William Seward Burroughs II was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular culture and literature. Burroughs wrote eighteen novels and novellas, six collections of short stories and four collections of essays, and five books have been published of his interviews and correspondences; he was initially briefly known by the pen name William Lee. He also collaborated on projects and recordings with numerous performers and musicians, made many appearances in films, and created and exhibited thousands of visual artworks, including his celebrated "Shotgun Art".
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner. The person who performs a striptease is commonly known as a "stripper" or an "exotic" or "burlesque" dancer.
Heather Renée Sweet, known professionally as Dita Von Teese, is an American vedette, burlesque dancer, model, and businesswoman. She is credited with re-popularizing burlesque performance, earning the moniker "Queen of Burlesque".
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. The word derives from the Italian burlesco, which, in turn, is derived from the Italian burla – a joke, ridicule or mockery.
A G-string is a garment consisting of a narrow piece of material that covers the genitals, a string-like piece that passes between the buttocks, and a very thin waistband around the hips. There are designs for both women and men. Men's G-strings are similar to women's but have a front pouch that covers the genitals. G-strings are typically worn as underwear or swimwear or as part of the costume of an exotic dancer.
A pork pie hat is one of several different styles of hat that have been worn since the mid-19th century. The pork pie hat gained further popularity in the 20th century, being worn by famous actors and musicians. This style of hat features a flat crown that resembles a traditional pork pie, thus earning its name.
Robert John Burck, better known as the Naked Cowboy, is an American street performer, singer, songwriter, and occasional actor. He is best known for singing regularly in New York City's Times Square. Burck is also a regular in the streets of the French Quarter during the New Orleans Mardi Gras season. He wears only cowboy boots, a hat, and white briefs, with a guitar strategically placed to give the illusion of nudity.
Pasties are patches that cover a person's nipples and areolae, typically self-adhesive or affixed with adhesive. They originated as part of burlesque shows, allowing dancers to perform fully topless without exposing the nipples in order to provide a commercial form of bare-breasted entertainment. Pasties are also, at times, used while sunbathing, worn by strippers and showgirls, or as a form of protest during women's rights events such as Go Topless Day. In some cases this is to avoid potential prosecution under indecency laws.
Empire Burlesque is the twenty-third studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on June 10, 1985 on Columbia Records. Self-produced, the album peaked at No. 33 in the U.S. and No. 11 in the UK.
The 2009 election for Mayor of New York City took place on Tuesday, November 3. The incumbent Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, an independent who left the Republican Party in 2008, won reelection on the Republican and Independence Party/Jobs & Education lines with 50.7% of the vote over the retiring City Comptroller, Bill Thompson, a Democrat, who won 46.3%. Thompson had won the Democratic primary election on September 15 with 71% of the vote over City Councilman Tony Avella and Roland Rogers. This was the fifth straight mayoral victory by Republican candidates in New York despite the city's strongly Democratic leaning in national and state elections.
John Wesley Holder, known professionally as Ram John Holder, is a Guyanese-British actor and musician, who began his professional career as a singer in New York City, before moving to England in 1962. He has performed on stage, in both film and television and, is best known for playing Augustus "Porkpie" Grant in the Channel 4 sitcom Desmond's, and its spin-off series Porkpie.
Neo-Burlesque, or New Burlesque, is the revival and updating of the traditional American burlesque performance. Though based on the traditional burlesque art, the new form encompasses a wider range of performance styles; neo-burlesque can include anything ranging from classic striptease to modern dance to theatrical mini-dramas to comedic mayhem.
Collective:Unconscious is a non-profit corporation, founded in New York City in 1993, and incorporated in 1995. Originally based on Ave. B in Alphabet City, it moved to 145 Ludlow Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side, in 2004 it relocated to Tribeca until July 2008.
William H. Comstock, known by his stage name Billy House, was an American vaudevillian, Broadway performer and feature film actor. After devoting most of his career to live performance, he moved to Hollywood where he became a supporting actor during the 1940s and 1950s. According to admirer Orson Welles, the name "Billy House" was likely an invention for use in burlesque theaters.
The Drums is an American indie pop band from New York City. The band was initially formed by Jonathan Pierce and Jacob Graham as Goat Explosion, and later added Adam Kessler and Connor Hanwick. Graham exited the band in 2016. Since then, the band has operated as a solo project of sole remaining member Jonathan Pierce.
Nasty Canasta is a New York City-based Neo-Burlesque performer. She is the producer and host of Sweet & Nasty Burlesque, and the featured performer in the New York branch of Naked Girls Reading.
American burlesque is a genre of variety show derived from elements of Victorian burlesque, music hall, and minstrel shows. Burlesque became popular in the United States in the late 1860s and slowly evolved to feature ribald comedy and female nudity. By the late 1920s, the striptease element overshadowed the comedy and subjected burlesque to extensive local legislation. Burlesque gradually lost popularity beginning in the 1940s. A number of producers sought to capitalize on nostalgia for the entertainment by recreating burlesque on the stage and in Hollywood films from the 1930s to the 1960s. There has been a resurgence of interest in this format since the 1990s.
The New York Burlesque Festival is an annual four-day event that takes place in New York City each fall, where performers from all over the world appear on stages for musical acts, burlesque shows, and other performances.
"Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)" is a song by Bob Dylan that was released on his 1985 album Empire Burlesque. As a single, it was a Top 40 Hit in New Zealand and Belgium. An earlier version of the song, entitled "Someone's Got a Hold of My Heart", was recorded for Dylan's 1983 LP Infidels, but was not included on that album; it later appeared on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.
Pinchbottom is a theatrical burlesque company created by Jonny Porkpie and Nasty Canasta in 2004 and run by Porkpie since 2010. It is known for its brand of "theater-burlesque fusion" which presents "full-length comedic play[s] in which performers take their clothes off in every other scene.".
