The Naked Philosopher

I've been told Violette Coquette is the best burlesque performer from Edmonton.

It's easy to believe after this show.

What's on the ticket for this show is an award winning and PhD-candidate burlesque performer dressing and undressing and shaking all the bits you'd expect, interspersed with philosophy lessons that delve into the anticapitalist virtues of good art. All in an intimate, rooftop venue with not a bad seat in the house.

And oh boy, does it deliver.

Though, the projections of the philosophy lessons on a sheet that was blowing in the wind did leave me without a good place to look for relatively long stretches between performances, and I did find myself wanting a bit more. I would have liked a bit more production in the downtime to match the high production of the performances.

I'd recommend the show to anyone who enjoys burlesque, but of course that recommendation doesn't particularly matter: those people already know, and this was the second show at Fringe to sell out its entire run.

This has been one of the most beautiful burlesque shows I have ever seen! 10/10 would see it again and I hope it returns year after year.

I had an extravagant evening of burlesque and philosophy. The lack of a fourth wall and size of the space made this an intimate performance. I learned lots and would suggest so many others should learn these lessons from Violette Coquette as well, but sadly for them all the shows are sold out.

This was honestly one of the most beautiful fringe shows I’ve ever seen! It’s more than just a burlesque show, it’s a love letter to the artform that is burlesque, that does an impactful job openly discussing the realities of what we are all going through at the moment. If you are a performer of drag or burlesque it’s an absolute must see. If you’ve never seen burlesque show before in your life it is also a must see!

Also extra points because it’s incredibly intimate and has some of the best views across the city as the sun is setting.

A fantastic job and it’s incredibly well deserved that it sold out before the fringe officially opened.

The Naked Philosopher presents burlesque as more than just the art of the striptease, turning the performance into a playful and lively philosophy lesson about art, pleasure, and the nature of burlesque itself. Written and performed by Violette Coquette, the show embraces its lack of a fourth wall, making the audience a part of the performance rather than simply observers.

Violette Coquette has the impressive ability to consistently command the audience's gaze throughout the show. Her choreography stays in sync with the music, but what makes this particularly effective is how deliberately she uses timing and movement to control the audience's attention. Instead of just moving from one part of the routine to the next, she creates moments of anticipation, using pauses, gestures, and changes in movement to make the audience wait for the next moment. In burlesque, where the audience's gaze is the most important aspect of the performance, this control becomes one of Violette's greatest strengths.

What makes The Naked Philosopher particularly effective, however, is its central theme of using burlesque itself as an alleyway to philosophy. Having Violette present the art form as a philosophy lesson allows the audience to have another way of engaging with what they are watching. Instead of asking the audience to enjoy the spectacle, the show encourages them to think about why burlesque is enjoyable, what makes performance pleasurable, and the massive role art and extravagance can play in our lives.

In the end, The Naked Philosopher succeeds because it understands that burlesque can be both playful and thoughtful. Violette Coquette's control of her choreography, music, costume, and audience creates a performance that is confident and engaging, while the show's philosophical premise gives the spectacle something more to ponder about. Instead of simply showing the audience what burlesque is, The Naked Philosopher invites us to consider why we enjoy it