Paramount Theatre; Auckland Town Hall
May 18-19 (Wgtn); 23-26 (Akld) | Reviewed by Jessica Manins

Heavenly Burlesque took away the award for the Best of the Fringe in 2006, and there has been a lot of hype surrounding the show. Needless to say, last night’s performance was sold out and the Paramount Theatre was full of eager audience members struggling to find a seat in time for the night of devilish decadence.

The host Vinyl Burns (Kim Potter) looks like he’s stepped straight out of the League of Gentleman. Following a silhouette strip show, which dragged on a bit, Burns kicked off the night with a juggling act involving a balancing ironing board. From there we were wowed by whips, a “smorgasbord of aerial positions” (the fabulous Tom Beauchamp on Trapeze); and wild songs by Sheba Williams which featured lyrics like “cunnilingus is a girls best friend”. I think it was at this point a mother and young daughter left the theatre – and left me wondering if she knew what Burlesque entails.

The level of talent was high and all short acts were polished and well performed. Aside from Beauchamp and Williams, performances on offer included a contemporary dancing rabbit (Maria Dabrowska), ukulele-rocking goodness, a highly amusing sex scene involving a supermarket trolley (Olivia Bryant), lots of tight and toned half naked bodies, and dancing pink men.

All acts however were surpassed by the incredibly dark and sexy Miss Magenta Diamond (Tania Drewery), whose theatrical hoop performance had the audience wanting to run off and join the circus. Drewery was completely spellbinding and by far the highlight of the show.

I was a bit disappointed when Mr. Burns wrapped up the evening. I left feeling that one hour was not quite long enough, and that a couple more comedy acts would have rounded the show off perfectly. This said, I definitely recommend checking out Heavenly Burlesque, if you can get a ticket. Make sure you line up by the entrance as soon as possible or you’ll end up too far away down the back of the Paramount, or worse still, somewhere up behind the lighting guy.

For full programme, venue and show details on this and other Comedy Festival events, visit comedyfestival.co.nz.