Les Fleurs des Shanghai (slide show)

The Hotsy Totsy Burlesque troupe pays tribute to the Dude. On Tuesday, March 13, those burly-Q bastions of pop culture—Cherry Pitz, Joe the Shark and their Hotsy Totsy Burlesque buddies—paid tribute to everyone’s favorite cult bowling film, The Big Lebowski. (Apologies if your personal favorite cult bowling film is Kingpin.) Featuring a demanding duel role from the Moth’s Peter Aguero, who played both the Dude and Walter Sobchak, the troupe—which, for this extravaganza, included Amelia Bareparts, Corvette LeFace, Handsome Brad, Kryssy Kocktail, Lil Bunz, Stevie Tosh, Kayce Gogo and Tawdry Owl—threw a scintillating strike. Next up on the Hotsy Totsy horizon—a tribute to The Golden Girls on April 23. You might also like Photos: Coney Island USA's Spring Gala 2013 Coney Island USA's annual fund-raiser paid tribute to Gotham's vibrant burlesque and sideshow universe. Interview: Bettina May The Canadian burlesque star and pinup model Bettina May is an "alien of extraordinary ability." It’s a long way from the streets of Victoria, British Columbia, to the avenues ofGotham—but that hasn’t stopped the vintage-loving Bettina May from becoming one of New York’s leading burlesque artists and pinup models. She’ll be performing at the Sophisticates, helmed by Bastard Keith and Madame Rosebud, on Friday, February 22.Time Out New York: How does a nice girl from British Columbia end up in the burlesque and pinup scene?Bettina May: I came at it through vintage culture, hairstyles and outfits

The Canadian burlesque star and pinup model Bettina May is an "alien of extraordinary ability." It’s a long way from the streets of Victoria, British Columbia, to the avenues ofGotham—but that hasn’t stopped the vintage-loving Bettina May from becoming one of New York’s leading burlesque artists and pinup models. She’ll be performing at the Sophisticates, helmed by Bastard Keith and Madame Rosebud, on Friday, February 22.Time Out New York: How does a nice girl from British Columbia end up in the burlesque and pinup scene?Bettina May: I came at it through vintage culture, hairstyles and outfits. I did pinup modeling first, and through that was introduced to the burlesque world. I basically saw it as a way to explore my love of vintage. Time Out New York: Didn’t you have a stint with Suicide Girls?Bettina May: I did! Once I started getting pinup modeling, they contacted me and asked me to model. That sort of helped to jump-start things for me; once I started meeting other people in my town who were into modeling. One of the girls that I met wanted to do burlesque, so we started a little troupe together. Around the same time, Suicide Girls started flying me around for events, and I ended up being flown down to L.A. to do a show on the rebirth of the modern pinup. That’s what started getting me known on more of an international scale.Time Out New York: Was it your plan all along for this to become a full-time gig?Bettina May: It just kind of happened! I got my degree in political

Circus acts, burlesque performers and sideshow freaks descended on Webster Hall for the annual fund-raiser. This year, Coney Island USA's spring fund-raiser marked the 30th anniversary of the annual Mermaid Parade. To celebrate, ten former parade kings and queens were in attendance (in costume, of course), as well as a bevy of Coney Island Sideshow performers.

Bare Necessitease Forget about your worries and your strife (to quote The Jungle Book's Baloo) at this night of burlesque, with Lucille Ti Amore, Apathy Angel, Coco Te Amo and host Dottie Dynamo ("the lovable blend of tits ’n' trouble") on hand to help you rest at ease. The Plume Revue Duane Park presents this weekly, feather-heavy salute to hot jazz and steamy burlesque. Cunio is among the night's rotating roster of hosts, the Duane Park house band plays the tunes, and stars of the NYC burly-Q scene (Gal Friday, Tansy Tandora, Essence Revealed and Peekaboo Pointe among them) work their onstage magic. Dinner is available for $80. Room 69: The Hotel Chantelle Way The busy burlesque babe Calamity Chang is the host of this Friday-night parade of pulchritude on Hotel Chantelle's street-level floor, with her and her guests strutting their stuff as you tipple your cocktail. Dead Sexy The inimitable Jonny Porkpie joins forces with Jeremy X. Halpern to present this weekly neoburlesque-oriented show in the unlikely setting of Times Scare. (Given the venue, expect performances to skew a bit toward the eerie/creepy end of the burly-Q spectrum.) Tonight's show features Creamy Stevens, Pinky Special, Brewster, Lil Miss Lix and Albert Cadabra; Baron Von Weirdo and Mr. Porkpie himself are the hosts. Floating Kabarette Galapagos hosts this long-running, crowd-pleasing cabaret night, featuring a rotating cast of amazing performers—expect burlesque, magic, trapeze and much more. Check the venu