Infamous: Adelaide Fringe 2025 Review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 Stars for an electrifying (adults-only) fusion of circus, cabaret and burlesque
Review by Carla Caruso
Okay, this is not a circus you’d take the kids to. But it is a rollicking good time for a date night or mums’ night out!
Infamous is an adults-only, cabaret cirque show from Australia’s Ashton family dynasty, which has a 175-year circus legacy. Find it at Ellis Park/Tampawardli.
The show’s an intriguing blend of death-defying stunts, cheeky humour, and seductive performances – with a thumping soundtrack. If the gasp-worthy acts don’t get your heart going, the music will, from Eminem to Leonard Cohen (with some ditties performed live onstage by a singer).
The show kicked into high gear from the opening act, with male performers testing their balancing skills on a double-headed, rotating contraption, known as the Wheel of Steel.
The men performed inside and on top of the moving wheels – sometimes even while blindfolded, doing front flips, jumping rope, or with a woman on their shoulders … all without a safety net. My hands were sweating throughout the entire performance!
Other acts had a side of sauciness. Two women, in barely-there, nude-coloured costumes, performed a ‘love dance’ on aerial silks to Paloma Faith’s Never Tear Us Apart.
Meanwhile, the show’s male tightrope walker began his act fully clothed but got down to gold hot-pants à la Kylie Minogue by the end.
There was also some sultry shadowy puppetry to a Keith Sweat tune, plus female audience members were pulled onstage for a performance, which started out imitating Magic Mike but ended up more like Eyes Wide Shut. G-strings and nipple pasties were de rigueur throughout the show too.
In between the big numbers, there were dance troupe performances, including a chair dance to Sam Sparro’s Black and Gold, and comic relief from a clown and Marilyn Monroe imitator.
A particularly funny moment was when the clown disappeared inside a giant, inflatable ball and began swinging around the stage to Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball. We were in stitches.
The two-hour show is broken up with a 15-minute intermission.
The final act was the flying trapeze, which had us on the edge of our seats. At our show, for the pièce de résistance, one male performer did some gymnastics in the air and was meant to be caught by another guy swinging upside down nearby.
Instead, the somersaulting performer ended up falling onto the safety net. He did this three times, never successfully pulling off the act. It was a good lesson in ‘getting back on the horse’, even when you fall from a massive height.
The misstep didn’t in any way take away from the entire high-energy performance. If anything, it made the super-talented performers seem a titch more human.
If you really want to make a night of it at Infamous, you can also upgrade to a premium experience, which includes VIP tables for two, a dessert platter, and sparkling wine.
Get set for a wild ride, which breaks all the rules and brings an atmosphere charged with excitement. Infamous is not for the faint of heart!
Parking: The organisers recommend attendees arrive up to an hour early. The closest parking is at Adelaide High School and on Sir Donald Bradman Drive and Grote Street.
Main image thanks to Infamous. All other photos by reviewer Carla Caruso for Play & Go.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO & TICKETS
For more information, please visit the Adelaide Fringe website.
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post. The Play & Go team review via media accreditation and when kindly invited.
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