High-risk … Charlie Wheeller in La Clique. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian

La Clique review – intimate alt cabaret full of giddy thrills

This article is more than 2 years old

Leicester Square Spiegeltent, London
From a sword-swallowing fire-breather to high-risk rollerskaters and the Incredible Hula Boy, this is sexy, edgy, head-exploding stuff

Taking the Edinburgh festival by storm back in 2004, La Clique was the show that ushered in the new wave of alt cabaret in the noughties, and its now-famous spiegeltent hosted everyone from chanteuse Camille O’Sullivan swinging on a trapeze to Bath Boy, singers Meow Meow and Le Gateau Chocolat, and hula hooper Marawa the Amazing.

Seventeen years on, director David Bates is still seeking out the cream of the nu-cabaret scene from around the world and La Clique returns with relish, pitching up in London’s most touristy commercial spot yet still managing to feel like an intimate, underground experience.

Asbestos-tongued … Heather Holliday at La Clique. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian

German/Australian cabaret queen Bernie Dieter takes the crowd in hand as MC and even manages a Covid skit that’s actually funny. La Clique is never just about the skills, it’s about the theatre. Handstander Mirko Köckenberger doesn’t balance on poles but on suitcases while wearing a bellboy costume. Burlesque performer J’aiMime doesn’t just take her clothes off, she gets swallowed up by a giant pink balloon while doing it. There are truly original acts and familiar ones too – La Clique veterans will recognise high-risk rollerskating duo the Flying Willers, only this is the next generation of skaters – Skating Willers III – taking up the baton.

Highlights this time round include every occasion “Incredible Hula Boy” Craig Reid appears on stage, bursting with cheeky exuberance. He does more than jiggle hoops, including an ebullient quick change routine. And there’s LJ Marles, louche, lithe and slinky, wrapping his thigh-high Pretty Woman boots around his aerial straps. All kinds of sexiness are embraced with a flirtatious rapport between artists and audience (only the endlessly thrusting saxophonist Leo P hasn’t got the tone quite right).

The most head-exploding moments come from sword-swallowing, fire-breathing, vintage pin-up girl Heather Holliday. She must have some sort of steel-lined gullet and asbestos tongue, so much danger does she slide down her throat. Her act gives you that visceral reaction you only get with live performance. La Clique is an edgy, sexy, joyful show full of giddy thrills and celebration.