Burlesque Bits

03/07/2026

New piece is up on Burlesque Bits' substack.

Maybe you've heard the story... Maybe you haven't.

Story goes, in 1902, a performer named Dollie Earle died in a dressing room at the The Trocadero five minutes before curtain.

For 120 years she's supposedly been haunting the place ever since. I accidentally stumbled across what I think is her story.

She asked to be cremated. Her family buried her anyway.

03/06/2026

Wonderful piece. Worth adding: Abbott and Costello didn't just borrow from burlesque, they came up through it in a very specific way... Lou worked burlesque houses along the eastern circuit as a "Dutch comic," the low-status physical comedian who gets hit, tricked, and humiliated. That dynamic is baked into every film they made. Bud's straight man is essentially the burlesque emcee/straight feeding lines to the comic, which is almost exactly the structure still running in houses like the Old Howard in Boston while this film was in theaters. The craft that made their timing seem effortless had a decade of two-a-day grind behind it.

Abbott and Costello were burlesque comedians who before Martin & Lewis were America's biggest comedy team. They kept burlyq comedy alive and did AFRICA SCREAMS with 2 of the 3 stooges!

02/28/2026

In this bit... It's 1951 and a dressing room turns into a burlesque brawl

North Las Vegas, Nevada – August 3, 1951, 3:47 a.m.

02/18/2026

Nobody took Something Weird Video seriously. The brash covers, the lurid catalog descriptions, the psychedelic logo from a 1967 L*D film. But Mike Vraney saved thousands of performances that "respectable" archives ignored, and built one of the most important collections in the field.

How Mike Vraney's garish VHS catalog became the archive that respectable institutions ignored... and burlesque enthusiasts couldn't live without

01/20/2026

In this bit... In 1974, prosecutors wanted to make her a test case... They arrested her repeatedly... They broke down her door... They made her sit in jail nearly a month to await trial... And she won every single time, all while making about $200 a week. This is the story of Honeysuckle Divine and what happened at 1233 Locust Street. New on Burlesque Bits substack.

How Honeysuckle Divine Accidentally Destroyed Philadelphia’s Obscenity Laws While Earning $200 a Week

12/23/2025

When Diane Kaye stepped onto the London stage, she didn’t just undress, she dismantled. In a city where stage nudity was only permitted if the performer remained absolutely motionless, a bizarre rule often summed up as, “If you move, it’s rude,” Kaye was a seismic event. She didn’t pose like a statue; she like a dancer. And for a brief, blinding moment, she became the most talked-about Bronxite woman in England.

In 1938, American performer Diane Kaye broke London’s “no-movement” rule for n**e theatre, turning a st******se into a Parliamentary debate.

12/22/2025

Have yourself a Divine holiday

12/22/2025

How COULD you Mrs. Dinky? Sexy Holiday everyone!

Dusty's first special, and first TV show. She gets things rolling with a song and a story. Marcie performs a suggestive dance. Dusty does her own special med...

10/15/2025

Diane Kaye and the Strip Heard ’Round Parliament

In 1938, American performer Diane Kaye broke London’s “no-movement” rule for n**e theatre, turning a st******se into a Parliamentary debate.

10/06/2025

In mid 1960s, even the airlines got a little burlesque.
Braniff’s “Air Strip” commercial turned fashion into a st******se at 30,000 feet.



BurlesqueBits.blog

Braniff International debuted the famed Air Strip, now known as Art Fashion Design, to the world on this day, Friday, February 25, 1966. The redesigned Texas...