The first of Metro Arts’ One Night Stand events, Spooktacular was a variety cabaret where even the audience had an act in the show.
Brisbaret brought the best of Brisbane cabaret acts together for one night of cute spooky comedy. Metro Arts couldn’t have picked a more fitting show for the 31 October and it would have been hard pressed to program this show on any other date.
Co-hosts Sophie Banister and Thien Pham introduced the evening by explaining how the night would run. With simple set and lighting elements, it felt less “spooktacular” and more open mic night at the comedy club, but what they lacked in scary they made up for in enthusiasm.
Celebrating all things Halloween, the performers were having just as much fun as the audience. With a costume and cake competition in the second half, there was variety for all.
The band Whalehouse kicked off the show with a kooky mix of songs such as ‘Big Ant’ and ‘Fresh Bread’, setting the tone for the acts to come. The trio had a whiff of a punk rock version of musical comedy legends Tripod.
Charlie Love then performed his mix of acrobatics and pole dancing, with the scariest thing about his act being the flimsy free-standing dancing pole he had to perform on. It may have received the biggest shriek of the night when one side began to lift from the ground while he was spinning on it.
Anna Straker made her Metro Arts debut with a goblinesque tooth-fairy telling a cautionary tale about a boy who ate teeth. Her storytelling was captivating and would entertain both young and old.
But there was no doubt this was an adult show. With songs about lefties taking over, Banister and Pham kept the crowd entertained with comedy sketches between acts.
Hot Brown Honey duo Harrison and Andre brought the boys to the stage with their Aussie humour and crowd consensual thrusting. Borishkiva put the “wo” in woman with her rich vocals giving depth to some of her more outlandish comedy.
For the audience there was a Halloween costume and cake competition to participate in, where the public strutted their outfits on stage to win the prize of being allowed to judge the best cake between Banister’s Bin Chicken, Pham’s Frankenstein and Harrison and Andre’s “homemade” mud cake.
This made the One Night Stand event drag on a bit too long into the night, but the finale brought all the acts together for a spooktacular send-off.
Brisbaret is an ideal concept to show off local artists; leaning into the local variety show concept could see many artists’ careers take off from it.
Read: Video work review: Angela Tiatia: The Dark Current, ACMI
Metro Arts supports artists from the ground up and it’s clear that a diverse community of artists are showcasing their work here. These One Night Stand events give us a teaser of what’s on offer in the Brisbane arts scene.
Spooktacular was part of Metro Arts One Night Stand events
Presented by Metro Arts and Brisbaret
Sue Benner Theatre
Host, Writer and Producer: Sophie Banister
Co-host, Musician: Thien Pham
Performers: Borishkiva. Anna Straker, Harrison & Andre, Whalehouse, Charlie Love
Spooktacular was performed for one night only on 31 October 2023.
