Roll up! Roll up! The circus is in town!
Everybody loves a visit to the circus, the big top, the splendour, the atmosphere, it all makes for a great experience.
La Clique is housed in a fantastic venue that doesn’t disappoint and I managed to get a great seat near the front with an unrestricted view of what was about to happen. Winning.
Unfortunately, for me at least, that was probably the highlight.
The hour-and-a-bit show is put together as a series of set pieces from different performers, with a deliberate ‘edgy’ feel to the proceedings, with some acts being far more ‘edgy’ than others.
The aerobatic acts are truly amazing, although I couldn’t help but notice that about three or four of them were basically the same routine dressed differently. While this didn’t detract too much from the overall experience, it did leave me feeling a bit underwhelmed.
The sword swallower is incredible too, although flicking the bile into the front rows from the tips of the swords after doing something so spectacular took the edge off of it. And that is really what ruined this for me and, to be honest, left me feeling a little ill, the over-the-top grossness of the show.
There is a LOT of nudity taken to the max, literally climbing over the audience with all things a-swinging, which is unnecessary and took away from the show. To make matters worse, there is nothing advertised on the posters about the show being like this, to be fair they do mention it online but many won’t see this, and I feel that would make anyone who couldn’t take this sort of thing in their stride feel very awkward if they ended up here without knowing.
The more mainstream acts are truly amazing, but the over-the-top grossness, especially the banana/mouth juggling – I’m gagging just remembering it – detract from the overall experience for me so, while some of it is very impressive, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
If you’re someone who can handle or even loves this type of content, then this show might be for you. But if it doesn’t sound like your thing you might want to look elsewhere.
La Clique
19:20
Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows
Aug 12-13, 15-20, 22-26
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/la-clique
Alex Copeland
