Interview: The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus
In 2003 I had the extreme pleasure of performing in the Lucky Stiff show at the Pussycat Lounge in New York's Financial District. The Pussycat has a cabaret venue upstairs and a regular strip joint downstairs. I've worked in the strip joint and I have to say it was different from any other strip joint I've ever worked in: it was all stage, topless only, people handing dollars across the bar to us, very little mingling, and no drink sales, table dances, or VIP rooms. Next door is a pizza parlor where the waitresses do lap dances in the back. The only place I can think of that remotely compares to it is the Clermont Lounge in Atlanta--which also houses rock shows on occasion. Upstairs, the Pussycat's stage features live bands and other performances, which was where Lucky Stiff came in. The show was the brainchild of Tyler Fyre and Keith Bindlestiff, and it fused uncensored circus, sideshow, and anarchic burlesque. New York burlesque has had a long association with cir...