Roll up, roll up, for the greatest circus in town! La Soirée takes some of the best cabaret, burlesque and circus acts from across the globe and brings them to Southbank’s pop-up Spiegeltent for it’s Winter Festival. This show has had enormous success in the past decade, since starting out at the Edinburgh Fringe to performing at the Royal Variety Performance just last month. After watching the magic that La Soirée has to offer, it comes at no surprise as to why this show has been so successful.
Describing this show as having ‘variety’ is an understatement. When you leave the tent, it is hard to list all the acts that you have seen on stage. This is not to say that some of the acts aren’t memorable. This is simply because I was overwhelmed with the sheer amount of talent and uniqueness that each act had to offer.
I shan’t reveal too many details, as I want to leave some surprises for you for when you hopefully get to see this spectacle. But I’ll at least give you some teasers to some particularly memorable acts. We are first introduced to Puddles Pity Party, who is described as ‘the sad clown with the golden voice.’ I immediately recognised him from his cover of ‘Royals’ which has now had nearly 10 millions views on YouTube as I’m writing this. His perfect pitch and attention to detail with his enunciation whilst dressed up as a monochrome, surrealist clown already shows how unique La Soirée is going to be.
We are also introduced to Ursula Martinez, or as I like to call her, ‘the handkerchief lady’. Whether this was a magic act or a burlesque act is something which I’m still debating on myself. She repeats the same old trick of hiding a handkerchief in her hands and then making it disappear. But as she repeats this trick, her ‘burlesque’ qualities begins to show. I think that’s all I’ll say about her…
However, certainly the most original performer in the cast was Scotty the Blue Bunny. How he has managed to make a career of strutting around in a extremely tight, sparkly blue bunny suit and heels is still a mystery to me. Oh, and he’s also at least, like, 45 years old. Seen as the stand-up act of the show, he also adds a flavour of philosophy on his life and his sexuality. Whatever his actual talent is, though, remains to be seen. But he is bloody hilarious.
La Soirée is bonkers, but in the best possible way. There are many other shows in London that you could see this Christmas that is typically family-friendly and light-hearted. But if you want something alternative, but just as feel-good and hilarious, whilst featuring some stripping contortionists, a pole dancing duo and an old man dressed up as a sparkling blue bunny, then I highly recommend you go down the Southbank and see the madness but brilliance that is La Soirée.
Reviewed by Jack Grey
La Soiree is playing at Speigeltent on the Southbank until 11 January 2014