Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

The Teaseday Club opened again this past Tuesday, again not hosted by John J King (trust me, this gets funnier the more months you attend). Instead, it fell to our own Mr. Scratch to keep things moving along. Honestly, I think even if, by some miracle, John were available, Scratch would have taken this month as it marked Evie Sphinx’s last performance (only for a while, we hope) as she goes off to complete her degree.

I was in the audience this month, with a video camera, so perhaps in the future I can share a little of the fun.

(All photos from Mystic River Studios by Rich Jarvis Photography)

Set 1
Delilah Spring of The Tasty Pasties opened up the show with her fan dance to “The Mooche”. Delilah was one of my fan dance students last year and I think it shows in her performance. At least to me. I could recognize the moves I taught her and the ones she picked up from watching me.
 
 

Anthony Scibelli provided us with a stand-up comedy set. He’s a very funny guy: just Google his name + “snozzberries”.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Devora Darling performed a number from A (Re)Movable Feast which we call “Cupcakes”. It has many of her favorite things: a pink frilly costume, dancing en pointe, and a bra covered with soft-sculpture petit-fours. I know, I know that gives away the punchline, but she’s so fond of it. I think she’d wear that bra all the time if she could get away with it.

Stella Diamond sang “Paper Moon”, as she does in The Fine Art of Burlesque (last performances this weekend in New Hampshire and Maine). The lovely vintage gloves were a find from our trip to Cleveland, purchased from Miss Holly Hock at the Ohio Burlesque Festival. Stella got big cheers during the dance break in the middle of the song even though she didn’t take a thing off.
 

Set 2
Dagny Vanderlust of The Tasty Pasties performed “Bad Things“. I love this number because I saw it grow from an idea to a stage-worthy act in B.A.B.E.’s “Burlesque Your Way” class. I think Dagny tried out at least 4 different pairs of shoes over the life of this routine, from rhinestoned stilettos through bare feet to character shoes, before deciding on the cowboy boots. By the way, her final reveal is awesome and it’s *after* her bra comes off.

Krupp and Bubbles began with a little slight of hand from Krupp and ended with a little demonstration of the art of misdirection from Bubbles.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Evie Sphinx danced to the song Amor Fati from the new album, Softly Swooning World by Samantha Farrell, who was in the audience. Although the act was brand-new, observant fans might have noticed that she was wearing most of her “Smiling Undertaker” costume from The Wrathskellar 2012. A whole bunch of Evie’s Introduction to Burlesque students came to the show and provided her a personal cheering section.

Then some more comedy from Anthony Scibelli. He’s a writer at Cracked.com (one of my favorite time wasters) and you should check out his stuff.

Stella Diamond looked like a good girl, but as the song “Whatever Lola Wants” began playing, she gradually shed her inhibitions along with her clothing. I’m not sure which Stella enjoys more, the silly hat she wears or that the naughty magazine that gets her going is gay porn bought at a discount (it was ladies’ day at the sex shop).
 
 
 

Set 3
Amber BuTane of The Tasty Pasties teased all the “Momma’s Boys” in the audience with her amusing strip, which included twirling fake saggy boobs. And Amber’s actual mom was there to see her daughter in all her glory. Mother BuTane both did Amber’s hair *and* captured Mr. Scratch’s heart.
 
 

Krupp and Bubbles did a little mind reading. They had the audience toss a deck of cards randomly around and whoever caught it would flip through and pick a card, then toss it to someone else. Some of those tosses were more like pitches and many of the catches were fumbles. It was a little worrying… But there were no injuries, at least no major ones. Six people were brought up on stage and six cards were correctly named, although two of them required a little special attention.

Delilah Spring of The Tasty Pasties returned with a second fan dance plus a little striptease to “My Man”. Some of the Boston Babydolls (names withheld to protect the childish) have an awfully juvenile sense of humor. During rehearsal before the show, Kendra the Sound Gal called out from the booth “Delilah, do you want to do my man?” and there was some snickering from a particular corner.

Devora Darling, Evie Sphinx, and Stella Diamond in “A Harlequin Romance”. This act was created for Unlucky in Love (and was the only number in that show to use recorded music). They performed it again at The Expo 2012 to such acclaim that The Shanghai Pearl wanted to award them her trophy (but it has to go to one of the acts in competition). I was so happy to see it one more time. It’s a lovely blend of commedia dell’arte (from Scratch), ballet (from Evie and Devora), striptease, and classic comedy (a la Sid Ceasar and Nanette Fabray). They got a standing ovation.

The next meeting of The Teaseday Club will be September 10th. See you there!