Went to see a fun little show called Absinthe: Les Artistes de la Clique on Saturday night at the South Street Seaport. The revue, which takes place in a sort of mini-Moulin Rouge circle in the round, is made up of a series of freakish cabaret acts, most of which are acrobatically-inclined.
After comparing notes with some friends who had seen the show a few weeks before I did, it appears that the show's acts vary somewhat from night to night. Unfortunately, we missed an act in which a woman pulls a very long ribbon out of her nether regions.
Saturday night's show began with a pair of male gymnasts dressed in pinstriped suits performing a complex and intimate acrobatic routine to “Pomp and Circumstance” which evolved into a strip tease as they whittled their outfits down to a pair of boxer briefs emblazoned with the Union Jack.
Among the numerous twisted acts that followed was a scruffy contortionist with a handlebar mustache who managed to squeeze his entire body through the heads of two empty tennis rackets. This required much stretching and the actual dislocation of body parts.
A red latex-clad harlot named Miss Behave chugged three audience members' drinks, put a cigar out on her tongue, stuck a long-stemmed rose through a hole in same tongue while twisting it around three times, and chugged a stein of beer before she was upstaged by…
…a woman playing a kazoo with her vagina. There was a debate among our group whether or not her pussy was actually doing the singing or whether it was lip-synching, so to speak. We decided on the latter.
Finally, the show ended with a shirtless male acrobat (pictured above) performing a wet and wild aerial routine in and around a bathtub, soaking his tight jeans and a circle of audience members as he splashed in and out of the tub, and up to the ceiling of the tent. He succeeded admirably in titillating the audience, using a back scrubber and a yellow rubber duck to infuse the act with comedy.
So, if you're in New York and you're looking for something a bit different, this is it. The show plays till October 1st at South Street Seaport. We were able to get same-day tickets. It's general seating and they have lesser priced tix for standing room only.
Drinking is encouraged.
Top photo: NYT.
