Naughtiness, Mayhem & Wonder

For this event I wanted to experiment with an ensemble of professional performers and emerging local talent. I could guarantee the quality of some shows but also the public was encouraged to give feedback to the newbies.

This created an engaging and extravagantly long night of entertainment featuring music, song, striptease, stand-up, dance, vaudevillian skits and close-up magic. The aim was to orient the event towards an adult audience and this also helped the crowd feel more at ease knowing that children were not present.

The performance venue was a small theatre with a low-level stage to create a more intimate atmosphere. The audience sat drinking at tables with cocktail waitress service and dressing-up was positively encouraged.

A Night of Exotica, Bohemia, Curiosity

Extravagasm featured the ‘King of Clowns’ Chris Lynham and his partner Kate McKenzie.

“In between acts Chris would perform his unique brand of alternative comedy whilst Kate had her hands full keeping this little man, with big hair and an even bigger imagination in check.”

“High-kicking Kate McKenzie, in a skirt slit from hip to ankle, sings Verdi and Bizet in a way they have never been done before.”

The pairs shows had pyrotechnics, acrobatics, outlandish operatic and orchestral overtures.

The Popcorn Club Cabaret Band provided the live musical interludes to multiple other acts – Asher Treleaven, Beatrix Von Bourbon (recently described as the British equivalent of Dita Von Tease), Keda Breeze, Guy Bellingham and other professional performers.

Amateur performers, from bellydancers to stand-up, included Naomi & John Hawkins, Noah Lamb, David McCrory & Jeremy Court.

“Chris Lynam is a brilliantly bizarre antidote to today’s truculent society.”

The New York Times