All The News That's Fit To Strip

Dita Von Teese reveals a little to The New York Times. Her worst moment on stage?

"My hair caught on fire. I do an act where I sit on a vanity table that has candelabras on it. Well, there was a lot of hair spray going on. I realized what was happening and put my hair out. The show went on."

The burly queen also gabbed with AskMen.com.

In other news ...

The New York Times reviews the latest Broadway revival of Gypsy and says, "this latest incarnation ... shines with a magnified transparency that lets you see right down to the naked core of characters so hungry for attention that it warps them." And The New Yorker raves about Patti Lupone, writing she is "thrilling from the moment she stalks onstage."

Photographer Lisa Kereszi traveled across the country to document the neo-burlesque movement and now her work has been collected in Fantasies.

Professor Catherine Roach explores the "stripper-ization of pop culture."

The Candy Gram: Vicky Butterfly

In our ongoing Q&A series --"The Candy Gram"-- we ask the same quirky questions of burlesque's various performers. If you want to be added to the mix, drop us a line at kellydinardo AT gmail DOT com. Today, say hello to Vicky Butterfly.

What is your hometown?
I was born in London, but my father and mother hail from Vienna and Dublin and I don't wear my heritage lightly. I feel privileged that I have been able to hear my dad's tales of (or what he remembers) of the luxury of the Roaring Twenties and my mum's stories of The Gate Theatre (where she grew up).

How long have you been interested in burlesque/performing?
Ever since I can remember. I think my first memories were riding a circus elephant (I cried) and being a daisy in a ballet, both when I was 4. I was brought up on a diet of old movies and books so I was used to making up performances from them and pretending to be characters, who of course had fantastic costumes. I performed off and on for the next 12 years. When I was about 18 I fronted a few bands. Burlesque had never been something unusual to me. I remember learning about The Windmill from my mother when I was 13 and practicing some very unsuitable moves for a girl my age in front of the bathroom mirror. I suppose I came to re-define myself as a burlesque performer through modeling, and making costumes for a fantastic burlesque costumer called Miss Zoe Husssy. I saw so much to inspire me that I fancied having a go and by the time I left Central Saint Martins Burlesque had become a full-time career.

How many pairs of pasties do you own?
Well, you can make pasties out of anything can't you? I do like to be innovative. I have about 4 pairs that I've made myself (2 sets of tassels, 2 sets of regular pasties). I also go down to butterflies, vintage gems, Theda Bara-style metal constructions, Vintage lace stick-on bras and rose petals (real and fabric).

What are your three favorite songs to perform to?
I'm sure I couldn't narrow it down to 3! Probably Harlem Nocturne, as it seems perfectly constructed for me to dance and flirt with the audience to. A song from Stories from The Moon, an album of songs by a band I used to sing for that now lacks a name. Their songs perfectly capture the atmosphere of a sort of playful yet vaguely nightmare-ish Victorian fairground. The third is any song I'm particularly 'feeling' at any one time? They usually have a fairly short life-span and can come from almost any genre from Where The Wild Roses Grow by Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue to Sailor by IAMX.

What three items could you not live without as a performer?
Well, tape obviously. But apart from that, my fans. I have so many pairs -- Peacock feathers, white ostrich, giant rose petals made of fabric, an original Victorian pair. And corsets. I collect antique ones, unusual ones, make them and turn old ones into new things. I think my smallest is currently 17". And I love the flying butterflies I use in my Butterfly act.

Who had the biggest influence on your career?
I don't like to model myself on anyone else, but everyone's stories and personalities have really helped to inspire me as a person. Principally innovative performers of every era and Ziegfeld showgirls (the way they have endured as icons but are somehow anonymous speaks to me), silent movie stars, '40s Femme Fatales, good-time girls of the Belle Epoque. And my parents. I know it sounds cheesy, but I find their lives so fascinating that it really triggered my interest in all these sorts of things. And Kittie Klaw for regularly giving me a kick up the arse. I'm a terrible procrastinator.

Who is your favorite burly queen?
Anita Berber. Maybe not strictly Burly, but she was just incredible. I think she's the only performer, rather than character, I've ever done a tribute to.

What is your favorite item of clothing?
Currently it's The Garnet Gown from Gone With The Wind that I'm using for a new act.

What's the last movie you saw?
Aimee et Jaguar -- beautiful!

What's on your must-see-TV list?
I don't have one. I'm not in enough to be a regular watcher, and don't think I have the attention span either to do anything other than dip in and out while doing other things.

What book is on your nightstand?
I have four at the moment -- a book about courtesans in the 19th Century, The Glass Books of The Dream Eaters by G.W Dahlquist, The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber and a biography of Joe Meek.

If you could go anywhere for vacation, where would you go?
Venice. It's so opulently decaying with such an amazing and decadent history. I feel at home there, and I love the way that in order to survive it was meant to be constantly renewed. A real living city.

If you could have any superpower, which one would you want? Why?
I'd like to be able to read people's minds. Sometimes. It'd be annoying if you could never switch them off. And it wouldn't necessarily be very helpful -- lots of people lie to themselves. Or teleportation -- I'm lazy. Or decisiveness: that's a superpower to me.

Satisfy your appetite for more Candy Grams: Dominique Immora, Yasmine Vine, Cherry Bomb, Millie Dollar, Joanie Gyoza, Bonbon Vivant, Lola Martinet, Frankie Boudoir, Vixen Violette, Ravenna Black, Veronica Lashe, Amber Ray, Beatrix von Bourbon, Angie Pontani, Tanya Cheex, Bloody Belle, Clams Casino, Trixie Little, Michelle L'Amour, Margaret Cho, Miss Dirty Martini, Princess Farhana, Miss Delirium Tremens, Paris Green, Jo Boobs, Jack Midnight, Heidi Von Haught, Diamond Minx, The Titillation Twins, Scratch, Creamy Stevens and Gina Louise.

Rose In Bloom

After four weeks of previews, the new Broadway revival of Gypsy opens tonight. The musical about burlesque dancer Gypsy Rose Lee stars Laura Benanti, left, in the title role and Patti Lupone as Mama Rose.

The Hollywood Reporter offers up this bit of Gypsy trivia:

The role of Mama Rose won a 1975 best actress Tony for Angela Lansbury in the first revival of the show; it also won Tyne Daly a 1990 Tony for her redo. However, there was no Tony for Ethel Merman, the woman who created the role, despite the fact that that has always been considered the role and the performance of her legendary legit career.

Video of the Week

All The News That's Fit to Strip

The City University of New York revealed the art of burlesque in a symposium called "What is Burlesque? Art or Erotica or Ars Erotica?" Several performers including Jo Boobs, Tigger, Velocity Chyaldd and Rosewood put on demos and discussed burlesque. Lynn Sally told audiences:

"Burlesque is an utterly amateur form that anybody can do. But this makes burlesque a democratic art, where audiences can watch a show and say 'Wow! Look! You don't have to be super skinny to be on stage.' Burlesque feels accessible to the audience."

In other news ...

The Pussycat Dolls is back in prime time.

The Greater Boston Burlesque Exposition had "spectacular" turnout.

Don Rickles used to do impressions and jokes in striptease houses. He told the Las Vegas Sun: "I was the comedian while all the girls were undressing. By today’s standards they’re fully dressed. But I used to be the time-killer in between acts. I did bad jokes and lousy impressions and so I started talking to the audience and making fun of the place I was in, and that started out for what I do best. That was mainly because that was my personality — I was always being sarcastic."

Peep Show

The Candy Gram returns next week. In the meantime, here's a treat for your Easter basket.

Bible Stories

Burlesque troupe Skin Tight Outta Sight puts on its fourth Biblical Burlesque show this weekend. "Think of it as a church pageant gone wrong," troupe member Sauci Calla Horra told the Toronto Star. Not surprisingly, the article ignited a firestorm of responses.

Jo Boobs points out that religion often serves as inspiration burly-q performers and offers up several neo-burlesque examples. It's not a new trend.

Lili St. Cyr staged a short dance based on Oscar Wilde’s Salome, a tale of the woman who dances to encourage King Herod to behead John the Baptist. One reviewer described the performance as a “barbaric portrayal [that] shows her gloating over the head of the prophet and [ending] in a wild, frenzied dance." And a routine she called "Eve," in which she danced around a large apple, inspired a Montreal priest to start a crusade to run her out of town. “Who’s ignoring the repugnant obscenity of the shows presented in Montreal by Lili St. Cyr,” he wrote. “All affirm that a stench of sexual frenzy plagues the theater the whole time this dancer’s exhibition lasts.” The priest caused such a brouhaha that Lili was arrested, but the trial lasted less than two hours and she was acquitted.

Montreal’s business owners fully recognized Lili’s bottom line appeal and in their newsletter wrote: "One must never have seen the chaste and statuesque Lili to be able to decry her thus. She is the ideal woman incarnate . . . she has us experience the entire spectrum of emotion, by a gradation of personal pleasures, by all degrees of hope, desire, and enjoyment. . . . With a sparkling light she executes the most fantastic dances of eternal theme. . . . She gives a wake-up to adolescence, a stimulant to the young man, comfort to the middle-aged man, sweet memory to the old man. . . . Lili is the goddess of love reincarnate . . . She is at the same time immortal desire, and immortal enjoyment. Bravo to all those who refuse to let themselves be moved by these false cries of conscience. . . . We’d be a city dead to love and to pleasure."

Video of the Week

Underbelly: A Year In the Life of Dancer Princess Farhana premieres next Tuesday. Enjoy a sneak peek in our video of the week.

All The News That's Fit To Strip

Technical difficulties kept The Candy Pitch from serving up the usual striptease confections, but we're back. We're not the only ones. Bachelor Pad Magazine's latest issue dishes up some lovely burly-q treats. London's Sophie Jones writes about her burlesque brunch, which lets you "sip your coffee while burlesque beauties take their time to tease and tantalize you." Penny Starr offers tips on entertaining. And Ava Garter, left, shows off in a saucy pictorial.

In other news ...

Meghan McCain, daughter of the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, told GQ she's got a crush on Dita. The 23-year-old said: "I know she’s not someone you would expect the daughter of a Republican candidate to like, but I love her. I love the way she dresses. If I could look like that all day, I would…in her day clothes, I mean."

The Pussycat Dolls bare their lingerie line in L.A.

The Boston Burlesque Exposition, a three-day, two-night extravaganza, shimmies into the Hyatt Regency this weekend.

Yeah, baaaaby. Agent Lynch teases Sixties style.

Dita Von Teese sues an erotica company.

The Candy Gram: Dominique Immora

In our ongoing Q&A series --"The Candy Gram"-- we ask the same quirky questions of burlesque's various performers. If you want to be added to the mix, drop us a line at kellydinardo AT gmail DOT com. Today, say hello to Dominique Immora.

What is your hometown?
Boston, Ma

How long have you been interested in burlesque/performing?
I'm actually not one of those people who's been interested in performing since childhood. I spent many years in technical theatre, with no desire to be on stage. I started out my performing career with fire spinning, then I moved towards more indoor-friendly variety acts, and then I moved to burlesque. I've been a fire performer now for over five and a half years, and a burlesque dancer for two and a half.

How many pairs of pasties do you own?
Probably about 10. Only two or three of them see much use, the rest are too specialized.

What are your three favorite songs to perform to?
In These Shoes by Kirsty MacColl
Hummingbirds by Venus Hum
Zig Zaggity Woop Woop Part 2 by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

What three items could you not live without as a performer?
My hula hoops
Either eyeliner or dark lipstick
Fantastic underwear

Who had the biggest influence on your career?
Because I do a wide variety of performance, I can't say that there's been one person who had the biggest influence on my career as a whole. I have had so many friends and collaborators who've I've learned different bits and pieces from. The first person I would have to mention is Meraleen, a fantastic hooper who spent her youth in a Swedish circus. Seeing someone for whom hard-won lessons of the stage are second nature is a wonderful learning experience.

In terms of burlesque itself, the biggest influence hands down comes from being in a troupe. I'm blessed to be part of the Boston Babydolls, which is full of women who are constantly pushing themselves to learn new things and polish up old skills. The ability to get honest feedback and analyze strengths and weaknesses of acts in a friendly environment is absolutely the most useful tool a performer could have.

Who is your favorite burly queen?
After all the acts I've seen, I'd have to say Immodesty Blaze. I think she's one of the few performers out there who has the total package: she's creative, beautiful, has stage presence galore, and she's very intelligent.

What is your favorite item of clothing?
A pair of tall black boots from Fluevog that have a spool heel and faux buttons up the outside. They work for all of my performance styles as well as my "real" life. That's hard to do!

What's the last movie you saw?
Cold Comfort Farm (re-watch) or Everything is Illuminated (new viewing)

What's on your must-see-TV list?
I rarely watch TV, but I do catch old episodes of Family Guy while doing craft projects. I'm dying to see the new season of Battle Star Gallactica, but I think it'll have to wait until I can Netflix it.

What book is on your nightstand?
Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age

If you could go anywhere for vacation, where would you go?
The Galapagos Islands. I've been planning to go there with my dad since I was little and I still haven't gotten the chance. After that, I want to go to the ruins of Ctesiphon.

If you could have any superpower, which one would you want? Why?
Hands down I would want to be able to control time. If I could just stop the world for a couple days so I could finish up some projects, or stop time so I could instantaneously travel to a gig four hours away, I'd be a happy girl.

Satisfy your appetite for more Candy Grams: Yasmine Vine, Cherry Bomb, Millie Dollar, Joanie Gyoza, Bonbon Vivant, Lola Martinet, Frankie Boudoir, Vixen Violette, Ravenna Black, Veronica Lashe, Amber Ray, Beatrix von Bourbon, Angie Pontani, Tanya Cheex, Bloody Belle, Clams Casino, Trixie Little, Michelle L'Amour, Margaret Cho, Miss Dirty Martini, Princess Farhana, Miss Delirium Tremens, Paris Green, Jo Boobs, Jack Midnight, Heidi Von Haught, Diamond Minx, The Titillation Twins, Scratch, Creamy Stevens and Gina Louise.

Q Love

Tomorrow, Quincy Jones celebrates his 75th birthday. What do you get the man who gave us Fly Me To The Moon and Rock With You? How about a burlesque routine done to one of his most famous songs?

Video of the Week

The Candy Pitch loves a little political debauchery. When David Vitter's phone number turned up in the DC Madam's little black book, we looked at the tassel-twirling interests of past politicians. Blaze Starr, whose long-term affair with Louisiana Governor Earl Long inspired the 1989 film Blaze, earned our highest scandal rating. When Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor and director Paul Newman stars in a movie about your affair, you know it's steamy. Eliot Spitzer may resign as governor, but don't resign yourself to a Lifetime movie.

In honor of the latest political mayhem, we bring you the original Blaze Starr as our Video of the Week.

Crazy for Burlesque

More than 50 dancers competed for a spot in the Crazy Horse Paris dance troupe at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. After three days of auditions, celebrity judge Dita Von Teese helped choose the four winners. The winners are Krystle Richeson from Virginia Beach, VA; Elena Lee Rodriguez from Miami, FL; Polina Volchek from Las Vegas, NV and Kara McKinney from Roanoke, VA. The winners will be flown to Paris, France, where they will receive formal training for two months before joining the dancers on the famed Crazy Horse Paris stage, where Pamela Anderson recently hosted a St. Valentine’s Day party.

All The News That's Fit To Strip

Immodesty Blaize tells the Telegraph about her start in burlesque, the British burlesque scene and burlesque's appeal.

"In an age where we're constantly being bombarded with sexual imagery, burlesque was going right against the grain. But what appealed to me about it was the idea of making erotic entertainment joyous and glamorous and tongue-in-cheek. In a funny way, burlesque reminds me of a horror film. You're always more scared when you haven't seen the monster than when you have. Although I don't know if that's a very good analogy."

In other news, everyone's chatting about what burlesque is ...

Dr. Wasabi offers his spin. "Burlesque literally means 'to turn upside down.' It was to parody. And old-fashioned burlesque featured singing, dancing, dirty humor and stripping. But neo-burlesque is different from stripping as it's practiced today, because stripping focuses on particular body types. Neo-burlesque is about all types of body and all genders."

The discussion continues with PhD candidate Alexis Butler, who says, "There's the neo-burlesquers who use the mechanism of burlesque, and maintain the issues of sexuality and gender as a means to burlesque popular culture now, so sending up everything from standards of beauty and desire, to mainstream film, mainstream music, whatever it may be -- politics. And then there's the other sort of more standard form that tries to imitate some sort of sense of a perceived historical tradition. They're sort of historical re-creationists in a lot of ways."

And Job Boobs explores the difference between stripping and burlesque. She'll peel away the layers of the debate even further in a panel discussion at NYU on March 12.

The Candy Gram: Yasmine Vine

In our ongoing Q&A series --"The Candy Gram"-- we ask the same quirky questions of burlesque's various performers. If you want to be added to the mix, drop us a line at kellydinardo AT gmail DOT com. Today, say hello to Yasmine Vine.

What is your hometown?
Tehran, Iran

How long have you been interested in burlesque/performing?
I have always been interested in performing. Since I was 3, I'd mimic performances. Shile other kids would hold dolls and play house, Id ask for boas and sing and dance in front of the mirror. The first time I saw Burlesque, I had a huge realization.It was like, oh, thats ME!

How many pairs of pasties do you own?
Around 10

What are your three favorite songs to perform to?
Mein Herr from Cabaret is my favorite. I also like Minnie the Moocher by Cab Callaway and Big Spender.

What three items could you not live without as a performer?
6-8 inch stripper heels
red lipstick
my hair stylist

Who had the biggest influence on your career?
Jeff Costa creator of cardio striptease. I took his class religiously for a year before I even attempted to do burlesque.

Who is your favorite burly queen?
I don/t really have a favorite. I am a fan of Bettie Page. I also like Dita Von Teese because she is always glamorous. I do enjoy watching Bella Beretta, Ruby Fox and Delilah Demilo. I think Madonna is secretly a burlesque dancer inside.

What is your favorite item of clothing?
Heels! The higher, the better. And I do enjoy my boas and feather fans.

What's the last movie you saw?
Alvin and The Chipmunks and I LOVED IT!

What's on your must-see-TV list?
I rarely watch TV, but Id say Will and Grace and South Park.

What book is on your nightstand?
Oh so many books!I love to read. currently I'm reading The Billionaire Woman Next Door and AmBitchous. I also got The Secret as a gift.

If you could go anywhere for vacation, where would you go?
Somewhere tropical. I love to swim in the ocean and also have a view of the mountains.

If you could have any superpower, which one would you want? Why?
To turn back time. This way I can undo mistakes I have made.

Satisfy your appetite for more Candy Grams: Cherry Bomb, Millie Dollar, Joanie Gyoza, Bonbon Vivant, Lola Martinet, Frankie Boudoir, Vixen Violette, Ravenna Black, Veronica Lashe, Amber Ray, Beatrix von Bourbon, Angie Pontani, Tanya Cheex, Bloody Belle, Clams Casino, Trixie Little, Michelle L'Amour, Margaret Cho, Miss Dirty Martini, Princess Farhana, Miss Delirium Tremens, Paris Green, Jo Boobs, Jack Midnight, Heidi Von Haught, Diamond Minx, The Titillation Twins, Scratch, Creamy Stevens and Gina Louise.

Video of the Week

Here's a Jo Boobs montage to brighten up your week.

Exotic Fruit

I received a little treat in my inbox this week -- a message from Mary Ault, who used to perform as Peaches Lulu. She shared some memories of Lili St. Cyr and graciously said I could dish 'em up on the Candy Pitch.

"When I was about 9 or 10, still living in West Hollywood in the mid sixties, there was a theater on Hollywood Blvd. where Lili was taking a bath in a window to promote a film," wrote Mary. "I remember being intensely fascinated by this and went to see her do it twice. This started my crooked path into the business. ... Later, when I moved back to West Hollywood, she had a lingerie shop which I used to go into just to look. She would be there but I was petrified to talk to her."

All The News That's Fit To Strip

Sneak a peek at a Dita Von Teese you haven't seen before -- the blonde, 18-year-old Heather Sweet in her high school yearbook photo. That fresh-scrubbed look wasn't to last and Dita said in an interview: "As soon as I was of legal age I wanted to take my clothes off and be photographed recreating old pin-ups."

In other news ....

St. Louis gets saucy with Foxy Le Feelion, Greta Garter and others. But burlesque isn't new to this town. "In the '50s and '60s the Grand Theater hosted stars like Tempest Storm and Lili St. Cyr while the Stardust Club was home to the Evelyn West and her "$50,000 treasure chest."

Tempest Storm celebrates her 80th birthday and proves, “Gravity hasn’t gotten me yet. I have had a (heck) of a run and I’m not finished."

Porn baron Paul Raymond has died at 82. Raymond, once dubbed the King of Soho, opened the only premises in Britain to stage live striptease shows in 1958.

A Pussycat Doll hangs up her whiskers.