Comments (0)Burlesque And The Jews
September 18, 2009Neil Rubin
Editor
You know that a New York City show called “Nice Little Jewish Girls Gone Bad” will gain attention.
So it is that Big Apple comedian Susannah Perlman finds herself with a little media coverage these days. During the performance, she goes by the name The Goddess Perlman. Others involved include a dancer named Sister Schmaltz.
How did the “experienced Jewish girl” come up with the idea? That would be when she was busy hosting other area burlesque shows.
“I was coming across all of these women who would sort of speak to me profoundly in some way,” she said, according to Heeb magazine, an irreverent publication aimed at allegedly hip young Jewish adults.
Who shows up? Well the audience is diverse, she claimed, noting, “We’ve had Chasidic Jews watching the Chasidic Jew strip and loving it.”
Right.
By the way, Ms. Perlman insisted that the show is strongly feminist because “we’re strong, independent women.”
When Heeb’s editors first asked Ms. Perlman to do a Jewish burlesque show for them, she did a little research and came up with a stunning conclusion: “At the time,” she said, “there were virtually no Jewish girls at all who did burlesque.”
Go figure.