Thread: Birmingham Burlesque at the Rocket Club

Hello ladies and gents.

I currently work at the Rocket club on Broad Street in Birmingham,it is a rather respectable Gentlemans Club(strip bar). i am on front of house, meet and greet, thatkind of thing, (not a lapdancer).i know the stigma attached to pole dancing clubs but this one is by far the nicest one you will visit.

BASICALLY the owner of the place is really keen on giving it a new edge and a new approach,he is really excited about perhaps getting Burlesque dancers in there? That is all that it would be, no full on stripping or lapdancing.

The club is very much open to anyone, you do have to pay to get in and the drinks arent cheap, but this does mean that everyone in there is very pleasent and friendly.

There is a fantastic stage and seating as it used to be a jazz bar, it has got a really pleasent atmosphere too.

I am going to be doing some Burlesque shows along with a couple of other Burlesque performers, hopefully they will go down well,

Nowhere else in Birmingham is really putting on Burlesque as a weekly thing, so i am hoping it would attract a good crowd?

SO the question i am asking anyone who would be so lovely to get back with info is

WOULD BE PEOPLE COME TO BURLESQUE SHOWS AT THE ROCKET???????????

please get back in touch,

many thanks!

x x x x

Billie Rae

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Welcome to the forum.

I'm asking this because most people reading this are probably thinking it:

What exactly do you and your boss think Burlesque is? And what do you think a Burlesque show and individual performances contain?


Sorry if that sounds rude. It just that loads of Burlesque performers have to constantly explain to people that they are not strippers. Also there have been cases of strip clubs or Gentlemen's clubs if you prefer, putting on what they advertised as 'burlesque nights' in the past.

The only problem is their idea of a Burlesque night was to get their strippers to pop on a corset and then do a full strip.

The other thing is Birmingham and the Midlands in general are very covered for Burlesque - we are spolied actually.

When considering all the pubs and clubs that are currently running shows in the area you could actually go to a Burlesque show every week in you wanted to.

Also we are in a recession. I understand your boss wanting to try new things to bring in new people in order to ensure survival in this tough economic climate but there are factors to consider before going ahead.

1) You mentioned an entry fee - how much is it? and would it the same price if the night goes ahead.

2) As you yourself mentioned there is a stigma attached to Strip clubs in general.

3) What type of clentille is your boss expecting to attract? Is he hoping to attract new people i.e. lovers of Burlesque?

4) Do you not think there might be a case of certian customers thinking the Burlesque night is a theme and therefore still expecting to see a full strip and or pole/lap dancing show?

5) You say that you yourself and 'other burlesque dancers' will be performing, who are these other burlesque dancers? Are they actually resident performers at the club? Are the club clientelle used to seeing these ladies perform as strippers?

6) Burlesque audiences are mainly female. I don't actually know if women would feel comfortable attending a strip club, even if it is to watch a Burlesque show.

7) Would you regular stippers/lap dancers feel upset and or angry towards the burlesque dancers for 'taking income away from them'?

8) People probably won't be able to afford it.

I'm not sure if the Burlesque crowd would attend if I'm honest with you. One of the issues you may face which I did not list is the comfort factor. Burlesque fans enjoy going to their regular Burlesque nights because they know they will see a good show in the company of like minded people.

Thinking about a strip club setting could be off putting in itself. Then add in the thinking of 'well I'm going to be there to see Burlesque, but what if everyone else is in there to see strippers? Oh good God what if it's all drunken Nuts readers?'

I hope the points raised are helpful to both yourself and your boss in helping you decide what the best course of action is.

And just to clarify - I'm not anti strippers or lap dancers. However I do think they have their own client base who expect certian things from the performers in the club.

The rocket club is known as a lap dancing club, but anyone willing to put burlesque shows on should be given a chance and i be interested in seeing the response from Billie_rae on the points Angel LaVey as raised, i would also think security at the Rocket would be very tight so if the price etc is right i would attend

brum/surrounding areas does have a lot of events on im going to events on 17th jan, 24th jan, 30th jan, 13th feb, 14th feb, 14th mar and 21st mar, i do find burlesque good value for money where else can you go for £6.50/£7.00 and have a fantastic nite out.

I have to say not to rain on anyone's parade but, with my audience member hat on, i would feel a bit nervous going to see a burlesque show in a lap dance club. Firstly, as Angel already mentioned I would be concerned that after shelling out my money I would find myself watching pole/lap dancers just with feather boas and corsets (this does seem to be something that happens a lot all over the country).
Secondly, again as Angel mentioned, i would be VERY nervous that the venue would be full of Geezer-Blokes (sorry, i'm not really sure how else to call them) and that it would not be a friendly atmosphere.

I think the only thing that would tempt me would be if it were a line up/promotor i trusted. If it was a concept of performers i already knew and liked with a promotor who was known for putting on a good show plus the advantage of a plush space like a strip club it would probably be quite fun. So perhaps that's an idea? Maybe if you collaberated with a local burlesque promotor and got them to run, book and organise the night on behalf of your venue? That way you would benefit from their good reputation and their expertise of the genre (they would know what price to charge, where/how to advertise and most importantly who to book... if you are trying to entice a non-lapdance audience to the night then having an all-killer-no-filler line up is essential).
Anyway, that's just my two cents worth... hope that it all goes well for you if you do go ahead with it.

Sorry, I've been in, know your boss, not a chance x

I'm afraid for me you don't seem to be selling it very well, regardless of the setting:

"You do have to pay to get in and drinks aren't cheap" and "I know the stigma attached to pole dancing clubs" is highlighting the negatives.

How about "Only £xx to get in, and we have this special offer on drinks" and "In a lovely friendly atmosphere" (admittedly you did say that but only after talking about the stigma and that is what people will pick up on).

I would not want to attend a burlesque night at a strip club either. I have nothing against strip clubs but I would be very doubtful of its knowledge of burlesque. Also, (if you have performers already ignore this) as a performer, I would not feel comfortable performing in a strip club. As others have said, there's that worry about the audience, and what you would be expected to do. So that's something to bear in mind if you are going to try and hire burlesque performers.

Originally Posted by Al_Palooka

Sorry, I've been in, know your boss, not a chance x

I'm afraid that's all the information I need to know as far as this venture goes. If an organisers of one of the best (if not the best) Burlesque clubs in the country, and a local Birmingham man, has reservations about this venture of a high magnitude then I wouldn't be that interested in attending.

However... playing Devils Advocate on the offchance that Al is wrong or things have changed...

Ok, so you have an expensive venue to keep the riff raff out - great, the Candy Box charged £18 entry for its last show and the Glee Club drinks and food aren't the cheapest - but for that price I've seen high quality and well known performers from the USA, Germany and elsewhere. I've also seen magicians that have had their own shows or been on Television at the Candy Box. I've also been entertained by the singing voice of Imelda. The band alone has worked with some very influential musicians, they aren't some local pub band.

How much is expensive for you - if you're charging anywhere near £18 then I expect something approaching that level - obviously you may not have the capacity for 350 so I could accept a certain drop in line-up but I'd still want something like the Cherry Pop Peep Show which employs some of the top UK burlesque performers and ships in variety acts that I know from experience are never cheap.

How long will your shows be? Most burlesque dancers do acts between 2.5 to 6 minutes long. The longer the act the more time you fill but then you need a stronger act or your audience will get bored. Again, I run a show that tries to offer 1.5 hours of show, the Candy Box runs around 2 hours - how long are you going to be able to have acts on stage for? If you are putting the odd act on every 20 to 30 minutes or so and charging a premium rate then I'd suggest everyone goes to the night run by Cherryfox that does the same but is far more realistically priced.

Again, I suspect your main clientelle are men looking for a non-contact sexual service. Just because they have to dress up a bit doesn't make them people who are into a show aimed at entertainment of a racey nature over a session in a booth with some womans naked vagina 2 inches from their face.

At my own show and others I have heard audience members complain about the lad element who are there specifically for the tits - in very typical fashion they dissect the female performers they find sexually attractive and brutally mock the ones who don't fit the 'I could pose topless for Nuts' catergory. This wouldn't be a problem if they kept their commenst private, but generally they are broadcasting said opinion so that all their mates and everyone around them who wishes they'd :censored: off and die can hear them.

Finally - if you're charging a premium rate to get in then you could not only afford good talent but you could also pay them right? This takes me back to my issues with London Burlesque clubs who fill their stages with free talent 'because it's a good networking opportunity' then charge 300 £10 to get in and pack the place out.

I'm going to sit on the fence on this one - I await your reply and wonder how you're going to proceed. If you are as interested in doiing this as a proper Burlesque night then I look forward to seeing an annoubcement on the MoB forums with a full line-up and ticket prices. With luck I'll see an excellent line-up with advertising that will attract an audience I'd like to sit amongst and a show worth the money. Take heart, when I decided to run a show in Birmingham I had a lot of negative feedback even though I wasn't using a Lapdancing Bar, and the name of my show put a few peoples noses out of joint as well as making advertising a little more difficult.

My negative side thinks that some of your lapdancers will do a workshop run in a Birmingham Sports Cafe, buy cheap corsets and sexy underwear from some shop in the Bullring, make the act revolve around some accessorie like a whip or a pair of hanfdcuffs and then dance around a pole to something in the charts that they like. Oh, and I expect that names of the performers will not be checked extensively on the internet so we'll have a another Diamond Blush on the scene until the legal teams are called in.

The choice is yours - maybe you can run a weekly quality Burlesque show that attracts a Burlesque crowd. Then again maybe you're jumping on the bandwagon just like everyone else who thinks Burlesque is the current trendy thing but hasn't got a bloody clue what it is beyond women takling their bras off.

In principle, a lap-dancing club wouldn't put me off.

Lady Luck, one of the first clubs to put on Burlesque in London, started off in a strip club (Secrets in Euston) and moved back to one last year (Platinum: beautiful venue...Platinum Bar)

It was one of the most enjoyable club experiences I've had!

Platinum DOES actually run Burlesque events and uses Burlesque for corporate events which is separate from the gentleman's club side, and the owner is also involved with the Burlesque and retro community so I think that's a pretty good example that it CAN be done, and done very well.

But as people have said, it's a case by case thing. I wouldn't automatically go, but I'd go if I knew that it would be a good club night with a couple of decent performers, or a really good sit-down show. So a line-up of known acts would be pretty vital for me to know...

Vicky Bxx

Hello again,

I am aware that you all have your reservations about there being Burlesque in a lapdancing club, some of you also seem to think i havent got a clue what burlesque is??

i myself am a burlesque dancer and performer, i have expereince, have worked with some really lovely people and have the up most respect for burlesque dancers. I am aware that the idea of burlesque being within a strip bar may give the impression that it would be seedy and require full nudity, but it really isnt what me and my boss were intending, we are looking for class, glitter and glamour and a serious burlesque show, performed by serious burlesque dancers, not the girls from the club in cheap corsets and feather boa's?

My boss isnt a lechy old man, hes a very polite older gentleman, i wouldnt work for him otherwise, Al Palooka, i'm not sure how you would have met my boss coming in? as he doesnt work the floor?

Also as for the 'drunken nuts readers' and 'geezer' comments, the Rocket isn't that sort of place, it has alot of very polite, educated and interesting men there, from judges, comedians to racing drivers and politicians, the 'geezers' stay well clear. Also security is very strict! it also has a high percentage of female customers too, as it is a very nice atmosphere and women enjoy watching women as much as men do, it really isnt a crime. If you are an open minded and non judgemental person then the Rocket can offer a really, genuinly pleasant evening.

I am looking into how the stage shows would be run, i'm not sure whether it would be a few segments of half hours or a couple of acts throughout the night, OR whether it would be a full length show in one after the other acts. It's all work in progress,

I understand also that there is some compatation perhpas felt with other people who put nights on in Birmingham, i really think that the Burlesque audience is'nt fickle (least i hope not) each venue and night offers it's own little something and i would hope that there would be support from the lovers of Burlesque to each of those.



I am going to try my damndest to get these nights going, i really think that if you gave the rocket a chance you would really love the venue, the stage, the dancers and even open your mind a bit into the fact lapdancer aren't bimbos, there graduates, mums, nurses and well educated young women who don't care what other poeple thnk of them, its a shame that even in this day and age the british and their view on these sorts of things is still so backward?

As for prices to get in i think it would probably be roughly £15? im not sure tho, as i said Nothing is set in stone, i just wanted to test the water and see what the common perception was? Thankyou for all your views and opinions, I will take them all on board, please dont get on your high horses about Burlesque as if it's a cult, it's all about having a bit of fun and enjoying yourself, that is what i am aiming for, i would really like you to atleast give it a go if the night does get going. DOnt just wait for someone who has a bit of credibility to tell you to go or not, make up your own mind?

Billie Rae

x

I think you'd have trouble attracting an audience. A burlesque audience wouldn't go, for reasons covered pretty extensively above, and your usual audience wouldn't go, or might go and then leave on account of the lack of nudity. Audiences go to different venues for different forms of entertainment, so to put on a completely different form of entertainment would lose you your regular audience. Of course, there's the chance that they might enjoy seeing some satirical comedy with a bit of striptease - but how many people go to a lap dancing club to see comedy? How many go to see nipples and more? And therein lies the problem, I think. I can't see it being a moneymaking venture.

This is something I have considered myself, as my OH is constantly looking for new opportunities for me (business minded, you see), and told me I should try getting the manager of our local gentlemen's club to let me put on an event. After a very quick discussion though, we decided it wasn't going to work, especially not in a little town like Derby. The example Vicky gave is in London, where the atmosphere is different to anywhere else in the country, really, and I can imagine things work there that wouldn't anywhere else. I doubt Birmingham is a place it could work - the burlesque scene is saturatred already, and do your customers want a change from what they're used to seeing?