Bricktop's at the Parlour

Bricktop’s was a Los Angeles Club in the “Russian Quarter” inspired by Weimar cabarets, Manhattan speakeasies and Parisian salons. Andrew Gould and Dr. Vaginal Davis established the Friday night club at the Parlour, a venue that had been a male/female bordello at the turn of the century. The night was hosted by Vag Davis as “Bricktop,” the eighty year old proprietress who was neither a singer or a hoofer, and accompanied by house piano player Mr. Uncertain. Each week had a different theme supported by guest performers. The clientele was the LA scene of flappers, old time jazz aficionados, retro vaudevillians, Neo-Burlesque performers and silent film fans. A melange of Jazz, dadism, surrealism and other arts, Bricktop’s was the place for the modern lost generation to feel found.

Bricktop’s

The club was the idea of Vag Davis, a performance artist and long time scene maker in Los Angeles. It was named after famous early 20th century club proprietress Ada “Bricktop” Smith, the African American who had her own clubs in the 20s and 30s. The walls of the Parlour Club were painted by artists Dame Darcy and Anthony Sunseri.

References

* [http://www.laweekly.com/la-vida/hoopla/artsters-juggy-d-and-the-last-bricktops/8300/ "Adieu, Bricktops, we hardly knew vous"] , from LA Weekly.

* [http://www.parisinthethespring.com/bricktops.html"Bricktop's Photo Album"]

* [http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=1414&IssueNum=77"A ROARING ANNIVERSARY"] , from LA City Beat. A review of the second anniversary.

* [http://www.vaginaldavis.com/"VaginalDavis.com"] , website of artist Vaginal Davis.