Recently I watched Kurios - A Cabinet of Curiosities at the Royal Albert Hall in South Kensington. I was delighted to see the huge variety of steampunk-themed acts, from contortionists to an ‘invisible’ circus.

 

The show starts with a scientist-like character–the Seeker–wanting to unlock the secrets in his cabinet of curiosities. After doing something that results in him seemingly being electrically shocked, a train arrives on set, with people from Curiosistan.

 

Later on, ‘Upside Down World’ starts, where a dinner party guest stacks chair on chair to reach the ceiling candles, before realising that there was a mirror image above his head, stacking chairs down to the candle. However, before the second half, the show took quite a long time to warm up.

 

In the second half, the show reached its peak. A number of unforgettable acts were performed, from Baixas’ bizarre but adorable Theatre of Hands, to the men with fish tails bouncing off a giant, springy fishing net.

 

Overall, this show left me in awe, from the jaw dropping balance acts (not to forget James Gonzalez balancing on countless cylinders), to the moments of comic relief (the best example of this is when a clown invited an audience member on stage, before turning into a cat and coughing up hairballs). In any case, it’s unmissable.