Prepare to have your typical night at the bar turned on it's head, flipped, and jumped through a hoop, when 'Club Swizzle' opens its flamboyant, fabulous doors at Adelaide's Festival Centre in December.
From the creators of the award-winning 'La Soirée' comes an immersive show saturated in sensual music, naughty comedy and daring acrobatics. The show is built around an old mahogany bar, as opposed to your normal set up – an actual stage – and upon entry you can grab yourself a drink from one of the bartenders, or Swizzle Boys, take a seat and prepare yourself for what's to come.
Swizzle Boy and seasoned acrobat Daniel Catlow, 29, helped work on the show over a number of weeks, where producers and organisers brainstormed concepts and ideas to concoct the perfect production.
© Prudence UptonGrowing up as part of the hugely successful Flying Fruit Fly Circus, Daniel has collected mounds of experience in the acrobatic industry; 20 years deep in his field and exorbitantly passionate. “Everyone tells me I was a very hyperactive kid,” he says. “I grew up around one of the biggest circuses in the world and I had some family friends who were already in it.”
Almost naturally, Daniel started to attend weekend programmes, and before too long he was doing flips and jumps around the world.
It's a pretty common thing to hear a young kid telling family what they want to be when they grow up only to end up in something completely different, but Daniel stuck with his aspiration until it became a reality. “I always knew this was what I wanted to do for a living, it was a way for me to express all my energy, and I was never bored,” he laughs.
© Prudence UptonHis fellow cast members in 'Club Swizzle' are people he has grown up performing with. Working with other experienced acrobats meant an easy, fun ride for Daniel, and he says the show never stays the same.
To keep it interesting for audience members and the cast, the show is tweaked every so often, which ignites the essence of a show that is constantly evolving, keeping everyone involved on their toes.
It's one thing to buy a front row ticket and have a good view of the show, but being involved and immersed in it is a completely different experience. Daniel says there is absolutely no shortage of audience participation in 'Club Swizzle' and that you can be “as involved as you dare to be.”
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“We get people to come up on the bar and be involved in little competitions,” he hints. “When we usher people in, we'll look at them and think 'are they up for a big night or will they want to be up the back?'.
“We're looking for those people who are the rowdy, alive ones when you go out to the bar on any given night.”
Chances are, if you're a regular bar-goer and fancy a drink or two accompanied by likeminded folk – this one's for you.
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Performing atop a bar acrobatically isn't an easy task, especially in a theatre venue as opposed to a crammed, sweaty room on the corner of a street – somewhere you'd be more likely to find it. “In some ways it's restrictive, and in some ways it's awesome, because it's brought along all these things that you'd never be able to do... It just feels like a huge party.”
Among the acrobatics, audience participation and comedy, music is cleverly interwoven, featuring tap dancers, singers, and a four-piece band.
All-in-all, 'Club Swizzle' promises to deliver a debaucherous evening of unmentionable adventures donning no rules, no regrets, and no stage. “I guarantee without fail, you will have the night of your life and see things you never, ever thought possible.”
