Absinthe

Most people love the blissfully semiconscious state between waking and sleeping and the absurd thoughts that accompany it—hence the appeal of the notoriously potent green liquor, thought to induce a similar haze. Add a dash of uninhibited libido to that dreamlike feeling and you get Absinthe. This 18-and-over show is set apart by the intimacy of its spiegeltent theater, its bawdy, in-your-face attitude and the gasp-worthy stunts that play out on a nine-foot-diameter round stage just a few feet from the audience. Hosted by emcee-provocateur the Gazillionaire—a greasy-haired, mustachioed carnival barker plucked straight out of the 1970s—and his assistant Joy Jenkins, he plies audiences with dirty jokes and double entendres between cabaret and circus-style acts like flipping strongmen, tap-dancing twins and scantily clad acrobats that are the stuff of very flexible fantasies. It’s like Cirque du Soleil’s naughty little sister and well worth your entertainment dollars.