Kitty Bang Bang - Trash Kitty


 

My first Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender was 2012, and I admittedly have a nostalgic soft spot for acts I saw for the first time at that life-changing event.  This was one of those acts.

I barely knew anyone that first year and am not always the most bold, social person, regardless, but I felt compelled to track down Kitty in the post-show scrum and tell her how much I enjoyed it.  I believe it was the first time I had seen a burlesque number in which the dancer went en pointe.  I don't know why that surprised and delighted me, but it did. And that trash can prop! I was convinced that it was cleverly designed with some sort of seat attached inside and carefully outfitted with counterweights, and the cost to ship it from London, where Kitty is based, had to be prohibitive.  But no, she bought the trash can/wheelie bin at a Home Depot near The Orleans Casino, threw glue and glitter on it, and just climbed in with a banana peel to await her "Pink Panther" musical cue. I love how dumb yet graceful this whole enterprise is, with high art in service to striptease.

Postscript:  Kitty and I have become friends and I invited her to perform this act at my birthday show produced by Salome Cabaret in my original hometown of Knoxville, TN. We had to source a trash can for the number, so we walked into another Home Depot and asked where the garbage cans were located.  The helpful sales clerk mentioned that there were various sizes and asked how big we needed it to be.  For the first and only time thus far in my life, I was able to state that it needed to be able to hold a human body.

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