Berlesker: Handcrafted Literary Journal vol II | Page 21

In the theaters, the audiences were mostly
men. But Wednesday night was ladies’
night. Minsky had us serve tea, and the
ladies would get in free. It was very smart,
and Minsky would fill the bill with comics, bands, Mexican dance lines, and the
strip tease stars. The ladies would sit in
the balcony, drink tea and say, “Oh jeez!”
They loved the show. Saturday nights was
mostly couples. In the newspaper, they’d
bill headliners that would bring in the
couples. It was just entertainment.
When I played New York for the first
time, there was always a fella called “Pop”
backstage who would answer the phones
and such. He gave me a bucket for carrots
when I arrived, and he said, “The policeman is gonna be by, so you can go feed the
horse. They come by once a week to see
the headliner.” So I went out and I got to
feed the horse on the street in New York.
It was wonderful.

If you could go back and do it all
again, would you still have chosen to
be a burlesque performer:

Oh yes, I certainly would. My father was
killed when I was eleven, out in the oil
fields in California. Burlesque was my
my father, my bread, my butter. I got to go everywhere. I even went to the capital and I got to pet Macaroni the
Pony -- Caroline Kennedy’s horse. I’ve been everywhere. It was an education, and I got paid to do what I wanted
to do. To this day I get enormous stacks of cards for my birthday, holidays, everything. The young girls write such
beautiful, sweet things to me.
The resurgence of burlesque has opened the door for a lot of young entertainers. We burlesque girls are responsible for the resurgence. Heck, Gypsy came back on Broadway. And I heard Patty Lupone got an 8-minute ovation
for her first act. There is a place for burlesque. It can be cute, funny, silly, talented. There is such a huge variety that
you can put into an act and show.

When you look back on a lifetime of Burlesque, what fulfills you most:

I wanted to be an entertainer, but with no talent it wasn’t easy. I had to fake it in the beginning. But every act I did,
the next act I tried to top it. I wanted to improve. Spot turns - I didn’t even know what that meant. If I could get a
place to twirl around, I would. I rented a rehearsal hall in New York for $2.00 an hour. I tried to dance and perfect
my act as I looked at it in the mirror. Being an exotic dancer, you have to have an exhibitionist element to your
personality. You have to want to entertain and be explosive. I was able to keep that momentum going. The first
time I found myself booked out two years in advance, I thought, “Boy, I have arrived.”
We had a circuit back then. Fortunately once you got on those circuits, they booked you again and again. I wish
someone would book those theaters and create a new circuit for the girls. I think Hugh Hefner should do it!
Dave Cohen was my agent in New York; he was my favorite. 1650 Broadway is the building where all the
agents worked. One day I was in the elevator and I got recognized as being Dixie Evans. I was so excited. I told
my friends, and they laughed and said, “This building is full of agents, of course you would get recognized.”