We asked Irish burlesque dancer, Harlot DeVille to take us around the burly underground of Ireland’s fairest cities and she came up with this Guide to Irish Burlesque.

Irish Burlesque by Harlot DeVille

This day, five years ago, marks my first endeavour as Harlot DeVille! Throughout that time I have seen huge changes within Irish burlesque.

I left a simmering scene, a few years ago, for the bright lights of London and returned to discover a melting pot of cabaret in Dublin.

Ireland has always prided itself on our artistic and cultural history. A country of poets, artists, writers, musicians and dancers. The Irish were never wealthy except for our most recent and disastrous ‘boom’. As clichéd as it seems, it is also true: when the economic chips are down, cabaret flourishes and now is no exception.

From grotesque burlesque, to drag kings, drag queens, comedy, acrobatics, classic and neo-burlesque, we can more than hold our own on the global burlesque stage. There is such vibrancy and versatility, from both performers and audiences.

Big Chief Random Chaos

Big Chief Random Chaos, a lynchpin of the cabaret circuit, has been performing for 21 years and continues to keep us on the edge of our seats with his lunacy and spontaneous, ad-libbed clowning.

Lucy Rhinehart and Lilly DeValle

Lucy Rhinehart is a Lynchian dream/nightmare brought to life. A macabre maven, she weaves a wonderful narrative, always leaving the audience hoarse with enthusiasm. Lucy’s oftentime partner, Lilly DeValle embodies many burlesque personalites: portraying everything cheesecake to noir, she is captivating.

Miss Bella AGoGo

Steampunk may be one of her many hats, but Miss Bella AGoGo has been cooking up a storm for many a year on the Irish scene. Her alter ego Dotty Potts always manages to confuse and amuse in equal measure.

Phil T Gorgeous

I love nothing more than a flustered audience, trying to make sense of what they’ve just witnessed. And nobody does this better than PHIL.T.GORGEOUS! From Bublé to Broadway, Phil is all that is wonderful about cabaret.

It is this great spectrum of talent that makes this country such an exciting place as a participant or voyeur! Considering the vast leap I have seen in Irish burlesque, even just from my own beginnings, I can’t wait to see what the next five years have in store.

As myself and Big Chief prepare for the World Burlesque Games, I can see big changes in how Ireland is viewed in our carnie world. And rightly so!

Now that I have given you just the smallest taster of our wonderful Irish burlesque scene, I suggest you come and see for yourself what all the fuss’n’feathers are
about.

The Guinness isn’t too bad either!

Check out Guide to Finnish Burlesque with Kiki Hawaiji and watch our answer to: what is burlesque?

(Main image from Harlot DeVille)