Underbelly Boulevard, London
There are shocks aplenty as daredevils perform death-defying acts hair-raisingly close to the audience
Circus used to happen in big tops. The Underbelly Boulevard is a very small top, a venue where the fire-breathers almost singe your eyebrows and the roller-skaters leave eau de axle grease lingering up your nose. Sophie’s Surprise 29th is a circus and cabaret show masquerading as a birthday do, where a conceit thinner than the tissue on your party hat is spun around a series of death-defying acts. There’s no safety net, nor any reassuring margin between audience and performers. You realise with a gulp that were this or that aerialist to lose their grip, it’s not just their neck on the line, but quite possibly yours too.
That’s part of the thrill, of course, and there are thrills, and repeated involuntary barks of “come off it!” on my part – when Josie Jones goes airborne with her fire act, and creates a ring of sudden flame above our heads, or when skater Isis Clegg-Vinell spins like a pinwheel while attached to sidekick Nathan Price by headband alone. In addition to all the usual rippling biceps, six-packs and whatnot, there are muscles being maxed out here I’m not sure I even have. There’s versatility, too: repeatedly, to my amazement that these performers can do this, I find myself additionally astonished they can do that as well.
At Underbelly Boulevard, London, until 28 June
