Feathers, glamour and lots of skin will heat up a chilly Canberra evening when Mx Burlesque ACT (MBA) takes the stage at Belconnen Arts Centre on Saturday 22 July.

The annual Australia-wide competition showcases the brightest and best in the world of burlesque, with most states and territories across the country holding their own finals. Since its inception in 2010, the competition has aimed to be a welcoming space for performers.

Last year, the Miss Burlesque and Mr Boylesque competitions merged to create the inclusive Mx Burlesque competition, and winners are invited to choose the title they identify with.

Taking the crown in 2022 was Lola Lust, who chose the moniker Miss Burlesque ACT. Entering the competition for the first and last time, Lola had been performing for six years. All entrants are judged by the Runway, Strip Tease, and Unique sections and how their character shines through in each. Lola is about everything big, femme and fantastic. 

“I made a compilation of a whole bunch of different songs and I took the names that were in those songs and replaced them with my own and then I brought six-foot tall letters of my name out onto the stage,” smiles Lola.

Returning to the competition as a judge, Lola will help choose who takes home the title this round. Those eyeing the ACT crown this year include Cherrybomb, Sparklemuffin, and Guy Alias.

A trip up and down the gender spectrum, genderqueer, non-binary, chronically ill, disabled performer Sparklemuffin first entered MBA in 2015. At that time, they had to choose to enter one of the gendered competitions. Now that MBA is gender inclusive, Sparklemuffin says they feel confident and comfortable presenting how they want.

“I tend to like them [acts] to have elements of being a bit silly, they’re also quite serious… I’ve got my rollator or a mobility aid in all of my acts so I’m kind of there representing the people in the audience who’ll see me and go ‘Gosh I didn’t know that I could perform.’”

Man about town, Guy Alias is excited to be bringing his unique glam-masculine, dapper meets nonsense style to MBA for the first time. Known for his drag, Guy entered the world of performance with a burlesque class and will present a combination of the two in the competition.

“There are a few acts I already have which have very burlesque elements in them while also being very draggy and very nonsense. So, I’m just tweaking some of those, elevating them a bit using circus sideshow as well and hopefully, it will be enough just to make a couple of people chuckle.” smiles Guy.

An immaculately presented pinup queen, Cherrybomb doesn’t take herself too seriously and follows the motto of ‘look beautiful, be stupid’. Originally signed up to enter last year’s competition, a bout of Covid saw the beauty not being able to compete. This year, the self-professed ‘trash panda’ is ready to take the stage.

“One of my main idols and inspirations is Lucille Ball – not only was she a total badass who broke through so many glass ceilings for women in the entertainment industry in the 40s,50s and 60s, she never took herself too seriously and that’s a lot of who Cherry is.”

With a mix of brand-new and reimagined acts, the competition showcases work from eight hopefuls. Sparklemuffin says they have been working on their act since the conclusion of the last comp, while Cherrybomb is using the deadline as a motivator to create two new pieces.

All drawn to burlesque for the empowering nature of the craft, they say it is less for the gaze of the audience and more for the performers themselves. Guy says the combination of glam, positivity and creativity, and watching people feeling empowered in their own sexuality is something special.

“My experience is people who find burlesque are looking for something in themselves, are looking to make a change in themselves or their lives, and burlesque is a really magical vehicle for that. You get to be whoever you want to be when you step out on that stage, you get to give yourself a new name, you get to decide who your character is, the motivation of why you’re there,” says Cherrybomb.

“It’s the boundary pushing. You’ll see burlesque throughout history has really pushed boundaries and stuff from burlesque has continued on into society. The burn your bras movement didn’t come directly as a result of burlesque, it all sort of domino effected down into that … If you have a message or a torch to bear, you can bring that onto the stage and it is a safe space for you to do that,” says Lola.

All three agree that winning the competition isn’t what is important; the burlesque community in Canberra is small and supportive, and they are happy to come together and give a spectacular performance.

“It’s just going to be spectacular, I don’t know where else in this town you could go and see really well polished acts of this calibre, this sexy, this funny, this silly, this powerful, make you laugh, make you cry, make you feel all sorts of confusing feelings,” smiles Guy.

“First of all, what else are you doing on 22 July? It’s not going to be nearly as fun as this show is going to be. Mx Burlesque is really incredible because it is so unique because there is no other show that you can go and see where you get to see a hand full of the territory’s best performers debuting a bunch of new work,” says Cherrybomb.

Be razzle dazzled by Mx Burlesque at Belconnen Arts Centre, Saturday 22 July 8pm; mxburlesqueaustralia.com