Reviews

Dave McKean might be getting a taste for it. Like his short story from omnibus First Time, Celluloid has no dialogue or narration whatsoever. A silent comic book, his first erotic graphic novel follows a female protagonist through a series of fantasy sexual scenarios triggered by the discovery of a film camera that opens a magic portal on her wall.

Everything about the Urban Voodoo Machine is unusual. The nine-strong line-up, for instance, includes no bass drum, but two floor toms, each with its own percussionist, as well as accordion, banjolele and washboard. But the most surprising trait of the band is that their seemingly impossible mix of genres – combining punk and rockabilly with tango, skiffle, Balkan folk and more – actually works. In Black ’n’ Red, their second album, aptly fashions their long checklist of styles into a cohesive stomping playlist of maniacal energy.

The proliferation of burlesque schools in the UK is proof not only of the genre’s growing popularity, but also of its increasing professionalism. As one of the leading London schools and a hotbed of talent currently making the rounds of Britain’s variety circuit, The Cheek of It has just released the year’s last batch of bump-and-grinding graduates upon an unsuspecting world. Always keen to witness new flesh in all its stages of undress, Erotic Review is delighted to cover the multiple burlesque debut at Soho staple Madame Jojo’s.

Erotic Review readers are probably acquainted with the burlesque and cabaret formula: irreverent host, guest acts, interval, after-party. Dirty Shame brings a new twist to the scene. Inspired by the infallible tastelessness of John Waters’s filmography, the hilarious new venture by prolific bump-and-grinder Emerald Fontaine breathes new life into the genre with a film night featuring post-screening variety entertainment.