Last week the Rudyard Kipling hosted an array of performers and dancers. The men stuck to telling jokes, doing magic tricks, and singing, while the woman dangled scantily clad from the ceiling. Needless to say, good times were had by all. However, although the show wasn’t entirely seamless, “Blackjack” was more than a sum of its parts.
Cirque Airotic, who will be performing at the Monkey Wrench on January 14, is Louisville’s only aerial burlesque troop and they were led, as far as I could tell, by the Silk Siren who, with her curly red hair bouncing, performed on hanging swings, draped curtains, and also impressed in a number on the ground involving a chair. Every act she performed topped the last as she found new ways to look surprisingly sexy and composed while performing gymnastics feet above the ground.
Hot Dammm prepares to refresh the audience
The producer and MC of the night, Divinity Rose, invited the audience to interact with the show by playing poker with them between numbers, and the night was started by Hot Dammm offering the audience to have a drink with her. By that I mean she mixed a screwdriver in her cleavage and shared with the crowd. I had a sip with Hot Dammm and can honestly say she makes a fantastic drink, and her chest could have a variety show of its own.
Hot Dammm also pulled a man onto the stage and made a Christmas tree out of him, but sadly he missed the tassel twirling due to his blindfold. Although I didn’t get to see it at “Blackjack,” I’ve been told that Hot Dammm does flaming tassel twirling and was actually the first burlesque performer to do so.
Divinity Rose leads the crowd in a 'group orgasm'
Some of my favorite acts were performed by Monet Magnolia who wore a qipao dress and sang “When you’re good to mama” while teasing with an Asian hand fan. She never undressed, but instead won the audience with her booming voice. However, that was all a part of a much grander tease.
In her next number Monet Magnolia performed a strip tease to Cab Calloway’s “Minnie the Moocher” and had the entire crowd singing along and stomping until the very last garment hit the floor, and the audience erupted. Besides being talented and sexy, which all the performers were, Monet Magnolia succeeded in creating a delicate build up of anticipation that spanned two numbers and engrossed a packed room.
Many of the same performers will making a crowd ooh and ah (and oh!) in the middle of January at the Monkey Wrench and I look forward to seeing how these woman will reinvent themselves and their routines. At the very least, “Blackjack” proved that fun will be had by all.
Monet Magnolia starts her second number where the first left off... before she took it off
