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Absinthe makes fans grow fonder

It’s not so long ago that what was considered circus entertainment was confined to animals walking on their hind legs. My, how far we’ve come.

The advent of Cirque du Soleil has heralded the rise and rise of what might best be termed “humans doing weird stuff”. And there’s little weirder than the larger-than-life antics of Spiegelworld’s Absinthe.

The show is cut from the same cloth as Empire, the bawdy circus-cabaret that delighted Perth crowds in 2013. They both stem from the imagination of Australian impresario Ross Mollison, who has a thriving entertainment business with near-constant touring and simultaneous runs in Las Vegas.

Part burlesque, part circus, part vaudeville, Absinthe has been enjoying a season of more than four years at the famed Caesars Palace in Vegas after its premiere in New York in 2006.

Its host with the most is a chap known as the Gazillionaire, who took time out for a chat before a performance.

“I come from a wealthy Californian family from the time of the gold rush,” he deadpans with a drawl down the phone line. “I started doing circus as a means of filling my days ... and then of course found it was an excellent way to meet beautiful women.”

Absinthe is notorious for its risque assortment of acts that are determinedly anti-politically correct. “It’s sweaty, it’s hot, it’s saucy. Because we’re in the spiegeltent the setting is very intimate, if you know what I mean.” The Gazillionaire does not shift out of character for a breath. “You know you can really smell the action ... you can almost taste it!”

The show features performers from around the globe, with particularly strong representation from eastern Europe. “I go to the far corners of Poland and find these wonderfully gifted performers doing crazy things in these tiny circuses,” the Gazillionaire says. “I offer them twice the money and take them with me! And then I seek out the loveliest women I can find and offer them the same deal. None of them says no — why would they?”

He’s sourced some quality acts. There’s a German couple with a sexy aerial hoop duet; a Belarusian duo who perform something called “human foosball” on the high bar as well as some stunning Ukranian acrobats. The Polish contingent comes in the form of a death-defying hand balance routine. There’s something for everyone.

Las Vegas audiences, I point out, are used to some pretty wild antics. How have they responded to Absinthe’s blend of saucy circus?

“They love it! You know, when you come to Vegas you can go down the road and sit with 2000 other people and see whatever it is that Cirque du Soleil is doing or you can come into the tent, seat yourself down in a velvet booth and get up close and personal. We were originally only meant to be in Vegas for six months but they wouldn’t let us leave.”

Absinthe, which takes its name from the hallucinatory green spirit associated with the bohemian club scene of 19th century Paris, rolls out its spiegeltent outside Perth Arena next month.

“I have never been to Perth and all people over here will tell me is that it’s full of sharks,” the Gazillionaire guffaws. “So it sounds very exciting.” When I suggest perhaps a shark tank could be the next frontier for the ever-expanding horizons of circus entertainment, he leaps on the idea. “Oh yes, I can see it now, two of our lovely burlesque girls, a shark, a tank ... maybe ask for audience participation? Is that going too far?”

Absinthe is at the Backcourt of Perth Arena from July 11-26.