A Lil Bit O’ Naughty: A Photoessay on San Francisco Cabaret, Vaudeville, and Burlesque

Your eyes dance around the stage, taking in this ultimate carnie experience until they bump into each other in the middle. Soon the spotlight is on the Black and Blue Burlesque trio for a provocative strip tease based on a female prison life. For a later song, the trombone player puts down her instrument and belts out a version of “Feeling Good” while the trio, barely dressed in innocent white, does a not-so-innocent fan dance around her.

The sultry act merges into a fast, comedic rock ‘n roll number, into belly dancing, into the can-can. You leave the show exhausted, exhilarated and…envious. Sinister, gothic, and ultimately carnie, if cabaret had a chapter of the Hell’s Angels, this would be it.

Eddy Joe Cotton, a founding member of Yard Dogs Road Show, refers to the group’s online bio to describe this distinct brand of entertainment: “Born from the saloon vaudeville that toured the Wild West in the late 1800s and slammed into the underworld of modern American road culture.”

Formed eight years ago, Yard Dogs continues to live and thrive because beneath its elaborate costumes and pyrotechnics, it is a way of life. Burlesque and cabaret are about more than boas and wigs. It’s how performers lived their lives then and how Yard Dogs live their lives now. It’s what separates the real deal from the ruses and the dimes from the dozens.

“One of the most important things is they’re expressing themselves,” Cotton says. “The next thing they have to do is ask themselves, ‘Is this my lifestyle?’ It’s more [about] dedicating themselves to the lifestyle. It’s not easy; it’s never been easy.”

It may not be easy, but the work has paid off. Soon, the Yard Dogs will be performing at San Francisco’s career benchmark venue, The Fillmore.

Bay Area cabaret and burlesque acts abound in myriad different forms and interpretations. We only have a little space to give you a tempting taste of what is out there. Below are a few acts to look into and check out when they come to a venue near you.

– Photos by Becca Henry

Black and Blue Burlesque – www.myspace.com/blackandblueburlesque
Extra Action Marching Band – www.extra-action.com
Kitten on the Keys – www.suzanneramsey.net
Rosin Coven – www.rosincoven.com
Vau de Vire – vaudeviresociety.com
Yard Dogs Road Show – www.yarddogsroadshow.com