La Soiree on the Southbank

Last week we went to see the return of the cabaret-circus spectacular that is La Soiree in its spiegeltent on the Southbank. I first saw La Soiree a couple of years ago and was wowed by the show. The winning format is the same with non-stop action on the small stage in the middle of the tent, one act immediately following the previous act without a break. There are acrobats and hula hoops, comedy and contortionists, audience participation and bubbles. Yes, bubbles, but more of that later.

It was compered by Mario Queen of the Circus with his Freddie Mercury look-a-likey juggling, hoola-hooping and comedy act, ultimately crowd-surfing round the stage to 'We Will Rock You'. Another newby was Melanie Chy, the little tough girl on an enormous motorbike who balanced off the various bits of the bike in an amazing demonstration of skill and strength. Another great act was Captain Frodo who squeezed himself through two tennis rackets, falling over and off the stage mid-way through and throwing handfuls of confetti around. He was great fun!

It was also nice to see Asher Treleaven, the Sexualized Gentleman, again, particularly his unique reading of a Mills & Boon-type story that goes just that bit further spoken than it might do in print. He's very naughty.

Stars of the show were, of course, the English Gents in their pinstripe suits and bowler hats, with Denis Lock effortlessly lifting Hamish McCann in all sorts of ways, showing how well trained and strong they both are. And then comes the inevitable strip as they rip of their clothes to stand there in their union jack underwear and do some more startling lifting and balancing. The endless practicing that must go into their act - and probably no few stresses and sprains - is astonishing. How can they do that?

Hamish has his own act at the end of the show to the tune of 'Singing in the Rain' when he plays with the lamp-post, walking upwards in the air while holding onto the post, doing the splits along the length of the post and all sorts. I've seen the act before and it's still gob-smacking. What I hadn't seen was Denis's bubble act in which he delves into bubble magik, creating all sorts of astonishing sights, training the bubbles to do what he wants, even explode into flames at one point. I gave up wondering how he did it to wondering how on earth he had the idea for the act in the first place. It was really marvellous to see. The strong man taming fragile bubbles...

If you get the chance to see La Soiree over the festive season then do so - it really is a great fun show with lots of laughs as well as gasps of wonder. And the staff running the show are the friendliest I've met at any performance - well done folks!

La Soiree at the Spiegeltent, Southbank

On Thursday we went to see circus fit for the 21st century and it was good. And rude. With lots of flesh on display. And laughter. And pingpong balls. And a small red handkerchief.

Yes, we went to see the La Soiree troupe at the Spiegeltent beside the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank and it's as far from a  'tent' as you can imagine. Acrobats, contortionists, hula-hoop girl, juggling, strong men, pole dancing and who knows what else. And none of it is what you might expect. Patriotic gentlemen in Union Jack underpants and a naked lady from Croydon (via Spain, obv). What on earth is going on here?

Sitting only a couple of yards from the small stage-in-the-round meant we had a great view of the shenanigans and we had variations on traditional circus/cabaret acts as well as cabaret delivered in a totally different way. I cite the Blue Bunny as an example of the latter, a tall middle aged bloke in a blue latex bodysuit skipping round the place in high heels bursting balloons. I *like* Scotty The Blue Bunny (but I'd need to lose some of the tum before trying to emulate him in latex).

Jess Love was great as hula-hoop girl, keeping the hoops going with different parts of her body while she performed acrobatics galore. And she was fun in her joint show with Ursula Martinez and the gender and clothes swapping duo who ended up all but naked. By then, of course, we'd already had the demote teasing from a grey suited Ursula and her little red handkerchief. Each time she performed her disappearing handkerchief trick an item of clothing vanished until she was naked and then she did the trick again… where could the handkerchief possibly be…? I shall never look at a little red handkerchief in the same way again.

I liked David and Fofo with their ping-pong balls flashing between their mouths while they performed amazing acrobatics and another duo, Saulo and Anna, flying round the stage in acrobatic passion with their moving pole to clamber around. Another highlight was the comedic juggling of Marcus Monroe who started by juggling clubs and then switched to knives - ouch! There was also the rather naughty 'sexual gentleman' Asher Treleaven and his risqué tales.

They were all great fun and incredibly entertaining. I sat for most of the time with my mouth open in wonder and a stupid smile on my face - how on earth do they do *that*? and how do they do *that*? and *that's* just not possible… I even had Jonathan Burns throw his underpants at me after he'd taken them off without removing his shorts.

The true highlight was The English Gents in their pinstripe suits and bowler hats getting up to all sorts of strongman antics and acrobatics galore. And yes, it's them on the poster for the show with both gents in their Union Jack pants and Denis Lock holding up Hamish McCann with one arm. It's a mix of a strong man act with impossible acrobatics thrown in for good measure. Might I say 'wow'?

And Hamish came back in a solo act to close the show with his version of 'Singin' In The Rain' and using the lamppost for his very own pole dance, holding himself out horizontally from half way up the pole in an astonish show of strength. To repeat myself, how on earth does he manage to do *that*?

There are other acts that are part of the La Soiree troupe but they don't all come on every night. And even those that do appear have different acts so you're unlikely to see the same show twice. I like that. Because I *am* going back! It was such fun and a great way to spend an evening. This is fabulous circus-cabaret, but not as you've seen it before.