Briefs: Dirty Laundry—more burlesque, tricks and laughs than you can poke a rhinestone at

Posted on 1 May, 2023

When I call Brett Rosengreen, he’s in the middle of rhinestoning a top hat and tails for his upcoming performance at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Vegas. As you do.

It’s the perfect introduction to a chat with Brett (pictured above), one of the world’s most sought-after male burlesque artists, who will soon take to the stage at Canberra Theatre Centre as part of Briefs: Dirty Laundry from 10–13 May.

A rollicking night out, Briefs: Dirty Laundry is a joyous and wild variety show that Brett describes as: “a wonderful collision of award-winning burlesque, circus, drag, dance, acrobatics, comedy and cabaret—you name it, it’s in there.” Did someone say girls night out?

After 10 years of touring the world, this year’s show, Dirty Laundry, allows the Briefs crew to reflect on their personal experiences during the pandemic, giving the artists creative freedom to craft unique performances—from the hilarious to the heartfelt.

“Dirty Laundry is our healing show after COVID,” explains Brett. “A few of us had gone through some shitty things and the theme comes from getting things off your chest—in whatever way they wanted to.”

“Everybody in the company is world-wide top of their game which is why it’s such a highly sought-after show.”

Credit: Brendan McCarthy.

For Brett, the theme has been interpreted literally, with his routine seeing him emerge from a washing machine, covered in strategically placed soap bubbles.

As he puts it, the show is “camp, it’s jaw dropping, it’s got a sprinkle of trashiness in the best possible way and let’s say it’s very fleshy.”

But here’s the kicker—Brett wasn’t even supposed to be a burlesque artist. In 2015 while living in London, having toured the globe as a commercial dancer with the likes of Rihanna, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams, Coldplay, Elton John and Jay Z (just to name a few), Brett got a call from a friend.

“She had a night called Burlesque Idol in London and needed to fill some spaces. She said ‘You’re a dancer, can you just throw something together’?”

Photo: Ven Tithing.

Needless to say the ‘something’ Brett threw together was a hit and after he won the competition that night, he began to be booked for cabaret shows.

“I accidentally fell into burlesque,” he laughs. “Burlesque wasn’t even on my radar…it just skyrocketed, now I’m doing all these big shows as a male burlesque performer.”

This is how Brett came to know Briefs. After performing with them as a guest in their London shows for a few years, Brett moved back to Australia and has been touring with Briefs “ever since”, including during the pandemic when Queensland lockdown rules allowed the group to perform around the state to audiences at 50 per cent capacity.

“Our management team was amazing and because Queensland was doing so well, we organised a regional tour…we were going up to Mount Isa, Townsville, Toowoomba…it was like Priscilla Queen of the Desert!”

Thankfully, nationwide tours are back to normal once more and we can’t wait to be immersed in the soapy, glittery embrace of Briefs: Dirty Laundry next month. As Brett puts it:

“They’ve never seen anything like it before—I can guarantee you that.”

Photo: Naomi Reed.

Feature image: Briefs perform Dirty Laundry during the 2023 Castlemaine State Festival. Photo: Brendan McCarthy