The Revolver Club is part variety show, part nightclub experience – a package deal that includes comedy, cocktail competitions and cabaret. A key conceit is the shape of the performance space: there’s a revolving stage at the end of a long, raised thrust, which is also the sort of double entendre that powers a lot of the night. 

The Backstage Social Club at The Arts Centre is an ideal venue for this show, which is featured at the back end of the re-configured Buskers Festival, now branded Bread & Circus World Buskers Festival. It’s ‘non-traditional’ enough to pass as a party venue, while kitted out with enough gear to create a well-designed, comprehensive theatre experience. 

The show’s co-creator, Shay Horay, who’s well known as a comedian, host, character performer and variety act, helms the night as the louche, long-haired MC Richard Rhythm. He’s a vision in leather, aviators and sparkly cowboy boots, strutting up and down the thrust stage like it’s a catwalk. He reminds me a little of Cheech Marin’s character in the 90s vampire film From Dusk Til Dawn, who hustles for customers outside of a desert strip club. (I apologise for the very dated reference). Horay works the seated crowd with ease, maintaining high energy and a sense of cohesion, and hitting the sweet spot between sordid and silly. Horay’s been performing in Christchurch for decades now and there’s a lot of love in the room for him. 

Circus artist Imogen Stone delivers some exquisite physical comedy, winning the room over from her first ironically raised eyebrow, especially as she coaxes an audience member into helping her prepare for a romantic night in. Later, the audience is left scraping their jaws off the floor during her stunning aerial rope performance.  

We’re also offered some masterful juggling, laced with dry humour, from Degge and Zane Jarvie, who have previously won the Kiwi ‘Iron Chicken’, an award presented by The Press to the best New Zealand act at the Buskers Festival. The three have been performing in Bread & Circus as the Biggest Little Circus, and the system obviously works as I hear a number of audience members say they’ve come along after seeing their outdoor performances. 

Supporting the action is co-creator, circus artist and musician Pascal Ackerman, who audiences will recognise from his work with The Loons and Free Theatre. As Richard Rhythm’s right hand man Hans, he keeps the stage rotating with a large hand crank, gets his kit off in a great running gag and smashes out some terrific blues guitar.  

Above the back of the multi-levelled upstage space, surrounded by clouds and peering over the red draped curtains, is DJ Moneybagwan – musician and producer Jody Lloyd – channelling the blissful guru who was the centre of the recent documentary series Wild Wild Country. He provides an insistent and textured aural backdrop to the night, setting the nightclub atmosphere as we are welcomed into the space, and pacing the show with finesse.

It’s a fabulous night, and I haven’t been in an audience so invested in a performance in a long time. The show has also been thoughtfully crafted, from the sense of place and atmosphere to the arc of the acts, the design of the set, the thoughtful lighting and the shape of the sound and music. It’s still finding its feet though, which is to be expected, given that this is the first run with a full audience. I’m curious about a few loose ends. I may have missed some fine details in the noise and movement but I’d love to know what the competitive cocktail makers are whipping up, what the rules of the game of ‘torture quiz’ are, and what the payoff is for the raffle tickets we’ve been given.

It also seems a little churlish to ask for more, given the way the show has been crafted, but the people I’m sitting next to want a couple more acts and feel like things end a little soon and I agree that there’s scope to keep fleshing out the 90-minute running time.

The Revolver Club is a great conceit though: a fantastic cabaret experience that has you laughing out loud when you’re not holding your breath. 

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