Inside the European Spiegeltent on London’s Southbank, a new world is formed.
This cabaret, fringe style hub hosts a huge supply of performances to see, all different and all spectacular.
London Wonderground introduced me to the Briefs – a circus, cabaret, boylesque drag show from Australia.
As a fan of all these types of performances, I thought I would know what I was heading for, but in reality, I could not have ever guessed !
We were introduced to a host who not only welcomed you to their show, in a friendly and personal manner but also cracked many a joke and innuendo that could only be described as side splitting. Her costumes were ever changing and lived up to the notoriety of drag acts for being stunningly beautiful – from her costume,  to her make up,  to her on stage persona.
Not one group of performers has ever had so many skills and used them so well together in such a polished show. Dallas DellaForce brought her stunning change of drag acts, lip syncing and changing her personality from a Cher lookalike, to a posh dog owner, to even a boylesque balloon act with a split personality syndrome. Her beauty, charm and fantastic acting skills won over every audience member.
Acts such as a young gentleman able to complete a rubik’s cube in little more than 3 minutes while dressed as a cheeky school boy made everyone astonished and giggle. His skill in as little as yo-yo tricks, while talking about it here may seem tedious, but was in fact awe-inspiring, linking this into a burlesque routine, also divided the audience from the strong to the prude, releasing the naughty but rude nature of the show.
This continued with acts such as a crazed and clown-like monkey character, who used innuendos and phallic inspired jokes to ensure that this show was not for the faint hearted, but definitely for those with a great sense of humour.
Of course, this wasn’t always the aim of the show. Adult content always ticks a box for me in shows such as this, but moments of sheer awe not only gives a break for those who feel a little shocked, but to also gives a moment for your jaw to drop. A flexible and strong male who was able to contort himself, fly high above us in a hoop performing tricks that you could only wish to do left the room in silence, with the occasional ovation and cheer for the fantastic tricks he was able to do.
Finally, to end the show, a fantastic burlesque act. Beginning in an outfit to die for as a beautiful bird of paradise, ending up in a Dita Von Tease style champagne glass of water, and again, a series of acrobatics movements above us, this act was not only verged classic and elegant, but comedic with water splashing everywhere, drenching the poor premium Wondergound seating areas at the front. Who could ever be mad at water-soaked performance when it was executed so perfectly and gracefully!