Whilst you are all getting excited over classes in Burlesque I'd like you to take one minute of time to heed the words of this Burlesque Newbie performers husband.

Unless you are very lucky you will end up spending a lot of money when you start in Burlesque. My wife has been into Burlesque for nearly a year, and when you take into account costumes, props, training, travel, hotels and having to work for free because you're a nobody you should realise that you'll spend a fortune, not make a mint. There are lots of promoters out there who will put you on their stage but a lot of them won't pay you or can't pay you. And you normally won't get on the stage of a paying promoter unless you at least have a good showreel of acts, have performed for them for free or been seen by them - and impressed them enough to pay you. Get into Burlesque because you love the art form and want to entertain people - not because you want to make a fast buck.

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Silk Stocking Striptease Show

There is a night in Leeds called Ruby Review run by the lovely Eva Braun, you should message her as she will be able to tell you what else is going on in Leeds. Also there is another night I have never been but I am in chats with them at the moment about performing.

Lord Twizzle's next foray into the entertainment world, will be his late night drinking den, the 'SLEAZY SPEAKEASY'. Launching on Saturday 1st September at Verve in the heart of Leeds. The downstairs of Verve will play host to this monthly event, as Lord Twizzle provides a feast of entertainments, with Burlesque, Music and Cabaret Mayhem til way past bed-time.
For more info jump over to myspace.com/thesleazyspeakeasy and be sure to get down early on Saturday, Relax, grab a drink and take it Sleazy!

Good luck with it all and I hope you fun when you start to perform.

Best
Diva x

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Diva Hollywood - http://www.myspace.com/divahollywood

Gehenna is right here - setting up costs money! So keep your props simple and your costumes cheap, and perform locally at first to cut down travel costs is my advice!

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Terry Pratchett to Fleur - "Oh, are you the cleavage lady?"
Visit me - www.badflower.co.uk

there's also a burlesque night the 5th friday (Ithink or it might be the saturday) in the month (so not every month) at The subculture merrion centre leeds which is where Dahlia is doing her classes and I help run an indie market there the 3rd saturday of every month which sells fab clothes and jewels by local designers such as myself. they have a website for more details

Well said Gehenna!

This is a situation that we come across all the time. We're inundated by inexperienced performers who don't seem to understand that burlesque is like any other job - you have to make your way up from the bottom. There are no shortcuts. Many people wake up in the morning with visions of being the next Immodesty Blaize and they use this to justify asking for huge fees. In fact the number of people who describe themselves as this is quite startling. Here's a tip - try being the first one of YOU, not the next one of somebody else! In the case of all the 'Immodesty-a-likes', here's some news - Immodesty kinda has that one covered already!

The leading burlesque performers on the circuit are there because they have paid their dues and learnt the industry. As Gehenna said, they have invested a hell of a lot into getting to where they are and it's not just money. They've invested time, untold stress, had to deal with bitchiness from people who are jealous of their success and a helluva lot more besides.

We've noticed that new performers fall into two distinct categories:

The Know-It-All

If these people spent the same amount of time working on their performance skills as they did on bitching about other performers in a better position than them, they would truely be at the top of their game instead of being ignored by promoters who know to steer clear of people like this.

The 'Know-It-All' will view any form of constructive criticism as a direct personal insult and instead of improving their act, they will instead find reasons why the people who gave the advice are now their number one enemy. The 'Know It All' is normally will waste no time in telling others how they are the obvious subject of a vendetta by the promoter or promoters in question.

Even more extreme cases of the 'Know-It-All' are the people who invent entire fraudulent personas and trade on these. I'll never forget a certain performer who went on a beginners burlesque course in August 2006 and in September 2006 ended up drunk as a skunk in the back of our taxi on the way back from one of our High Tease nights drunkenly begging us for stage time. We refused as we felt quite embarrassed at the way that she was begging us. Next thing we know, this very same person has started telling everybody that she has been performing on the burlesque circuit for about ten years and she's even started running burlesque workshops and charging money to impart her years of made-up experience to paying customers.

This kind of thing makes me incredibly angry and if it were any other industry, the person would have been sued for fraud. Unfortunately as there is no regulation for the burlesque industry, people seem to be free to do this without any fear of reprisals.

The other type of performer - and infinitely more preferable is the:

WANTS-To-Know-It-All

This type of performer is the one that is prepared to learn their craft from the ground up and isn't afraid of constructive criticism. In fact, they seek it out and use it to improve their acts.

Promoters like to work with people like this because they almost always fit in with the cameraderie backstage and they tend to go to extra effort with their performances.

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Castlist - One Site To Rule Them All!

I remember when Angel performed at the Brighton High Tease, then known as MoBstars and Molls, in November 2006. She performed for free as part of the Battlle of Burlesque which was an experience and a half - but then, more importantly, she was given a critical assessmet by Kittie Klaw. Angel could have become all precious, but instead she acknowledged the professional advice she was given, attended the first ever MoB Workshop (which was an exhausting 4 week course because of the travel involved, and on a Sunday) and has now gotten her courage up to go out there and work for anyone who can offer her stage time. The act that was performed at the MoBstars and Molls event has significantly improved because Angel listened to a professional performer and was trained by another equally talented woman.

I feel that a lot of women, and probably some men, get into Burlesque because they dream of the money, the fame and to be deemed beautiful and talented.

I imagine the only way to make a fast buck when you first start in Burlesque is to run a night of your own and get talent through the offer of stage time - this is fine in that it gives people like Angel and other newbies a place to perform so that they can try out new routines, maybe get their acts taped for a potential showreel and also get free advertising via word of mouth. If a performer dreams of making money quickly but doesn't have the desire to promote and run an event then they should maybe get a normal job instead.

Fame is a weird reason to get into Burlesque in my honest opinion. Burlesque may be going through a revival at the moment but it will probably fizzle out in a few years, then only the hardcore lovers of Burlesque will remain to watch you whilst the casual market will move on to the next thing they are told to love. If you want instant fame then go do Big Brother or X-Factor - if you want fame in the Burlesque scene then look at all the people who are famous like Immodesty Blaize, Kitten Deville Dirty Martini, realise that they made it because they are incredibly talented and then spend some serious time getting your acts to their high standards - thn go out and perform and hope that it works. Fame is a fical mistress.

If you want to be seen as beautiful, glamorous and talented then you need to be all three. I've met one woman who feels she is all three but isn't - she's not bad looking (although beauty is in the eye of the beholder) and the last time I saw her perform I was bored. If you need to be worshipped then you need to make sure your ego isn't getting in the way - and just because an audience claps doesn't mean you are wonderful, it could just mean they are being polite or don't have a clue what really good Burlesque is, I've been guilty of that to my shame.

And one last bit of waffle, jealousy can be a serious problem. I have seen jealousy used to ruin an inexperienced newbies act - because the newbie trusted the more experienced person. And I also have a feeling that jealousy may have just put paid to a friendship that started from very early childhood - I hope I'm wrong. If you are jealous of what someone else can do or has done then maybe you should look at what you can do for yourself, to make what you do even better. If you want to delude yourself then you can look forwards to only working the amateur circuit, and even then you may not be asked back by peple who want talent to work for free.

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Silk Stocking Striptease Show

Do it because you LOVE it!

I dont get any money out of what I do but to be honest I dont really care, I love learning about it, the clothes, the music, the performance and the theatrical side of it all. I might never make money from it but for now im happy with what ive started and how its going.

It is an expensive habit that I do certainly agree with! But if you look hard enough you'll be suprised at what you can find! I discovered a great costume shop that does satin gloves, stockings, frilly knickers ect for less than a tenner!
Keep your eyes peeled as sometimes you'll find gems in quiet corners...xx