Review: Absinthe at Spiegelworld

Now showing as part of the entertainment line-up at the 2009 Australian Open, Absinthe is a circus-burlesque show, of the sort made famous by The Famous Spiegeltent's La Clique. Like that show, Absinthe is also staged in a Spiegeltent, and also features a line-up of performers whose routines are edgy and erotic.

Unlike La Clique, however, Absinthe isn't especially good.

The faults begin with the Gazillionaire, the mustachioed MC whose belligerent comedy is of the confrontational kind. His hectoring humour lacks style and panache, and struck me as too American to translate well locally.

Another problem with the show is its lack of cohesion; the assortment of acts don't flow well. Too, the overall standard of work lacks subtlety and style, especially in comparison to La Clique. The strap act by the muscular, shaven-headed Adil Rida is a case in point: he is impressive, but his act seems driven more by brute strength rather than refined artistry. A hip-hop style robot dance by Kenichi seemed woefully out of place, while one of the two real burlesque acts we were treated to seemed hopelessly tame by local standards, being neither especially erotic nor particularly ironic.

That said, there were some splendid acts in the show. A burlesque act by Julie Atlas Muz incorporating an especially animated severed hand was both naughty and funny (although she has since been dropped from the show after orders on high - apparently Muz is too sexy for the tennis!); Duo Sergio's muscular balancing act was aesthetically and artistically pleasing; and Olaf Triebel's hand balance act was poised, poetic and breathtaking. The penultimate act, the acrobatic Anastasini Brothers, in which the younger of the two boys flipped, rolled and summersaulted atop his teenaged brother's feet, was jaw-droppingly entertaining indeed.

Overall, I'd be hard pressed to recommend Absinthe, unless you're already planning to attend the Australian Open and have an hour and $20 spare. It's far from sophisticated, but for that reason it may well please the average tennis-goer, for whom it may well be cutting edge entertainment. More arts-literate audiences might want to give it a miss.

Absinthe at Spiegelworld: the Australian Open until January 1.