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Swallowing swords at the Roundhouse
By Louise Jury, Evening Standard 01.05.08
High art: Miss Behave's variety show at the Roundhouse will feature a German contortionist and a pyromaniac
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She is one of the last female sword swallowers in the world and an eccentric mistress of ceremonies.
Now Miss Behave is to host three weeks of variety at the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm.
She will perform nightly alongside unusual acts including a German contortionist, an Australian hula girl, a Frank-Sinatra-style crooner and a pyromaniac freak-show artist.
Miss Behave, who has been described as Betty Boop meets Marlene Dietrich, is MC of La Clique, a burlesque show that has been a hit at Edinburgh and other festivals.
She said the new event, Miss Behave's Variety Nighty, would involve less removal of clothing than burlesque because “I've got to say, I do not look good without clothes on.” She added: “It's good oldfashioned variety but with the pace of now — and more of an ironic twist. We're going to entertain the hell out of you.
“The agenda is to give people the best night of their lives.”
Miss Behave, who grew up in Bristol and London and now lives in Berlin, began by promoting nightclubs in Leicester Square.
She then read a book about a sword swallower and decided she wanted to do the same.
She spent several years touring with a freak show before deciding to move away from the audience-shocking end of entertainment towards vaudeville and alternative cabaret.
“I became interested in making an audience laugh, rather than grossing them out,” she said.
The Roundhouse worked with Miss Behave last summer during their season of contemporary circus.
Her show will use the full height of the refurbished building but will still be made intimate by having tables and chairs only within the support pillars in the centre of the space.
It will be yet another transformation of the rock venue. The Royal Shakespeare Company, which is currently presenting its sell-out run of Shakespeare's history plays there, has created an entire theatre inside.
Miss Behave's Variety Nighty is on from 31 July to 24 August
