Friday 04 December 2009 15:36 GMT
It’s back – the show which wowed London audiences last year has returned to the Roundhouse with a changing line-up of diverse performers and an advance box office reputedly already topping the £500,000 mark.
If you’ve seen the production before, a couple of the performers will be familiar – but cheeky striptease artiste Ursula Martinez (who hails from Croydon) is every bit as impressive second time round. What she does with – and where she finds - a disappearing red hankie defies belief and becomes a running visual gag exploited by the acts that follow.
A rather tedious drag version of the Queen gets off to a slow start, but things soon pick up. Pouting Marawa in skin tight leopard print whirls a bodyful of hula hoops into a rainbow vortex, lithe aerial artist Sam Alvarez twists sinuously on ropes of chain, and the grungy Wau Wau Sisters swing precariously from a single, low-slung trapeze.
Returnee Mario is a skinny Freddie Mercury reincarnation who juggles to the music of Queen and crowd surfs a Mexican wave, whilst shambolic Swedish magician Carl-Einar Hackner deservedly gets the biggest laugh with a hilarious banana /bandana mix up.
Watch where you sit, though, if you’re not into audience participation. Petulant cabaret diva Meow Meow enlists a couple of manly hunks to support her vertical splits and bury their faces in intimate places, and, although the skating Willers may be past the first flush of youth, their thrilling roller-skating routine had one unsuspecting volunteer in a total spin.
A risqué concoction of circus, variety, illusion and burlesque, it all makes for a great night out and a welcome alternative to traditional seasonal fare.
Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road NW1 8EH (
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