I fail at being Canadian. I don't know the first thing about curling and I don't care for hockey. Last Friday night, at an incredible burlesque show, while there were a number of hugely talented people doing a fundraiser for the arts, attention was riveted to a bunch of ice-skating gorillas. I can't say I'm surprised, but I am a little bit disappointed in my Vancouver brethren.

It's 6:30 p.m. on a Saturday and there's a full house in The Cellar nightclub on Vancouver's Granville Street. It's unusual for a bar in the Entertainment District to attract a crowd this early in the evening, but then this is an unusual crowd for any night that isn't Halloween. I'm surrounded by super heroes, sci-fi cowboys, vampires and more. They're here for a night of nerdlesque, a mixture of burlesque and comedy aimed at fan-boy and fan-girl hearts. They are here for Geeks After Dark. "We pride ourselves on accepting everyone," its co-creator says. "That's the Geeks After Dark badge of honour. You want to dress up like a giant bunny wearing steam punk clothes? Awesome. You want to be in just a latex bra and panties? Fantastic. Anything you want to be, come to Geeks After Dark."