Thread: What makes a good Burlesque act?

Hello all,

The question is pretty much in the title. I'm just starting to get ideas together for an act and was hoping someone could point me in the right direction?

Thanks
Meldiva Rose x

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This could be areally interesting thread! When I'm sober I might try to cobble together an answer... In the mean time I'll sit here, drunk and quite and see what other people who know what they are talking about have to say. xxxx

I really didn't deserve a 'like' for that!!

It's a really difficult question isn't it, because how ever objective we try to be in our answers, we are abound to be subjective. It's like asking 'what makes a good painting?' or 'What makes a good film?' The answers will vary according to personal taste, and will depend on what the aim of the piece of art is.

I guess the primary function of a burlesque act is to entertain the audience. Audoiences will be entertained by different things. Some love sexy, some love gore, some love comedy... there will always be times when you cant please everyone. So putting 'taste' aside, a good act will be entertaining, the audience will not want to look away, they will be 'on the edge of their seats' wanting to see/hear what happens next.

I love variety in burlesque shows, and have been trying to think about what acta I've seen recently that I really loved. The one that springs to mind is (and she'll maybe be embarressed by me saying this) is Susie Von Garter and her Chav act. I laughed so much and so did my friends, who are not performers themselves. I was almost crying with laughter because she was so funny. Wht made the act work was her movement and body language. She stomped out onto stage with a can of beer in her hand, slumped down on a chair and looked like she was gonna happy-slap anyone who cheered! Her movements, the music she used everything was funny. As an act, it really worked for me, I love acts that are funny, a bit silly and a bit 'wrong'.

When I think about my own acts, I have two that I consider to be the most sucessful. 'The Jilted Bride' and 'Nights At The Circus'. I tried to think about what they had in common, as they are quite contrasting, visually and in their content. The thing I came up with is that they both have a definate 'climax' at the end of the piece. Jilted Bride has a reveal (not by me, I hasten to add!) and Circus has a glass-walk. These things give the audience a conclusion to what they have just watched, something the act has built up to. This can be important in burlesque acts. A lot of acts have the reveal as the climax, there have been threads about 'reveal or not to reveal'. If you dont have a reveal at the end, I think it's good to think about what you do have at the end that tells the audience 'This is the climax of my act. Cheer now. I'm going off stage now because I've finished.' If you dont strip, you have to think hard about what you are going to do to give a definate ending.

Perhaps this is mostly important if you do narrative stuff, which we do. Other endings we have include A big movie kiss with romantic movie ending music (Pirate act 'Roger The Cabin Boy') a gruesome and bloody death (Undertakers act 'Dead Can Dance'). I have done acts where I just sing a silly song and say some daft stuff, I never feel these work as well on their own as if I use the song in a longer act with an ending.

So if it's narrative, a good ending, or maybe a good plot all the way through.

If it's comedy, get the comedy in everywhere, music, movement, costume

If its glam, make sure the cosutme is excellent and does NOT look like it came from primark! (Doesn't matter if it did, but work with it so it doesnt look like it!!)

So there are some sober thoughts from me! I really want to see what other people thing too. x

I started a thread on this a few days ago but deleted it cos couldnt get the wording right.

Practically, this is what you need: Be confident, be visual & dramatic in costume & movement, be clear in what is going on, do the right act at the right show.

Theoretically, this is where it gets more interesting for me. Instead of waffling on though I am going to make two controversial statements to see what people think.

- There is no such thing as an objectively good performer. It depends on the preference on the person watching. One man's "amazing" can be another man's "sh*t". GOOD is entirely dependent on who is watching.

- A good performer is a good performer everywhere and all the time. It doesnt depend on gig type, or audience preference. GOOD is entirely dependent on the the performer."

What do people think?

I think the best routines are the really original ones, Ive sat through so many shows wher I could think of 5 other routines like the one on the stage, I know there are some themes that are great and people love to do, For example- Cat/Kitty routines. They have been done to death, everyone has seen one. But I loved the idea of doing one ever since I thought of performing, but I knew also I wanted mine to have a little fire and not be as cutesy as the ones id seen. So now im working on a cat routine called "Le Chat Glamour". I hope its a little different to the others out there.

I think you have to have your own ideas, and think about what the audience would like to see. Remember that they want to be entertained so whatever your routine idea is make it the best it can be, even if that means time, money and effort. Saving for props/costumes etc is sooo hard sometimes, and practicing when you feel ill or not got a lot of time but if you want your routine to be entertaining then its so worth it! Oh and the old saying- "ya gotta have a gimmick" is so true too!

If you do a routine that is true to you you cant go far wrong, an audience will know if you are not comfortable with what you are presenting. Think about all that burlesque is to you, music, movies, art, anything really, thats the joy of it! Even if you think at first "this is a bit ott" or "This will never work" Then go down the rabbit hole and see! Good luck and let us know how you get on xxx

Originally Posted by Glorian Gray

- There is no such thing as an objectively good performer. It depends on the preference on the person watching. One man's "amazing" can be another man's "sh*t". GOOD is entirely dependent on who is watching.

- A good performer is a good performer everywhere and all the time. It doesnt depend on gig type, or audience preference. GOOD is entirely dependent on the the performer."

I agree with both of these statements! However, I think this comes down to the issue of whether or not something is entertaining - you made a point a while ago, Glorian, in another thread that you can appreciate that, say, Leona Lewis is a good singer, but that she is not necessarily your cup of tea. The fact that I don't find Coldplay entertaining, does not take away from the fact that they are considered a good band.

For the purposes of this thread - I think a 'good' act is one that suits the performer. I have seen instances of people who aren't particularly glamorous (can't walk in heels, haven't made an effort with their costume/appearance etc) trying to perform a classic striptease, and it has failed miserably. Similarly, I have seen people who aren't particularly funny attempting to perform a comedy act.

I would suggest finding your strength and what works for you. It's unfortunate if you want to perform dance acts but have no sense of rhythm then a narrative act may be more suited to your particular skills set. When I started performing Burlesque, I only did cheesecake, character acts. I now have nothing like this in my repertoire and specialise in classic bump n' grind stripteases and dance based, belle epoque inspired acts.

The best acts I've seen are those where the performer has obviously invested time, thought and effort into the piece: they are working with their strongest skills - Frankie Lynn's Martina act is fabulous as it is based on her Latin American Dance training. Elle Amour's Salome act is one of my favourites as it is also founded on her ballet and street dance training. Glorian Gray's Painter act makes me laugh like a drain as she has such perfect comedy expressions throughout and Millie Dollar's Jealousy act works as she exudes confidence, totally owns the stage and is so goddamn sexy with it!!

These are just a few of my favourites, and why I think they work. To summarize a long, rambley post - I think a good act is one that suits the performer, has a foundation in their specific skills, and has had time and love invested into it.
xx

I tried to reply to this thread yesterday, but ended up not posting as it seemed I wasn't making sense (well there's a surprise)

I do agree, that confidence in yourself is a starting point - not big headedness, there's nothing good about the diva... but knowing/believing that what you are doing is the best you can do, and being happy to do it your way.

Now, that opens the can of worms that the confident rubbish performer is always going to be a confident rubbish performer, and that isn't what I'm trying to get at; rather that unless you are sure about yourself and your act then no audience is going to buy it.

Oh, and finding your own style is essential (and probably the first step to gaining self confidence and eventually being "good")... if you're a carbon copy of some other great performer then how can you ever be good?

I could do a graceful fan dance, in the style of Sally Rand but it would be rubbish - it's not my style and I have no confidence to pull it off.

Hmmm, I did tell you that it made no sense yesterday - and today's no better!

Originally Posted by Miss Dani California

I agree with both of these statements! However, I think this comes down to the issue of whether or not something is entertaining - you made a point a while ago, Glorian, in another thread that you can appreciate that, say, Leona Lewis is a good singer, but that she is not necessarily your cup of tea. The fact that I don't find Coldplay entertaining, does not take away from the fact that they are considered a good band.

I think you hit the nail on the head here, and it applies to any genre. If you just dont like something it makes little difference how good the performer is, you are not going to be entertained by it if you just dont wanna look because you dont like it.

Assuming the performer is of a good standard at what they do, be it comedy, striptease etc, what are the elements that make a routine sucessful?

Yes, we all want to see good performers, but what do we want to see them do? Do we love witty concepts? Do we like subvertive messages? Do we like comedy that makes fun of authority and morals? Do we like sexyness that challanges ideas about beauty and sexuality?

Content wise, what do people love in burlesque acts? x

After the show I did yesterday, I had an epiphany watching British Heart and Khandie Khisses- its the absolute certainty that you belong on a stage. Not a big headed thing, not something to prove, not necessarily confidence before the show or after it, just unquestioning certainty while you are up there, that you should be up there. I need to develop some of that, that is what makes you really go for it, puts in that extra something, that extra oomph.

Aaah yes, the 'je ne sais quoi' factor!

Sometimes I watch people and think it doesn't matter what they do on stage, it would be great to watch as they just have 'it'.

I wanna get me some of that!!