New Orleans Burlesque Shows: 10Best Nightlife Reviews

In a city where gay-friendly is beyond the obvious, Bourbon Pub dishes regular boy-lesque shows with plenty of theatricality and high style. Every flavor is onstage during the regular Blue Book Cabaret upstairs at The Bourbon Pub, which features A-list burlesque, variety and drag artistry. Also, a kickin’ dance club, this Bourbon Street venue seduces a predominantly gay clientele, but all are welcome. Drag is an art form here, with out of town performers like Lipstixx “Ladies on Parade” and the only drag queen you can see from outer space, Big Shirli Stevenz from North Carolina. During Southern Decadence, you never know what you’ll see at Bourbon Pub.

Live music and Green Fairy Burlesque add up to a sizzling good time in the bar just a block off of Canal Street in the lower French Quarter. Named after the original Mahogany Hall in Storyville, a lavish bordello on Basin Street operated by Madame Lulu White. A frequent haunt of musicians like King Oliver and Louis Armstrong, the original spot inspires the music and tease at the Chartres Street venue. Decked out like a speak easy, the bar specializes in absinthe cocktails along with the usual classics. There isn’t a cover to listen to jazz – don’t forget to tip the band! – but it’s $20 to catch the show in the Green Fairy Room for the Absinthe Experience in the back.
There’s a one drink minimum per set.

How about some legs with your eggs? SoBou dishes brunch with a sassy kick every Sunday from 11:30-1:30. World-famous burlesque dancer Bella Blue performs to live music while you dine on three creative Creole courses by Chef Juan Carlos Gonzalez. New Orleans has a long history with burlesque dancing. Our city was a burlesque hot spot from the 1940s to when clubs were shut down in the 1960s. This fun brunch is Sobou’s homage to this historic and beautiful art form. The leggy burlesque show begins around 11, with dancing intermittent through 2 pm. You can drink bottomless bellinis during brunch for $25 per person – good until 3 pm.

Talk Nerdy To Me is a weekly burlesque revue featuring the dirtiest nerds in New Orleans. The troupe that brought you Arkham ASS-ylum: A Batman Burlesque Play and A Thong of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones Burlesque presents Talk Nerdy To Me, a burlesque revue presented by The Society of Sin every Saturday at The Dragon’s Den just off Frenchmen Street on Esplanade.

Every week there will be a different show filled with new burlesque acts as well as the talents of local comedians, sideshow performers, and musicians. Tickets are $10, available online or at the door.

Founded by Xena Zeit-Geist in 2014, The Society of Sin is a group of New Orleans burlesque and variety performers known for creating burlesque shows with a narrative. Though the Society of Sin specializes in burlesque plays, variety shows include sideshow, drag, comedy, singing, dancing, and neo-burlesque.

The Sweet Spot is a regular feature at HOB, a burlesque variety show celebrating the sexier side of life. Performing in more than 30 cities around the country, this immersive show includes performance poets, sultry burlesque dancers, live music and comedy. Leave your rules, restriction and expectations at the door and have a blast. HOB is always up to something, from regular comedy shows to all kinds of music acts. Opened in 1994, this historic blues house offers standing room viewing of a stage that gets concert-goes right on top of the performers. Check out the 300 pieces of folk art lining the walls and hallways of the interior.

Allways Lounge is a locals’ favorite bar located on the edge of the Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans. In the back, there is a relatively intimate theater known for hosting some pretty risque shows. Then there’s Bayou Blues Burlesque, a delicious gumbo of music, circus, sideshow and burlesque with a Southern Gothic twist and modern flair. Allways is a frequent host to top nationally touring burlesque shows like “Boobs and Goombas” a burlesque adaptation of the Super Mario Bros. if you can imagine that. Talented local dancer Lefty Lucy hosts Burlesque Bingo most Monday nights. Drag shows – including the occasional midnight jazz brunch – are also popular.

Located inside the Royal Sonesta in the French Quarter, Jazz Playhouse offers local talent seven nights a week, no cover charge, in a swank, upscale setting. Some of the city’s best jazz performers take the stage, including The James River Movement, Michael Watson’s The Alchemy, Luther Kent and Glen David Andrews. A few others not to miss include Germaine Bazzle, a soulful jazz singer and Gerald French and the Original Tuxedo Jazz Band, a troupe that defines old school class and style. Every Friday night around 11, a few of New Orleans’ best burlesque performers – yes it’s Trixie again! from the city’s top troupes also perform.

Carnaval Lounge is an alt music venue that rises to the top of the dive bar heap in a city that may just have invented the genre. Like most things New Orleans, Carnaval has multiple personalities. Mondays you’ll usually find a combo of comedy and burlesque for all kinds of fun. The bar is also a live rock and roll music venue, well not really it’s a Goth heavy metal venue. Ok, forget that. You can catch a Cajun band for sure. Or if you’re lucky, a somber Balkans folk trio that inspires what looks like Greek dancing.
There’s a convivial live and let live attitude here that is one of the best things about this town when it really comes together.

One Eyed Jacks in the French Quarter of New Orleans is known as a quirky venue with a wide range of shows. One of those acts is resident burlesque troupe, Fleur de Tease. Created and produced by Trixie Minx, this modern twist on classic vaudeville showcases plenty of skin along with magicians, fire eaters, comedians and aerialists. The shows are well-produced shows and the dancers adept. The troupe also performs at The Saint Hotel and the Royal Sonesta Hotel. Sly and funny, shows might include a burlesque Halloween Revue “We put the BOO in BOOBS!!!” and Creole Sweet Tease with a traditional jazz band. Boylesque is also featured.

This red hot bar in the sexy Saint Hotel on Canal Street might just be the perfect date night destination. Done up in sassy retro-Bordello decor, the backlit bar is known for potent swanky drinks (spendy too, but oh well) and a variety of entertainment options. Housed in the historic Audubon Building at the corner of Canal and Burgundy, the Burgundy Bar benefited from the $40 million-plus Saint hotel renovation, evident in details like scarlet Venetian chandeliers that shimmer overhead. Cocktails are inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins – how fun is that? If you’re feeling peckish, Tempt Restaurant, home to chef Andrea Dexter’s creative fare, is across the lobby.