Uploads from Linus Gelber, tagged burlesque, with geodata

Death by Snu-Snu

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Mon, 20 May 2013 09:35:42 -0700

As I've mentioned elsewhere in this set of shots from the 4/20 tribute to [adult swim] at the Parkside Lounge last month, I am not the target audience for the proceedings.

Since I spent twenty-some years without a TV and don't have much background with [adult swim], I am pretty much in a state of delighted confusion throughout this late show. Confusion because, well, why is she holding a gun with her butt? Are those teeth supposed to be like that? What is Space Ghost doing here, anyway? And so forth. And delighted because Rhinestone Gorilla Burlesque.

Anyway, after a bunch of Googling I'm satisfied that Kinky Demure's cave-girl routine here is sufficiently obscure that either you already know what's going on, or you never will. For the curious, I'll just say this: Futurama, Femputer, Amazon Women in the Mood. For the rest, I'll admit that mostly I was thinking of Pebbles and Bam-Bam, but really mostly I was just thinking that Kinky makes a fine neolithic savage.

Singapora Swing

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:22:11 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

We all love a whiff of scandal, especially when it wafts in with a platinum-blonde sensation from foreign shores. So when Sukki Singapora is introduced as an artist who has been banned in her home country of Singapore, we're instantly curious.

Singapore is, of course, famous for its caning and general intolerance when it comes to public behavior, and is not likely to be a territory that wants to see as much of Sukki as we are about to see - but if I were a banning sort, I'd probably consider it. She beams and struts through her Sharkbite Sideshow debut tonight, full of energy and the promise of scandalous trouble ahead.

Thing Two

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Tue, 14 May 2013 08:57:43 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

Little Brooklyn was one of my formative burlesque artists. When I began taking pictures of burlesque performers a little over eight years ago, the scene was much smaller, the art less understood, and the audiences generally less casual: we were cravers and devotees, turning up at show after show to share the joy of something that took a lot of explaining and still left our friends fairly baffled.

Now it's hard to imagine New York without burlesque; entertainment calendars and weekend events sections have burlesque roundups, almost anyone who frequents night stuff will have a favorite performer or two, and sometimes it feels like an event just isn't an event these days if someone isn't twirling tassels or manhandling fans. I'm not complaining, just noting that sometimes things change faster than you think they will. (And you kids better stay off my lawn.)

Back in the spring of 2005, when my camera and I were just starting to emerge into this exciting dark world, one of my most regular stops was the Starshine Burlesque, held on Thursday nights in the back room at Rififi (a bar and comedy club and performance spot on East 11th Street, now long closed and still much missed). Starshine was the mouthy nakedy love child of Little Brooklyn and cohort Creamy Stevens, and it has, as they say, been much imitated, but never quite recreated.

Little Brooklyn has always been known for tearing off chunks of pop culture and flinging them back at audiences in twisty altered forms: she's one of the great clowns of New York's Neo-burlesque. Tonight, at the first of this year's May Babies roundups at the Sharkbite Sideshow, she comes stomping out dressed head to toe as The Thing, from the Fantastic Four. To the strains of the Commodores' Brick House, she strips out of her stony layers - she's even got bricks that tumble out of her shorts when she pulls them down.

Kryssy Squish

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Sun, 12 May 2013 08:49:13 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

A couple of months ago I watched Kryssy Kocktail do a crackpot magic routine, in which she tries out a new trick on stage by following the taped instructions that came in her "Magic of the Month" club box. In the trick she is supposed to make a bandana disappear, but due to a slight misunderstanding in the magic factory, what comes in the box is actually a banana, which is different.

As a prelude to making the bandana - um, banana - disappear, there is some folding involved, and we lucky folks in the front row get a light basting with banana mush.

Much as I loved the prior performance, the pictures I got (including the one I posted) were pretty crappy. Tonight at the May Babies edition of the Sharkbite Sideshow I get to see her again, and do a better job.

Kryssy is a regular guest at Sharkbite, performing all sorts of circus arts: magic, sword swallowing, risky and occasionally blood-soaked tricks with knives and razor blades and nails and broken glass and balloons, and more. I realized late in life that I wished I had run away and joined the circus, and she pretty much did, so I'm always rapt when she's on stage.

Now I'm thinking someone should start an emo band and call it Folded Banana.

Increase

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Sat, 11 May 2013 09:08:18 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

The May Babies edition of Sharkbite Sideshow starts off with pole dancing, as always. This is my first time seeing Nikita Darling perform on the pole, and she's astonishing: easygoing, strong, sexy, and confident.

In some ways, pole dancing is marching the same slow trek to legitimacy that burlesque as a whole went through in the last decade. Not that long ago a dance pole was pretty much the sole domain of strippers. It wasn't so much a challenge for skill as it was a clever way to get rid of clothing. Which is not to say it wasn't possible to perform well, but that performing well wasn't always the major consideration.

A few years later on, happily, the pole is a means of expression and athleticism and skill. I'm reminded of watching gymnasts on the balance beam or the parallel bars: the dancers' routines are full of personality, tension, and grace. Also: hot.

I'm very fond of the annual May Babies shows, because I am a May Baby too. I'm celebrating my birthday in the audience, after a lovely afternoon shooting flowers in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and watching Antonioni's L'Eclisse at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. As days go, this is a fine one.

Lucida Sans Coast to Coast

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:19:04 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

The Rhinestone Gorilla Burlesque sendup of and tribute to the [adult swim] comedy network features company producer Lucida Sans as a performer and host, righteous and heroic in a Space Ghost outfit.

Space Ghost!

I have to admit that part of my instant joy comes from my lack of experience with [adult swim], not on account of snootiness but because it's only in recent years that I have owned a television. Space Ghost for me is a pure childhood delight, one of the cartoon shows that my folks let me watch once we got TV - fairly late by modern standards - as long as I promised to be quiet and let them sleep in on Saturday mornings. I knew (and loved) Space Ghost as a mysterious do-gooder and action hero, before he became a late-night after-party surrealist gag. I had little illustrated Space Ghost books as a kid, and I used to love drawing his ship, The Phantom Cruiser, whenever there was paper and a willing pencil handy.

Anyway, this has nothing to do with the cartoon figure who hosted the Space Ghost Coast to Coast talk show on the Cartoon Network, and who is incarnated here tonight. But the happy rush is a nice bonus to the evening. Space Ghost!

Lucida is grave and heroic as host of the company's 4/20 tribute to [adult swim], pitching her voice deep and bracing her shoulders, as if she were about to tackle evildoers with her mighty frame and impenetrable reputation. At one point, she gazes seriously out at the audience.

"Please remember that I cannot hear you," she announces, full of portent, her voice packed with justice and gravity. "My head is covered with rubber."

Gemma from the Past

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:05:01 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

The last time we saw the Rhinestone Gorilla Burlesque perform their Ass From The Past: Age 10, Revisited show it was on the Upper West Side, at the Triad Theater. Can that really be 18 months ago already? By gum, I guess it is.

They're bringing Ass From The Past: Age 10, Revisited back for another run tonight in the East Village, at the Parkside Lounge. Does that make it Re-Revisited? I can't go, but the festivities will be hosted once again by Gemma Stone. Which pretty much means that there will be a rollicking time for all.

Tough as Nails

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:51:45 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

If it looks to you like Donny Vomit has a six-inch nail up his nose, guess what: you got it in one.

Donny is a regular feature on the Coney Island circuit, and his Human Blockhead routine is a notorious one: he's even featured on the label for one of the Coney Island Beer brands by Shmaltz Brewing.

Tonight he's hosting the Sharkbite Sideshow, and he punctuates his patter with sleight of hand, painful-looking encounters with a mousetrap, and dangerous tricks with power tools.

Once he's got the nail all the way in, he strikes a few poses for the cameras. As one will.

Legs and the Veil

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:19:46 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

Even in the most mundane of times, Legs Malone is largely mysterious: with an impish sense of humor, a serious side, and her signature boast - the girl with the 34½-inch inseam - she's got a towering charm and an air of unexpected action. Add a sparkly veil and a sheer robe of sequins and shine, and the atmosphere tonight is positively charged.

Legs wraps up this edition of the Sharkbite Sideshow. I haven't seen her in ages, which is a little silly, given that she performs and produces shows all through New York. It's a treat to watch her tonight.

Aurora Identity

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:29:14 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

Aurora Black has a quandary. Here she is, all good-girl pretty with ballerina moves and a clean white mask, dancing to gentle piano music in her prim skirt. Then bursts of heavy metal crash into the drawing-room soundtrack, and the mask comes off. Briefly, she examines it - who's who, here?

Since this is Sharkbite Sideshow night in the back room at R Bar, the outcome is pretty much a foregone conclusion. Rock and roll is an easy winner over classical, the mask is tossed aside, the hair comes undone, and it turns out that Aurora has rather comely sleek black lingerie, snugged with bright chains, hidden under her sensible clothes.

Here, you can almost hear her thinking, "Nuh-uh."

As always at R Bar, I'm struggling with lights that are too dim for the gear I'm shooting. This image was brightened and noise-reduced pretty hard, after which I pressed out the excess colors by making it a duotone; later I added in some reds and tans and converted it back into RGB.

[faye valentine holds the cards]

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:18:48 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

Guest performer BB Heart does a snappy turn as Faye Valentine, the card-loving bounty hunter from the Cowboy Bebop anime series, at the Rhinestone Gorilla Burlesque's 4/20 tribute to [adult swim].

BB starts off with her hands full of playing cards, which she tosses away. With a sly quick set of moves she produces - more cards! Which she tosses away. Later there are more ... well, you get the drift.

I've never watched Cowboy Bebop on the [adult swim] network, but I have seen the feature film - which runs 116 largely unexplained minutes, and is not really an ideal way to meet the story. This is a much better introduction.

Chief Angelique

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:18:15 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

Angelique A'lamode edges out onto the stage at the Parkside Lounge in a white doctor coat, laboriously pushing a walker ahead of her. The occasion is the Rhinestone Gorilla Burlesque's 4/20 tribute to [adult swim], and unless I've fumbled my search fu today, that makes her Chief in Childrens Hospital. (If I have this wrong, please feel free to set me straight in the comments.)

Under her medical whites is a snug, nifty flapper dress, and Angelique does a classic striptease complete with pin-up primps posed primly on top of the walker. It's a weirdly dissonant juxtaposition, which is, of course, part of the fun.

Apart from the occasional late-night run-in with Robot Chicken, which I've found to be by turns the funniest thing ever and the least funny thing in the world, I'm pretty much a stranger to the [adult swim] network. That means I miss the scream-with-delight moments of recognition in this show, but the acts are still terrific - and now I'm curious about some of the programming.

[when mermaids attack]

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 08:30:41 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

Rhinestone Gorilla Burlesque has a special affinity to a certain kind of zany cartoon comedy, notably the sort of stuff that might be found in the odd nooks of television at odd hours, and which might be enhanced with a substance or two. They found great fun and success in their Animaniacs productions last year, and now - on 4/20, of course - they are sending up the many delights of the [adult swim] network.

I am not the target audience for this show, not because I'm too snooty for [adult swim] but because I didn't own a television for about 20 years, and I just have no background in it. So I'm not always sure of the details of what I'm seeing at tonight's 4/20 tribute to [adult swim] at the Parkside Lounge. Whether you bring the trivia (or even basic comprehension) or not, though, this is a hilarious, scattered, gleeful show, hosted by Space Ghost and featuring a parade of characters who are universal in their broad strokes, even when I can't put a name to them. (Feel free to tell me what is going on in the comments, if you have the urge.)

And some of this crowd is mighty with trivia. During a competition quiz round with the audience, a few happy volunteers reel off word-for-word raps, character names (Brandon, Brendon, Brindon), nuances about who's got what tattoo on what show, and much, much more.

Here Gemma Stone is a mermaid who flirts, briefly and self-consciously, with the audience. Her moment is interrupted when Kinky Demure, also a mermaid, prances past, wrapped up in her internal mermaidy business. Gemma is provoked and enraged, and attacks with saber and knife and ray gun and ropes and other implements of destruction. A pitched battle ensues.

Princess Sunshine Has Your Number, and is Probably Planning to Kick Your Ass

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:32:02 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

Hosting the Sharkbite Sideshow this week is Princess Sunshine, a nightmare homespun midwestern chaperone sort of character who balefully fills the evening with chipper, practical, caustic, passive-aggressive, and manic wit. Accompanying herself on Blondie the Ukulele, Princess S. (Juliet Jeske) leads us in happy songs about the joys of leaving your partner for a younger partner, how All Men Want Is Pussy, and a variety of improvised children's tunes on dark, disturbing themes. She's tart, and hilarious.

I've known of Princess Sunshine forever, and I have no idea how I've managed to escape seeing her before tonight. It's a treat.

Izébel, Not Yet Wearing Purple

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:45:22 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

Izébel Vivant makes her debut with the Sharkbite Sideshow. It's a treat to see her perform with Sharkbite; for a couple of years now she and I have had a happy if occasional collaboration in making images, on stage and in the studio.

Izébel enters cocooned in her best "I Vant to be Alone" airs, hidden behind huge dark glasses, bulked up in a dark coat, buried inside a giant headscarf. To the gypsy strains of Gogol Bordello's Start Wearing Purple, she slips off her shoes and stockings and eases into something more, well, purple. The song lingers, and I'm still humming it a bit much later in the evening, after the show is over.

Bunny's Whoops

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 12:27:39 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

At a burlesque show, a wardrobe malfunction is more a matter of timing than of material failure. So tonight at the Sharkbite Sideshow, it's not that we weren't going to be visited by Bunny Buxom's buxom resources - it's just that there's an unscheduled early appearance, which is quickly rectified and tucked back out of sight.

Bunny's number tonight is a display of ceaseless tassel-twirling, so I'm glad of the moment of stillness. I'm shooting at slow speeds in this dark venue, which is always just beyond the easy reach of my equipment, and she is a blaze of wriggle and shimmy for most of the act. Here I get her more or less at rest, which means more or less in focus.

Lucida at Parkside

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:44:42 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

Lucida Sans is the producer and Head Lunatic with the Rhinestone Gorilla Burlesque, and she hosts most of their shows in the city and on the road - so in the years I've been shooting the company, I've seen her in a variety of bodacious hairstyles, garish outfits, and rumbustious locales. She is given, in the course of the evening, to disjointed and hilarious stories, moments of did-she-just-say-that wonder, and bouts of singing, both rehearsed and spontaneous.

I think (but am not sure) that this is the calm after a sudden musical moment: it comes toward the end of RGB's Public Bracasting System show, which pokes fond fun at the many aspects of PBS.

Abby Red

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:29:42 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

At the last Rhinestone Gorilla Burlesque show, their annual Public Bracasting System explosion, we have to wait in the main bar area of the Parkside Lounge for a while, because the previous show is running long. (If you have to be kept waiting because the early show is running long, it's much more fun when the early show is a clown show - which is the case here. That way, if anyone asks what's holding things up, you can shrug and say, "Clowns.")

When things get started at last, Abby Fantastic launches it all with a pre-show round of go-go dancing.

After her set, Abby eases over to me and beams a huge, ear-to-ear smile. "Thanks for taking my maternity pictures!" she whispers. Congratulations!

Science (Pure Baking Soda)

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:47:23 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

PBS - the Public Broadcasting System - is home to a variety of science, math, reading, and general education shows, in addition to BBC cast-offs, operacasts, and occasional original programming. When the Rhinestone Gorilla Burlesque takes the PBS case and mounts their annual Public Bracasting System show, then, there's inevitably some science on parade. Especially here, in Izébel Vivant's intermission go-go routine.

So, remember when you were in grade school, and they had that sculpted model volcano? And you poured baking soda into it, and then added vinegar, and whoosh, it spouted ash and you were thrilled and amazed at Science in Action? Izébel has built a volcano apparatus into her bra, and slowly and lovingly she puts her experiment to work. It's a little hard to see, given the dim light, the late hour, and the necessity of lying down for the final phase, but sure enough: at the proper moment, rivers of red glitter stream down her slopes, and ... um ... well, glitter lava, people. Red glitter lava.

Pearls Before Whiskers

nobody@flickr.com (Linus Gelber) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 08:50:10 -0700

Linus Gelber posted a photo:

I missed the last Rhinestone Gorilla Burlesque outing, a Superbowl half-time show sendup, due to a pressing date with 24 hours' worth of science fiction movies playing up in Boston over the Presidents' Day weekend.

So I'm especially pleased that I can be there for this one, their Public Bracasting System tribute to all things PBS - and I do mean all things, from kids' programming and Bill Nye the Science Guy right up to the steamy secret antics of Downton Abbey's people envisioned in their bedchambers.

I shot the Gorillas last year when their PBS show was actually a fundraiser, complete with operators standing by. This year the show is downtown, rather than on the Upper West Side, and there's much that's new - including stage kitten Pearls Dailey, who has taken the "kitten" role to heart.

Pearls nearly danced at a recent mobbed launch-party show for a dotcom thang in DUMBO where RGB was the featured entertainment, but just as she was about to come up and perform the fire marshals closed the joint down, on account of the zillion people overcrowding the venue - a dread instance of gogo interruptus. Tonight the room stays open.