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Fringe review: Elixir

Charming and disarming, the bare-chested performers of Elixir combine well-executed acrobatics with slapstick, sexy antics … and zombies. ★★★★½

Mar 01, 2018, updated Mar 01, 2018

I like a show with a good story. It doesn’t really matter if the story is realistic or if it holds up all the way through the performance. The fact that the artists have made an effort to conjure a cohesive feel when there is a tenuous connection between acts is admirable and most often makes for a better Fringe show.

In the case of Elixir by performance troupe Head First Acrobats, this is certainly the case. What could have been individual acts of acrobatics become part of an admittedly not highly plausible but kind of fun story about drinking potions and turning into zombies.

The three male performers are funny and likable, full of energy and mischief. They all have their specialties, including climbing a ladder that is being held upright only by the performer’s subtle movements, and playing with a cyr wheel. The hoop action is some of the best I have ever seen anywhere and that alone is worth the entry.

But this show offers so much more, including interestingly varied music, from classical numbers to the Bee Gees. Unfortunately, it also suffers from the same problem as many others, assuming that the audience is as deaf as the sound engineers and therefore cranking up the music to unbearable levels.

Elixir is a sexy, cheeky show with lots of sexual references and some swearing, so it might not be the best for a younger audience but all the adults at the performance I attended seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, even when they were implicated in the action – or perhaps even more so when they were involved.

The way all three performers play their roles with tongues placed firmly in cheeks that is both charming and disarming. If you are after a combination of well-executed acrobatics, good old-fashioned slapstick and sexy antics by bare-chested men with rippling muscles, you can’t go past Elixir.

Elixir is showing in Gluttony until March 18. Read more InDaily Fringe reviews and stories here.

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