Burlesque and comedy are two mediums that have always gone hand in hand. Or perhaps we should say, tassels in hand?

The Lowdown Hokum Orchestra and Burlesque Dancers will be reviving this classic style as part of this year’s Sydney Fringe. Their debut stage show, That’s Showbiz, will explore the nature of the music scene and relationships in a fun-filled light. Show creator and long-time jazz musician Doc White chats about his first foray into burlesque and what he hopes audiences will take away.

“I first floated the idea in 2013 and it took nearly a year to get it up and running. I had been playing blues and related music for more years than I care to remember, and I wanted to take that to a wider audience and make it a piece of theatrical entertainment.

“It seems to have worked, because people have been exposed to blues music and early jazz that they otherwise wouldn’t have. That’s one of the comments that comes back frequently; people asking where the music came from.”

Despite his background on the Australian jazz and blues circuit, White has found the feedback overwhelmingly positive for his first venture into the wider world of theatre.

“The theatrical piece really developed a life of its own as well, which was a bit surprising to me,” he says. “People who come from a theatrical appreciation aspect are enjoying the show too, which is a bonus for us.”

Seeing as the Sydney Fringe attracts an array of different audiences, I wonder whether the Lowdown Hokum team hopes to introduce a younger crowd to the mysteries of jazz and blues.

“The blues and jazz audience tends to be much older and who grew up with the bands from the English blues explosion and then explored and went back through,” White explains. “Younger audiences come to that blues and roots music through the younger guys like Ash Grunwald. I wanted to expose a younger audience to the music and felt they would like it if they had a chance to listen to it. So we are bringing a younger crowd, which is really nice.”

This is also White’s first attempt at burlesque, a style that was new to him as even a viewer. “I didn’t know much about the tradition of burlesque and when I was researching it I found that there were all these subgenres, so that was a bit of an eye-opener.”

But despite being new to the style, his background in jazz and blues proved ideal.

“Jazz and blues grew up in New Orleans; it was the music of the boarding houses and the bordellos, so it had a relationship with burlesque in the sense that it grew out of those similar roots. They kinda developed in parallel with one another and crossed paths during various points of time … In the French nightclub scene, early jazz and blues were the big thing. So it seemed pretty logical to stick them together.”

But the question is, what is That’s Showbiz actually all about?

“It’s about a jazz singer, Dee Dee Delore [Nichaud Fitzgibbon], and her husband, who decide to stage a show to resurrect her failing career. But she’s more concerned about her marriage, and unbeknownst to her husband, she hires an ex-musical partner and lover, played by me, who she’s using to make her husband jealous.

“So there’s this underlying rivalry going throughout the show. It’s really about struggling in the music business and not losing sight of the big picture – families and relationships are important.”

That’s Showbiz,performed by The Lowdown Hokum Orchestra and Burlesque Dancers, runs Tuesday September 8 – Saturday September 12at the Seymour Centre, as part of Sydney Fringe Festival 2015.

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