Ursula Martinez
Ursula Martinez also known as Ursula Lea (born 1966)[1] is a London-based Anglo-Spanish British writer, performer, and cult cabaret diva noted for her use of nudity and non-actors.
Her latest show, "My Stories, Your Emails", builds on the notoriety gained from popular Internet videos of her cabaret striptease act, especially "Hanky Panky".[2] Hanky Panky [3] is a disappearing handkerchief magic routine where each piece of clothing that hides the handkerchief is discarded until she is completely nude.[4] Her Hanky Panky act was performed in the award winning La Clique cabaret show and was filmed during the 2007 Montreal Comedy Festival.
Another popular cabaret segment is called "Light My Fire" in which the pasties and g-string Martinez wears burst into flame, one by one, and disappear.
Describing her work in the Guardian, Lyn Gardner wrote, 'Martinez's stage performances look deceptively simple; they may seem to bumble along, but this is a contrivance that allows Martinez to undertake highly complex investigations into reality and fiction, autobiography and lies, and the nature of identity itself, her own most of all.'[5]
References
- ↑ The Sunday Herald, 2003
- ↑ The Arts Desk, Feb 2010
- ↑ Hanky Panky video from the Just for Laughs Comedy festival in Montreal [1]
- ↑ The Daily Telegraph
- ↑ Lyn Gardner, 'In the Raw', The Guardian, 11 October 2006
External links
- Official website
- Barbican listing
- "Hanky Panky" filmed live, Montreal Comedy Festival, 2007
- Ursula Martinez's naked ambition, BBC News, 15 August 2001
- Lyn Gardner, In the raw, The Guardian, 11 October 2006
