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The theater lights at 7 Stages in Little Five Points went down. Outside the sun was setting. Inside the fun was just beginning.
Jacques Steameaux, from the SilverScream Spookshow, dressed as a ghostly safari guide, weaved in and out of the crowd with a bag of fromage in hand. Taunting the crowd with slices of Kraft singles and sticks of string cheese.
I sat in the back of the theater trying to be “the good journalist” and began counting the number of people coming in the door. Somewhere around 99, I lost count. Simone walked off after entertaining the now seemingly full house and the 10 minute countdown began. I was glad to escape Simone’s taunting but more glad to see the performance that I had been anticipating for the last three weeks, since my first meeting with the Blast-Off crew.
On Thursday June 17, at 9 p.m. the Blast-Off Burlesque crew made their debut of “The Future of Tommorow.” The show featured the Blast-Off collective, Barbalicious, Chinita, Dickie Van Dyke, Disastrid, Ferris Hilton, Melanie Magnifique and Sadie Hawkins.
It was vaudeville and steam punk spliced with bits of modernity and embraced the comedy of the great late 80′s.
In between the Blast-Off performances were pieces by Hoopsy Daisy, dressed in a ClockWork Orange-esque get-up with one long-lashed eye, white shirt, suspenders and bowler hat complete with a glass of milk in hand. She proceeded to toss multiple hula-hoops around her body while she swung around stage. With one leg in the air, she threw them around her neck, arms, ankles, hips and feet.
Other performers were, Regent St. Charles, a Tina Turner impersonator; Syrens of the South, Katherine Lashe and Ursula Undress –a personal favorite who did a sexy Star Trek tease that included a modified Star Trek blue dress, pointy ears and knee high boots; and Atlanta’s collaborative group, Flight of Swallows.
All the performances were smart, well done and sexy, but among my favorites were Sadie Hawkins’ aerial performance dressed as the scary rabbit from Donny Darko set to Tears for Fears “Mad World.” She lifted herself up onto a hoop and did some provocative moves while dangling mid air. I clenched the armrests of my chair afraid she would fall on her head. But…Sadie never falls and always defies gravity, I rest assured.
For me, the pinnacle of the show was Dickie Van Dyke’s Ed Wood, reverse drag, strip tease. I love Dickie’s style, eroticism and element of surprise. Dickie’s performances are always messing with my mind and if there is one thing that I love, it is a good mind-fuck.
“The Future of Tomorrow” was everything I thought I could expect from burlesque plus a little more.
It is empowering to see women, full breasted and full bodied reveling in the art of teasing and shaking; it is the best form of self appreciation.
It is times like these I wish I had little sisters and brothers because they would have been right there next to me. I cannot think of better people to mold the minds of our city. Blast-Off and the other performers alike are a big middle finger to to all the hi-brow advertising and low-rate celebs force fed to us in People magazines and US weeklies.
There is no contest –these ladies and men, encapsulate what being entertainers who are independent and testing societal norms are all about. In Blast-Off Burlesque, women and men, grrrls and bois, zies and xens, friends and comrades “are all stars.” And I like that.
Check out a movie of the performance below. Purge’s very own Jon Lally & Mike Stippich directed and edited it and I think you will like it.
Video Directing & Editing: Jon Lally & Mike Stippich
Blast-Off, “Atlanta’s Illegitimate Burlesque,” is different from traditional burlesque performances. Blast-Off is a collective of performers including Barbalicious, Chinita, Dickie Van Dyke, Disastrid, Ferris Hilton, Melanie Magnifique, and Sadie Hawkins. They are Atlanta staples who have worked along side of Vagina “Queen of Queer Burlesque” Jenkins and other performers alike.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to a rehearsal for Blast-Off Burlesque’s upcoming show, “The Future of Tomorrow,” showing June 17 and 19, at 7 Stages in Little Five Points. What I witnessed of the eclectic crew left me inspired to go home and try out a few new moves in my full-length mirror. It was a homo-erotic and satirical feast – and it was only the practice.
I arrive to find Barbalicious, Sadie Hawkins, and Dickie Van Dyke out of costume out of persona, practicing a number. I let myself in and take a seat, but not before they welcomed me with a bottle of Yuengling.
The three laugh and are comfortably bantering back and forth about the upcoming performance and dance counts of eight. As I watch them, I feel tragically uncool in comparison. I find myself enamored, awe-struck and feeling a bit like a groupie.
Outside we smoke cigarettes and wait for the other members to arrive. They talk about the history of Blast-Off, their infamous annual summer solstice party, poison oak, bits of debauchery and their self-proclaimed nerdiness.
The others arrive mid-smoke with cases of beer in hand.
I am left in the maelstrom of their camaraderie while they suit up in preparation for their first act that ought to be called “Monkey Love.” They pull out identical hairy gorilla suits, complete with plastic feet, 5-fingered gloves and masks. A Queen song cues up and beautiful, grown adults crouch in Neanderthal stance – knuckle-walking and writhing. They sync together in a monkey mass and perform a choreographed dance.
The monkey striptease excited me. The slow shedding of gorilla attire while ape fuzz is flying. I catch a tuft of gorilla hair in my mouth. It is awkward and a little hot, giving new meaning to “Jungle Love.”
The rehearsal is casual. Their acts are a turn-on, but not in the way watching a stripper shed her sparkle, triangle top to reveal pasties and a landing strip would do. (Do strippers even have landing strips anymore?) Unlike even the classiest strip club performance, Blast-Off is more visceral and sensual, artistic and shrewdly savvy. They are a clever treat of smartly choreographed simulation of sex, sensuality and striptease. And who can say no to that?
Photo Credit: Tim Song