TRINKLED

Striptease Hanky Panky magic spreading through emails

By RAMIL DIGAL GULLE It was a slow news day when the video clip of performance artist, comedian and magician Ursula Martinez arrived by email at the office. The clip shows Martinez performing her act titled "Hanky Panky" at the Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal. The five-minute act combines a choreographed striptease and a magic act. In "Hanky Panky", Martinez enters the stage fully clothed. She shows the audience a small red handkerchief that she stuffs into her closed fist. Then she opens both hands, showing that the hanky has vanished into thin air. Martinez then pulls the hanky from her jacket pocket. She removes the jacket and makes the hanky vanish again. The hanky reappears, this time emerging from Martinez' skirt. The skirt is removed. In the next few minutes, Ursula makes the hanky vanish, only to pull it out again from various articles of her clothing. Each time the hanky is pulled out, an article of clothing is removed. This goes on until she is completely naked. Where will the hanky emerge from next? In her official website , we find this description of what Ursula Martinez does as a performance artist: "She sets fire to her tits, interrogates her parents, re-defines class, blurs fiction with reality, cures homosexuals, gives birth to penises, tells autobiographical stories, deconstructs performance and sings South London suburban flamenco..." Her online biography provides this information: "Ursula Martinez is a London based writer, performer and cult cabaret diva. She studied theatre at Lancaster University and began her career in experimental theatre, working with companies such as Forced Entertainment and The Glee Club.In the mid 90s, she began performing solo on the London club/cabaret circuit and very quickly made a name for herself." She has also come out as a lesbian and her performances, including "A Family Outing" and "Curing Homosexuality" have been praised by critics. So now consider yourself forewarned if you get her video clip in your email, in case the prospect of watching the clip offends you--and brace yourself for some "Hanky Panky" if you're fine with that sort of thing. If you are a minor and you get the clip, tell your parents about it before you do anything.