Berlin in the 1920s. Not Melbourne in 2012.
Look, I don’t want to sound churlish about this and I’m sure the people behind this disturbing phenomenon are well intentioned and everything, but there seems to be an outbreak of cabaret shows in Melbourne at the moment*.
If I want to see women in their undies doing bad bump-and-grind-numbers, I can pop down to my local – the beer’s cheaper and you don’t have to put up with people telling you how “transgressive” it all is.
But if you’re contemplating a night out in Melbourne, I’d have a very careful look at the advertising material.
If it includes the phrases;
- Transgressive,
- Burlesque,
- Kurt Weill,
- Weimar Republic,
- Bertolt Brecht or
- Pre-war Berlin
then I’d spend your hard-earned on something a bit more interesting.
Watching paint dry, I’m told, is a more than viable alternative.
* Rather similar to the great acapella plague of the early 1990s. Fair dinkum, you couldn’t move in inner-city Melbourne at the time without some damn acapella group launching themselves at you.
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15 comments:
Ramon I'd pay to see a Brecht burlesque show.
Rather you than me, comrade.
And then you'll pay me to tell you all about it, right?
Yes, but it may be in lemons.
I blame it on Amanda Palmer
Rather similar to the great acapella plague of the early 1990s. Fair dinkum, you couldn’t move in inner-city Melbourne at the time without some damn acapella group launching themselves at you.
I now have an image of Melbourne as a place where vile gangs of performance artists battle openly in the streets and the common citizenry flee in terror.
Yup, that's pretty much it, Alex.
Honestly, what a bunch of fucking cry-babies.
"Oh noes, German Cabaret!"
"Who will save us from the Acapella Groups?"
Spare a thought for those among us who lived through the Great French Mime Epidemic of '74, and count your blessings.
Wimps.
Ha to Mr E but I have to agree with you Ramon. Burlesque is better than pole dancing because there aint any poles. But it's not much better.
Hang on. Is this us getting old?
Well, I've loathed burlesque for some years, Melbs.
And no, the Kettle Katch-up didn't end up happening.
Sometimes in the quiet hours, I wonder what the world would look like today if Kurt Weill had of teamed up with Samuel Beckett instead of Bertolt Brecht.
Godot the musical........
The play starts with a bloke taking off his shoe and ends with him dropping his pants, right? Embellish Lucky's dance a bit (use the rope as a prop); I'm surprised it isn't already a burlesque show.
On a different but related* note, I sent this to Melba about a week ago, but it occurred to me that, being a lady of science, Squib might also be interested in it as well -- provided she hasn't seen it already.
*If you squint hard enough, it kinda looks like it might come under the umbrella of presenting a worn out cultural stereotype as something transgressive and empowering (and thus, in some way related to the original post -- anyone buying this?)
Oh, and Melbs; didn't you know there's nothing lewd or provocative about pole-dancing? It's all good clean family fun that promotes strength and fitness and it's going to be an Olympic event one day soon.
And apparently all that applies to competitive air rooting too.
My nephew is on track to become sporting legend. He's only five and he already dances like a stripper. Does lap dances and everything.
Oh hey everyone, happy Friday.
How is everyone??
Just wanted to say I looked up the air rooting thing Alex. Nice.
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