Luchadores, Midgets, and Burlesque! Oh My!

Last night I experienced the genius that is Lucha Vavoom. Twice a year in LA a company puts on a three day show of masked Mexican wrestling and burlesque. Here’s how things went down.

Somehow my friend and coworker, Flava D, and I convinced some of our associates to attend the event with us. To start off the night we all met at Philippe’s for some outstanding French Dip.

Then we headed to the Mayan for some wrestling goodness.

The first requirement when arriving was to buy a mask. I went with the classic Blue Demon Jr. mask. Flava D. went with Dr. Wagner. Even our new PA Jenn joined in buying a mask.

Flava D, Jenn, Me

The Lucha Vavoom show is basically five to six matches with commentaries by local comedians. Last night we had Patton Oswalt and Dana Gould. My guess was Dana Gould had been doing all three shows because his voice was gone. In between each match they have burlesque dancers come out and do a show. The burlesque is pretty old school in that the costumes are extravagant and the women aren’t exactly attractive. Every now and then they have a guy come out and do a tease for the ladies in the audience. The guy undressing while jumping on a pogo stick was a favorite with the ladies.

Non-masked friends

It should also be said that the crowd attracts every type of Los Angelian imaginable. It’s worth it just to go and people watch. There were a few C and D list celebrities and comedians roaming around. The unexpected celebrity spotting was a well dressed Gary Shandling and his “girlfriend.”

The show started off with a bang when the Wau Wau Sisters came out to do a trapeze act to GnR’s Welcome to the Jungle. I should state that they smoked and drank beer during the whole act. Genius! The show exploded from there. To my excitement the first match included two of the Los Gallineros. Their tag team women partners the Poubelles gave a better show than the chickens. Still a nice opening match.

The highlight match of the evening was the midget tag team match starring Tsuki. Tsuki got the biggest crowd push of the night and he deserved it. He’s genius.

The other matches I was bothered by some drunk that kept yelling about the Carney’s stealing his money. Out of all the people in the audience he had to select me to talk to. The final match unfortunately did not include Super Porky. The night before had actually been his last match. Still Blue Demon Jr., who is Lucha Libre royalty, wrestled along with the transvestite Cassandra. Who apparently is really huge. I don’t get it, but he did wrestle the best in the match, and did it with two cracked ribs. The real highlight of the match was seeing a drunken fan charge the ring and five or six big guys just crush him. Why would you run into a ring that is occupied with four 300lb men? The show then ended with a guy performing with hula hoops while dangling from the ceiling.

That’s brief wrap-up of the over the top and tongue in cheek exhibition of Lucha Vavoom. Obviously, Lucha Vavoom isn’t for everyone. Still, it’s something that can’t be missed. You’ve never seen anything like Lucha Vavoom. This October, when they come back, Flava D and I have already made plans to attend. This time we’re shelling out for floor seats. None of this general admission crap. This event following the MOL Nation party has made for one the greatest Februarys in a long long time.

Big ups to everyone who showed up, particularly Mike O. who came even though he recently had his knee rebuilt. Big ups to Jenn too who understood the importance of buying a mask.

More pictures are coming once I get them from Jen.

Viva La Lucha Vavoom!