Burlesque is back and it’s classy, not sleazy. Ahead of the world’s biggest burlesque show hitting Dundee, Jack McKeown talked to the owners and performers of Club Noir.
Surprisingly, a show that features women taking off their clothes attracts an audience containing more ladies than men.
“Burlesque is much more for the girls than for the boys I would say,” reckons Tina Warren. “Girls taking their clothes off do tend to be appreciated much more by men but burlesque is the exception to that rule.”
Tina (40) is co-owner and a performer in Club Noir. She and her business partner and friend Ian Single founded the burlesque show in 2004.
“We’d been on to a few interesting places in London, seeing cabaret, rockabilly and so on. We thought, there’s nowhere in Scotland that does that sort of thing.”
The pair set up Club Noir in 2004 on a shoestring budget.
“Initially, the idea wasn’t for either of us to perform,” Tina explains, “but we didn’t have enough performers to put on a show, so both of us had to take to the stage. I do burlesque and Ian comperes and does comedy.
“Going onstage and undressing is quite terrifying. Sometimes I ask why am I doing this to myself but once I’m out there I really enjoy it.”
For Tina, who had worked in advertising, and Ian, who directed television adverts, it was a big change of direction.
“Neither of us had any experience of running a club or doing theatre shows. We just put everything we had into it and jumped in at the deep end.”
That makes it all the more remarkable that Club Noir is now the biggest burlesque club in the world a distinction that was given official seal by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2009.
“We had known and been saying we were the biggest in the world for a couple of years but we thought it would be good to make that official so we got in touch with Guinness. Our first nights had about 100 people at them and now we’re getting as many as 2000.”
Club Noir events are held around six times a year, most frequently in Glasgow’s O2 Academy but this weekend Tina and Ian are bringing burlesque to Dundee, with a show at the city’s biggest nightclub. Tina says that anyone with an open mind and a sense of humour will enjoy the show.
This, if you’ll excuse the pun, is a double-edged sword for Heather, who says, “I came up with the name Chelsea Dagger when I was studying theatre at Glasgow University. We used to come up with funny stage names for ourselves and that was the one I would use.
“John came to see me perform one night and thought my name would make a good song title. It was great that the song was such a big hit but the problem is that now everyone thinks I stole the name from him, not the other way round.”
Heather (31) has been a Club Noir performer for almost six years.
“I’ve always loved performing and when I finished university I did a bit of acting here and there. I went to Club Noir not long after it started up. My friend knew Ian and it just happened they were looking for performers, so I went for it.”
Heather married John Lawler in 2006 and has a 12-year-old stepson. The fact that both parents have night jobs can make things difficult. “If he’s had a gig the night before I’ll get up and do the school run and he’ll do it if I’ve been working.”
Despite Club Noir only taking place a handful of times a year, Heather says it’s still quite time-consuming.
“A lot of time and effort goes into each act. You don’t just make it up on the night. There’s a couple of months of work gone into coming up with a theme, rehearsing and making my own costumes up.”
Chelsea Dagger will be teaming up with comedic actor The Great Aldo on Saturday. “We’ll be doing two acts,” she says.
“In one of them he plays an old man I’ve married for the money. I strip to try and give him a heart attack so I can get my hands on his wealth. The other one is called Dagger’s Dungeon. There’s a lot of magic tricks in that one. I’ve been to magic school to learn how to do them… but I had to swear not to reveal the secrets.”
Despite all the years she’s been doing it, Heather says she never loses her stage fright. “I have a love-hate relationship with going on stage. When I’m standing waiting in the wings I’m about to pass out from fear but as soon as I get up there it’s fantastic.”Club Noir is at Fat Sam’s in Dundee on Saturday from 9pm-2.30am. Tickets cost £15.50 and are available from www.fatsams.co.uk, Groucho’s Record Store at 132 Nethergate, Dundee, or from Ticketweb on 08444 77 2000.