Java’s Big Texas Tiki Tour was a three city show, presented by Bachelor Pad Magazine and hosted by Java, the magazine’s creator. My wife, Beth, & I attended the first of two shows in Austin at The Beauty Ballroom on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 9:00pm. The theme of the show was tiki lounge, a throwback to the post-war fascination with exotic little bars in the South Pacific, full of wild, untamed femme fatales.

Tiki is a great idea for a show theme, and I enjoyed all of the acts, even though I tend to prefer more classic American burlesque. These ladies each got very creative with their costumes and performance, and there were about 15 different numbers in all, so lots to see! I’ll hit the highlights here.

Eva Strangelove
The “Weapon of Mass Distraction,” Eva Strangelove, paid homage to her native New Zealand with her performance set to a funny slow jam song by the Flight of the Concords. Her burlesque costume included a green glitter on black corset, a long swingy cape and a fabulous retro hairdo that looked like it jumped out of a vintage cinema magazine from the 1930s. I wonder if she ever gets tired of being labeled “stunning,” but, well she is, and I really love that she can put together a burlesque piece to a song that is making fun of stunning beauty.

Ruby Lamb
Every time that I’ve seen Ruby Lamb perform, her music choice has been infectiously rhythmic. I love it and I think her selection this time, a rockin’ juke joint song called “Frenzy” by the legendary Screamin’ J. Hawkins really grabbed my attention. She wore a black Spanish Flamenco style dress with ruffle hem and big red roses, which soon came off to reveal a barely there, black fringe baby doll.

Remi Martini
Java introduced Miss Martini by saying, "What happens when a gal is all alone on a tropical island?" She shimmied suggestively, hula style, in her leopard print dress, while the kitschy accompanying song let us know that she enjoyed the “Occasional Man.” Remi played to the crowd, teased with her skirt and eventually revealed a leopard print bikini, then tossed off the bikini top to end with a classic tassel twirl.

 
Ruby Joule
The “Best Debut” and “Most Classic” winner at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend, Ruby Joule is always a delight. Her number this time was slow and sultry. Dressed in a gorgeous black and silver striped, sequined evening gown, her dance included small hand held candles that reminded me of Persian belly dances I’ve seen. The dance featured a middle break where she removed the dress to reveal a bikini and long, but skimpy, hula skirt. The number finished with Ruby removing the hula skirt to reveal a sexy, glittery purple thong with seductive beaded chains. Miss Joule is blessed with such a nice hourglass shape and really knows how to do the burlesque booty shake. She didn’t disappoint here on the Tiki Tour. This piece was graceful and beautiful (just like the lady herself), ending with a nice interplay of pasties and carefully placed candles in each hand. Loved it.

 
Pearl Lux
Pearl Lux has an amazingly flexible body. It’s obvious that she has dance training, but only tonight did I really appreciate her ballet when she performed a ballet inspired fan dance en pointe. She wore beautiful feathery plumage in her hair and her carefully maneuvered red feather fans concealed a skimpy little white bejeweled bikini. The music was sort of a French cabaret type big band song that reminded me of Henry Mancini’s Pink Panther music from the 1960s. Pearl Lux twirled gracefully on her toes shielding herself with the fans until finally giving the audience a tassel twirling finale.

Coco Lectric
Founding Jigglewatts member, Coco Lectric, went big with the show’s theme of wild, exotic jungle adventure. She was an Amazon tribal huntress and, WOW did she fit the role. She is such a powerful and flexible performer, and with her straight, jet black hair and large grinning smile, she was a sexy savage on that stage. She started the number prowling around on all fours, wearing a leopard print cincher, boots and feather adornments. The music was tribal, her look was crazed and she licked her lips to a super slow bump and grind. Then the music turned mysterious and she transitioned to a 1960s snake charmer with a sexy shimmy skirt (and not much else!) to finish the number.

The Ruby Revue
And then came The Ruby Revue from Dallas: a blond, a brunette and a redhead. How perfect is that? This was a lovely trio that really stole the show. Dressed all in blue sparkly corsets with sexy peacock plumage in the back, these girls gave us a classic showgirl style number with a big band music feel. Sort of a chorus line with a naughtier twist, they really captivated the crowd. A little cheesy, a little Vegas and...quite revealing to the end. I really hope to see more of these lovely gals here in Austin.

Goldie Candela
This show was called the Big Texas Tiki Tour for a reason, and Goldie sure had fun with it! She was hand-delivered by lovely stage bunnies behind a tiki screen, to emerge wearing a hot pink dress, green feathers and twirling a parasol. Like many burlesque numbers today, her piece was set to a two song medley. This one started off with a tropical piano vibe and then jumped to more of a bump and grind juke joint song, which Goldie worked in a frilly two-piece swimsuit.

 
Jolie Ampere Goodnight
You do know about Miss Goodnight’s singing career, right? Well she loves to sing live while also performing burlesque, and I’m sure that it takes many weeks to put a piece like this together. Singing the classic Screamin’ J. Hawkins “I Put a Spell On You” with her flirty, sultry growl, she set a great mood for the performance. During the breaks in singing, she twirled and flirted with the crowd, drawing out her burlesque performance with a very good tease. Such a talent, to tease off a pair of stockings while also singing a song like that. She’s amazing!

Missy Lisa (Ruby Revue)
And then a giant beach ball appeared. Wha...? Missy Lisa (Founder of The Ruby Revue) performed a straight up 1960s beach party burlesque number to “Wipe Out,” wearing nothing but a pink bikini. The crowd loved the simple premise, the energy she had, and the smile on her face. By the time she stripped down to her tassels and revealed a surprise ending, the crowd was roaring! I don’t want to give it away, but it involved two pairs of pasties. No wonder she teaches burlesque!

 
Ginger Valentine (Ruby Revue)
Ginger Valentine also did a fan dance, with beautiful emerald green fans. More of that groovy Pink Panther-esque music set a flirty tone. Miss Valentine seductively moved down to the floor, kicking up her luscious legs for much of her routine. This was the first time we’d seen sexy floor moves like that during a fan dance!

Angi B. Lovely (Ruby Revue)
I loved Angi B’s piece, because I just love the more classic styles of burlesque and dance. Angi wore a polka dot Flamenco dress with opera gloves and a fan. The music was a cha-cha and her gorgeous pinup looks combined perfectly with her sexy high kicks and classic glove tease. The final reveal was a cute pasty shimmy to a simple bongo beat. She was pretty fab.

 
Black Mariah (Ruby Revue)
Black Mariah is also with The Ruby Revue. She did a solo dance to lovely retro hula music. Her piece had a classic island feel, complete with her tropical floral dress and grassy green boa adorned with hibiscus flowers. Mariah did a slow reveal with lotsa tease. She certainly looked like she has studied hula - her dancing was graceful and beautiful. When the hula music ended, a new tribal beat busted out & Black Mariah wowed the crowd with some fire dancing!

The Jiggle Bunnies
The stage bunnies were from the Austin Academy of Burlesque (taught by Coco Lectric) and aside from their stage assistance  between acts, performed a great little group number. Beach balls, retro swimsuits, and crazy fast hula made for a cute and campy performance.

 
The Finale
And finishing up the show, the entire Jigglewatts troupe performed a group hula-inspired routine to Elvis’s campy “Rock-A-Hula Baby” number from the movie Blue Hawaii. It was fast and fun, with a nice surprise at the end with smaller pasties hiding underneath the first ones.

Overall it was a good show with a wide variety of acts, some fitting into the Tiki theme more than others. I think the crowd at the early show was a little older and not quite as raucous as some I’ve seen. The clear crowd pleasers were the Ruby Revue group number and Missy Lisa’s beachball bit. Myself, I really prefer a more classic style burlesque than the exotic, tiki, savage thing, so this one just wasn’t produced for the likes of me. But each one of these ladies is a great performer, each with a uniquely developed style, and I love to watch the results of what must be weeks of work. Great job ladies! We’ll see you at the next burlesque show.

-Patrick 

We had a great night at The Jigglewatts’ Technicolor Tease show on Friday. The show was at the Beauty Ballroom and brought in a great crowd. M.C. Nicole Lucas was hilarious as usual. She’s a stand up comedienne who really knows how to keep the momentum going and the show running smoothly, even when little unplanned hiccups happen between acts. She’s a very funny gal and worth checking out if you get the chance.

Lots of feathers, tassels and glitter lips, with 17, count ‘em, 17, numbers that made for a memorable three hour show split into three parts. Ruby Joule, Coco Lectric, Goldie Candela and Pearl Lux each had two solo numbers, and Jolie Ampere Goodnight and Ruby Lamb each got to perform three. There were also a few group numbers, with the whole troupe coming together for a crowd-pleasing finale. Here are some highlights from each performer.

Goldie Candela
The ever-so-leggy Goldie Candela opened the show with a really sexy number, wearing a long mermaid inspired green-blue dress. It was a sultry little number set to driving saxaphone music. Her other solo piece was a retro beach pinup style number in which she wore an adorable two-piece swimsuit and playfully threw a beach ball into the crowd. She also did a funny and sexy duet with Pearl Lux that was a nice point-counter point spoof on the conflict between two classic, yet very different, beauties: Marilyn Monroe and Jackie O.



Jolie Ampere Goodnight
Miss Goodnight wowed the crowd as she sang the songbook classic “Summertime” while performing a sexy striptease. She wore a beautiful floor length black dress with sparkly crystals and teal skirt fringe. It seems that song was made for burlesque, and she was made to sing that kind of sultry song. Her second number was also a slow jazz selection, but this time she put down the microphone and focused solely on the dance, getting a little dirtier with a classic bump n’ grind that the crowd loved. Lastly, she belted out "My Daddy Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll)" for her third number, pumping up her tantalizing charm for the suggestive 1920s song.

Coco Lectric
Then of course there is the amazing Coco Lectric. As we’ve mentioned before, she teaches dance classes and never misses a chance to show off her fabulous moves. Her first number seemed to come straight out of a Havana nightclub. Dressed in a gorgeous red dress and set to a Cuban number by Ricky Ricardo, she shimmied her way through the number, transitioned into another song, playfully let her hair down, then ended the number with a dramatic and impressive drop into a full split. This is why people go nuts for Coco Lectric! Her second number was one that I’d seen before, but would love to see again and again: a beautiful ballet fan dance (en pointe!) in which she channels Cleopatra. Coco has the dark, mysterious eyes and the superb skills for such a number. She’s phenomenal.

Ruby Lamb
Now I know that The Jigglewatts have a good amount of neo-burlesque in their repertoire, but I was really unprepared for Ruby Lamb’s first number, and it struck a chord with me. The best way I can describe it was as a futuristic, punk circus act. Half doll, half harlequin, she grooved to an unusual back beat song with an easy robotic motion. I simply love love loved this one and hope to catch it again at another show. Her second solo number was campy and cute, and involved her throwing candy to the audience. Beth described it as “Goldie Hawn meets Bjork,” intending that as a compliment. She also did a quirky little routine to “Hide Behind My Glasses” by Fishbone. Miss Lamb definitely has her own unique style of burlesque dress that we found intriguing.

Pearl Lux
Pearl Lux has got some legs! Actually she’s got everything, and performed two great pieces. One was a straight-up classic can-can dance that she performed dressed in an eye-catching red and black burlesque outfit, complete with magnificently ruffled petticoat, fancy striped stockings and tall feathers in her hair. Just like the classic can-can showgirls of a century ago, miss Lux wowed the crowd with some wonderful high kicks, showing off her amazing dexterity. Her second number opened with her strutting with a parasol to “I love him in the Springtime, And I love him in the Fall, But last night, on the back porch, I love him best of all!” What seemed like a very demure burlesque costume with full skirt and petticoat playfully revealed almost all when she turned around. This fun medley transitioned to a Sinatra tune from the 60s, “Summer Wind,” and was a great number with lovely choreography and costuming.

Ruby Joule
No Jigglewatts show would be complete without “The jewel you’d love to polish”: Ruby Joule. Her first number, a fun Rio de Janeiro-inspired piece, had a great thumping bassline and a disguises theme. She pulled a few funny props out of a suitcase and expertly hammed it up for the crowd with each one before getting serious and sexy in her hot little Carnival costume. The number ended with some serious tassel twirling that went a little further than (even she) anticipated :). But as is to be expected with Ruby, her classiness and effortless poise saved the day. 

Group numbers
Ruby Joule, Coco Lectric, Pearl Lux and Goldie Candela performed a tantalizing tease in which they partially concealed themselves behind a long silk scarf. The song by Gotan Project had a driving, pumping tango-inspired beat that was a perfect fit for this exotic and sexy number. For the finale, the whole troupe pulled together to dance a giggly, girly cabaret routine set to “Bring on the Men” from the musical Jekyll & Hyde. It was a joy to watch and also to listen to, with both Jolie Goodnight and Coco Lectric taking turns singing. It was a great high-energy number to end the show with.

It was a lovely show with all great talent up on stage, and a very good crowd. The Jigglewatts never disappoint and I have to recommend that you go see these gals. The crazy amount of work they must put into their shows remains cleverly hidden away, but I know it takes a lot to do a production like this. Hope to see you at the next Jigglewatts burlesque event.

-Patrick 

To the uninitiated, burlesque may seem to be just a sexy striptease on a nightclub stage. But this artistic form of entertainment is quite physical, and is deeply rooted in various forms of dance. I’ve watched many shows in town and have personally witnessed the flexibility, the timing and balance that these girls have, to perform a successful routine. So, for anyone who might be considering what it takes to get out on stage and really wow the audience, I asked one of the best in Austin for her thoughts on the matter.

 

Coco Lectric is a fabulous performer and member of the Jigglewatts. I watched her do a burlesque number about a year ago that was ballet inspired, and when I saw her shimmy across the stage “En pointe” (on her tippie-toes), I knew that I would one day ask her about how dance training relates to burlesque. It turns out that she teaches dance and her response to my question was this, “I just recommend taking a good ballet and jazz class. I also think belly dance and hula help. They certainly contribute to my technique.”

Ballet and jazz are great for building strength, control and timing, and that really shows in her burlesque performance. When I watch her, the moves are so defined and controlled. The belly dance and hula are more loose forms of dance, but obviously the erotic nature of that kind of body movement lends itself perfectly to burlesque dance. Not to mention that the muscle tone you can achieve in your midriff from belly dancing is pretty amazing!

Beth and I had a discussion after a burlesque show when she remarked that many of the routines are built on easy dance steps that you learn in the most basic dance classes. Once you look more closely at various performers, you can tell who has put years into their dance training. Their hard work and dedication really shows! So if you’re wondering what it takes to be a killer burlesque performer, take it from Coco Lectric and keep taking dance classes.

 

If you would like to see Coco Lectric perform and to see her dance skills put into burlesque, check her out this Friday along with the rest of The Jigglewatts. Their show “Technicolor Tease” will be at the Beauty Ballroom at 10pm. For a look at more upcoming burlesque shows, check out our detailed list of events.

-Patrick