New York City's Best Burlesque

Burlesque emerged in the late 19th century as a mix of satire, performance art and adult entertainment, featuring striptease and comedy acts. New York City was burlesque's first home, with its epicenter on the Bowery, the Lower East Side and Broadway. The mid-20th century saw a decline in its popularity, but today New York is again at the heart of the burlesque revival, dubbed "Neo-burlesque," encompassing a wider range of performance styles. As always, the focus is more on the "tease" than the "strip." You can see some of the best new burlesque acts at these venues:

The Box

189 Chrystie St., between Stanton and Rivington streets, 212-982-9301
This Lower East Side destination for dinner and theater brings the energy of vaudeville palaces, concert saloons and burlesque halls back to the neighborhood. A curving staircase leads to a New Orleans-style balustrade overlooking bejeweled wagon-wheel chandeliers and a mirrored back bar. Around midnight, burlesque controls the stage with circus stars, human oddities and avant-garde thespians. It's a mix as fanciful as the layered wallpaper of cherubs, Chinese fighting fish and flappers. Beware: The $600-a-table cabaret just opened in December, and it has already become one of the city's most exclusive clubs.

Corio Supper Club
337 West Broadway, at Grand Street, 212-966-3901Twenty dollars at this classy, sexy supper club buys dinner, cocktails and "Filthy Gorgeous Burlesque," a weekly showcase of some of New York's premiere burlesque performers, with shows at 8:30 p.m. every Friday. The rotating lineup of hosts includes drag king Murray Hill, the world famous *BOB* and Scotty the Blue Bunny. Check out "Employees Only" with Angie Pontani and friends, Mondays at 10 p.m. (Monday nights have no cover charge, and an open bar from 10 -11 p.m.)