The Dark Party

The Dark Party by The Dirty Brothers is a mad, freaky comic side show: A Tokyo Shock Boy sort of horrible, physically challenging thing performed by a set of lugubrious characters slowly egging each other on to progressively more painful stunts. Grim surprises are in store with The Dark Party and the shtick here differs from the usual in this sample of 'sideshow noir'. Some traditional tricks like sword swallowing feature alongside the use of alarming things like electric saws and staple guns. You know how heavy a bowling ball is? Or a car battery? Shudder. You'll have to see for yourself what they do with them. To look at, The Dirty Brothers resemble the zombies of Split Enz with a 'homeless gothic' retro punky aesthetic. This lot are seasoned carnies and their timing and confidence are nicely tuned. The Dark Party is an original show, both appalling and funny.

The Famous Spiegeltent, Arts Centre to Saturday 16 February