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Tuesday Tease: The Christmas Special Gets Burlesqued!

295088-250In case you hadn’t noticed, Christmas is coming soon and that means that this year’s Christmas specials have arrived! Christmas specials are heralds of the approaching holiday, announcing it’s impending arrival with song and dance. Elves and Grinches blaze a trail into our hearts and minds which Christmas day fallows. In short, Christmas specials are special.

With that in mind, and since this is the Tuesday Tease, here is a light smattering of burlesque Christmas specials that are happening this year!

New York, New York

TONIGHT! Tuesday, December 17 | Hotsy Totsy Burlesque’s tribute to the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special  One of, if not THE, most infamous holiday specials ever created. The program told the story of Han Solo and Chewbacca racing against time to get to the Wookie home planet, Kashyyyk, in time for Chewy to spend Life Day with his family. The Star Wars Holiday Special was broadcast in its entirety only once, in the United States and Canada, on November 17, 1978, pre-empting Wonder Woman and The Incredible Hulk. It has never been rebroadcast or officially released on home video. David Hofstede called it ‘the worst two hours of television ever.’  George Lucas has reportedly said:  ‘If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it.'”

The folks at Hotsy Totsy Burlesque have made some improvements. Rather than featuring left over cast, props and footage from the original Star Wars, Hotsy Totsy Burlesque’s tribute to the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special will showcase performances by Brief Sweat, Clara Coquette, Hard Corey, Ivory Fox, Jenny C’est Quoi, Rosey La Rouge, gogo by Erika Rodgers and will be hosted by Herry Pitz and Handsome Brad.


New Orleans, Louisiana

TOMORROW! Wednesday, December 18 | Naked Girls Reading Christmas Carol  What would Christmas be without Charles Dickens’ 1843 classic A Christmas Carol? The number of adaptions of the story are too numerous to count. Everyone from Patrick Stewart to Mr. Magoo have portrayed the books tight-fisted protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge. However, one aspect of the story is almost always missing from the storytelling. The live reading of the story. Charles Dickens himself had a long tradition of public readings of A Christmas Carol, a tradition that has been almost lost to time and technology. But fortunately Naked Girls Reading has brought this tradition back, with improvements that would have been unheard of in Victorian England.
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Tuesday Tease: Hollywood Burlesque Festival

Hollywood_Burlesque_Fest_banner2_9701This Friday, the inaugural Hollywood Burlesque Festival kicks off in Los Angeles and we are especially excited for this one as it’s produced by longtime Brown Paper Tickets supporter and producer/hostess of Monday Night Tease, LA’s longest running weekly burlesque show, Lili VonSchtupp. Lili is the perfect example of what is possible if you are passionate and devoted to your art form. To host a weekly show that packs ’em in week in and week out is no small feat and burlesque producers could learn a lot from Lili. She’s definitely got the skills to pay the bills!

Lili’s taking her incredible production skills to the next level this weekend as she hosts the first ever burlesque festival in Los Angeles. She’s got four days of shows, classes, tours, movies and parties planned and I’m especially excited because I get to go down there and be a part of all the fun. If you’ve ever wanted to meet me or know more about Brown Paper Tickets, you can look for us in vending where we’ll have a table set up all weekend or come to the Three Clubs on Sunday, December 8 from 6:30pm to 8pm, where we’ll be hosting a meet and greet with anyone that’s curious about us, what we do and how we can help you out with your burlesque show, festival or classes. If you’re going to be in LA this weekend, please find me and say hi.

I got a chance to catch up with Lili and pick her brain about the LA burlesque scene, her personal burlesque history and the festival. She even offers some valuable advice to producers out there that are thinking of starting up their own festival.

So, without further ado, I give you, the one and only Lili VonSchtupp!
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This Ain’t Your Grandma’s Holiday Party!

Ho! Ho! Ho! The holiday season is officially upon us. Assuming you weren’t trampled to death by a Black Friday mob, you’re probably ready to go out and enjoy some holiday festivities. Well there’s plenty to choose from, but if you’re like me, you’d rather not bother with the traditional fare. You’d rather set your sights on events that challenge the traditional view of the most sacred of American family traditions and provide a little comedic stress relief. Here are a few of my favorites happening around the country. If you’re lucky, one of these events might just be in your neck of the woods.


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