Barbu

Four Canadians with thick muscles and thicker lumberjack beards, laid on an exceptional show of circus feats and physical comedy.

There were also roles for an ancient, gender-confused mentalist-clown, two female acrobats and a live band who thumped out Franco-gypsy dances in between EDM segments. All that work must have raised the temperature somewhat as the performers felt compelled to remove nearly all of their clothing, including the aforementioned ancient, gender-confused mentalist-clown. One routine featured a guy wearing a beard, an oversized Xmas decoration and almost nothing else.

There's added impact and an enhanced danger factor when routines are performed in a smaller, close-quarters venue, but it's also harder to get away with errors as every nuance can be scrutinised. But tonight, the skills on display were so accomplished that the performance seemed virtually flawless. Moreover, given the fast pace, audience members were almost in danger of being numbed by the dizzying excellence as difficult feats were made to look almost too easy at times. In this game, praise doesn't come much higher. The only thing missing was a warning that you're almost guaranteed to leave with sore hands from all the inevitable clapping.