“I respected burlesque performers as true artists… These skimpily dressed (dancers) with their raunchy stage antics and hypnotic dance moves embodied my tastes for the ultimate in sleaze… This is why Augusta’s documentary THE VELVET HAMMER BURLESQUE was such a joy to behold.”

Eric Campos, FILMTHREAT.COM

“Augusta’s docu mixes performance footage, staged skits, behind-the-scenes interviews and colorful miscellany into a fun package…For variety, well-edited pic offers intertitled “chapters” addressing important questions (“How much glitter do you eat in a year?”); spotlights the vaudevillian show’s intentionally awful comics (“Booing and I go back a long way,” one baosts); plus stand-alone miniatures like a mock 1930’s musical short subject and B&W drive-in spoof “Attack of the 50 Foot Stripper”

Dennis Harvey, VARIETY

“As a documentary, this film succeeds in almost every way. Different aspects of the group and the art of burlesque are broken down into short sections focusing on things from specific events that the group performed at, their origins, the spooky French maids that clean up after the performers (one of the best sections of the film) to eyelashes, burlesque dos and don'ts, and burlesque bloopers. It was shot really well (and the stag reel loops featuring the performers are modern classics!) and the transition from video to film was excellent. It's funny and just plain fun, which is totally what the spirit of burlesque is all about. There is something for everyone and you just might find yourself hootin' and hollerin' with the rest of the cool cats and kittens n the audience!”

Chris Beyond, NO-FI MAGAZINE    

“(THE VELVET HAMMER BURLESQUE) begins as a glamorous romp through the glitter-laden history of the burlesque revival, but towards the end takes on an almost apologetically feminist tone.  …When the (female escape artist, naked except for the requisite pasties and g-string, bound head-to-toe in heavy ropes) at last breaks free, instead of wiggling around like a go-go girl, she makes on unmistakable gesture:  theuniversal sign for ‘kiss my sequined behind.’  That message, with all its various meanings in play, seems to be the Velvet Hammer’s mantra:  ‘You can kiss my sequined behind.”

MEMPHIS FLYER

“This is the theatrical art of burlesque—glitz, glamour and seduction by real women with character.  Sleazy, yes, but not some raunchy crack-head’s ass-crack-in-your-face strip show”

RANK AND REVUE

ABOUT THE VELVET HAMMER TROUPE:

 “At the Velvet Hammer, it’s the entertainment itself that’s naked.  It’s live music, bad jugglers, the sinister (em cee) Miss Astrid and cardboard props.  It’s a Hootchy-Kootchy show, a tease, a vaudeville throwback.  And as corny as that might sound, given the many flavors of live erotica in LA, a capacity crowd jammed the November 2001 two-night stand at the El Rey, eager to be a part of the show.”

 “The (troupe) are women of weirdly varying body types who see stripping as self-expression rather than a job.  And they draw audiences of both sexes in equal numbers.  Michelle Carr, who founded the Los Angeles’ Velvet Hammer in 1995, puts it another way:  ‘Go to a strip club and everyone out of the gate looks exactly the same.  What we get is a chance to express ourselves creatively.”

TIME MAGAZINE

“When the eye-patched MC, doing her best Marlene Dietrich, popped the question ‘How about we break up the comedy with a little nudity?’ we knew the Velvet Hammer (troupe) was about to step it up.  Pasties made it burlesque and the detailed sets made it a show but in the end, ass is ass, and we don’t know anybody who doesn’t like that.”

PLAYBOY