Hang on to your hats (and maybe bring a poncho) because La Clique is back in Adelaide and it’s wetter, wilder, and more wicked than ever. Playing for a strictly limited run at the Adelaide Festival Centre’s Space Theatre, this genre-busting cabaret-circus-comedy hybrid celebrates its 20th anniversary with all the sparkle, stunts and splash that made it an international sensation. The Olivier Award-winning trailblazer, born at Edinburgh Fringe and now a globe-trotting legend, brings together the crème de la crème of variety talent in a show that’s equal parts sultry, silly, and downright spectacular.
The evening opens with a baptism – in bathwater. Aerialist Tuedon Ariri launches herself skyward from La Clique’s iconic tub, paying homage to the original ‘Bath Boy’ while making the act completely and uniquely her own. With effortless elegance and immense core strength, she twists through the air like a water nymph with an Olympic gymnast’s credentials. Her hair-whip splash zone sends front-row patrons ducking behind plastic sheeting, making the experience all the more immersive. It’s mesmerising, theatrical, and undeniably fierce. Tuedon makes defying gravity look like child’s play.
Between acts, Cabaret Décadanse keeps the energy flowing with puppets so charismatic you’ll forget there are humans behind them. These are not your childhood Muppets – think drag brunch meets Avenue Q with a cocktail of camp, glitter, and grind. They lip-sync, flirt, and dance like seasoned cabaret queens. The talents of André-Anne LeBlanc and LJ Marles melt into the shadows as their puppet creations steal the limelight. Equal parts naughty and hypnotic, these marionette divas are the cheeky glue holding the whole night together.
Juggling may not seem sexy… until you’ve seen Byron Hutton in action. With a calm precision that borders on supernatural, Byron juggles rings and clubs like they’re extensions of his body. There’s a quiet intensity to his movements, a tension that pulls you in tighter with every catch and throw. The entire audience holds its breath in anticipation as Byron’s act unfolds; no bells, no whistles, just pure, high-stakes coordination that will leave you questioning whether gravity even applies to him.
Heather Holliday is a vision: sultry, poised, and oh-so-deceptive. Her performance is equal parts burlesque, danger, and sideshow, blending glamour with guts (and some truly questionable choices in oral insertions). Fire-eating? Child’s play. Sword swallowing? She pulls it off in heels, with effortless charm and a devilish grin. Part of you wants to hide and watch behind parted fingers, the other part can’t tear its eyes away. What Heather can fit in her mouth defies the bounds of human anatomy.
What happens when you give a burlesque artist access to a popcorn machine and zero rules? You get popcorn provocateur Tara Boom. Her popcorn-themed ultra-risqué burlesque is a masterclass in absurdist cabaret; a glorious, golden, buttery fever dream that’s equal parts full nudity striptease and surrealist sketch comedy. It’s unlike anything you’ve seen before (and possibly unlike anything you’ll see again). One minute she’s teasing with a trail of kernels, the next she’s hula-hooping like a woman possessed. Later, in a breathtaking shift of tone, she trades slapstick for quiet elegance, balancing and juggling several parasols on her feet to a moody rendition of Rihanna’s Umbrella. Tara is chaos and control, slapstick and sophistication; a true variety virtuoso.
David Pereira glides across the stage with the grace of ballet and the boldness of burlesque, a body in motion that tells its own story. His aerial silks act is impossibly beautiful, a blend of strength, emotion, and supple athleticism that feels more like an art installation than a circus act. Then, just when you think you’ve figured him out, he returns wrapped in only a towel and armed with copious amounts of shaving foam. What happens next is part boylesque, part body comedy, and entirely unforgettable. Equal parts erotic and absurd, it’s the kind of act that leaves you applauding, blushing, and slightly unsure if you’ve just witnessed genius or madness — or both.
Just when you think La Clique can’t get any bolder, LJ Marles arrives on the stage with a bold and brilliant bang. Towering in thigh-high stiletto boots, he ascends into his self-created Tension Straps rig, a death-defying mix of aerial strength and raw swagger. To the beat of Lady Gaga’s Applause, he spins, contorts, and struts, somehow turning sheer athleticism into a fashion show. It’s sensual, it’s bold, and it’s utterly riveting. LJ makes the stage his risque runway, serving up Cirque du Soleil with a side of sex appeal and six-inch heels.
If Adelaide Cabaret Festival is a party, La Clique is the unmissable headline act that sets the festival ablaze with glitter and grit. It’s sweaty, splashy, a little bit filthy – and entirely fabulous. Whether you’re a cabaret connoisseur or a wide-eyed first-timer, this is the kind of show that grabs you by the collar and drags you — laughing, gasping and blushing — into its world. La Clique is the original trailblazer of Spiegeltent cabaret, and even 20 years on, it’s showing no signs of slowing down. La Clique is unapologetically adults only, a dazzling dive into decadence that leaves no room for the prudish or faint-hearted. Bring your appetite for art, audacity, and a little bit of chaos — but leave your reservations at the door. As part of the Adelaide Cabaret Festival’s 2025 program, La Clique is an unmissable highlight. Snap up your ticket, grab a drink, and dive in. La Clique is cabaret, unfiltered. Long may it reign.
La Clique
Dates: Thursday 19 June – Sunday 22 June
Location: Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre, King William Road, Adelaide SA 5000
Rating: ★★★★★
The Adelaide Insider 