Recently The Brickhouse found another variety gem in Wham! Bam! Kaboom! by Seattle boylesque troupe Mod Carousel. Set up like a comic book movie, the narrative-driven show sees our three handsome heroes save the world while dancing, posing and artfully undressing (Robert Downey Jr, eat your heart out). In between nightly shifts rescuing our collective arses from total armegeddon with his two super-powered compadres, Carousel member Trojan Original found time to answer Kerry Fitzgerald’s questions.
Boylesque troupe Mod Carousel (Paris Original, Trojan Original and Luminous Pariah) save the world every night in Wham! Bam! Kaboom!
How do you feel the audiences differ between the US and UK?
Thankfully both the US and UK audiences thoroughly enjoy what we do but the main differences have been in the details. For example, I’ve had to change my hyper masculine character (which is a hit in the US) around quite a bit because, as I understand it, being a ‘tough guy’ really isn’t a thing here. Another thing we’ve noticed is that our British audiences haven’t been exposed to nearly as much burlesque, much less boylesque, as we’re used to so we’ve had to be up front and tell them about burlesque etiquette and that making noise is good and watch them get a hang of it throughout the show.
Were there any big things that you had to change with the show for a British audience?
We didn’t have to change any MAJOR major things. The biggest change was taking out one of our acts which we dubbed ‘twincest’ for being to risque. I’m sure ‘twincest’ has a place somewhere in a London show but it wasn’t being well received at the Brickhouse so we replaced it with a high energy, easily lovable solo by Paris Original. Another change we made was when we found out that shake weights aren’t common knowledge in Great Britain so having the punchline of one of my acts be a shake weight just wasn’t working. All in all Leeni is the one that’s had to adapt the most by changing out jokes about the US current events, like the election, to jokes that Londoners would be more likely to get.
As a first-timer over here are there anything that you are shocked by or find strange about us?
Hardly. There’s many a difference in vocabulary that’s taken adjusting to, my favourite being “are you all right?” instead of “how’re you doing?”. In my mind “are you all right?” implies that there’s something wrong with me. But all in all, Londoners are great. They’re friendly, the accents are fun to listen to (and sometimes hard to understand in the noisy post show at the Brickhouse). There’s just enough of a culture difference for being in London to be a lot of fun and different without being overwhelmed. Hold on – the one thing that still gets me in trouble is the reversed driving situation and how nerve racking crossing the roads can be.
Where and who do you think your show is perfect for, if anyone?
Glad you asked. Our show only features guys taking their clothes off so it seems obvious that the show would be perfect for women and gay men but it goes so much further then that. Our show has so much comedy in it, so much good music, good dance, etc that straight men and gay women have walked out with a silly grin on their faces 99.9 percent of the time. Straight men in particular are resistant to seeing our show but way more often than not, they’ve been happy they did.
Do you wear spandex in your spare time?
Not really, but I wear a lot of tight shirts in my spare time.
Are you finding that your character and being comfortable semi-clad is seeping in to your everyday life?
My character doesn’t seep into my everyday life that much but being comfortable semi-clad certainly does. I didn’t use to like being seen in my underwear or seeing Luminous and Paris in theirs but now it doesn’t matter at all. And I tend to lose my shirt here and there.
Mod Carousel’s Wham! Bam! Kaboom! plays The Brickhouse until June 15th. See www.modcarousel.comfor details and further dates.
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