The Knock 'Em Downs | Clint Bolster & Annie Lee
review, sideshow, performance art Fliss Morton review, sideshow, performance art Fliss Morton

The Knock 'Em Downs | Clint Bolster & Annie Lee

Lee and Bolster were painfully ambivalent, even indifferent, to anyone and everyone’s presence. And best of all, when audience’s participation didn’t cut the mustard, they made no attempt to hide their disappointment. If your ball throwing skills were aimless, you knew it. If you took too long to hand over your ticket, you knew it. If your hoop throws onto the pointy clown noses were lacklustre, you knew it. And not just because of the clown’s body language – with impatient eyes and slouched shoulders – but also because of the ‘loser’ sound que they’d hit each time someone’s efforts deserved public condemnation.

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The Purple Rabbit | Strut & Fret
circus, sideshow, review Claire Alcock circus, sideshow, review Claire Alcock

The Purple Rabbit | Strut & Fret

The five performers all brought wonderful energy and presence from the moment they came onto the stage, showcasing their wide variety of tricks and talents. Most surprising for me was the combination of a champagne bottle and vocal percussion from the beatboxing champion Gale, whose exquisite sonically complex acts made me wish I could have enjoyed his work on a dance floor.

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Banquet | Chevron Showgirls
sideshow, burlesque Nadia Jade sideshow, burlesque Nadia Jade

Banquet | Chevron Showgirls

I’m a sucker for sideshow, and there were some very neatly presented skills on the stage. Better than that, the sideshow was wrapped up in beautiful daydream, where beauties wandered in and out of vision doing nonsensical, fabulous, dangerous things. Sideshow is often a showman’s trick, a five-minute throwaway routine with a big bang finish. This was different, it played with the skills, made them into little stories, eddies in a dream. It was very nice indeed.

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"People like the darkside, but they are afraid to show it." - Madeline Glasseater on making a feast out of occult and sideshow
interview, article Nadia Jade interview, article Nadia Jade

"People like the darkside, but they are afraid to show it." - Madeline Glasseater on making a feast out of occult and sideshow

A cult-theme sideshow but with burlesque, striptease, and danger. There’ll be lots of fire, sharp things, even a little bit of acrobatics which is a bit cute. Putting that all together will be like in a haunted mansion with paranormal activity. We wanted to do a really big theatre show for once and put it up on a big stage and use that to our advantage.

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Brisbaret
cabaret, review Ads J cabaret, review Ads J

Brisbaret

MC’s Sophie and Thien do provide the necessary glue that binds it all together though. Their chemistry is beyond infectious and they both radiate an enthusiasm and joy at being on stage that brings a freshness to Brisbaret that’s not often seen.

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Hot Mess Comedy | Ting Lim & Sandeep Totlani
comedy, review Kristy Stanfield comedy, review Kristy Stanfield

Hot Mess Comedy | Ting Lim & Sandeep Totlani

The second half is competitive improv and this is where the real fun begins, as the comics are thrown in the deep end by a series of absurd topics written by a few unforgiving audience members. During this part, I could really appreciate the craft, as I witnessed some of the comedians thinking up side-splittingly funny gags on the spot, while some completely bombed under the pressure.

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The G.O.A.T. Show | Shock Therapy Productions
circus, burlesque, sideshow, review Aaron Dora circus, burlesque, sideshow, review Aaron Dora

The G.O.A.T. Show | Shock Therapy Productions

We sit on fold-out chairs on the front lawn of an abandoned house on Chevron Island. A table piled with iceberg lettuces sits beside a temporary stage. Our hosts, two men in neon coloured suits, are offering pickled onions from the jar, sardines from the can and melons ripped apart with their bare hands. They take it upon themselves to gently whack some audience members with fly swatters, despite the lack of flies. Ah, yes, hospitality.

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