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The lascivious Lamb
The lascivious Lamb
| The lascivious Lamb |
| Written by Evelyn Hartogh |
| Wednesday, 17 June 2009 16:34 |
 Evelyn Hartogh interviews the intriguing Lisa Lamb, a burlesque performer who brings a touch of Gay Paree to Brisbane.Lisa Lamb’s transition from feminist stand-up comic to burlesque performer may seem like a dramatic shift but, as the Brisbane-based performer explains, burlesque is simply “comedy with better costumes”. “It's very empowering for women... when you do burlesque you perform for you,” she says. “You talk funny,” people told Lamb when she began doing stand-up comedy. Her unique accent comes from her French speaking mother from Belgium and her Australian father. Lamb was hesitant at first to discuss her bicultural background on stage but now uses her experience of living in two cultures as material for her stand up. “I make jokes about fitting in – basically all my comedy acts come directly from my life,” she said, and she isn't joking when she tells you she has nothing to hide! Like most feminist comics, before Lamb began burlesque, she associated it with stripping and saw it as just another way that women conformed to the male gaze. “I first learnt about burlesque at Melbourne Comedy Festival 2000 when I met this amazing woman called Miss Behaving,” Lamb recalls. At that point Lamb was already a seasoned stand-up comic, appearing at all the major comedy venues and festivals in Australia. Miss Behaving explained to her that burlesque was a way for women to reclaim their sexual power, and that she, “liked showing off her minge”. Lamb thought to herself: ‘Well, I can do that!’ She learnt from Miss Burlesque that while stripping was designed for the pleasure of men, “burlesque brings in both male and female audiences”. “When I worked just in comedy I would often be the only woman there – I was always working with men – burlesque gave me a chance to work with women,” she explains. “Burlesque developed from lesbian stage performers like Marlene Dietrich, who was incredibly daring and used comedy in a sexy way to parody the Nazis,” says Lamb. "Burlesque is very satirical... I often combine my stand up acts with some burlesque,” she says. Lamb’s performing style is both sassy and charming, and she directly addresses and engages the audience in her acts. When you watch Lisa Lamb perform burlesque you quickly become aware that she is also watching you. Each act uses a well-developed character and often a transformation from the good girl to the bad girl. While on the surface this may sound simplistic, with the use of humour and satire, Lamb quickly destabilises these stereotypes and asserts women’s right to create their own sexual identity and not conform to the oppressive virgin/whore dichotomy. The multi-talented Lamb spends part of each year performing burlesque in France and, in September and October of this year, she has gigs lined up in Paris, Lyon and Marseille. She also works as a translator for Spiky, a rock band from France, who are releasing both French and English versions of their albums Whimsical Fantasy and Carnival Symposium. For a little bit of Gay Paree in Brisvegas, make sure you keep your eyes peeled for Lisa Lamb, with her sweet combination of tongue in cheek feminist burlesque and autobiographical comedy. Lisa Lamb performs on Saturday, June 20 at The Jubilee Hotel, Fortitude Valley for The Festival of the Dead, and at the Brisbane Arts Theatre, Petrie Terrace on Sunday, July 26. Visit www.artstheatre.com.au or call (07) 3369 2344 for details.
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