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Meet Mr. Gorgeous, Burlesque Performer With a Twist
He's onstage, almost nude beneath the lobster suit
The neo-burlesque movement started taking over NYC clubs in the 1990s
in response to a city that had become shockingly sanitized.
Interestingly enough, now that the sex is everywhere, burly-q is bigger
than ever. Sex is online, on apps, and maybe even in your house, but
sophisticates are still lining up for burlesque shows at boîtes from the
reopened Slipper Room to Meat Packing restaurants to the Cutting Room
and beyond. And why shouldn't they? The art of the tease is timeless,
the practitioners have gotten even more outrageous, focused, and funny,
and there's no longer much potential embarrassment about communally
enjoying the soulful shimmying of exposed flesh. All over town, people
have been piling together for an orgy of appreciation over the strutting
strippers who put the "graphic" back in choreographic and keep moxie
and mystery alive in nocturnal New York. Burlesque has even survived the
Christina Aguilera movie!
Ben Trivett
One of the more alluring figures on the scene is Eric Gorsuch,
28, who performs as Mr. Gorgeous, preening in slicked black hair, nerdy
specs, and either a bathing suit under a lobster costume or glittery
shorts and size-16 heels. Mr. Gorgeous is known for acting out amusing
scenarios that usually involve him doing gymnastic stunts while dropping
articles of clothing and glibly smiling like a Clark Kent who changes into a very different type of Superman.
The Baltimore-born Gorsuch comes from a circus background and got
into burlesque four years ago when seduced into it by friends and club
hosts Trixie Little and Evil Hate Monkey. (The latter does weird pet tricks with Fred Astaire songs, a yellow tutu, and flying chunks of bananas.) Gorsuch's act
clicked to the point where he's doing more burlesque than circus work
now, noting, "It's easy to throw a costume into a bag and run out and
make a couple of bucks." It sounds more fun than his old job—being the
trapeze catcher "who hangs upside down, catches people, and throws them
back to the bar." (And it's not even an open bar.)
Don't think someone named Gorgeous must be grossly egotistical,
though. When he briefly taught art a few years ago, some of the kids
couldn't pronounce "Mr. Gorsuch" and started calling him "Mr. Gorgeous"
by mistake. That turned into a running gag at the school, and it
eventually became his stage name, on Trixie's suggestion. "I wasn't too
sold on the idea because it's kind of a douchebag name," Mr. Gorsuch
told me. "So I do more of a silly, comical character. That's why I'm not
trying to be seriously sexy—so I can get away with the name." Yeah, but
he happens to be cute enough to wear it without irony, especially when
he's not wearing much of anything else. Still, when I initially called
him for comments and said, "Mr. Gorgeous?" he laughed and replied, "Eric
is just fine."
"I feel like the styling of Mr. Gorgeous is very 1950s," Eric told
me. "I like to adapt older burlesque female acts, like chair numbers.
There's a famous giant martini glass number. Well, I'm doing an act with
a five-and-a-half foot ice-cream sundae. I try to mix it up and keep it
classic and mix gender roles.
"I'm always having a good time," he went on. "If I'm not, I don't do
it. There are certain things I don't do. Not that I find people doing
those thing repulsive or embarrassing, but I have a certain set of
rules." You won't find Mr. Gorgeous going full frontal, for example.
"Burlesque is supposed to be a tease, joke, or comment," he explained.
"If I could find a reason why full nudity would improve my act, I would.
But I'd rather see a clever joke or punch line at the end." Or a big
maraschino cherry.
The result, he said, has people more amused than ready to pounce on his end. "In general," he said, "people understand the character, so I
don't have a lot of sexual people pushing into me, but a lot of them
want to take a photo. I like when a straight guy and his girlfriend can
enjoy my performance and the guy doesn't leave feeling weirded out."
Gorsuch is not a straight guy himself, if you're wondering. He lives
with his longtime male partner who's also a circus performer, and
they've done acts together—in public, that is. Gorsuch also has a small
costume business, and obviously has a way with crustacean chic. (He
dresses as a lobster because he's rebelling against the fact that he's
allergic to shellfish. It's his way of turning allergy into art.)
"He's so tall and handsome, like a tree that wants to be climbed,"
observed Evil Hate Monkey in between bouts of potassium tossing. Added
Trixie Little, "I've seen that guy work grey-haired ladies into a state
of flush while the gays are waiting quietly in the back for his number.
His acts are clever, funny, and impeccably designed because he has a
serious eye for detail. And he's nice." See, neo-burlesque is shocking.
Little also has a handle on what's behind the unquenchable stripping
boom: "Burlesque has always been the working man/woman's entertainment.
It's populist, accessible, rowdy, and if you don't like one act, just
wait five minutes and there will be another one. And shows have improved
in the past 10-plus years. Performers have professionalized their
costuming and some shows have expanded to become true variety shows,
with high-level circus acts sharing the stage with the stripteasers.
Live entertainment is just inspiring. The audience likes to sit there
and think either 'I could do that' or 'I could never do that.' "
Or, in the case of Mr. Gorgeous, "Maybe I could do him."
