Bongo Club Cabaret

Now something of a Fringe institution in its 14^th year, the Bongo Club Cabaret is enjoying one last gasp of debauched mayhem as its parent venue prepares for closure in September. Though by no means offering the festival's only mixed bill, the night can be depended on to showcase a diverse range of performers in a fashion true to the spirit of cabaret and variety. Few big names appear under its auspices, but the emphasis on quality control has always remained high.

Presided over by the cattish Dusty Limits, tonight's show kicks off with a magic set from profane drag starlet Myra DuBois. Hoping to break into the lucrative market of children's entertainment, she performs with knowingly unprofessional candour and sets the tone for what's to come. Ukulele toting Ria Lina makes less of an impression with her bawdy songs and mundane opinions on offence and political correctness, but at least possesses an original voice. The same cannot be said of Lois of the Lane who lip-syncs convincingly to a mash-up of familiar songs, her physical mannerisms teasing out the drama inherent in each and expressing a narrative of their own. Hell's Belle's elegant burlesque and a typically riotous performance from Mrs Barbara Nice follow, but it's a closing set from Frank Sinazi that lingers in the memory. Tasteless and with scant commercial future, his paeans to the Third Reich and the Gestapo are true to everything that Bongo Club Cabaret holds sacred.