The art of burlesque goes back centuries, but eventually it became more or less synonymous with strip. In this country it went completely out of fashion, since there are hundreds of places you can go to see girls taking their clothes off. Its revival is due mainly to the success of Dita von Teese and her slinky, tongue-in-cheek retro-performances that have made her a world star. There is no nudity in this new burlesque; a couple of strategically placed stars and a G-string are as far down that road as you get. The girls are coy, knowing, but at the same time they’re sending the whole process up.

We began promisingly with four bunny girls, followed by a song full of innuendo from hostess Kiki Taboo. “You’re going to be thrilled, teased and enticed” she promised, “but it’s tease, not sleaze”. It was almost impossible to hear the names that she announced, screeching into her microphone, but we had, (I think), Hotcake Kitty, covered in balloons which she popped one by one, followed by Slinky Sparkles, a tall blonde who has a master’s degree in clinical neuroscience !

Slinky does a dance with two giant lollipops. Another girl is marooned on a desert island and takes off her clothes to wave at passing planes and ships, and is followed by a tiny lady who does some virtuoso work with hula-hoops.

A girl in a red dress shows us she has a rabbit concealed beneath it. “Would you like to touch my bunny?” she asks. Most striking is Chris Columbine, a classically trained pianist who keeps her piano going as she removes her clothes.

The house was packed with people of every age, some young girls dressed as though to take part. It was an evening of twirling tassels and bare buttocks, and the audience had a ball. It wasn’t sexy, it was fun; but somehow I had expected it to be better.