La Clique

Bare Bottom Cheekiness

La Clique 2023

by David Bates

Underbelly at the Spiegeltent, Leicester Square, until 6^th January

Review by Gill Martin

Popcorn and parasols, hip hop and hoola hoops, shaving foam and bare bottom cheekiness, daring aerial acrobatics, music veering from opera to Adele, eye-watering splits and sequins.

Welcome to La Clique, the poor man’s (other genders are available) Cirque du Soleil.   With a lot more laughs and a much cheaper ticket, Underbelly’s La Clique has pitched its Spiegeltent in Soho’s Leicester Square for the seventh year, ready for a festive fling.

It’s a striking venue: an antique Flemish mirror tent with a real circus vibe, with human animals and, thankfully, no menacing clowns.

Turn up early as there’s no reserved seating, brave the front row round the tiny circular stage if you dare, and down a glass or two before the show to help embrace the spirit of the event, all ninety minutes of it, with a twenty minute interval to refuel at the bar.

The evening is a bonkers mix of bizarre and scary acts showcased in an international circus of cabaret, burlesque and vaudeville.  The audience, which included Richard Hammond on press night, lapped it up.  With a world wracked with war, want and weariness, this is a welcome way to throw the switch from horror to humour.

This saucy show of uproarious comedy, puppetry, juggling, exotic dance, dazzling costumes, spiced with striptease, weird and wonderful physical feats and thunderous music has been doing the rounds since it exploded at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2004.  Australian director, pianist and producer David Bates has this show down to a fine art after so many years of polishing this gem of a spectacle.  It has earned widespread international recognition with sell-out shows as well as bagging the Best Entertainment Olivier Award a decade ago.

There’s an ever changing cast with an array of talents.   Strap hanging demonstrated by Lj Marles, striking with beard, dreadlocks, midnight blue Lycra and incongruously high heels, has nothing to do with commuting on the Northern Line.   Aerial tension straps have him spinning with giddying rotations and plunging with jaw-dropping speed.  Don’t try this at home.

Keeping a receptive audience in check with audacious humour and the odd insult is a larger than life personality and generous figure encased in leopard skin and sequins.   Take a bow Chastity Belt who, true to her name, belts out an impressive selection of songs with power and verve.

There’s a beautiful and delicate display of movement and dance from David Pereira.  But my absolute favourite is the graceful and surreal act of parasol balancing from Tara Boom, making her debut performance.

Yes, La Clique is a cliché.  But it is as bright and brash as a bauble on a Christmas tree.

And a beaming audience left wanting more.

Gill Martin, November 2023

Photography by Jody Hartley and Craig Sugden