Banish the credit crunch frown-and-furrowed-brow combo with an evening out in the company of team LA CLIQUE at the Hippodrome. That's just what a friend and I did when in need of entertainment on a dreary Wednesday evening.
Unsure of what to expect from a "theatrical phenomenon which is almost impossible to describe", we pitched up camp, beers in hand, on a couple of back-row seats (safe from the nerve-wracking prospect of audience participation).
A fabulous lip-pouting, diva-extraordinaire opened the show, seductively crooning her way onto the stage before bursting into life with a disco-thumping remix of Gordon Lightfoot's If You Could Read My Mind. Montreal's Cabaret Decadanse duo Serge DesLauriers and Enock Turcotte are behind the most impressive disco shimmying ever pulled off by a puppet.
Next up were The English Gents. Stiff upper-lips and bowler hats gave way to astounding acrobatic displays of strength and agility. To a girl who struggles to do even 10 tricep dips, this is jaw-dropping stuff. Of course the biggest cheer came when they whipped off their suits, exposing rippling torsos and very patriotic pants.
The fact that I'd seen Captain Frodo fold himself through tennis rackets before on Graham Norton's When Will I be Famous? did nothing to dampen my howls, hoots and even tears of laughter. And that was just his first stint on stage - he later returned for a second pop at making my jaw ache unbearably by doing some very odd things with tin cans.
Amy G was another stand-out act - it's easy to see how she's earned herself a reputation as a legend of the cabaret scene. She skates, she plays the ukulele, she has a filthy laugh and she pulls an interesting stunt with a kazoo that I think I saw once while holidaying in Benidorm as a teenager...
Speaking of that infamous corner of Spain (which is apparently undergoing a bit of a revival - you heard it here first), the Skating Willers seem to have lifted their sound track right out of that regrettable Club 18-30s, bar-crawling, vodka-swilling era. What they can do on roller skates looks dangerous enough, but this act has been around for over 27 years, and the cracks are showing.
But naff music aside, this is a fantastic evening out. The Hippodrome itself looks great, resembling a little big top. The stage in the round is tiny, but the use of space clever. And with audience members so up close and personal, you can't help but get involved.
The show also features laugh-out-loud, sing-along moments courtesy of Mario Queen of the Circus (the kitschiest, campest reincarnation of Freddie Mercury imaginable), beautiful aerial displays by Bret Pfister and Erna Sommer and sassy, cheeky, hula-hooping clown Marawa.
So there you have it. It's the circus, it's burlesque, it's cabaret, it's comedy - and best of all, with unpredictable acts and an ever-changing line-up, it's a different show every time.
LA CLIQUE won Best Entertainment in the 2009 Laurence Olivier Awards. It runs until 14 June at the Hippodrome, 10-14 Cranbourn Street WC2H 7JH. Call 020 7907 7097 or see www.lacliquelondon.com to book
Performances: Mon, Weds and Thurs 8pm, Fri-Sat 7.30pm and 10.30pm, Sun 6pm. Tickets £15-£35 (seats with table service £45). Over 18s only.
From 25 March, mad-cap illusionist Carl-Einar Hackner and outrageous operatic diva Le Gateau Chocolat join the line-up.
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