Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!

Name your acts.

A lot of people just use the name of the song they are performing to as the name of the act. There’s nothing wrong with that. But by giving your act another name, you make it uniquely yours. Don’t be just another “I Want To Be Evil”. If you use more than one song in your routine, it’s just easier to refer to the act by a single name, particularly when dealing with a producer or client.

Sometimes acts develop working titles that are descriptive, but strive for something you’d like an MC to announce. I think it sounds more polished and professional to say “Brigitte Bisoux in ‘Still Life'” rather than “Here’s Brigitte’s Fruit Bowl Act!”. Also, your act name can set audience expectations by creating a mood.

The name doesn’t have to be particularly creative, just look at Dita — she has an act called “Le Bain” aka “The Bath”, which tells you exactly what you’re getting. But you can also have fun with it and maybe make a play on the title of the song, like “Betty, It’s Cold Outside“.

I have an act that we just called “Three for the Show” for months, after the song I used. Plenty of people use that music, so I wanted a new name — something that highlighted the classic style, the pale colors, or the prominent use of a fur stole. I finally hit upon “Mina in Furs”. A little literary joke (perfect with my literary name) and a bit of sensuality.

And here I am discarding said fur at the Winnipeg International Burlesque Festival.

Photo by Dano Tanaka

Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page.

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Friday again! Time for a tip!

When taking off a pair of garments, you don’t have to remove them at the same time. Except for shoes.

If you’re stripping out of gloves or stockings or anything else that comes in a pair, you can take off only one and then delay removing the other. The asymmetry and anticipation can make your audience wild.

However, if you’re removing your shoes, they really both need to come off at the same time. There is nothing sexy about walking with only one shoe on. Arrange your shoe removal so that you don’t have to take a single step until both feet are on, shall we say, equal footing.

Photo by Kenneth Ingham at ABurlyQ 2017.

Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!

Strive to improve your art whenever you can.

Last night I had the incredible opportunity to watch the Cirque du Soliel show Luzia from backstage. Well, not actually backstage-backstage, but in the lounge area of the Artists’ tent. We could see the performance on a monitor, but the real show was all around us — the artists preparing. Sometimes that meant stretching or lifting weights, but mostly they were running their acts, sometimes over and over. Even after their set some of them continued working. During intermission I could watch the contortionist in an inhuman over-split while the strap and pole aerialists ran their moves on their respective apparatus and I could hear the juggler working just behind me. (The equipment set up in that tent was AMAZING!)

It was inspiring (and intimidating). And made me realized how much down time I waste when I could be using it to enhance my performance.

A big thanks to Lady Pepper Blossom for giving us the chance to see the circus from such a unique vantage point.

Like this tip? There are lots more in Miss Mina Murray’s Little Book of Better Burlesque.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page.