Live Shots: Fou Fou Ha!’s erotic clownery reminded us that pleasure is resistance

On Thursday, May 28, longtime erotic clown cabaret troupe Fou Fou Ha! offered up a sensual evening. The red carpet outside of 644 Broadway led to the “Sam Lee Laundry.” Down the stairs, a 1930s-esque bar with a piano player (Thatcher Boomer from The John Brothers Piano Company) and fainting couch greeted patrons, some decked out for an evening of decadent glamor. After a lux libation, one entered a secret portrait door and et viola, The Palace Theater with crystal sconces and rich red curtains where the sexy communal troupe titillated the audience. Garters, wigs, sparks, dickies, corsets, pasties, canes, and plenty of bare skin highlighted sexuality of all kinds in traditional burlesque numbers juxtaposed with colorful clown elements.

Emcee “A Damn Fou!” (Adam Goldthwaite) opened the evening with “Nazi Germany, how are we feeling? My mistake…” Many have been feeling a bit uncomfortable with the historical parallels, so latest show The Nectar, with its mission of fighting oppression with sexuality, was balm to many a weary psyche. Fou Fou Ha! indulged the audience with a sumptuous display of all of the ways one can enjoy sex—alone, couples, throuples, groups, gropes (consensual, of course).

Employing the burlesque equivalent of call and response, “A Damn Fou!” insisted the audience voice their approval for the exploits on stage and around the theater. Edie Eve wove through the audience with incense and chocolate kisses before her sumptuous striptease. Sparks literally flew later when an angle grinder was utilized in spectacular fashion as Roxy Mirage lit up the stage with sparks on increasingly erogenous zones on the supple body of Haus of Jubilee (Someday Fou). Livanna Maislen danced an enchanting (and very handsy) mirror routine.

Pulling from a plethora of dance genres, Maya Culbertson-Lane produced, conceived, directed, and choreographed the show, serving as the onstage dominatrix. Rebel Rose (PampleFousse) wasn’t the only one who got wet with her tantalizing tub piece. Little Dickie’s (Ariel Isakowitz) versatility with the cancan, canes, and fans aroused and amused. Autumn Adamme and Paul Melish’s delicious dance was a sultry respite between other high-energy pieces. Each voluptuous routine added to the sexual tension of the evening.

Even the merch was sexy; Dark Garden corsets, donned by many of the performers, were available for sale in the vendor area as was Full Witch Mode nipple jewelry (no clasps, no clamps!) and Sex and Psychedelics magazine art. The Nectar reminded us that pleasure is resistance. For now, we are basking in the afterglow, just waiting to revel with Fou Fou Ha!’s next one: Foutenanny on October 2 at Brava Theater. —Patty Riek