There’s nothing quite like a Halloween-themed, comedy burlesque show in New York City!
GrannyCart Giggle Hour hosted their Halloween show, GrannyCart Giggle Hour: Rest in Cart, this past Friday. The comedy burlesque show was filled with a variety of performances ranging from lip syncing, comedy acts, and stripteases. Sometimes all three at once. The show was hosted on the Upper West Side at The Triad Theatre this past Friday.
About The Grannys
Artists Megan Twamley and Alexandra Matsu met in college almost 12 years ago. Since then, the two have been collaborating to create numerous works. These include clowning, burlesque, full-length plays, and variety shows. Twamley is currently working on a master’s degree in theater education. Matsu is the proud owner of an MFA from The Actors Studio Drama School.
“GrannyCart giggle hour is a semi-recurring combination of all of the best of our acts and partners! Anyone is welcome to submit their performance as accessibility is at the forefront of our mission.” Matsu continues, “GrannyCart produces joyful and collaborative theater all over New York State. We are built for and by our community!”
Starting The Party
Matsu and Twamley kicked off the show with a lively, choreographed performance inspired by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders ‘Thunderstruck dance… in full-on granny costumes. The juxtaposition of sexy dance moves, paired with grey wigs and inferred hip pain, created a hilarious opening moment for the audience. The two greeted their guests and announced that they had sadly both died but had risen from the grave to do this show.
Next up was a lovely burlesque performance by Georgia Grey, where she danced and shot whipped cream into audience members’ mouths. Megan Lettus Tomato (Twamley) then performed an upbeat, spunky burlesque performance, invigorating the audience.
Switching up the vibe, comedy act Tallie and Buttons took the stage. They performed a funny acrobatic, slapstick-style routine, which still ended in Buttons stripping down to his underwear on stage.
Keeping Things Sensual
Getting back to the sexy side, Melba Velour performed perhaps the most sensual routine of the night. Entering through the crowd, her routine captivated the audience from beginning to end.
Aligning with Halloween approaching, Jasper took the stage, announcing he was a ghost, but still attempted a striptease, which ended with him comically disposing of his Victorian-style outfit and pulling off his white unitard, acting as his skin.
Velour took to the audience once more, offering sensual whips for cash tips. The audience jumped at the chance to get involved. Velour spent about ten minutes going around the room, allowing everyone to get whipped by her if they so chose.
After that, Your Secret Admirer (Matsu) took the stage for a hilarious burlesque performance, which included fake nipples on her hands and fake eyeballs covering her nipples. Despite the wonderfully comedic elements, the movements in her act still included elements of sensuality, rounding out her performance.
Bringing Down The House
After that, Sudophetamine made her drag debut, which was a powerful mix of passionate lip-syncing and choreography through the crowd. The performance almost gave a concert-like energy, encouraging the audience to party and dance along.
Then Guy Paladin took the stage with a bold, ballad performance of Jekyll and Hyde. This included excellently portrayed emotions of craziness and anger. The choreography included an over-the-head one-leg extension flair that dropped directly into a floor split, causing the audience to go wild!
Finally, Marianna Cross ended the show with a sensually spooky striptease. Cross started with her wearing an 18th-century-inspired dress, and ended with her in lingerie, coughing up fake blood.
Closing Out The Cart
In addition to all of the wonderful acts, Matsu also gave away a free ticket to the Wyrd Friends drag show by dropping a fishing line down from a balcony and having audience members reach up to fight for it.
Lastly, all the performers took the stage as Twamley and Matsu closed the show. The two gave gratitude to the audience members, servers, and stage kittens who helped with the show. Then the performers took a few touching moments, reading a few memories that the cast and audience had written about their own grandparents. Finally, the performers closed the show by handing out flowers to each audience member. Truly an evening to remember.
Photo Courtesy: Noah Eberhart (@enemypixels)
