“the collection of performers that were gathered at this cabaret were unbelievably talented”
Bernie Dieter’s Little Death Club is a celebration of us, a place to let loose and celebrate our differences and, if you’re the man in the third row, a place for you to get your face slammed in the crotch of Dieter herself.
As soon as you walked into the venue, reminiscent of a circus big top, you were hit with colour changing lights, smoke and a rocking band playing you to your seat. When the show started after a small delay, it was worth the wait. The audience was greeted first by the emcee Bernie Dieter, who began to sing before making her way into the audience on the prowl for a man, or many men. She talked about the importance of human connection, literally, as she straddled one man, head in crotch and grabbed four other men in a touching war. Dieter was able to draw in the audience from the moment she stepped onto the stage through her use of song and comedy.
As much as it was Dieter’s show, the collection of performers that were gathered at this cabaret were unbelievably talented, commanding the stage in their own right. Some stand out performers include Beau Sargent, a contortionist and aerial act who “blurs the lines of gender and preconception.” He performed two acts, one of which was twisting his body in positions that seem impossible. Then, towards the end of the show, he performed an emotional aerial act with Dieter singing behind him, the words, “is this the woman you thought you would grow to be” as Sargent took of his heels and weaved his way in and out of the flying ring. What seemed to be almost a commentary on queerness and freedom, or the lack thereof, was a nice break from the fire and nudity and all around debauchery.
Another stand out performer, was Fancy Chance (Veronica Thomson) who came out, fabric floating through the air as she swung her arms in a mesmerising manner. What started as a simple and beautiful act became an incredible and dangerous act of chance, being lifted up hanging only by her hair. She swung and spun through the air as the audience watched, necks craned and mouths opened. Her clothes were then ripped off in a comedic turn as she came down from the air before embracing her nude body and once again, leaping, full force, into the air.
The cabaret also included exciting performances from Myra Dubois, a comedic drag queen, Josh Glanc, a mime (who lamented about the cons of being a mime), and Kitty Bang Bang, a fire breathing goddess. This cast of performers each brought a genuine electric fire to the stage.
As the show ended, Dieter sent the crowd out into the London night, reinforcing the message that it is important, in this scary world we live in, to never let anyone tell us our differences are not to be celebrated.
“a true celebration of cabaret and circus that bursts like a champagne cork, soaking up the audience in a spray of glory“
“The Black Cat” has been slinking into sites across London for over a decade now. Venues as diverse as they are decadent. Taking its name from the original ‘Le Chat Noir’, the first French cabaret show, they describe themselves as purveyors of dark and daring cabaret; bringing together the cream of dancers, singers and comics across the capital.
Their latest show, “Black Cat: Bohemia”, adds highly skilled circus performers into the mix; and the show, running at the Spiegeltent on London’s South Bank, transports you into an absinthe-soaked underworld somewhere between Belle Époque Montmartre and Berlin’s Kit Kat Club. It is a heady cocktail of beauty and talent, a gorgeous concoction of circus skills, comedy and risqué artistry.
The flame-headed diva and songstress, Miss Frisky, is the emcee for the night. Opening with a well-known quote from Oscar Wilde – “Lying, the telling of beautiful untrue things, is the proper aim of Art” – she delights us with a potted history of ‘Bohemia’ before introducing the acts. She is a star in her own right: a big voice on the cabaret scene, but when she sings her voice can melt the heart too. With complete command of the audience I could have easily listened to her bawdy banter all evening, but she knows exactly when to pull back and let the performers take centre stage.
It is a night at the circus like no other from a shadowy band of show-folk who combine flair and virtuosity with self-deprecating humour. Jo Moss (Slippin’ Jo) is first to roll up, literally, in his cyr wheel. Not only setting the wheels in motion he sets the bar for the evening, and we know we’re in for some high-class acts. There is the delightful double-act of the ‘knaves’: Nicolas Jelmoni and LJ Marles. Yet it’s when they tear themselves away from each other that they truly shine: Marles as he reaches the heights of the big top with his aerial tension straps, while Jelmoni’s svelte acrobatics are more earthbound but no less breath-taking – particularly during a jaw-dropping dance duet with Charlotte O’Sullivan. Combining a cool, feline detachment with enticing sexiness, O’Sullivan defies the laws of gravity in the hands of partner Jelmoni.
Similarly, Katharine Arnold (aka Danger K) swings from the rafters in her aerial hoop in a daredevil display that, like all the evening’s performers, is enhanced with a narrative that emerges from their understated and unflashy acting abilities. Staggering onstage with a bottle of vodka in hand, Arnold makes a convincing drunk, a pretence that she takes up into the air with her making the performance that much more thrilling. “Just because something is untrue – does that make it any less real?” asks Miss Frisky in an echo to her opening address about truth and art.
But there is no doubting the reality of the flames that blaze through Hayley Harvey-Gomez’s (Missy Fatale) routine as she merges bursts of burlesque with fire-eating in an explosive fashion. Mention must also be made of Leon Fagbemi, ‘The Maestro’, who unfortunately sustained an injury at the outset of his act, yet with utter professionalism incorporated it into the routine, seamlessly cutting it short and exiting with a dignity that could convince the audience that nothing untoward happened. We wish him a speedy recovery.
This is an unforgettable show, underscored by the carnival stomp of the house band. It is a true celebration of cabaret and circus that bursts like a champagne cork, soaking up the audience in a spray of glory. Unmissable.
Reviewed by Jonathan Evans
Black Cat: Bohemia
Underbelly Festival, Southbank until 30th September
