ELEGANCE, DECADENCE, sauce, sexiness, and possibly Galway’s most racily glamorous night out - The Dirty Circus is back for its special Hallowe’en show at Galway Comedy Festival.
Now in its fifteenth year, Galway’s burlesque and cabaret show takes place in Róisín Dubh on the final night of the festival, Monday, October 30.
International Burlesque sensation Sam Eye Am will headline, plus performances from Irish burlesque star Scarlett Van Tassel, drag queen Neon Love, pole dancer Dr Fluff, Azahara Bellydance, singer Billie Forde, and MCing from Slick’O.
The brains behind the phenomenon is producer and Mayo native Tommy Walsh, who attended a show in Dublin’s Burlesque and Cabaret Social Club, and felt Galway needed something similar.
“I really enjoyed the style, the atmosphere, that everybody was dressed up and there was a lot of glitz and glamour at it,” says Tommy. “I discovered there were many alternative performers in all kinds of genres, but they had no place to perform, so I came back to Galway, collected the performers together, and put on the show.”
After “bouncing around from venue to venue”, the event found its home in Róisín Dubh around eight years ago, soon followed by a long-standing relationship with Galway Comedy Festival and inclusion on the festival’s annual bill.
A space for everybody
Freedom is the essential ideal at the heart of The Dirty Circus, embodied by the fact it is one of the most noticeable queer-, trans-, and female-friendly performance spaces in Galway.
“There wasn’t a space like that when we started off, Ireland was a tad different 15 years ago,” says Tommy. “I love to hear it is a Queer friendly safe space, but I also like to think it is a space for everybody that transcends sexuality, in that it is freedom for everybody to be whoever they want to be in that zone, a place for freedom of expression, where art and performance can be nurtured and given voice and a platform.
“There is also a really strong bond between the audience and the performers. Many performers at The Dirty Circus have come from the audience. It’s people after the show saying: ‘You know what, I’d kinda like to do that…’ and I’m: ‘C’mon, let’s do this!’
“It’s many different spaces for all humans. The Dirty Circus is about opulence and decadence and having a really special, glamorous night out.”
A stellar line-up
The line-up for The Dirty Circus at Galway Comedy Festival embodies all these elements, and Tommy is especially proud that burlesque royalty, Sam Eye Am, will headline.
“Sam Eye Am is the blue-eyed bombshell all the way from New York City,” says Tommy. “To say we have a performer coming from New York is pretty special. She performs in major clubs like The Slipper Rooms in Manhattan, so her being at The Dirty Circus is putting Galway on the Burlesque map.”
Sam Eye Am has appeared in High Fidelity and The Marvellous Mrs Maisel. She was cast in LouLou D’vil’s erotic dinner theatre show, Cocoon, and is also a published pin-up and commercial model and producer.
Irish burlesque will be embodied by the award-winning Scarlett Van Tassel, a ‘Purple People Eater’, feminist, burlesquer, stripteaser, and gogo dancer. “She has a really, really strong halloween vibe,” says Tommy. “She loves the darkness of the season. Her style is gothic dark burlesque, power-stances, and lots of props. She’s an incredible performer.”
Making their first appearance at The Dirty Circus in more than a year will be the outrageous drag queen, Neon Love. “Neon brings everything, and the kitchen sink, and more!” declares Tommy. “A really accomplished performer who has grown and grown and I can’t wait to see Neon’s latest evolution during Galway Comedy Festival. It’s going to be class!”
Representing the recent phenomenon of male pole dancers from Belfast will be Hell on Heels winner, Dr Fluff. “He’s an actual doctor in his daily life,” says Tommy. “He’s a gorgeous human and super talented. Pole dancing is an incredible sport. It takes incredible dedication and physical strength, and these are incredible athletes.”
The night will be completed by Galway’s Azahara Bellydance. “Azahara is going to be really magic and mesmerising,” promises Tommy, and Billie Forde, an up-and-coming blues singer from Mayo, making her Dirty Circus debut.
The show itself will be in the very capable hands of one of the best Drag Kings in Ireland, Slick’O.
“Slick’O is one of the most polished MCs in the business,” says Tommy. “No matter how many times I see Slick’O, I always think how clever and smart they are, they make the room warm and they give a nice bit of bite and edge to it as well.
The Dirty Circus at Róisín Dubh begins 7pm, Monday, October 30.
Tickets from www.galwaycomedyfestival.ie
