"I joke that we don't do this because we were the popular kids in high school," Kintaro said. Spanks was one of the original performers to join the troupe, along with Odessa Lil and Pearl E. Gates.

Lil recalls her response when Kintaro asked her to be a part of the first show.

"That was perhaps the moment I had been waiting for my entire life, I just didn't know it," she said.

Like, Kintaro, she's been a fan since "Eat It." In fact, the single was the first record she owned.

"I get to take it that extra step and bring the parody of a parody out, which is complicated.”

For Gates, too, it's the "parody of the parody" aspect that's exciting. That's not easy to do and, over the years, they've become experts at it. Lil acts out the lyrics to "The Brady Bunch," a parody of the '80s hit "The Safety Dance," morphing from a character who would fit right in with the original Men Without Hats video to a go-go dancing Jan Brady. Gates and Spanks worked as a duo for "I Think I'm a Clone Now," dancing like Tiffany in the "I Think We're Alone Now" video while removing their Star Wars-inspired costumes to reveal light-up underwear and pasties.

"You actually have to like the source material," said Chris Beyond, co-producer of Peepshow Menagerie, who has collaborated with Tight and Nerdy on four performances over the years.

Peepshow Menagerie itself is a home of unexpected burlesque nights, like a tribute to maudlin British singer Morrissey and his old band The Smiths. Kintaro had actually been a part of one previous Morrissey/The Smiths show and Beyond is a longtime "Weird Al" fan, so the joint effort works.

The Los Angeles Al-Stravaganza brought out Tight and Nerdy's pals from their tour route. Amongst them was Nina Nightshade, who co-produces the show when it goes to Portland, Ore. For "Addicted to Spuds," she channeled the women from Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love" video, icons of the ‘80s MTV with their tight black dresses, over-the-top hairstyles, and red lips. Like the performers in the video, she affected a too-cool face as she ate chips and licked her fingers. The big reveal: A bra and skirt that appeared to be made from a potato sack.

And when Angie Cakes, who also co-produces Peepshow Menagerie, performed "Like a Surgeon" that night, she inflicted acts of malpractice on stuffed animals with glee, ultimately riding a plush tiger to cheers from the crowd.