It's been a long time since I last went to an event in the Spiegeltent. Back in the days when it would be in Highbury Fields, I got to see John Cooper Clarke and Salena Saliva in it. Currently the tent is part of the set-up of the Wonderground on the Southbank in Jubilee Gardens which contains all sorts of offbeat and interesting events over the summer.
We found out about this show when the Cast of Limbo were among the guests at the Amanda Palmer show a few weeks ago and they impressed us enough to want to see this show. It's here until September 29th so there is plenty of time to catch it if you're in London and if so, I think you should.
The show is performed on a small round stage with a runway back to the other stage that the band play on. This is a good dark cabaret show with all sorts of Contortionists and acrobatics mixed with a good dose of dare devil antics including sword swallowing from one of the two women in the troupe who also indulged in the fire breathing. While a guy ran around with his pants on fire, naturally!
Musically the band sound a lot like Nervous Cabaret and use the music to set the scenes and heighten the tension as needed.
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It was great to see some good tap dancing in almost the same place that I first saw some live tap dancing back in the 80s. That was at the last day of the GLC festival with Will Gaines (then in his 80s) tap dancing with Slim Gaillard in a sand box. This time the dancer was much younger and more athletic and capable of doing contortions as he danced.
They also at one point put a huge pole in the centre of the stage and had one of the guys do some of the best pole dancing I've seen. He was very good with some astonishing moves and great muscle control which was something all of the performers were blessed with.
If you like some full on entertainment(and at times close enough that the acrobats were above our heads on poles that bend in and out over the stage and audience) and a show whose pace was never slow enough to allow you to get bored or distracted, then this is a show worth going to see. Trust me.
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