[Dixielandjazz] Super Bowl National Anthem

[J. D. Bryce]

Actually, Burlesque was orininally "Family Theater" for American's 
burgeoning immigrant population.  The shows were used to parody the trials 
of real life: the bigoted cop; the corrupt judge (who was always bribable, 
and who was always suseptible to a pair of shapely legs); the sleazy 
landlord; the cheating grocer; and the drunken neighbor.  In Burlesque 
skits, the judge would often begin wacking away at witnesses with a flat 
stick that became know as a "slapstick."  The theaters served as an outlet 
for immigrants.

As ethnic neighborhoods declined and as descendants of immigrants were 
assimilated and moved away, these theaters turned to strippers to attract 
new audiences.  By the 1920s, strippers and baudy comics were Burlesque 
staples.

But it didn't start out that way.  Burlesque was an important part of the 
"Immigrant Experience" in our "Melting Pot."

To this day, the term to "burlesque something" means to satirize or make a 
farce of it.


Jack Bryce
One of Sheik Littlefield's Minions