Who doesn’t love a bit of naughtiness, comedy, and glamour! Luckily, All Stars Burlesque (one of many shows at the fringe from Scotland International Burlesque Festival) has this in spades, promising and delivering to the letter.

There’s nothing dramatically different in structure to a traditional cabaret show but my only qualm would be calling it a Burlesque show – this was for sure more than that, with a mixture of acts outside the realm of just burlesque.

First – an apologies! I wish I had taken down the acts names but rest assured, if you go, their performances are unforgettable. Our compere for the evening, a traditional show-girl-esque Queen, who is all things glamorous, yet rude and crude (everything we love in cabaret) and is certainly not afraid of us (though we may be of her!). I fell victim early on, with her addressing me as “interesting looking” and with an essence of “questionable life choices”… the less said the better! But she continued to be fun and full of cheekiness with us all.

The acts were primarily burlesque, but ranging from the more traditional showgirl, with beautiful feather boas and rhinestones up to the eyeballs, to the more bizarre. You were unable to take your eyes off them, with their ability to lure you in and make you cheer and clap for more. Some, chose more avant garde approaches; a fairy with an essence of a Midsummer Night’s Dream with her naughty unicorn and a look of Gillian Anderson about her, to a femme fatal vampire who manages to swallow a huge balloon which never reappears… I cannot say how much this has kept me up at night with bewilderment. Our third of the more unconventional performers, a classically trained singer, makes the walls vibrate with her take on No Doubt’s “Spiderweb”, ending this with playing a saw… you hear that right, she makes music with a saw. Now tell me, where else have you seen that before!

We are also brought an important message, disguised at first by fun and brought by a quaint Parisian performer. Dressed as a giant sweet treat, the performer is cutesy but reaches a point of fierce acrobatics and movement on stage; a woman not to mess with, revealing at the end a sign to end stigma of eating disorders. We are pulled into her soft demeanour to leaving with a lasting impression and commentary on today’s society.

Finally, we finish with a treat. Our vampire maiden comes back, with her partner, promoted to us as vampires we wish to let in, as they perform the super speed trait of vampires and make a magic trick, simple but unbelievable, take place on stage… But the treat? We became part of a proposal between these two un-dead beings, bringing a crescendo unlike any other to this cabaret show.

All Stars Burlesque is just that – All Star! With tradition, awe generating spectacles, silliness and glamour, it’s not only a great way to be introduced to burlesque but a brilliant and fun night out.