Ab Fab

What is interesting about this mini-review of the Cabaret/Burlesque Circus which is written by a man is that it appeared in today's New York Daily News:

Recalling a quaff famous for its mind-altering effects, "Absinthe" - a European circus performed in the Spiegeltent, a traveling venue stationed downtown - definitely earns its name.
The show combines seedy, brazen burlesque acts with amazing high-flying showmanship, and the result is often truly trippy. On other occasions, like when a sword swallower repeatedly dabs her tongue with a lit cigar, it can creep you out and make you turn as green as a glass of the show's namesake.

Like every circus, the acts here are uneven. Camille O'Sullivan, a fishnet-clad cabaret singer whose idea of styling a song involves blinking her eyes crazily, gets things off to a shaky start. And my mind wandered while a bubble blower and a cross-dressing juggler did their things.

The English Gents, Denis Lock and Hamish McCann, however, had my full attention. The gravity- and logic-defying acrobats in bowler hats would make any gym rat feel unworthy, particularly when stripped down to itty-bitty form-fitting undies blazoned with (what else?) the Union Jack.

Shout-outs also go to Yulia Pikhtina, a hyperkinetic Hula-Hooper, and David O'Mer, a body god whose act involves flying apparatus and a filled bathtub. It's simply astonishing.

But for naughty good fun, stipper-illusionist Ursula Martinez stands alone. Her act is pretty simple: She makes a small red hanky disappear into her hand, then she magically makes it resurface from pieces of her clothing, which she removes one by one. Standing starkers, she unfurls her tiny red flag from a final hiding spot. People gasped - and roared. It felt wrong - and, in this show, that was so right.


Joe Dziemianowicz

"Absinthe" runs various dates through Oct. 1 near the former Fulton Fish Market on Pier 17 (South St. and the East River. Schedule at spiegelworld.com).