by Tony Preece

Judith Wright Centre and QPAC venues 16 – 26 June
With: Ennio Marchetto, Caroline Nin, Denise Scott, John Waters, and Bob Downe among many many others.

If you can’t find something to send shivers of delight up and down your spine in this year’s Brisbane Cabaret Festival then I sure wouldn’t want to be in charge of getting you a birthday present.

Cabaret, at its best, should take you outside the everyday crop of entertainment on offer; it should haul you away from the tedium of relentless reality television shows, and take you into the entertainment underworld of forbidden pleasures. It should be provocative, scandalous, confronting, salacious, satirical, pee-in-your-pants laugh-out-loud funny, and above all, mind-blowingly entertaining.

Here are a couple of offerings that look to fulfil the promise.

Trevor Ashley brings his controversial new show Liza (on an E) to Brisbane…so…
start spreadin' the booze... Liza's back with more songs, more laughs and more illegal substances.

The irrepressible Ashley, accompanied by a seven-piece big band, will have you laughing, crying, and on your feet chanting for more as he channels cabaret icon and drag inspiration Liza Minnelli.

Ennio Marchetto, the living paper cartoon, is the ultimate quick change artist, revolutionising the art of origami into theatrical magic. His screamingly funny and wildly entertaining solo performance features a whirlwind of superb paper costumes and split second transformations, backed by an eclectic soundtrack.

He uses physical comedy and ingenious costumes to magically morph into parodies of our favourite cultural icons including Lady Gaga, Susan Boyle, Boy George, Edith Piaf, Bette Midler, Cher, Madonna, and Marilyn Monroe.

Marchetto is a unique character entertainer whose virtuoso performance is a display of technical ingenuity and extraordinary physical dexterity, and he probably has a magic cure for paper cuts.

CLICK: www.brisbanecabaretfestival.com
CALL: 3872 9000 (Judith Wright) 136 246 (Qtix)