SFdowntown.com - Close Up

A Rebirth of Burlesque By Joshua Brandt Not until after the last note was sounded by a colorfully clad house band; and the angelic "Rubber Boy" had finished shoving his entire body backward through a tennis racket; and the haiku-spouting belly dancer had swallowed the last lick of flame from a burning stick. It was then that the crowd at the Odeon Theater finally got to see what they had been clamoring for — the Cantankerous Lollies. Packed with an adoring throng of the City’s usual suspects, this Mission Street club was awaiting the arrival of the main act. While they had certainly come for the music, for the 20 beers on tap, and for the instant camaraderie that comes from being crowded into a small club, what they really came for was the flesh. And they got it — or at least a brief glimpse of it, artfully done up in wigs, frilly costumes and yes, pasties. They got can-can dances, suggestive silhouettes behind screens and the ever-popular chair acts. They got the Cantankerous Lollies, the group that’s spearheading the Bay Area’s burlesque revival. Burlesque, the ancient art of the tease, appears to be back — or perhaps it never went away. From San Francisco’s Gold Rush days, when bawdy barmaids danced on tabletops, through the heyday of the beatnik scene, burlesque has enjoyed a rich tradition. Although, with the advent of flesh emporiums such as the Mitchell Brothers’ O’Farrell Theatre and the Broadway clubs of the ‘60s and ‘70s, the art of the understated strip tease did lose a little bit of its luster. In its truest form, Burlesque is less about graphic close-ups of body parts and more about audience interaction, entertainment and humor, according to its practitioners. "People want more subtlety and nuance…instead of having a constant flow of T & A shoved in your face," said Harvest King, the founder of the Cantankerous Lollies. "The audience gets to have a lot more fun than at a regular strip show because the interaction between the performers and the audience isn’t canned or faked. There’s a lot more honesty to it." King has worked as an exotic dancer in several of the City’s strip clubs since arriving here seven years ago, and she sees burlesque as a life-long artistic calling. Her olive skin, dark curly ringlets and big brown eyes are reminiscent of Clara Bow (who was also no stranger to the art of the tease). She took the Lollies to the International Tease-O-Rama in New Orleans last month, where she performed with burlesque acts from over 30 different countries. "Performing at the Tease-O-Rama is a dream for me," said King. "New Orleans is such a romantic place, and it’s the one city where the spirit of burlesque is really still alive." King will also perform later this month at the Exotic World Museum in Barstow, California. The museum has a cornucopia of burlesque-era artifacts, and is owned by one of the legends of the art form, Dixie Evans, whose heydey started in the 50s — and never really ended, according to King. "Dixie Evans is like the grandmother I never really had. She’s struggled so hard to get recognition for burlesque, and she really believes in what we’re doing. She’s a real inspiration, because some of the burlesque pioneers are in their sixties and seventies, and they’re some of the lustiest ladies I’ve ever seen." That’s the philosophy behind King’s commitment to her art. The dancer may fly solo in New York this fall, where she said the scene is much more ensconced and the standards much higher. Her timing is fortuitous. In addition to her group winning the San Francisco Bay Guardian’s first-ever "Best Burlesque Act," there are countless Web sites devoted to the art, as well as fan clubs, competitions, "zines," and fashion spin-offs. When asked about her hopes for cashing in on this craze, King was sanguine. "If I get there, I get there. And if I don’t, I really will have enjoyed the ride." The Cantankerous Lollies’ upcoming San Francisco shows include, starting June 15, 4 weeks at the Hotel Utah, 500 4th Street, 546-6300. And on June 22, at the Fillmore, 1805 Geary Blvd., 346-6000. Josh Brandt is a San Francisco-based freelance writer.