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Skilled performers are overshadowed by a pushy sales structure in this variable variety show.Summary
Rating
Good
The Secret Burlesque Society is not very secret. It stands out like a glittering sore thumb on a Farringdon street, with bright lights and a red carpet making it difficult to miss. Once you descend into the basement things start to feel a little more mysterious; guided to your table by a scantily clad waitress, the smoke machines start working overtime.
Ella Clayton Bell, performingi before the show officially begins provides a nice segue into the evening, mixing vintage-ified Carly Rae Jepson covers with ‘60s classics. You may start feeling as though the only things missing are a cigarette, whisky on the rocks and a case you just can’t crack as the slightly cramped room fills up.
After an introductory dance from the house dancers, donning the requisite black stockings, hostess Amy Lou Black welcomes the audience to what is promised to be a captivating, perhaps titillating, evening. She’s quick to create a repartee with the audience, her brashness and encouragement of the gathered crowd building the energy and anticipation in the room.
While advertised as burlesque, this is more of a cabaret. Yes, there are a lot of women taking their clothes off and commercial-dancing in lingerie, but you’ll also see fire-eating, magic and aerial silks work, which help to add variety to the evening.
Particular standouts are dancer Kiki Moon and silks performer Ella Judge, both of whom demonstrate incredible agility and theatricality in their pieces. They’re graceful, well-rehearsed and their segments go by without a hitch. The magic act is also very entertaining, with fire eater Shade Flamewater putting on a characterful show and running through an impressive series of tricks.
However, although each act has showmanship and skill, elements of the performances need some degree of tightening up. In group performances dancers are sometimes not quite in sync with one another, some pieces feel unnecessarily long or repetitive and there are a number of costume mishaps.
While the acts themselves are, for the most part, entertaining and well-performed, the two intervals and long gaps between food service do make the evening drag. With doors opening at 6pm, the warm-up act coming on at 6:45pm or so, and the show itself only kicking off after 7:30pm, by 9:30pm it’s inevitable that audience energy will start slipping.
The fact that these intervals are in place only to encourage people to spend more doesn’t help; Black frequently advises guests that they’ll have more fun if they’re more drunk. If this was just mentioned once it could be let slide, but the pressure to buy drinks and the underlying suggestion of lack of confidence in the show (surely it should be enjoyable no matter your level of intoxication?) is a little uncomfortable. It’s potentially exclusionary for anyone who doesn’t drink, and the constant interruptions really break up the flow of the evening.
By the end of the night, those remaining in the slightly cramped dining space seem exhausted. Black tries to keep the energy up for the final acts and her closing song, but there’s a general exodus fairly early on — something that could easily be avoided if the night were compressed.
Secret Burlesque Society is a fun night out, and will have you smiling and cheering as you watch some genuinely impressive displays. But this is a show that needs a structural assessment. As it stands, it often comes across more sales pitch than salacious.
Founder and CEO of The Proud Group: Alex Proud
Proud Cabaret, London, Creative Director: Jordan Carter
Secret Burlesque Society plays at Proud Cabaret on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Further information and booking can be found here.
