Review: Little Death Club

If you're wandering about the Meadows late at night this August, you may be one of the lost souls attracted to the merry band of misfits that make up Little Death Club. Or maybe you're craving some of the best variety performers at the Fringe, in which case the answer will still involve you seeing Little Death Club. This collection of weirdos, degenerates and runaways is a family both on and off stage, and one that is wholly inviting to anyone looking to be a part of it.  

Hosting the evening is the mistress of mayhem, Bernie Dieter. A ringleader whose songs are some of the most crowd pleasing of the evening, she brings a cohesion and order to the chaos. A true variety of acts, this incarnation of the show has the bearded lady and firebreather Kitty Bang Bang, aerialist Beau Sargent, flâneur, raconteur and bon-viveur Marcel Lucont, and drag queen and Songbird of South Yorkshire Myra DuBois. Backed by a "weimar-punk jazz" band, the monstrous guitar driven new metal group injects the show with a unique sound.

There’s a punk attitude to the evening, kabarett in its spirit. It’s also not afraid to be tender, with an emotional duet between Dieter and Sargent that brings a tear to any dry eye. The beauty of cabaret and variety has always been the something-for-everyone attitude, Little Death Club is no exception.