It's hard to know the ethics of laughing at a man whose body has been damaged pre-birth by Thalidomide doing a striptease which involves taking off his artificial arms. And being critical about it. But SideShow isn't an ethical show. Nazi acts are usually impishly anti-Nazi, but tonight's isn't. And that joke about Anne Frank. Blimey. Not a night for the faint-hearted. Guardian readers might crap into their lentils.

Mat Fraser is a roguishly good-looking man in a suit (for a while), slender, sexy. He strips to a song track, pulling off his coat, shirt and - oh! he's got phoney arms! - pulls those off too, revealing hands on very short arms. It's not really a strip-tease, because he keeps a little pair of pants on, and he's got a great body. Lots of nipple licking and self-stroking - and it may well be a great turn on for women and gay men. It's a bit difficult to say more - here's an amazing man who's turned a hammer-blow from an American drugs company into victory. Is it any good? The first track is, and there's obviously the surprise. The second track, more nipple licking and stroking, to Eels' Beautiful Freak - 'You're such a beautiful freak / I wish there more just like you / You're not like all of the others' - stretches it, and it feels self indulgent. That might sound like a horrible thing to say about a performer whose dignity and courage is beyond question, but that's the point. Here's a performer who's standing up and saying - take me as I am, don't feel sorry for me, I am a man, and a normal man. So it would be insulting to back off criticism. Fringe Report salutes Mat Fraser. But maybe scrap the second song. It's hard to know how to develop this act in a different way, but there's no doubt this talented and elegant performer will find the dynamic.

Frisky & Mannish are an outrageously pretty woman and a strikingly good-looking man; Frisky the lady's voluptuous, the gent very pale, in a Count-Dracula-pre-dining way. He's playing keyboard which is delivering a harpsichord voice, wearing formal clothes. She's singing in English in Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) vampish accent - it's the theme an some American TV programme - 'I'll be there for you'. She cuts to a schoolgirl voice for Meat Loaf's I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That) making it dirty and paedophilic - glorious. A selection of love songs - 'Eternal Flame / Do You Feel My Heart Beating' - her voice is gorgeous, and she's a powerfully gifted satirist - starts in prettiness and drifts sharply into harsh mania. Mannish plays meticulously, the while, and sings 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' in a disturbing way. 'I've Never Had A Dream Come True' - with disturbing subliminal thoughts added. He sings 'I Just Called To Say I Love You' with dirty breathing. It ends in a fugue (terrific classical keyboard work from Mannish) - 'I'm Never Going To Dance Again / Guilty feet have got no rhythm' - slipping into ?Spanish - with passionate earthy intensity from Frisky. It's a remarkable act - the highlight of the four acts covered by this review, and likely the highlight of any evening. Two extraordinarily gifted and astonishing performers, great presence, remarkably imaginative, wholly original - and colossal fun.

Ryan Styles does graceful mime. He's on in a white sweater with a big inflated bump inside, as if pregnant. He has blond hair and looks good, and bursting. Which is what happens to the balloon inside his clothes. Out come little heart-shaped balloons. He's a thin man after that. The act goes on for quite a while, and for mime enthusiasts it may well be terrific. It's performed with graceful fluidity of movement by a clearly strong performer.

Frank Sanazi has a striking and handsome face, with black hair, and a kiss curl. He wears a suit and has a familiar look, which nods to its source when his right arm is extended. German Chancellor Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) is back from the dead, performing in cabaret as a Frank Sinatra (1915-1998) character living in today's world, and showing his easy-going side. Outrageous, or just an aspect never previously explored of the man his shorthand-typist called 'a great dictator'? 'Every time I fall flat on my face, I pick myself up and start the Aryan Race' he sings. It's good; it could be outstanding. Sometimes the delivery wobbles a fraction, and it feels as if the performer needs more assurance, and to be more Hitleristic. What's the story - did he escape from the bunker? That bit's unclear, because he's suddenly singing a modern-day song about violence on a plane in the Middle East, which doesn't make sense if he's dead. He does a first song introducing the character which has some witty lines - it needs repetition removing from it. The second song - Strangers On My Flight - about the plane, isn't much good, and repeats itself. It needs another strong song to replace it. Jokes are going to divide audiences anyhow - 'Have you been to Amsterdam? I don't know why my soldiers couldn't find Anne Frank's house. There are signs anywhere'. That one brings the house down tonight. At the moment the act feels on its way to getting to where it's going, and it could be a very robust act indeed - 'Mein Way On The Steinway'. It's certainly never been done before. It could do with full confidence in itself, enough to power it through a shocked and silent audience, which at some point it's going to meet. The actor is highly talented, and he's certainly got balls.

The night takes place in a clubroom bar. Films are projected on the ceiling during the whole evening. Acts are arranged in pairs followed by an interval - so there are 3 sets, total 6 acts, and two intervals. This review covers 20:00 till 21:20, the end of the first four acts as above. Later tonight will be, with the producer's descriptions in brackets, Miss Golden Delicious (burlesque); Chrisalys (transvestite purveyor of pain). There's music and dancing from DJ Margaret The Gimp, attractively dressed in leather braided jacket, plumed hair, silver half-mask, black shorts, adept at the decks. Joint producer (with Arts Theatre supremo Martin Witts) Paul L Martin is The Bloody Ringmaster, in white face make-up, neat beard, formal red tailcoat, white jodhpurs, top hat with feather, whip, black leather boots. He's a congenial host - ebullient and charming - and the vibe is very friendly, tasteless, comfortable and relaxed. People sit round the room with drinks during the performance, it's not formal, and the acts don't pick on people.

Performers: (alpha order): Chrisalys. Frank Sanazi. Frisky & Mannish. Mat Fraser. Miss Golden Delicious. Ryan Styles. DJ - Margaret The Gimp. MC - The Bloody Ringmaster. Assisted by (including) : Laura Corcoran. Matthew Jones. Stuart Saint. Paul L Martin.

Company Credits: Writer - (the various acts). Director - (the various acts). Lighting Designer - uncredited. Sound Designer - uncredited. Technical Operator - uncredited. Producer (alpha order) - Paul L Martin & Martin Witts. Company - The Arts Theatre. The Arts Theatre: Director - Martin Witts. Front of House (tonight) - Pat Macdonald. Box Office (tonight) - Gilda Frost. SideShow website - www.sideshow-london.co.uk/

END

John Park

reviewed Friday 30 May 08 / Club Bar, The Arts Theatre London

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012

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