IN: A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. The word derives from the Italian burlesco, which, in turn, is derived from the Italian burla - a joke, ridicule or mockery. Burlesque overlaps in meaning with caricature, parody and travesty, and, in its theatrical sense, with extravaganza, as presented during the Victorian era. "Burlesque" has been used in English in this literary and theatrical sense since the late 17th century.

Victorian burlesque, sometimes known as "travesty" or "extravaganza", was popular in London theatres between the 1830s and the 1890s. It took the form of musical theatre parody in which a well-known opera, play or ballet was adapted into a broad comic play, usually a musical play, often risque in style, mocking the theatrical and musical conventions and styles of the original work, and quoting or pastiching text or music from the original work. The comedy often stemmed from the incongruity and absurdity of the classical subjects, with realistic historical dress and settings, being juxtaposed with the modern activities portrayed by the actors. Madame Vestris produced burlesques at the Olympic Theatre beginning in 1831 with Olympic Revels by J. R. Planche. Other authors of burlesques included H. J. Byron, G. R. Sims, F. C. Burnand, W. S. Gilbert and Fred Leslie.  Victorian burlesque related to and in part derived from traditional English pantomime "with the addition of gags and 'turns'." In the early burlesques, following the example of ballad opera, the words of the songs were written to popular music; later burlesques mixed the music of opera, operetta, music hall and revue, and some of the more ambitious shows had original music composed for them. This English style of burlesque was successfully introduced to New York in the 1840s.  Some of the most frequent subjects for burlesque were the plays of Shakespeare and grand opera. The dialogue was generally written in rhyming couplets, liberally peppered with bad puns. A typical example from a burlesque of Macbeth: Macbeth and Banquo enter under an umbrella, and the witches greet them with "Hail! hail! hail!" Macbeth asks Banquo, "What mean these salutations, noble thane?" and is told, "These showers of 'Hail' anticipate your 'reign'". A staple of burlesque was the display of attractive women in travesty roles, dressed in tights to show off their legs, but the plays themselves were seldom more than modestly risque.  Burlesque became the speciality of certain London theatres, including the Gaiety and Royal Strand Theatre from the 1860s to the early 1890s. Until the 1870s, burlesques were often one-act pieces running less than an hour and using pastiches and parodies of popular songs, opera arias and other music that the audience would readily recognize. The house stars included Nellie Farren, John D'Auban, Edward Terry and Fred Leslie. From about 1880, Victorian burlesques grew longer, until they were a whole evening's entertainment rather than part of a double- or triple-bill. In the early 1890s, these burlesques went out of fashion in London, and the focus of the Gaiety and other burlesque theatres changed to the new more wholesome but less literary genre of Edwardian musical comedy.

what were some play titles?

OUT: Olympic Revels by J. R. Planche.


IN: Joseph Bruce is a native of Berkley, Michigan. He was the last born of three children. His father, Richard Bruce, stole all of the family's money and left when Bruce was two years old. Joe's mother, Linda, was forced to care for him and his siblings, Robert and Theresa, off the income she made as a janitor.

After being released from jail in 1990, Bruce decided to get away from gang life and start a career in professional wrestling. Bruce's friend, Rudy Hill, got him booked in a local wrestling promotion. Rudy had lied to the promoter by telling him that Bruce had been trained at the Chris Adams Wrestling School in Texas. At the event, Bruce met Rob Van Dam and Sabu, two other first-timers with whom he became very good friends. Bruce wrestled as Corporal Darryl Daniels, wearing a U.S. Army uniform that his brother had sent him while in the Gulf War, and had his first match against "Irish" Mickey Doyle at Azteca Hall in Southwest Detroit. Training alongside Rob Van Dam, Bruce went on to wrestle for Al Snow, including the event which featured the debut of Van Dam. After a short run in the business, Joe realized his dislike for the backstage politics, and decided to take up a career in music, taking the name Violent J.  Bruce returned to wrestling in the independent circuit in 1994, under the name Hector Hatchet. He competed for Midwest Championship Wrestling throughout the next year, wrestling in between recording sessions and touring. From 1996 to 1998, Bruce was involved in a rivalry with Sewer Dwella in Insane Championship Wrestling. He continued to compete in several independent promotions for the next three years, including IWA Mid-South and NWA Mid American Wrestling.  In 2001, Bruce appeared in Xtreme Pro Wrestling at XPW Rapture to aid Utsler. After Bruce suffered a real-life injury from a sloppy clothesline, the duo left the company. On October 5, 2002, he and Utsler wrestled in Ring of Honor and defeated Oman Tortuga and Diablo Santiago. Bruce was later made a playable character in both Eidos Interactive's video games Backyard Wrestling: Don't Try This at Home and Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood as Violent J. To help promote the games, he competed in a series of matches for Backyard Wrestling in 2003 and 2004.

Did he win anything?

OUT: