Dirty Show

With the month of February comes cliche sentiments of love and romance, and feelings of inadequacy that you're not showing your significant other enough affection. And fortunately, it also comes with fishnets, bondage, and electrical tape! That's right kids, it's Dirty Show time again!

This year is the 12th incarnation of the erotic art show, and the Dirty Show continues to draw an international cadre of artists with a variety of different media but all all built around a theme of eroticism. But while all artists initially start with the same theme, it's always astonishing to see how the motif gets twisted embraced and the variety of interpretation that comes out as a result. I tend to gravitate to the more kitchy and whimsical pieces that make me chuckle to myself, but the gamut runs from macabre to surreal to just plain ol' dirty.

(I love BTW, that in the background  you can catch another rope act of a differnt kind going on on top the bar. One a little more dirty, but no less acrobatic...).

Since first attending the show in 2007 when it seemed that Bert's Warehouse was packed to the rafters, it seemed even more packed last Saturday. Fortunately (thanks Dayna!) we got our tix right when doors opened, and when we came back later to get in, it was already sold out. It seemed that the type of art showcased was very different this year compared with years previous, which was refreshing to see. Not that I disliked the previous shows, but there have been some perrenial favorites that have had similar pieces included in the show for the last few years. It was really great to see a totally different spectrum of artwork, and there definitely seemed to be a lot more photography featured.

On the performance end, there also seemed to be a much different roster of performers this year. In the past it seemed like it was pretty heavy on burlesque performers and girls that can do all kinds of neat tricks on poles. Don't get me wrong, many of these lovely ladies still represented respectably, including the Detroit Dizzy Dames and Hell's Belles, and I guarantee that Kat the Midget Entertainer walked away with far more dollar bills than anyone else, except maybe a half naked bartender and hey, they have the advantage of doling out booze, so an easy advantage. But there were far more boylesque (oh yes, put in in your vernacular 'cos it's here to stay) groups and representation by the fellas in general - I don't ever recall there being a dude dancing above in the cages, and certainly not one rockin' a tramp stamp and lace up boots. I appreciated the broader range and more inclusive lineup - it was nice to feel like it wasn't just dudes drooling over boobs...ha ha! Who am I kidding? Men, drooling, and boobs were still there in full force!

But don't worry! You still have a chance to drool over boobs - one additional date for the Dirty Show has been added for this Saturday, Feb 26th. So get out those pleather thigh high boots out from the back of the closet, tie up that corset, and bring your whip along, it always promises to be an eye-opening event, in all the best ways.

Thanks again to Matt and Dayna for coming with me! You guys rock.