Last week we were blown away by the spectacle that is The League of Sideshow Superstars: an Adelaide Fringe must-see featuring some of the world’s most dangerous and daring freaks.
Four quirky and unmistakably talented artists took to the stage where they would perform a variety of tricks unique to their own. Shep Huntly hosts the show and is a true character, bringing the venue to life with his witty remarks, audience involvement and, of course, shocking tricks. Shep’s finale act had us in absolute shock horror when he hooked a weighty electricity generator through his nipples and AS IF THAT WASN’T HORRIFYING ENOUGH clipped jumper cables to his nipples to electrify himself. He told us that the electricity striking his body would give him enough adrenaline to lift the weight off of the ground with nothing but his nipples… all we could think was: ‘This man’s pain threshold seriously has no chill‘.
Aerial Manx is the show’s uber flexy (and uber sexy) sword-swallower, who can literally swallow swords suspended in the air, hanging upside down, doing back flips and doing front flips. Constantly striving to differentiate from the norm, his sword-swallowing is anything but conventional and includes tricks that have never-seen-before. In fact, one of the tricks he performed the night we watched the show was the second time ever a trick of its kind had been performed; the first time was when he attempted it at the show which was on the night before ours! Epic.
Simi Capelli is our heroine of the show, lifting microwaves with her HAIR and ripping Yellow Pages phone books in half with her bare hands… Say what?! This smiling strongwoman brings an air of femininity to the otherwise rather masculine show; we couldn’t get enough of her.
The humorous Great Gordo Gambsy is a magnificently moustached member of the fantastic four, opening his act by twisting a thick piece of spiralling metal wire through his nose back-and-forth. His other freaky feats included slicing apples in half with a chainsaw while also holding them in his mouth, juggling bricks, fireplay and other such happenings. We think his revealing leopard print costume was our favourite of the show!
Throughout the show, we were reminded of the Guinness World Records that our sideshow superstars held – 14 in total – and how they would attempt to beat them that night, during that very show. This little reminder made the audience feel as though they were part of something truly special, witnessing an unbeatable world-record-holder challenge their very own score.
The League of Sideshow Superstars is on ’til the 19th, click here to buy tickets!
We rate: ★★★★ 4.5/5 stars
Image: Adelaide Fringe
