Afternoon Tease is a melding of stripping burlesque and the traditional English afternoon tea which takes place on the first and third Thursday of each month at Volupté in London.
As the world has now come to realise, you can stage a donkey show without raising an eyebrow as long as you call it burlesque, refer to Bettie Page and ensure most of the women involved are brunette and a little chunky, but this sounds worthwhile. Could anyone resist almost four hours of Champagne, crust-free sandwiches, warm scones and tits?
In a similar vein, but with cooler music, Ska Burlesque pushes the definition of burlesque further still. Without the music or accouterments of the burlesque era the avoidance of the word ’stripping’ is hard to fathom. It’s just a word used by people who’ve forgotten in the time of burlesque there wasn’t a scuzzier alternative, and in the best modern strip clubs elaborate well choreographed acts are still part of the repertoire. Artful stripping is really still alive despite what the burlesque lobby seems to think (try Texas).
The next Ska Burlesque night is on May 11th and provides a perfect excuse to claim “I didn’t know they were going to have all these naked girls here, I thought Ska Burlesque was the name of a band.” Or not. I’ll be leaning against the bar trying to look musical.