s stage time. Which was all as well, because the trio came out flat despite a dedicated group of fans crowding the stage.

It has been a whirlwind weekend! So much so that after two after party nights/mornings in a row, we couldn’t even make it to any of the Sunday day events before driving home. (On the plus side, we got to visit an old friend of Jake’s, check out the new house, and I got to take a fat afternoon nap.)

There were certainly some low/disappointing moments about the weekend, most of which occurred on Thursday/opening party night. I think that first night left a bad taste in a lot of mouths, so that by Friday morning, a few complaints had already made their way to the MEW group list. Most of the complaints were justified, I thought, as they were mostly directed at the venue and its representatives’ behavior towards MEW attendees. We were definitely soured that first day, having spent about three hours waiting– the first half just milling about looking for information on what was going on, and the second half standing in a mostly unmoving line– before we decided to throw in the towel and head back to our hotel.

As the weekend progressed, however, things smoothed over. And I have to commend the people behind the scenes for handling all the curve balls (and the performers for handling the last-minute underboob ban) with creativity and coolness.

My impressions of the weekend are generally summarized in the following two emails I posted to the group:

Truth be told, I did have a wonderful time this weekend. I loved watching the performances I did get to see (though I’m terribly bummed that I missed out on Satan’s Angel and many others due to time, sight and energy level constraints). But most of all, I had a wonderful time because of the company– I got to hang out again with some of my favorite people in the world, and meet and chat with many other friendly folks. The company was free to me, and most of what I did get to see of the event were free and open to the public as well. I should have just shelled out the $45 day-of-pageant ticket and saved the remaining $100+ to buy drinks for my friends (at The Orleans or Gold Coast– definitely NOT the Palms).

So my point? MEW is about the people, the community. Although this was my first time attending, I’ve always felt and heard and read about how dedicated burlesque performers, friends and fans band together every year to make one hell of a weekend. And I did see this dedication in the faces of the volunteers running around– especially Mig, who was the epitome of “grace under pressure”. And I saw the love in the faces of those of us attending– determined to have a good time despite being treated like second-class citizens (cattle?) by the hotel.

I understand the desire to promote to and perhaps generate greater interest in the museum and burlesque from the mainstream, but please, not at the expense of alienating the core community. Burlesque has always been sort of a fringe community and it was obvious that The Palms– a high-priced, trendy hotel– did not give a damn about us or hosting this event.

Will I come back next year? Quite possibly, if only to be able to reconnect with friends once again. I’ll be waiting to see what changes are made before I decide on whether to actually buy a ticket to the event. I hope that as the days calm a bit and the organizers commence preparations for next year, the lessons learned from this past weekend are taken into consideration and implemented in the beginning stages of planning to minimize the series of snafus that ended in a lot of disappointment from a lot of people.

Despite my previous ranting post, I do want to (re)highlight that I had a wonderful time connecting with great people! Jake and I loved being able to spend quality time with Bombshell Betty, Randy Johnson, Bombshell Betty’s Burlesqueteers (I so *heart* you!), Lady Borgia (who was just the best driving buddy), and especially my honey bunny Flame Cynders– who took good care of us, hooking us up with cabana action, and graciously providing her suite for Friday and Saturday night after parties. I loved having a little producers chat at one of the after parties. I loved seeing some of the legends perform and chatting with more– and being knocked off my ass by all the charisma they still exude. And don’t get me started on exciting new pals! Laveena Lotus, Cardinal Cyn, Jezebel Express, etc… me oh my!

I know you guys were thrown a lot of curve balls, and you did well handling them. Hell, all kinds of snafus happen to large-scale events, whether run by volunteers or professional planners. And things did seem to smooth out as the weekend progressed. I do think that as the barrage of complaints die down and we are able to step back and reflect more objectively, there will be many take-aways about how to minimize/handle the wrath of Murphy’s law for future events. I am definitely going to take some time to compile a list of constructive ideas for the suggestion box, and am putting myself up now as a volunteer for any event planning help.

Now, after having taking a couple of days recuperating and planning for my own local happenings, I will state with confidence that I am very happy to have made the trip to Vegas. And that I’m looking forward to reconnecting with my faraway friends and the new people I’ve met in the future. I’m still compiling my list of suggestions, some of which I am going to try to incorporate into my own shows, and will be sending them to the ‘box soon.

I do so love the burlesque community. I can’t remember exactly who it was that first told me, but it rings true every time: “In burlesque, everything works out well in the end.”

I am so very happy to have witnessed such a wonderfully varied show! Big kudos to all the hardworking and seriously entertaining competitors– especially despite the delays, crazy bursts of wind and last-minute limitations on what could and could not be shown of the female breast by the gaming commission. And of course, a hearty congratulations to the winners of Miss Exotic World Pageant 2008!

Best Debut:
Perle Noir (New Orleans, LA)

Best Duo:
Jewel of Denial and Kat Bardot (Los Angeles, CA)

Best Boylesque:
Sin Jyn (Denver, CO)

Best Troupe:
Peek-A-Boo Revue (Philadelphia, PA)

2nd Runner Up Miss Exotic World:
Trixie Little (Baltimore, MD)

1st Runner Up Miss Exotic World:
Lux La Croix (Los Angeles, CA)

2008 Miss Exotic World:
Angie Pontani (New York, NY)

[Update] According to Burlesque Daily, the special categories winners are as follows:

Most Classic:
Evie Lovell

Most Comical:
Clams Casino

Most Innovative: (Tie)
Clams Casino
Trixie Little

Most Dazzling:
Lux La Croix

***

It’s a shame that (due to reasons unknown to me), the pageant started off late so that in the end, MCs El Vez and Miss Astrid were forced to rush through the announcement of the winners. The follow-up band was setting up on stage (quite obtrusively, I thought) as the winners were hurriedly named as soon as each result card was handed in. I may be a little overdramatic in thinking this, but I thought that for all their hard work, each winner should have been given adequate time to revel in their acceptance of the sought-after trophies. Like this:

Popout
(Video from 2007 via nofimag.)

I missed out on the Sunday pool party, where I heard they made announcements of winners of additional categories such as “most humorous”, “most classic”, etc. Will find out and post the official roster soon.

Also, additional musings from the crazy-great (and sometimes wildly confusing/disappointing) weekend in the next couple of days, including a guest post and pictures by my partner in crime, Indiana Jake aka Reverend Limp Richard.

All in all, I’m glad to have witnessed another installment of burlesque history and connect with this fabulous community!

The word is out!

Official lineup for the 18th Annual Miss Exotic World Pageant:

BEST DEBUT:
Clams Casino
Evie Lovelle
Gal Friday
Fanny Tastic
Frenchie Kiss
Kitty Twist
Lola Bel Aire
Magnificent Liberte Belle
Mimi First
Perle Noir
Ruby Valentine
Tatah DuJour

BEST BOYLESQUE:
Hot Toddy
Sexy Mark Brown
Sin Jyn

BEST DUO:
Cafe Con Leche
Gravity Plays Favorites
Jewel of Denial & Kat Bardot
Syrens of the South
Tease for Two: Lily Verlaine and Miss Indigo Blue

BEST TROUPE:
The Amazing Knicker Kittens
Foxy Tann and The Wham-Bam Thank You Ma’ams
Peek-A-Boo Revue
Sinner Saint Burlesque
Twilight Vixen Revue

MISS EXOTIC WORLD:
Adonna Vichet
Amber Ray
Amber Topaz
Angie Pontani
Bambi the Mermaid
Bunny Love
Charlotte La Belle Araignee
Inga Ingenue
Little Brooklyn
Lux LaCroix
Ravenna Black
Sparkly Devil
Trixie Little
Violet Eva
Vivienne VaVoom

More MEW weekend info in the Burlesque Hall of Fame site.

There are so many good acts on the lineup– many of my favorites, and many more I’ve been dying to see live. I can already feel the fan-girl excitement coursing through my veins. Squeee! I can’t wait!

Tickets are officially ON SALE for weekend passes to Burlesque Hall of Fame/Miss Exotic World weekend (June 5-8, 2008).

June 5 – 8
Palms Casino Weekend Pass! featuring the Stars of Burlesque Reunion and 2008 Miss Exotic World Pageant

Each Weekend Pass is good for general admission access to ALL official Burlesque Hall of Fame/Exotic World Weekend events at Palms Casino Resort, Thursday, June 5-Sunday, June 8. Yes, ALL–and they *WILL* sell out, so get yours while they’re hot, because when they’re gone… they’re gone!

Included in the price of your $150 Weekend Pass is access to:
–Opening Party at Ghost Bar (Thursday)
–Ditch Friday pool party, Friday afternoon (Friday)
–Reunion Showcase with Jazz Legend Jimmy Scott (Friday)***
–Burlesque Bazaar, Friday-Sunday 6/6-6/8 (Friday)
–Miss Exotic World Pageant at Palms Pool (Saturday)
–Post-MEW concert with Tiger Army (Saturday)
–After Party in the Lounge (Special Guests TBA, Saturday)
–Hangover Dance Party at Palms Pool (Sunday)
–Closing Gala at Playboy Club (Sunday)

…Plus free access to the Burlesque Bazaar, live music and drink specials ALL WEEKEND LONG!

**There will be NO individual tickets sold for this event. It is an intimate showcase open to participating performers and weekend passholders only

Get yours now! (But wait until I’ve had a chance to buy mine first, heehee.)

—

Penny Star, Jr./It’s A Chick Productions has pooled together “Las Vegas or Bust“, a nationwide collective of benefit events for the Burlesque Hall of Fame. Visit the site for more info on the Burlesque Hall of Fame (including a short video on the old museum), a list of participating shows, and the overall progress of the fund raisers.