The circus is in town — but don’t bring the kids.
“Boys’ Night,” an all-male show that combines burlesque with the circus, has acrobatics, entertainment, and thrills galore.
It’s also 21-plus.
“There’s nothing dirty or filthy about it, but it’s a little naughty,” said producer and performer Ben Franklin, which he quickly confirmed — in a no-nonsense fashion — is his real name.
Whether your adult sensibilities will find the show naughty, it’s hard to say. Franklin is tight-lipped about what to expect for this performance, except that it will revolve around the theme of summer. In past versions of the seasonal show the performers have melded burlesque and circus performance with comedic results.
“It was a bull matador act performed by two guys — you had this acrobatic strip done by the matador,” he said.
“It’s all about the creativity and the foresight. What can you do to make it more burlesquey?”
Male burlesque — often called “boylesque” by fans — is still far less common than the hipster-approved female equivalent.
But Franklin thinks the scene is on the rise. There’s the New York Boylesque Festival, now in its second year, to celebrate stripteasing without the visceral thrill of a bouncy boob tassle.
But “cirquelesque” is a word that Franklin coined, and he thinks it’s unique.
“We wanted to put on a circus act with a wink and a smile,” Franklin said.
Boys’ Night: An All-Male Cirquelesque Revue at Galapagos Art Space [16 Main St. at Water Street in DUMBO, (718) 222–8500, galapagosartspace.com], Aug. 2, 8:30 pm. $20.
Reach reporter Jaime Lutz at jlutz@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-8310. Follow her on Twitter @jaime_lutz.
