Berlesker: Handcrafted Literary Journal vol II | Page 31

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Dottie
lux

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DOT at Art Attack
Johnny Crash
Paola Mojica

ottie Lux produces and stars
in a twice-weekly burlesque
show in San Francisco called Red
Hots Burlesque, and like nearly
all such producer/performers she
also gigs on the side. For many
years the show was based in New
York City, and she had a strong
connection to the Coney Island
Circus Sideshow as well as their
program Burlesque at the Beach.
While humor is a strong element
in all her performances, she frequently blows the minds of audiences by doing full on strip tease
while wearing clown make-up.

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ays Dottie: “I am probably less
of a clown and more of a burlesque dancer. I feel like burlesque and clowning [both] integrate comedy...burlesque means
parody and so does clown. The
first clown I ever saw when I
was about eight years old had an
exaggerated female form: giant
boobs, tiny waist, giant ass. From
that moment forward I became
interested in both. When I was
19 I saw Dirty Martini perform
at Burlesque at the Beach and
she naturally has this exaggerated female form and breathy irreverence. I wanted to figure out
a way to exude the same body
confidence in a way that worked
for me. The great thing about
burlesque is that we have the audience in mind, but the performance is ours [the performers’].
I try to give as much of myself
in my performances as I can and
hope that people leave inspired,
relieved or with permission to simultaneously objectify and laugh
at my body—‘cuz bodies are silly
and also really weird. They are.
Nobody’s body is not weird —
everybody’s body is weird.”