Marlowe Theatre

Sit in the front rows at a bawdy burlesque evening and you are clearly asking for trouble.

Unless, of course, you are an extroverted frustrated performer who can’t wait to become part of the show, as we witnessed at the Marlowe on Saturday.

We were treated to both the reluctant and the enthusiastic in two male members of the audience who were lured into the fun. We will call them Barry and Michael, for that was their names.

Poor Barry was enjoying a night out with his wife at An Evening of Burlesque when targeted by comely hostess Miss Ivy Paige, who at one point ordered him to crawl across the stage on his hands and knees as she hovered over him while singing.

Barry had his 15 minutes of fame somewhat thrust upon him by the teasing mistress and the hyped-up audience, featuring a few tipsy hen parties in daring showgirl outfits, was soon chanting “Bar-ry, Bar-ry”.

Michael on the other hand didn’t hold back when a rouged-up drag act ballet dancer in a tutu (not so much Sugar Plum Fairy as Sugar Plump Fairy) requested volunteers.

Once on stage, Michael proceeded to do the Full Monty (that comes to the Marlowe next month) until reined in by the nimble wise-cracking dancer and put through his paces with some precarious pirouettes and spins to hilarious effect.

Flame-haired Miss Paige slipped in a few well-rehearsed lines such as “We welcome everyone, from the trannies to grannies” and “Her tassels spin so fast she hovers”, but also showed a talent for ad libbing, especially when it came to tormenting bashful Barry.

The Folly Mixtures – Bettsie Bon Bon, Liberty Sweet, Ooh La Lou and Felixy Splits – set the tone for the often outrageous evening with their crimson lips, trembling derrieres, exotic costumes and expert tassel-twirling, and also shone in their solo routines.

More audience interaction almost went horribly wrong when juggling balancing act A J James invited a woman in the front row to throw a rather large knife to him and she almost decapitated the person next to her.

After doing exactly the same at the second attempt, A J sensibly took the wayward blade away and picked someone with more coordination.

No wonder he was to lament: “I’m sweating like a politician with a speeding ticket.”

The show lived up to its billing of “no sleaze and all tease” with its risqué brand of music hall-style entertainment bursting with shapely dancers, killer heels and colourful feather boas and costumes.

Another stand-out act was Kalki Hula Girl with her drunk ladette routine, swigging from a bottle, vomiting in her handbag and keeping up to seven hoops spinning around her body at a time.

The Folly Mixtures poured fizz over their scantily clad figures to keep this titillating show bubbling to the end.

Keith Hunt