Over the past few years the popularity of burlesque in the United Stated has exploded like a bursting dam. No matter where you live you can be sure that there’s glitter and spinning tassels somewhere near you.

As the number of shows has grown so has the number of styles. The art has taken off in all kinds of new directions. There are forms of burlesque that were non-existent just a few years ago; There’s still classic burlesque out there but now there’s also neo-burlesque, boylesque, gorelesque, burlesque with live bands. There are shows that incorporate art, magic, books and even lube wrestling. Anything you can think of can and probably has been made into a burlesque routine.

One happy outcome of this is that there are tons of reoccurring monthly shows nearly everywhere you go! I’ve done the hard work for you and dug through the Brown Paper Tickets event listings, pulling out some of the best of the monthly burlesque shows from around the country.

Seattle, Washington

Tuesday, August 21, at 8:00 PM Lucid will be home to Tuesday Tease, Seattle’s only monthly burlesque show featuring live music. Sailor St. Claire and Ace Carter will host. And The Lurid Spectacles will provide musical accompaniment for Sara Dipity, Holly Lets’em Downlightly, and Roxy Ruby. Tuesday Tease began as a bi-monthly event but the first few sold out shows made it clear that this needed to happen more often! The show has thus become a regular event on the third Tuesday of every month at Lucid.

Thursday, August 30, at 9:00 PM the Westside Burlesque Review at the Skylark will be featuring performances by Scandal From Bohemia, Whisper De Corvo, Serafina Fiero, Katie Kat and Cherry Killer Tomatoes. The Westside Burlesque Review features contests and prizes along with the performances. And August’s show coincides with the host’s birthday, which means that there will also be a “kinkature” artist and of course CAKE! If you miss this night the Westside Burlesque Review can be found at the Skylark on the last Thursday of every month.

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San Francisco, California

Thursday, September 6, at 8:00 PM EL RIO will be host to a unique combination of burlesque and lube wrestling. Red Hots Burlesque presents Go Deep: Let’s Wrestle. This event comes in two parts. The burlesque portion of the night will begin at 8:00 and feature Alotta Boutte and Ginger Skyye, along with hosts Dottie Lux and Barbary Doll. At 9:00 the burlesque show ends and the main event will begin. lube wrestling! This part of the evening is exactly what it sounds like and you already know that you don’t want to miss it. VIP seats are available for this event but you’ll have to hurry because they are limited If for some reason you miss this night, you can catch Go Deep: Let’s Wrestle on the first Thursday of every month.

Friday, September 28, at 9:00 PM DIVA or Die Burlesque will be presenting their fourth monthly show at EXIT Cafe. The show began in May as part of DIVAfest and was so successful that they decided to keep it around for good. This month will be hosted by MC Odessa Lil and feature the talents of Red Velvet, Cherry Chapstick, Laika Fox, Pretty Pretty Please, Cheeky Sweets and Vadge O’Fonnor. Tickets to this show go quickly so get them now before someone else does.

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New York, New York

Saturday, September 1, at 10:00 PM at the Triad Theater, Ten-in-One Productions will present Gotham Burlesque. A monthly burlesque show featuring some of the best performers that you could ever hope to see. September’s performance will feature Angie Pontani, Dirty Martini, Peekaboo Pointe, Nasty Canasta, Medianoche, Pinkie Special, Albert Cadabra and Bettina May. Gotham Burlesque can be found at the Triad Theater on the first Saturday of the month. Look for a more in-depth feature of Gotham Burlesque coming up on the Tuesday Tease in the next couple weeks. This is a world-class show and is not to be missed.

Friday, September 21, at 9:30 PM the Triad Theater will also be home to Rhinestone Follies. A Burlesque review featuring “glitteriest group in Gotham.” This show comes to you on the third Friday of every month. JUST ANNOUNCED! This show will also feature the New York City premier of the new film “Burlesque Assasins” featuring burlesque superstars Roxi D’Lite (Miss Exotic World 2011), Kitten DeVille, Amber Ray and internationally recognized “Carny Preacher” Armitage Shanks.

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Phoenix, Arizona

Someone you know having a birthday? Then check out Birthday Suit Burlesque! Friday, August 31, at 8:00 PM. This monthly show features a birthday packet that includes 4 tickets at a front row VIP table, 4 birthday shots with Kitty Victorian, 4 raffle tickets and at the end of the show you get to decorate a birthday cake. Did I mention that Miss Kitty Victorian is the cake? Because she is! Can you say “best birthday ever?” The only downside is that there is only one birthday package available for each show so get yours now.

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Tucson, Arizona

Every first Friday, Black Cherry Burlesque promises a collision of sex and comedy that’s sure to get Tucson burlesque fans hearts’ palpitating. Their next show is coming up on Friday, September 7, at 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM at the Surly Wench Pub and guarantees a spectacular night of Tucson’s finest burlesque and boylesque stars singing and dancing and generally being awesome. They offer general admission tickets or VIP tickets that get you up close and personal to all the action. If I were you, I’d go with the VIP. You’re not going to want to miss a second. Need more convincing? Check out this little preview of what you can expect from an evening with the guys and gals of Black Cherry Burlesque.

* WARNING! This video may not be appropriate for all audiences *