Typsy Takes to The Stage

Image courtesy of Psychedelic Snaps

So, I did it!

Last Friday (October 12), I made my debut as newbie burlesque performer, Typsy Tease, at the ‘Shake, Rattle & Roll’ night, held in aid of St Luke’s Hospice, at The Shakespeare, Sheffield.

I was performing at the charity event along with fellow graduates from the Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque course. As I did my hair and make-up at home that evening, I felt a flutter of nerves and found myself feeling quite overwhelmed once I arrived at The Shakespeare but reassurance from the other lovely ladies who were performing helped a lot.

The first burlesque performer (the very talented Raven Noir, who started out as a burlesque performer this year and hasn’t looked back) took to the stage after midnight and the rest of us clamoured into the doorway to watch her fantastic performance.

I was due on stage around halfway through the set. After being around the other lovely burlesque graduates and seeing their fantastic performances, my nerves had calmed a lot and by the time the compere called out ‘Typsy Tease’, I was excited and raring to get up on that stage!

Although the music I had chosen for my performance (‘Dancing with Myself’ by Nouvelle Vague) could have been a little louder, I’m really pleased to say that on the whole, my performance went fantastically well. I didn’t fall over and my corset didn’t get stuck – these were the two mishaps I was most worried would happen!

I had such fun that my performance seemed to fly by and the next thing I knew, I was back in the changing room and sipping a celebratory glass of ‘Shake, Rattle & Roll’ ale brewed especially for the event by the Blue Bee Brewery (such a classy burlesque performer! 😉 ).

I’m so pleased that I was able to take Typsy Tease to the stage – it was a fantastic experience and who knows, it could happen again!

Many thanks to Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque for inviting me to perform and thanks to the lovely ladies who also performed on the night for their inspiration and support. I’d also like to say a massive thanks to Psychedelic Snaps for taking so many great pictures of the event that I’ll be able to look back on and smile at! Here are some of my faves…

Typsy Tease is back!

You may remember a few months ago (probably one of the last posts I published – I do apologise for how much of a rubbish blogger I have been of late, but more on that later) I wrote about the burlesque course I had recently completed with Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque in Sheffield. The course which culminated in a fun performance to fellow classmates.

Well, following the graduation performance I never completely believed that I would have the opportunity or true talent/ability to bring my alter ego, Typsy Tease, out of the closet again but, lo and behold, it’s actually going to happen!

Tomorrow night (Friday, October 12), I will be making my public debut as Typsy Tease in a performance at The Shakespeare in Sheffield, the venue which was, incidentally, the same place that I learned to peel off stockings and twirl those tassels in the first place!

The Shakespeare will be hosting ‘Shake, Rattle & Roll‘, an evening of fantastic and varied entertainment in aid of St Luke’s Hospice. There will be live music from South Yorkshire’s up-and-coming musical talent, an auction of artwork from some of Sheffield’s finest artists, a darts tournament, pub quiz, food from the Pizzasmiths, and the night will close with a show from Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque, of which I will be part!

I’m so very excited about taking Typsy Tease to the stage and cannot wait to catch up with some of the lovely, talented ladies I met on my course. I’ll admit that my nerves are growing by the second (and a really anxious dream last night about being stuck without stockings before the performance and having to hunt around shop after shop until I found a pair, but then discovered they cost £1,000 probably didn’t help!) but I’m determined not to let said nerves get the better of me!

I’ll let you know how I get on! 😉

A Night On The Burlesque Tiles

Fifi Fatale wowed with her hot fire act

Last weekend, on a sassy and very sunny Saturday evening, my sister and I took a trip to Volupté, a classy little joint near London’s West End offering a world of decadence, delight, cocktails and sumptuous food.

We were heading there for Volupté’s monthly Vintage Ball after being promised an evening of dining, burlesque, cabaret and dance. And we weren’t disappointed.

On arrival, we were welcomed into Volupté’s Bon Bon Bar, situated on ground level above the Volupté Lounge. Styled on the sweet shoppes of old, the bar offered a wide selection of sweet cocktails to match so we were truly spoilt for choice when selecting our first cocktail with which to kick off the evening’s frivolities. In the end, we opted for two Can-Can cocktails – a heady combination of gin with elderflower liqueur and Vermouth. A strong start to the evening!

After sipping our cocktails in the evening sun, we were escorted down to our dinner tables below ground level in the Volupté Lounge. The space had a real speak-easy feel to it, with a selection of intimate, candlelit tables. It was then that I truly felt I had stepped back in time and couldn’t wait for the evening of vintage fun that was about to begin.

Our three course dinner began with a sharing starter, appropriately named ‘The Tease’, which featured chicken liver parfait with maraschino cherries, chargrilled English asparagus with rapeseed mayo and barbeque Cornish mackerel and pickled fennel with burn lemon purée.

As our delicious main courses of Welsh lamb with fregola, peas and mint hollandaise and pan-fried Pollock with langoustine bisque, samphire and clams came out, so did the first of the evening’s performers, Miss Fifi Fatale, giving us our first taste of vintage hedonistic glamour.

Compere for the evening, Spencer Maybe, entertained us with banter and a tune on the piano, before introducing us to further stunning and sexy performances from Bambi Roux, Millicent Binks and an impressive bit of ‘boylesque’ from Juggling on Tap, who wowed us all with the skill of expertly juggling three balls whilst tap dancing.

The stunning Millicent Binks

Fifi Fatale returned for a raunchy striptease and fire act, which had us all gawping in awe, before we were treated to our ‘Sweet Temptations’ dessert, featuring English strawberries and panna cotta, iced honeycomb parfait and a rich chocolate marquise that was to die for.

The evening ended with us all being encouraged to get up onto the intimate dancefloor and shake our stuff to some vintage classics, which we were all more than happy to do after cocktails and wine – luckily no nipple tassles, fire breathing or complex juggling acts were required of us, though!

All in all, I’d definitely recommend Volupté Lounge for a truly decadent vintage evening out, if you’re ever in the London area. The only downside to the fabulous evening was that it ended quite early and I could have happily spent a little longer in the vintage haven.

For more information about the Volupté Lounge, visit the website here.

After a cocktail or two, I fancied myself as a cabaret performer!

 

Graduating in Burlesque

Last night saw the debut performance of my burlesque alter ego – Typsy Tease – at the graduation class of the Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque workshop that I have been attending for the past ten weeks, and what a fantastic evening it was!

I was so nervous before my debut performance of Nouvelle Vague’s version of the Billy Idol hit ‘Dancing with Myself’, so much so that in the days preceeding the performance I was half convinced I was going to bottle it and give up the opportunity to perform my routine to my classmates.

But I’m so glad I didn’t. When I arrived, there was an intimate crowd of classmates and our burlesque tutors Deadly Nightshade and Cherry Du Bois waiting above The Shakespeare in Shalesmoor, Sheffield, where the classes take place. It was really calming and reassuring to feel the mutual support of everyone there, and we all cheered each other on throughout our debut performances.

I was second to perform, following on from a saucy routine from the fantastic Golden Delicious. After a slight cock-up at the beginning of my routine, in which the mouthful of wine (which was actually lemonade) that I had to down ended up all down my outfit (sexy…), I recovered well and went on to deliver my most confident rendition of the routine to date, and had such fun doing it!

A few weeks previously, I couldn’t have imagined being able to ‘peel’ off a corset, create a pair of nipple tassels or even create my own routine from scratch, let alone perform it to other people, but I managed all of it throughout this course and loved every minute of it.

My fellow classmates and performers, Golden Delicious and Daphne Maybe, were fantastic in their performances last night, and a big congratulations goes to Golden Delicious, who won the opportunity to perform her routine at the next Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque show at West Street Live in September!

Taking part in the Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque course has been fantastic and I would sincerely recommend it to any woman looking to learn something different and have a great time whilst doing so. I’ve met some lovely people, learned more about the world of burlesque – from peeling techniques and pin up posing to vintage hair and make-up – and I’ve even been able to unleash my alter ego, Typsy Tease!

Hopefully, this won’t be the last the world has seen of Typsy Tease either, so watch this space. 😉

The next Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque ten-week course begins on Tuesday, July 17 at 7.30pm above The Shakespeare pub in Shalesmoor, Sheffield. For more info, click here.

You might also like to read more about my burlesque adventure here.

Adventures in Burlesque

I’ve been meaning to blog for some time now about the burlesque journey that I recently embarked upon after starting a course hosted by Sheffield-based Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque. I’m only halfway through the ten-week burlesque course but it’s been quite a journey so far, with mixed feelings along the way.

I decided to sign up to the course after going along to the last Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque show at West Street Live in March (Secrets shows are held here quarterly) and hearing about the impending course whilst I was there. The course appealed to me because it is hosted by experienced burlesque performers Deadly Nightshade and Cherry Du Bois, and involves learning about everything burlesque – from posing and pouting to peeling and tassel twirling (eek!).

I’ve had a long-standing love for burlesque for a number of reasons. I love the vintage fashion and glamour, as well as the whole ethos of burlesque. I love that it’s inclusive and women of all shapes and sizes are welcome to take part because it’s about celebrating you, just the way you are! Men are even free to get involved too and there is a ‘boylesque’ craze circulating at the moment. There really is something for everyone.

The fabulous course I’m on has been great so far for building self-confidence. The highs of the first few weeks of the course have included meeting new and friendly people and opening a door into a whole new world, learning about corsets, nipple tassels, pin up poses and how to successfully ‘peel’ off a pair of stockings without landing on your face in a distinctly un-sexy heap! We’ve been encouraged to consider names and personalities for our burlesque alter-egos and at the end of the course, we can choose to take part in a friendly competition, performing a routine of our own to win the opening slot at the next Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque show in September.

The ‘stripping’ debate

There haven’t been any ‘lows’ to the course as such just, for me, there’s been an occasional niggling, insecure doubt about what I could be letting myself in for because I would – if I was talented enough (and that remains to be seen!) – like to use the new skills I have learned to actually perform burlesque. I’ve had the odd doubt about potentially putting myself under the spotlight and performing burlesque professionally, and the occasional slightly negative reaction I’ve had to burlesque has made me think, ‘I hope people don’t think I’m training to become a stripper!’

But burlesque is not stripping. Whilst elements of striptease and nudity are often involved in burlesque routines, as a performer you are not there to get anyone ‘off’. Instead, your performance can tell a story – it can be sexy or it can be comical, satirical or even dark. Burlesque audiences want to be entertained, rather than turned on. To me, burlesque is creative, fun and celebrates all variations of the female form so when I have my insecure moments, I remind myself that these are the reasons I wanted to become involved in this scene!

Anyway, I’m signing off now to dash to the next burlesque class – tonight, we’re making our own nipple tassels! I’ll be sure to keep you informed of the next steps in my burlesque journey. 😉

P.S. Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque will be raising the temperature at its next show at West Street Live on Sunday, June 10th. Doors open 7pm until midnight and tickets are £8 on the door or £7 in advance. You can buy tickets from the Secrets of the Boudoir Burlesque website.