It is probably a well known fact by this point, but many burlesque performers tend to have a nerdy streak. Do not be surprised if you ever see the bookworm with back-to-back 800 verbal SAT scores you haven’t seen in a decade up on a stage wearing pasties shaped like the Death Star and now calling herself “Duchess Tangerine.” (Kudos to the “burlesque name generator.”)
Part of the beauty of burlesque is the creativity on display, though some troupes have taken some extreme liberties with what they are willing to present to the public as “sexy.” This is exemplified by the following three shows.
The Muppets
It takes a lot of courage to mess with what is for many a beloved childhood memory. It takes even more courage to try and visualize what Oscar the Grouch looks like under his trashcan.
Star Wars vs. Star Trek
Maybe I didn’t emphasize the “nerdy” part enough, but with this show you need no further proof. Video games, anime, comic books, and other pop culture sources are mainstays of burlesque performance, and we should be honest that most of them are ripe with characters that work well in a burlesque routine. However, this show acts out one of the nerdiest things that exists – a battle of sci-fi universes.
Yes, this is real. You’ve seen the flyer and now you can’t unsee it. While it’s easy to picture the music of Weird Al Yankovich in the background to a burlesque show, this is one theme we would have never seen coming.
