X Burlesque

What is it?

A topless revue with artistic pretensions that make it a bit more interesting at times than just looking at breasts.

Where is it?

In a small cabaret theater at The Flamingo on the Center Strip.

Is it worth the cost?

I still always say use your money and go get a lap dance at a strip club, but if you want something classier than that, this will do.

Why should I see this show?

Because breasts.

What else do I need to know?

Not much – it’s a pretty simple concept.

What’s the bottom line?

The bottom line on a topless show? Too easy of a joke.

Pretty women take off most of their clothes and dance, shimmy, and gyrate in various themed fantasy numbers. In other words, it’s a typical Las Vegas topless show so you could stop reading here and know most of what you need to know about X Burlesque.

The primary differentiator here are the vaguely artistic pretensions they use to spice things up a bit. Each vignette is presented with a title – “Smoke and Mirrors;” “Cake and Eat It, Too;” “Hot Mess;” etc – that represents a theme, a prop, or a musical style. Some of them are pretty simplistic – “Down Home Cookin’,” for instance, is an excuse to put the girls in cowboy hats and boots (and not much else) and do a little two-steppin’. But some go a little further with moody video accompaniments and/or stage effects that boost it beyond just looking at topless women.

An example: “Sweet and Innocent” features two topless women and a tub. But instead of splashy cavorting, the piece is done as a series of posed “snapshots” with moments of lights-out darkness in between to reset the scene. It’s almost demur in a way and certainly more visually interesting than if it had just been two topless women in a tub.

Then again, the target audience probably just wants to see two topless women in a tub and never mind the artsy fartsy stuff. Having said that, those particular people are probably over at the strip club and not here anyway so perhaps we can live to appreciate the balance.

Two complaints. First, the lack of a personality other than the ones being displayed by the dancers leave things a little flat. Fantasy, down the street at Luxor, has a live singer jazzing things up and interacting with the audience throughout and X Burlesque could use some of that energy. Second, the soundtrack was not as interesting as it could have been with many of the numbers unrecognizable background music and the rest not always what I’d call sexy. “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars is a fantastic song but it’s more party up than get down if you know what I mean. Ditto “Crazy Bitch” by Buckcherry and “Fly” by Lenny Kravitz, which were used appropriately for the scenes they set (the aforementioned “Hot Mess” and “Mile High Club” with randy stewardesses respectively) but aren’t the kinds of things you’ve probably got on your “in the mood” playlist.

Oh, you know you’ve got one. Don’t lie to me.

But in the end, we go back to the basics of what this show is: pretty women take off most of their clothes and dance, shimmy, and gyrate in various themed fantasy numbers. Do you need more than that?