La Clique - A Sideshow Burlesque
Mood:  amorous
Now Playing: Bolero from Moulin Rouge
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe ended last night, and I was there, at the most FABULOUS show I've seen in a very long time.

The Spiegeltent was the coolest thing at last year's fringe, home of many a night of debauchery, drunkenness and good ole times, and this year was no different- apart from their late show, La Clique. It was the hottest ticket on the fringe, and thank GOD I got one for last night. It was just fantastic.

It was a burlesque variety show with trapeze artists, comedy, acrobats and singers, all with a very saucy bent. Things started with an female acrobat outside the tent performing on silks to 'Where the Wild Roses Grow' by Nick Cave and Kylie, and then we moved inside, where the wonderful Camille O'Sullivan got things going with a crazy song about ferris wheels. Next came the Caesar Twins, two insanely beautiful and immensely talented acrobats who happen to be identical. I'm sorry, but there's definitely something more than a 'twin thing' between them....

They performed throughout the show, took their shirts off, did a cool number about Castor and Pollux, and ended in a fishbowl like in Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity.

There was a hilarious female sword-swallower, Miss Behanve, who can do fabulous things with her tongue and a rose, and a Ukrainian gymnast with eyes as beautiful as sin who performed with hula hoops.

Camille sang 'Falling in Love Again' in German acappella, and broke every heart in the place. The acrobat from the start came back on and performed trapeze, and we had hilarious puppets from Cirque Decadence from Montreal. And a bo-peep style young lady who spun tassels from her boobs and pulled lollipops from various orifices.

But the two best parts of the show were the boy in the bath and Ursula Martinez. Senora Martinez is a stripper/stand-up comedian, and the most supremely self-confident person I've ever seen. For her first number she performed a striptease/magic act, wherein she continually made a red hankie disappear. The finale was watching her pull it out of her muff. Tada!! She reappeared later and sang a song about Croydon.

But the boy in that bath. What can I say? The hottest, sexiest gymnastic entertainment you will EVER see. If the Spiegeltent (and/or La Clique) come anywhere near you, kill for a ticket.



;-)