‘Quarantine Cabaret’ a cheeky online distraction
Michelle L’Amour asks the musical question, “Remember hugs?” She also estimates that the most recent episode of “Quarantine Cabaret” was recorded “on March 73rd, in the longest month ever.”
L’Amour is a burlesque queen out of Los Angeles who has performed routinely in Las Vegas; I met her a few years back after Melody Sweets’ solo shows at Fizz at Caesars Palace. L’Amour is a great talent with a sharp sense of humor and the vision to assemble the “QC” web series. Find it on at 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Fridays at quarantine-cabaret.com.The five episodes and links to venmo and paypal sites for online tips are there.
L’Amour originally sought to host variety shows from her apartment in L.A. Just as she was recruiting talent and setting up a staging area, the city went to stay-at-home measures.
“I thought, ‘Oh, we can just have everyone record video in their living rooms and send the clips to us,” L’Amour says. “I’m actually really happy because it brings in performers from all over the world. I’ve become acquainted with artists from Seoul, South Korea and from South Africa.”
From Vegas, Jimmy Slonina of “Mystere” and “The Atomic Saloon Show” has contributed his fabulous human-balancing act. It’s fabulous because his partner is a blow-up doll. Laugh Factory at Tropicana and “Fantasy” specialty act Murray Sawchuck and “Crazy Girls” emcee Dani Elizabeth — who are all over YouTube and their own social media channels — are also featured.
The “Quarantine Cabaret” entertainers cut across most genres. Magicians, acrobats, burlesque artists, comics and contortionists take part. The money raised is shared among the community.
“We’re doing well with it, considering I’m not very technically savvy,” L’Amour says. “I didn’t even know what Zoom was until this all started. But I think when people see the quality of the performances and the way its put together, they’ll be impressed.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
