In the last decade, burlesque has suddenly become not only popular, but respectable. Modern audiences have become used to nudity and even crudity, so there is little chance of offending anyone, and it is perfectly OK for elderly ladies such as myself to be entertained by the various shenanigans up for viewing in such productions. In fact, the mix of ages and sexes on the opening night of this Fringe World production was surprising.
Comic Strip is an excellent example of the genre. It is bawdy, it is fun, it is entertaining. You do need to be open-minded – if the F-word and almost-naked bodies are not your thing, you will not want to see this show. But if you like lewd humour and a polished, professional standard of entertainment, this could well be one of the many excellent offerings of the Perth Fringe Festival that you will enjoy.
Asher Treleaven (one of his first jokes is about his Jewish name, which puzzled me until I realised he was talking about his given name – his ancestors surely must have from Cornwall) is an excellent anchor man with a good line in patter. Trained at Melbourne’s National Institute of Circus Arts, he obviously paid attention in movement class because he gives a very physical performance bordering on the slapstick. Nevertheless, his crowning spot was the one in which he ‘read’ from a romance novel, sending up the many and varied ways of describing the sex act that are to be found in such publications. (Note to writers: do not let this man get his hands on your MS. He will take the mickey out of it and have everyone rolling on the floor laughing – in all the wrong places!)
Treleaven’s work is a wonderful foil for that of the three strip-tease artists. They are funny, too, but they are also glamorous, sophisticated and beautiful. They also have the usual strip-tease repertoire of moves and tricks down pat.
VCA graduate Gypsy Wood has stripping in her blood, no doubt having learnt it at her mother’s knee. She has jumped out of cakes to great applause and sent poor Kevin Rudd running from The Chaser’s set, among other, equally fascinating gigs. She gave us a charming, classic, evening gown strip.
English dancer/actress Miss Polly Rae has a highly original act, opening with a song reminiscent of George Formby’s ‘When I’m Cleaning Windows’ – but told from the inside of the window. Her northern accent (she’s a Lancashire lass) as she gives us the window cleaner’s dialogue is well worth hearing: in fact, her subsequent gear-dropping is almost an anti-climax. However, she gets more laughs when she returns to the stage with a jokey fan dance, using some of the prettiest red feathers I’ve ever seen.
The third act featured guest comic John Robertson. He gave us a most entertaining take on a strip routine, using his left hand as a mock glove puppet and his leather wrist band as a corselette. It put the tease into strip in a very clever and imaginative fashion. Robinson, by the way, is a highly versatile character. As a contrast to his stand-up activities, you might like to watch the video of his recent speech at Men Against Rape, a Fundraiser for White Ribbon and the Women’s Council, YaYa’s Western Australia on 22 February this year. You might not see Robinson with Comic Strip, however, as various local guests are lined up to circulate the Fringe. If they are all as clever as John Robertson they will be well worth the viewing.
The final act brought us the third stripper, Lada Redstar. Like the other ladies, Redstar has had sound dance training, but she ultimately settled on a master degree in Archaeology and History of Art from the Sorbonne to crown her education, before taking to burlesque. She was a winner at the World Burlesque Games in London last year, and is noted for the variety of her strip acts. For Comic Strip, however, she stuck, like the others, to a conventional, if somewhat fantasy-inspired, evening gown strip enhanced by fans – although hers were not of the feathered sort, but of the pleated kind with horizontal handles, sometimes referred to as ‘wings’. (You can read ArtsHub’s interview with Lada Redstar here.)
This amusing, pleasant program could have been made even more so with a little more variety among the strip acts. For a start, all three ladies are leggy, lissom and lovely in the classic showgirl mode. (I hope the younger, less experienced gentlemen in the audience did not go away with idea that all women look as gorgeous as these three when they discard their garments, as they are in for some disappointments if they did.) Yet perfection of form notwithstanding, differing physiques would perhaps add interest to the show. Furthermore, the strippers all used the same tricks to ‘milk’ applause, and while a bit of this can be amusing, it starts to pall when we’ve seen lots of rather aggressive shimmying and arm waving. Gentle coaxing, with a bit of tease thrown in, can be just as effective.
And more variety of theme and wardrobe would be nice, too. Three frock-cum-fan spots on the one program is overkill, methinks. How about a tassel act and/or an occupational strip? There is currently some focus on the sexual proclivities of librarians, both online and in print – a strip out of a pencil skirt, spectacles and a pile of books would complement Asher Treleaven’s reading perfectly!
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Zucchinis in Bikinis presents
Comic Strip
Featuring: Asher Treleaven (compere/comedian) Gypsy Wood, Miss Polly Rae, Lada Redstar (strip-tease artists) and John Robertson (guest comedian)
De Parel Spiegeltent, Urban Orchard, Perth Cultural Centre Northbridge
25 January – 4 February
Fringe World 2013
www.fringeworld.com.au
25 January – 24 February
