Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

I had started this scrapbook blog , but it doesn't make sense to run two at the moment when I haven't had time to do one, so here's a scrapbook post for the holiday. Happy Halloween!! Julie Atlas Muz's feet backstage at Wanted! Wild Bandits of Burlesque. Gal Friday and Bambi the Mermaid backstage at the Slipper Room. Rudy balances on one finger on a strap-on dildo. Click to view larger.

Coming across this ebay auction made me think about Hedy Jo Star, the famous burlesque costumer and stripteaser who was also one of the first, if not THE first, subjects of sex reassignment surgery, and who operated drag shows on the carnival circuit throughout the 1950s. More about Hedy on Sideshowworld.com And while we're talking trans, here's a youtube tribute to one of my favorite trans performers--not a stripper, but also not without influence on my aesthetics: Jayne County on Youtube. And, since I'm as wound up and obsessed as everybody else at election time, back to politics!

All photos in this review are the intellectual property of Lisa Kereszi. I first became aware of Lisa's work when I saw this beautiful image of Julie Atlas Muz, taken in 2000, in BUST magazine in 2002: At that time I was photographing shows in a sort of impressionistic fashion, trying to give a sense of what it was like to attend a show without concentrating on the quality of the individual photographs. There was no flickr.com and it was difficult to describe the shows to people, so I ran several galleries on my website . Don Spiro and Laure Leber creating beautiful art images, and Norman Blake was taking journalistic shots, but at that time there weren't as many places to see images of burlesque shows. It was thrilling to see Lisa's images. The above image is from Show World , where the Va Va Voom Room played for awhile, and where Deb DeSalvo made her video for "Take It Off," the song she recorded for Jill Morley's documentary Stripped . I'm in the...

"The Hysterical Festival is a celebration of fearless female humor launching in New York City in Fall 2008. Showcasing the wide range of ways in which women are hilarious, we aim to both entertain and break new ground for women in the comedic arts." http://blog.hystericalfestival.com/ Based on the origin of the word "hysterical," I really love the title of this festival. "hysterical 1615, from L. hystericus "of the womb," from Gk. hysterikos "of the womb, suffering in the womb," from hystera "womb" (see uterus). Originally defined as a neurotic condition peculiar to women and thought to be caused by a dysfunction of the uterus. Hysterics is 1727; hysteria, abstract noun, formed 1801." from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=hysterical I have wondered if many burlesque shows which are all striptease might still be considered comedy and variety shows--the performances ARE comedy and variety, only now the strippers ...

The New York School of Burlesque has been honored by the Village Voice's "Best of New York" two years in a row! Check out this year's mention, with a great recommendation of World Famous BOB's special classes! Above: BOB, photographed by Luke Ratray. And, in case you missed last year's mention, here it is. We love the the Village Voice! I can't think of any paper we'd prefer to have saying nice things about us. Posted by Jo Weldon, Headmistress of The New York School of Burlesque , for burlesquedaily.blogspot.com .

Go Indigo! A WINK AND A SMILE HITS NYC (SEATTLE, WA) – A WINK AND A SMILE makes its NYC premiere at CMJ’s Music Marathon and Film Festival Friday, Oct. 24 at Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick St. (at Laight Street). Go-go dancers Sugar Magnolia and Miss Fleur de Lys will launch WINK’S weekend burly blowout, warming up audiences at 6:45 p.m. at the theater. Film begins at 7:15 p.m. Tickets available at http://www.ticketweb.com under A Wink and a Smile. In celebration of WINK’S East Coast debut, Miss Valentine’s at Midnight and The Swedish Housewife present a special evening on Saturday, Oct. 25 with stars of the film – Miss Indigo Blue, The Swedish Housewife, Mercury Troy and New York City’s very own Little Brooklyn and Leroi the Girl Boi at Duane Park, 157 Duane St. (between West Broadway and Hudson). Doors open at 11 p.m. Show begins at 11:30 p.m. There is a $25 cover charge with a two drink minimum. Location details at www.duaneparknyc.com. For reservations call 212.732.5555. ...

I have been flat on my back with a horrendous flu since I got back from Tease-O-Rama, and this is the first chance I've had to post some photos. Although I got a lot of sharp sort of journalistic photos, at the moment I'm in love with my grainier, more impressionistic stuff. So I hope you enjoy a few of those. My Godzilla feet on the stairs on my way to perform. Kitten on the Keys' pig pasties reflected in the mirror on the piano. Dirty Martini getting ready to do her balloon act. Right now I have to go to bed, because tomorrow I'm conducting my Classic Moves class, hosting a bachelorette party, having a student showcase, and performing on the early shift at the Slipper Room. But I do hope to get more photos up. In the meantime, you can find more in the burlesque group on Flickr. Posted by Jo Weldon, Headmistress of The New York School of Burlesque , for burlesquedaily.blogspot.com .

A recent article bizarrely called "This is Burlesque," the wonderful show produced at Corio by Angie Pontani and Murray Hill, "New York's oldest surviving burlesque show." That distinction probably belongs more to the Slipper Room's regular Saturday night show, Mr. Choade's; or to Le Scandal if you include the time it ran as The Blue Angel (from which it evolved). TIB is in fact celebrating its first year aniversary. As the article more correctly states, however, the show IS a quite fabulous, and as far as I know it's the only burlesque show you can see at dinner time! 'Join the festivities at Corio from Thursday, October 2 - Saturday, October 4 as the dazzling weekly revue This is Burlesque celebrates its one-year anniversary. Catch downtown “King of Comedy” Murray Hill, neo-burlesque star Angie Pontani, The World Famous Pontani Sisters, smoldering songstress Melody Sweets and a host of other guests in a show that harks back to boozy spea...

I've packed my Godzilla costume. I have no idea if the lizard is going to make it in decent condition, but it's getting on that plane! Above: Godzilla in the Mojave at Exotic World. Photo by Whitney Ward. I actually have a real Godzilla head mask, but it's not as funny. "The Best of The Best in New Burlesque" Announces TEASE-O-RAMA 2008! Presented by Zumanity™ – The Sensual Side of Cirque Du Soleil In Association with Hustler Hollywood Good Gals Inc. and BUST Magazine The Brightest Stars in the Glittering Galaxy of burlesque return for "The Best of The Best in New Burlesque!" Jaw-dropping entertainment by night, "How to" classes by day! See the show this year—BE the show next year! WOW!!! NEW THIS YEAR: Tease-O-Rama is proud to partner with Zumanity™, The Sensual Side of Cirque du Soleil®. See a special performance from the sexy and seductive Las Vegas production of Zumanity™ at our Friday night showcase in San Francisco...

I was so obsessed with my own birthday in August that I forgot about Madonna's. She turned 50 this year! It's true, I am a self-centered Leo as well as a cougar. But enough about me, let's talk about what I like. Here's what Madonna was doing 17 years ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXeiLh9axi0 Really, I'm just mentioning her birthday as an excuse to post this video again. But I do love Madonna's style . Above: Madonna as Dita Parlo Posted by Jo Weldon, Headmistress of The New York School of Burlesque , for burlesquedaily.blogspot.com .