Welcome, Sinners! (2001)

Take a walk on the weird side with the colorful denizens of LA's underground burlesque revival scene during the EARLY days of the now commonplace movement. When this film was made there were but a handful of troupes attempting to revive the lost art form. That is one of the unique aspects that makes this particular film so interesting.

"Welcome Sinners! The Velvet Hammer Story" documents the hilarious, bizarre and tragicomic lives of a burlesque troupe that shakes, shimmies and keeps the wolves a'howlin' at Hollywood's venerable El Rey Theater for one unique and spectacular night each year.

This documentary takes us into the everyday lives of these hobby-strippers and the people in their social circle, among them: Rube Ruben, a semi-pro vaudeville comic known to many as "the biggest ham on the borscht belt"; Betty St. Claire, the Yoda-like costume designer who talks to ghosts regularly; Real-life burlesque stars of yesteryear,

Tempest Storm and Dixie Evans; a dominatrix, a tattoo artist, and a bullwhip act.

So forget your stress, grab a martini and get ready to laugh your head off with these off-beat, hip swingin' characters in this funny documentary film.

Welcome, sinners! The Velvet Hammer has arrived.