When you think of burlesque you might think of the days of yesteryear. If you’re not familiar with it at all, think the showgirls you see on Boardwalk Empire. It’s basically the mother of stripping, a more involved version with a heavy focus on costumes and actual performance. Women can run the gamut from very thin to very curvy and everything in between. Burlesque superstar Gia Nova falls into the category of just unbelievably sexy. She has an hourglass figure with striking facial features and despite her tattoos and piercings is reminiscent of a gorgeous 1950’s pin-up girl. In addition to being absolutely breathtaking, she does fire breathing, pretty cool right? Mens Mag Daily caught up with the sexy vixen to discuss her start in burlesque, her unique look, and this weekend’s convention where she is a featured guest.
See Gia Nova in person this weekend at the Mad Monster Party.
Mens Mag Daily: Alright Gia, give us a little background and tell us how you got started.
Gia Nova: I actually started by working at a fetish club and doing fetish shows. I was also doing some burlesque shows with a local troupe. That was kind of my scene even before I started working at the gentleman’s clubs. I was dancing and kind of getting exposed to burlesque. After that I actually started working at a strip club in Atlanta so I didn’t do any burlesque or fetish for a while. I eventually got on the feature circuit and I redirected my shows back to the burlesque and fetish and took them on the road with me.
Mens Mag Daily: Okay so I can picture what burlesque is, I know what it is in my head but what is the actual definition of it?
Gia Nova: I think a lot of people would argue the answer to that because it’s different things to different people. In short, it’s a form of art that includes dancing and stripping. Original burlesque was actually used as satire to maybe poke fun at political issues and things like that and what better way to do that than with a naked or nearly naked woman on stage? It was basically blue collar entertainment but it has evolved past that. It’s definitely a lot of different things to a lot of different people.
Mens Mag Daily: So is burlesque completely nude?
Gia Nova: It depends. I don’t believe it started that way. When it first started obviously that would have been very risqué. In the 1940’s and 1950’s it became tassels and G-strings. I’ve been to every strip club worth visiting in this country and most of them are pasties and a G-string or topless and a G-string. There are very few that are full nude. There are burlesque girls who do nude though.
Mens Mag Daily: It seems like the fans and the performers are very passionate about it. Is it considered an actual art form?
Gia Nova: It depends on who you ask but I definitely consider it an art form.
Mens Mag Daily: Correct me if I’m wrong, but one of the things about burlesque is that it features many different types of women, is that right?
Gia Nova: Yeah definitely, the strip clubs we have now were kind of birthed by burlesque. There’s a direct connection and the women back then were built more like a traditional show girl or stripper but it has usually had women of all different shapes and sizes so it’s kind of quirky and offbeat in that sense. I think burlesque was a little more open to tattooed girls before strip clubs were and more open to curvier girls and even girls who were very thin and flat chested. For a while there strip clubs were looking for that one traditional type but there are so many different tastes that strip clubs have broadened their horizons in terms of the girls they have working for them.
Mens Mag Daily: I saw a video of your performing and there was fire and dancing and all kinds of things going on. It looks like it definitely takes some ability and some preparation.
Gia Nova: It definitely takes preparation. My shows are highly costumed and highly choreographed. There’s always some kind of crazy element like flame breathing. The video you saw was actually from a convention I did in the spring and I did like an hour long show. It basically included all of it so that was pretty neat.
Mens Mag Daily: So it’s more involved than stripping?
Gia Nova: I don’t know. Some of the features do a few other things. I’m still a stripper through and through as well. I feel like there’s a lot of overlap but as far preparation a lot of time goes into it because I do it full time.
Mens Mag Daily: How do guys react to the show with all that’s going on like the fire breathing and everything?
Gia Nova: They usually love it. Once in a while I’ll get a random drunk guy at the very beginning of the show who’s screaming for me to take everything off. He just needs to be patient, it’s all coming off anyway. (Laughs) Every now and then a drunk guy will stand up and try to touch the fire or something. In general they love it and I think it’s because you don’t see a lot of that anymore.
Mens Mag Daily: Your look isn’t what I expected; I was expecting a more gothic look.
Gia Nova: Okay, it’s funny though because I started in the fetish clubs. My whole back is tattooed, and I have six facial piercings but I understand because I’m still blonde with a tan and big boobs. I’m still an entertainer and whether I tend to go more on the Goth side or the punk side sometimes I still have to hit the gym and make sure I look good naked. There are definite standards no matter what your style is. It’s funny you should say that because some people will say they expected me to be more gothic but I’ll show up to Playboy for a shoot and they think I’m so punk and alternative so I straddle this in between. I just look how I want to look. I’m not trying to be anything. Whatever I think looks good I do it. It’s a mix of everything I like. I’m always in between. It seems that I don’t have enough tattoos to be a tattoo model because the girls nowadays have like their faces tattooed and everything but for Playboy I’m the most alternative girl they’ve ever photographed. They question how many tattoos I have and tattoo magazines think I don’t have enough.
Mens Mag Daily: You have a big event coming up this weekend, tell me about it.
Gia Nova: This weekend is a convention in Phoenix called the Mad Monster Party. It’s one of the fastest growing conventions of sci-fi, horror, and pop culture. They keep kind of traveling and growing. I’ll be one of the guests and I have a booth where I’ll be signing. Friday I will have my show at 11:11 P.M. It’s going to be like this dark, creepy burlesque with kind of an occult feel. I have another performer with me and she does sideshow so it will be sideshow and burlesque but a little bit creepier for the horror fans. I’m a huge horror fan. I’ll be at my table on Saturday and Sunday signing. It’s a full blown convention, it’s very cool. If you’re into horror, sci-fi, comic books, toys, it’s really fun. There’s even some wrestling, I think Roddy piper is going to be a guest. It’s a little bit of everything. Elvira is going to be there too so I’m excited about that. It’s at the Sheraton downtown Phoenix.
Mens Mag Daily: Awesome, so how can your fans reach you?
Gia Nova: Well, my Twitter is https://twitter.com/Gia_Nova and I do respond on there. (Laughs) Also I’m revamping my website as we speak and it should be up in about a week, which I’m really excited about. The site is www.ilovegianova.com.
Article By: Jon DaBove
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