Spectacular, Flamboyant and Entertaining are the 3 words I would use to describe my first experience at a burlesque competition on Saturday night. An absolutely packed Black box sat witness as 11 of the UK and Irelands best shimmied, danced and stripped their way across the stage to compete in the first Belfast Burlesque Festival. Comedian/Magician George Firehorse was our MC for the evening and even performed a few tricks, but none that tickled the crowd more than when he produced a bottle of Buckfast from thin air – we knew from that moment that this would be a classy evening! The Dime bag DJ’s were on hand all evening also to supply the tunes and keep the crowd going throughout the night.
We started off with what appeared as a cloud of balloons being popped one by one to reveal our first performer, we then meandered through a range of acts ranging from the traditional to the more contemporary such as the ode to Edward Scissor hands, complete with clothes being snipped away! Shir Madnness performed with about a bazillion hula hoops to take third place and The Big Spender boys represented for the males as they wowed the crowd and had them cheering until the last sock dropped. La Folie Déshabille put on an amazing 4 piece routine that earned then second place and 1 lady clopped around the stage dressed (and subsequently undressed) as a unicorn. Ultimately Kitty Kimono took the crown (it was an actual crown) with a more traditional routine, and although she wasn’t our first choice she was definitely quality enough to be the first Burlesque Queen of Belfast.
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