Brisbane-based all-male burlesque sensation Briefs has long been smarter than your average. Yes, audiences go to one of their shows to witness feats of superhuman ability, laugh their troubles away and gawk lustily at the Briefs boys – but there’s something a bit deeper and more subversive lurking under pretty much everything they do.
Not that it will always be apparent to you; scantily-clad bodies have a tendency to distract an audience from dramaturgical nuance. And that’s fine.
Club Briefs is the scrappier, younger, and, um, fleshier sibling of their more themed, structured shows – last year’s Sydney Festival hit imagined a queer future – but it’s every bit as fun. It’s also appropriate that this is the show they’ve brought to Sydney for their first appearance at Mardi Gras; it’s more daring and relies more heavily on a community vibe, kicking off with a runway which every audience member is invited to walk.
The looseness of the format – with hostess Shivannah (Fez Fa'anana’s drag alter ego) leading an audience through the Briefs boys’ acts – makes the “club” of the title feel totally apt. She’s able to keep an audience screaming for 90 minutes and make the Seymour Centre’s York Theatre feel like an intimate club (not exactly an easy feat given how much it feels like a lecture theatre with its fold-out tables on every seat). Plus, she’s absolutely hilarious; an extended bit about being a “busy mum” and a criminally ugly dress she decided to wear is side-splittingly funny.
Similarly, Thomas Worrell’s impressive Frozen-inspired aerial routine manages to be as funny as it is sexy, while Mark ‘Captain Kidd’ Winmill’s feathery birdbath act is jaw-droppingly spectacular. Louis Biggs leaves absolutely nothing to the imagination in an act which shows his dexterity with a lollipop and a Rubik’s cube (although that mightn’t be what you find yourself focussed on) and Dale Woodbridge-Brown uses a whip to prove he’s a genuine country boy. Relative newcomer Luke Hubbard shows his acrobatic prowess in a tumbling and balancing act (although, again, those mightn’t be the skills you find yourself focussed on).
Sydney drag royalty Dallas Dellaforce, who’s long been a creative force at Briefs, brings her avant garde style of drag to the stage, while punk cabaret queen Yana Alana – the only woman in the show – is a vocal powerhouse and an utterly commanding presence (seriously, just try to resist singing when she commands), and she evens out some of the male flesh on display.
Incredibly, there’s not a weak act in the entire show, and although it’s a little bit longer than you might expect from this genre, you’ll find yourself very willing to give yourself over and settle in for a night of wild and sometimes insanely raucous entertainment. I could say it’s not a show for the faint of heart, but the faint of heart don’t deserve a show this fabulous.