I ended up not being able to make it to last month’s burlesque show, so this one was my first, and it was a perfect introduction for me because the show was science fiction-themed and was really sort of awesome. Also, I guess because of the topic, it seemed like half the young NYC fantasy/science fiction publishing crowd was in attendance.
In the show, a humorously vague disaster has befallen earth, and the remnants of humanity live in a sealed-up city where everyone is required by a prudish dictator to remain clothed at all times, lest they become “infected.” But there are some who resist. Rebels who are captured are forced to undergo a procedure that turns them into mindless cyborgs with no desire to undress, though needless to say the treatment doesn’t take. There are many, many references to science fiction literature and film, from Brave New World to Mad Max. The story features a gadget known as the Personal Laser of Teleportation device (i.e the PLOT device), and the climactic confrontation comes down not to rollerball, nor deathrace 2000, nor even thunderdome, but to a slow-motion, red-lit, histrionic game of “death scrabble.” The whole thing was an absolute riot.
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