Burlesque

Crate Digging: Club Noir on the records required for a burlesque club

Featuring Urban Voodoo Machine, Imelda May and Gogol Bordello

9 Aug 2011

We all know about the burlesque shows that are the centre piece of every Club Noir, but what about the music? We ask their resident, DJ Loveless, to tell us what sets the dancefloor shaking as they prepare for their Fringe special

The people for whom sex is part of their job

The advisor, the sex toy manufacturer, the sex worker and the burlesque dancer

1 Feb 2011

We speak to four people for whom sex, and sexuality, play major roles in their daily lives

Burlesque

Ill-advised directorial debut is dross, despite effort from Christina Aguilera and Cher

23 Dec 2010

(12A) 119min Burlesque is the type of film that made musicals go out of fashion. It plays up the kitsch in order to cover its many deficiencies. At best the film has curiosity value as it features the acting debut of Christina Aguilera, who also…

Burlesque may star Cher and Christine Aguilera, but there's too much glitter

So there’s a new musical out about burlesque. They’ve made the wrong movie writes Paul Dale

14 Dec 2010

Burlesque starring Cher and Christine Aguilera is a film that has missed its moment. The resurgence and revival of burlesque dominoed by club nights in New York, Los Angeles and New Orleans, and later globalised by Dita Von Teese, now seems to belong to…

Meow Meow - Feline Intimate

Cabaret will never be the same

12 Aug 2010

The former star of La Clique, who counts David Bowie among her fans, strips away the mystique of cabaret in this riotous postmodern deconstruction of her art. That’s literally the case when during the first few minutes of the show she’s interrupted by…

Confusion is Sex

12 Aug 2010

Things are always a bit strange at Confusion is Sex, and here they take a turn for the even weirder as CiS host a ‘Hentai Tokyo Party’ for a dose of cortex searing neo-gothic Japanalia as drag acts, Manga erotica, the Kamikaze Girls, burlesque and more…

Club Noir and Scottish Opera collaborate on A Night At The Opera

Burlesque night prepare for unlikely pairing

5 Aug 2010

Henry Northmore talks to the burlesque night as they prepare for one of this festival’s most unlikely collaborations

Cabaret set to take Edinburgh Fringe 2010 by storm

28 Jul 2010

Variety show fever is sweeping the capital for the 2010 Edinburgh Fringe and cabaret is back with a vengeance. Steering its way back into mainstream entertainment culture by popular demand, the all-singing, all-dancing performances on offer this year…

Club Noir: Summer Holiday

18 May 2010

‘No-one’s got any money at the moment. Everyone’s unemployed or worried about their jobs. Volcanic ash clouds are spoiling people’s travel plans, and who would dare go to Greece on holiday right now? So we thought, for anyone who can’t get away on…

Confusion Is Sex

15 Apr 2010

Confusion is Sex strives for something different – mixing burlesque, leftfield cabaret, electro, live bands, pole dancers and more to create a unique world within itself. ‘It’s an underground freakshow,’ explains Gamma Ray Dali, the mastermind behind…

High Tease & Vegas!

4 Dec 2009

Another classy team-up from two of Scotland’s most glamorous events, which offers something for boys, girls and all of Glasgow’s most stylish performers. First, High Tease presents a host of burlesque performers, including Des O’Connor, Jonny Woo, Gypsy…

Halloween Guide: T - Z

Our final tricks and treats

16 Oct 2009

T is for Tours It’s the eve of Halloween and you’re feeling a bit like an overgrown trick or treater – excited, but not sure what a sophisticated adult like yourself should be doing to celebrate. Chapping on strangers’ doors and singing for sugar…

Burlescape

25 Jun 2009

What is it about burlesque just now? There’s a new club or class popping up every day, hundreds of dancers queuing up for slots at nights like Club Noir and Rockaburley, and now here comes the Glasgow Cabaret Festival, a week-long festival all over the…

High Tease and Vegas!

25 Jun 2009

Not only is this glamorous team-up night a celebration of American Independence Day, there’s also another kind of emancipation going on. After eight years running a regular monthly event at Glasgow’s Ferry, the Edinburgh-based VEGAS! crowd have decided…

Club Noir

28 May 2009

When Club Noir was first born to proud co-promoters Tina Warren and Ian Single five years ago, it stood in a field of one. Burlesque clubs weren’t the fashion then, or at least not outside of London, and the pair succeeded in their aim of presenting a…

Lindsay Lohan happy to strip

Celebrity Gossip

22 Apr 2009

Lindsay Lohan wants to strip in a burlesque show "just for play". The 'I Know Who Killed Me' actress has denied she is being lined up for a stint in racy production 'Peepshow' alongside former Spice Girl Mel B, but would consider a one-off…

The best new nights in town. This month: Confusion Is Sex

16 Apr 2009

Residents Not so much a resident as a ‘creator’; Gamma Ray, former promoter of the Bongo’s Hobo, has brought this new monthly event together. Guests A live show from Berlin-based electro-punks Noblesse Oblige, a headline DJ appearance from Glasgow’s…

Life is a cabaret old chum

5 Mar 2009

Get your boas out, as Glasgow theatre company, Rhymes with Purple Productions, joins The Glasgow Art Club for a series of cabaret shows. The first Art Club Cabaret is on Fri 6 Mar and will run intermittently during the year. The first night features…

Courses, classes and activities

8 Jan 2009

Alternative Therapy Edinburgh Aromatherapy Far superior to a nasty blast of air freshener, learn the subtle art of aromatherapy, with beginner’s classes in essential oils and massage. An 8-week non-vocational course is available through the…

Stripper Spice Mel B

Celebrity Gossip

19 Nov 2008

Mel B is to star in her own Las Vegas burlesque show. The former Spice Girl will play leading lady Peep Diva in the classy 'Peepshow' strip show next year. Mel - who is married to film producer Stephen Belafonte - told People magazine: "This…

Hobo

30 Oct 2008

Not since the days of Taste's prime has Edinburgh managed to gather itself a successful Sunday night scene, and the weekly Scottish Hobo Society, as was, certainly didn't change that. Yet the now-rechristened Hobo is now under new management, and the…

Prudish Dita Von Teese

Celebrity Gossip

14 Sep 2008

Dita Von Teese claims she is a prude. The burlesque dancer - who is famous for a raunchy routine she performs in an oversized martini glass - claims she has "never been an exhibitionist" and prefers to cover up when she isn't performing. She…

Floored genius

4 Sep 2008

Hula-hooping, burlesque and aerial acrobatics are all withinreach of your twinkle toes this autumn if you have the urge. The phenomenal success of the Strictly Come Dancing and recent Hollywood offerings including Shall We Dance? and Step Up seems to…

Teaze

21 Aug 2008

‘Teaze isn’t just a burlesque night’, says Amy Telford, promoter of Teaze, and she’s right. There will be a burlesque show on earlier in the night, but DJs of various genres – from swing to techno and metal to alternative – will then take over until the…

Dr Sketchy’s Anti Art School

7 Aug 2008

I blame after-school ‘buff club’ for the prudish apprehension I felt on entering Dr Sketchy’s Anti Art School. The life drawing class of my youth utterly succeeded in repressing my schoolgirl giggle. Week after week the models’ towelling gowns would…

5 Questions - Kittie Klaw

7 Aug 2008

5 words to describe the High Tease experience?: ‘Uproarious revue of subversive wit’ or ‘witty, subversive, glamorous, high comedy’. 4 things you love about the acts on the bill: The originality and diversity of the individual performers coupled with…

Camille: the Dark Angel

31 Jul 2008

Some festival veterans would appear to be gluttons for punishment, others just seem to return again and again only to grow in stature. Dublin’s Camille O’Sullivan is very much of the latter category and is among the most celebrated and cherished of…

Club Noir to takeover Edinburgh International Conference Centre

31 Jul 2008

Following its huge success last year, Club Noir is set to bring some risqué decadence to the Edinburgh Fringe for one of the biggest burlesque nights the city has ever seen. Usually based in Glasgow, CN is giving the capital a taste of what it has to…

Camille O'Sullivan

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Sliding onstage in a red corset and heels, sipping a glass of red wine, French-Irish chanteuse Camille O’Sullivan likes keeping her audience on their toes when she performs. She may launch into a tear-stained Edith Piaf cover or an angry Tom Waits…

Burlescapades!

8 May 2008

Forget you’re in Scotland for just one night and stroll down the Champs-Elysees as Burlescapades! transport you to ‘Springtime in Paris’. With cheeky cabaret from belle de jour Mamzelle Fifi, raconteur Dusty Limits and escapologist Chris Cross, not…

Dita Von Teese's porn past

Celebrity Gossip

2 Apr 2008

Dita Von Teese starred in a pornographic lesbian film, it has been claimed. The burlesque performer is spanked and pleasured with a bizarre sex toy by her female co-star in the kinky adult movie - shot before she rose to fame - which has now been…

Introducing . . . Backstage

28 Feb 2008

The best new nights in town. This fortnight: Backstage Residents and guests A rotating line-up of regular Club Noir DJs, to keep every night feeling fresh and special. Music policy In keeping with Noir’s ethos, a cross-section of the sexiest music…

Burlescapades! Valentine Venetian Masked Ball

14 Feb 2008

BURLESQUE The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Fri 15 Feb ‘Some of the acts will have a Valentine’s theme, some a Venetian, and others a bit of both. We even have a pillow fight,’ laughs burlesque performer and Burlescapades! organiser Lily White. ‘It’s not…

Burlescapades

29 Nov 2007

It’s almost Christmas so why not treat yourself to a night of feathers, tassels, striptease and slapstick at this burlesque festive special. Expect vintage sounds and a dose of saucy cabaret from Amber Topaz, Red Sarah, Leyla Rose (pictured) and…

Vegas!

18 Oct 2007

Vegas! has topped The List’s poll of the best clubs in Scotland more than any other night, revellers embracing its big band stylings, Rat Pack cool and unheard classics. As the club reaches its tenth birthday Henry Northmore talks to the people who…

Female focused sex shops

4 Oct 2007

This week I’ve been spending time in sex shops. Oh, stop sniggering at the back there. I bet you’re thinking of sticky floors and flickering neon, now, aren’t you? Grubby windows and lone, sweaty-palmed gentlemen who can’t quite meet the cashier’s eye.

5 Questions - Club Noir

16 Aug 2007

If you want decadent glamour, Club Noir is the ultimate burlesque experience. Promoter/performer Tina Warren spills a few secrets

5 Questions - Vaudeville Cabaret Club & One O’Clock Gun

1 Aug 2007

We chat to Judith Riddle, press officer at the Vaudeville Cabaret Club, a night of eclectic exotica and risqué entertainment hosted by the ever so suave Dusty Limits (pictured). Every night at 1am it morphs into the One O’Clock Gun club, a showcase of…

Nightshade

19 Jun 2007

It’s an intriguing premise: commissioning seven of the most exciting young choreographers in Europe to create a striptease, working with real strip artists rather than professional dancers. Definitely worthy of a few good tabloid headlines...

Burlesque

Hello Kittie

10 Apr 2007

Frequently hailed as ‘the Queen of British Burlesque’, 25-year-old Kittie Klaw is at the forefront of the international burlesque renaissance. She is a founder of the Ministry of Burlesque which this month presents High Tease in Glasgow. She tells her…

Life drawing meets burlesque erotica

Gothic horror picture show

12 Feb 2007

It’s Saturday afternoon and I’m loitering outside the entrance to Edinburgh’s newest art class trying not to look too much like a pervert. Some passing tourists catch sight of the Dr Sketchy’s poster advertising ‘Drawing & Drinks & Dames & Dudes’ and I…

David Diamante at Club Noir

Diamond geezer

29 Jan 2007

David Diamante is to modern British burlesque what Charlie Chaplin was to comedy - its Godfather, its energy and its salesman, but definitely not in a pushy double-glazing type way. The ‘product’ speaks for itself: ‘glamour’ is priceless and affordable…

The Ministry of Burlesque presents High Tease

29 Jan 2007

CABARET Burlesque, a word used with some specificity by this six-year-old company, is a quite separate form from music hall or vaudeville although it has many traditions in common. Granted, many of the turns are the same - comics, singing, dancing…

The Ministry of Burlesque

Preview

29 Jan 2007

More and more burlesque nights are setting their sights on Scotland. This fortnight, Ministry of Burlesque return with their ‘High Tease’, a mix of saucy cabaret and tongue in cheek striptease featuring the rather wonderful Kittie Klaw (pictured), Dusty…