Sweet n Nasty Burlesque keeps the British end up

Before there was an America; before there was a New York City; before there was even a Williamsburg ... there was an England. On Monday, June 29 at 10pm, Sweet & Nasty Burlesque presents THE SECRET POLICEMAN'S BALL, a tassel-twirling celebration of all things British, at the New Monday Night Burlesque.

"Finally, an excuse to tell all my naughty Prime Minister jokes!" enthuses host and producer Nasty Canasta. A self-confessed "pretentious Anglophile," Canasta has assembled an all-star cast from across the country - and across the pond - to honour the British Isles: THE SECRET POLICEMAN'S BALL will feature local burlesque celebrities as well as special guests direct from San Francisco (the 'Wales of the West'), London, and Manchester, England. "It will be a glamourous and colourful evening," promises Canasta, "a veritable fortnight of entertainment packed into just a few metric hours - and all for mere shillings!"

Since 2006, Sweet and Nasty has been adding its own unique mix of glam camp, historical fact, and blatant lies to the New York burlesque scene, and currently appears on the last Monday of every month at Public Assembly as part of The New Monday Night Burlesque. Their June spectacular, THE SECRET POLICEMAN'S BALL, is the centrepiece of a jam-packed night of burlesque entertainment that begins at 9pm and continues until Tuesday morning. As a special offer, show your valid UK passport at the door for 2-for-1 admission!

Local favourites Clams Casino, Legs Malone, Tigger!, special guests Bella Besame (Manchester, England), The Flying Fox (San Francisco), Mat Fraser (London) and host Dame Nasty Canasta, O.B.E., will kick off their knickers and prove that the sun never sets on the British Empire at THE SECRET POLICEMAN'S BALL.

Monday, June 29 @ 10pm
Public Assembly, 70 N. 6th St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Admission: $10, or 2-for-1 admission with a valid UK passport

Love Art Promo Featuring Agent Provocateur model Jennifer Dawson

We hope you liked the footage. Presuming you could keep your eyes off the lovely Agent Provocateur model, Jennifer Dawson - you may have spotted a few pictures in the background?

If you can name the artists of two of the pictures that are hanging (or leaning) in Jen’s apartment you can go into the draw to win the iconic long sold out Banksy Flag limited edition print worth £1000.


Checkout the full un-cut clip and enter the competition at the Hang Up Pictures website.

Dita Von Teese turns Designer for a Good Cause

They are experts in flirty fun and frivolity, but Dita Von Teese and Katy Perry have both turned their attention to a serious cause.

The burlesque queen and I Kissed A Girl singer are among the stars who tried their hand at fashion design to help battle AIDS.

Chart topper Estelle, Eighties icon Cyndi Lauper and rap group N.E.R.D also got in on the act for high street store H&M.

Dita's offering - a white cropped T-shirt which featured a print of a woman's face - was certainly demure by her standards

Of course, there was a hint of burlesque with bloomers, fishnet stockings and gloves also making an appearance in her photoshoot.

Katy also modelled her creation - a figure-hugging body suit with a smiley face inside a love heart.

American Boy singer Estelle created a T-shirt which featured the words 'Life is too short... have sex... be safe'.

Lauper's slogan 'Girls just wanna have safe sex' is a play on her 1983 anthem Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

N.E.R.D., which features Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and Shay Haley, encourage men to use their brain when it comes to safe sex.

Proceeds from the sale of the clothes in the Fashion Against AIDS campaign will go to help HIV and AIDS awareness campaigns.

The range hits H&M stores on May 28.

Dita Von Teese's Tattoo Close Call

Dita Von Teese is grateful to her tattoo artist for rejecting a design she once dreamed up - because it would have disfigured her porcelain face.

The burlesque dancer was obsessed with having a star tattooed on her left cheek - but the parlour employees refused and instead agreed to give her a beauty spot in its place.

She explains, "You have to understand I was pretty eccentric. I was always drawing hearts and stars in that spot. I went in thinking I wanted a star there, but they wouldn't do it.

"They were the voice of reason. They were so right."

And Von Teese, who was once married to shock rocker Marilyn Manson, had another idea she now realizes she would have lived to regret.

She adds: "In the early nineties I almost got seams (tattooed) up the back of my legs but I'm so glad I didn't. Can you imagine how hard it would be to match up the seams with real stockings? It would have been a nightmare.

"At that time I was researching everything about the forties, about how during World War Ii women would draw seams on. I thought, 'Wouldn't that be cool?' I had them henna tattooed on, but I never went all the way."

Leadville or Bust & The Black Box Burlesque, Denver

The lusty, lamented art form, mostly missing from the Denver landscape for 40 years until Michelle Baldwin created her own company here a decade ago, is now being resurrected in a bigger and more lasting way at the New Denver Civic's cabaret theater.

Baldwin is partnering with busty Broadway-caliber crooner Reyna Von Vett to bring back a touch of class, a touch of sass and a touch of . . . oh, you're not going to get me to say it!

Von Vett and Baldwin are presenting two distinct burlesque shows in tandem, using mostly the same chorus girls. They're appropriately pushing this bawdy double-header as "Come for the tease . . . stay for the strip."

The more dignified and family-friendly (and not surprisingly, less attended) is Von Vett's sophisticated early show. "Leadville or Bust," termed a "burlesque operetta," is both a tribute to Denver's history and an accurate re-creation of burlesque shows circa 1870-1920. Von Vett and her Hell's Belles (Jessica Hindsley, Teri English and Jill Nacke), fine singer-dancers all, perform about 30 songs from the era.

It's mostly a cabaret showcase for the considerable vocal talents of Von Vett, who brings to life an array of strong women making do in tough environs. She sings rueful ballads of fallen and feisty broads; together they perform more upbeat girl-power numbers like "I Wanna Be Bad," "If It Don't Fit, Don't Force It" and "You Naughty, Naughty Men."

Audiences will snicker at innocently suggestive songs about hot dogs and hot nuts; historians will be fascinated by the opening tourism ditty, "Denver Town," and everyone will recognize classics like "Alexander's Ragtime Band" and "Ragtime Cowboy Joe."

They've been arranged with authenticity and great harmonic care by Wendell Vaughn, and set to live piano by Jeff Jenkins. It's all made more remarkable by the dizzyingly ornate (and handmade by Von Vett) costumes that leave most of the skin to the imagination.

Then there is Baldwin's more free-form (and freely falling) late show, "The Black Box Burlesque." Now this is what most people expect from burlesque. Hosted by Von Vett's alter ego, Cora Vette, it's a series of coy stripteases and really, really bad, off-color jokes. The Bells are joined by Adrianne Hampton and Margaret Skokan, using fun pseudonyms like Ms. P. Coque and Sarah Bellum. But in case you're wondering, boys, put your tongues back in your mouths. There is no full nudity — just plenty of creatively tassel-covered boobies.

The late show, which will more freely rotate among performers and acts over time, makes plain why burlesque was once such a popular amusement.

Titillation never goes out of style.

The Civic's black-box theater has been transformed into an ornate period saloon- hall by Al J. Varney, with original retro artwork by Sotirios Livaditis. Both shows are complemented by vintage video. One misgiving is that, for all her vocal chops, Von Vett is still finding her comfort zone as a late-night emcee.

Taken together (there is a discount for attending both shows), a naughty but nice night at the Civic will mean feathers, garters, shimmying, contortion, can-can dancing and tassel-twirling.

And while burlesque evolved as a snickering parody of popular art forms of the day like opera and vaudeville, what might be lost here amid all of this, ahem, stimulation, is an appreciation for the vocal talent and physical agility it takes to effectively perform it.

In the end, burlesque is a gigantic celebration of the female form, in all its forms.

This new creative venture adds a needed infusion of attitude into Denver's night life. It's a fun way for Denverites to experience their city's past — in the flesh, so to speak. And for those with out-of- town guests wanting some of the same, it'll be a no-brainer.

Immodesty Blaize to Perform at Hay-on-Wye

Immodesty Blaize will perform at this year’s Hay-on-Wye literary festival.

The British dancer will perform a brief burlesque routine and read excerpts from her debut “bonkbuster” Tease.

Immodesty, whose real name is Kelly Fletcher, is thought to be the first glamorous showgirl to perform at the prestigious festival, which is regarded worldwide as the pinnacle event of the literary calendar.

The artist told Wales on Sunday: “The audience can expect an uber glamorous performance with lots of rhinestones and feathers.”

Her performance is expected to fall on Saturday, May 29, when she will be introduced on stage by camp comedian Julian Clary. Nifty, her miniature Yorkshire terrier which is trained to collect stockings at the end of burlesque acts, could also make an appearance.

Immodesty’s performance will set the scene for a reading from her romantic novel, published on May 14, and will give the audience an insight into the life of a typical showgirl.

“It will be an extremely colourful background to the story, which is what it should have as the world of the showgirl has lots of juicy gossip and is glamorous and that’s what the book’s about.

“It’s a real bonkbuster that will definitely give some insider information about this kind of world.”

The novel represents Immodesty’s first foray into the literary arena, and she added that she is honoured it is being marked with an appearance at the book festival. Over the years, the festival has welcomed Welsh mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins and celebrated motoring journalist and Top Gear presenter, Jeremy Clarkson.

Some Like it Hot star Tony Curtis, legendary jazz artist Hugh Masekela and the Archbishop of Canterbury Professor Rowan Williams have all been confirmed to attend this year’s event.