Electric Circus Birthday

For the past year, the Electric Circus has been building a solid reputation for curating nights outside of the ordinary. Aside from the custom-built karaoke rooms, its monthly programme is eclectic, not least due to the involvement of Dee Itsy, who books the popular Va Va Voom night.

As Dee points out, "The Electric Circus has, in 12 short months, proven itself as a forward-thinking and multi-faceted venue, so it is quite appropriate that for its first anniversary it will throw a dynamic party, showcasing some of the most exciting and important bands and specialist performers in the UK."

To celebrate its first birthday, the club has engaged Dee to programme a night of circus sideshow curiosities, live music, go-go dancers and Itsy's diverse DJing. Skinny favourites Withered Hand and White Heath provide sensitive rock for lovestruck hipsters, while the acrobatic burlesque of Mocha Deluxe is joined by London's unique Missy Macabre, who has pioneered some more usual props.

"When i was first introduced to sideshow, i researched it fully because I was so fascinated by it," Macabre explains. "And I saw that no one really specialised in broken glass. So it was something that I wanted to make my signature. I already loved the feel of broken glass, and had developed my own technique from early on. Now it's a medium that I absolutely love to perform with, it feels so natural."

Macabre's trademark style is somewhere on the cusp of performance art, freak side shows, cabaret and burlesque. "For me, pioneering burlesque and sideshow isn't about the eroticism of burlesque," she clarifies. "It's about the style. I don't consider myself to be a burlesque performer."

Her recent performance at London Burlesque Week certainly set her apart from the typical repetoire. With sharp wit, a bed of nails and the signature glass, her routine balanced danger, glamour, improvisation and professional polish, simultaneously thrilling and elegant.

Mocha Deluxe, on the other hand, has incorporated spectacular acrobatic techniques into a romantic vision of burlesque, while the cabaret line up is completed by Piff The Magic Dragon. Piff is a a unique talent, whose self-depreciating persona manges to rescue two of the most irritating art-forms – stand up comedy and close-up magic –from the twilight horror of Paul Daniels and countless Fringe also-rans.

Piff's genius is in the downbeat charm, the flashes of delight when he displays a success trick – or a fancy piece of kit – and a deadpan skill. Piff remains surprised at applause yet genuinely comfortable working the crowd: a pleasant change from the usual brash nonsense.

Like many of Dee's evenings, the range of performers is astonishing, sensual and provocative (see Torture Garden for further evidence). Sitting in that space between happening and club event, Dee insists that "it will be a delight to behold, and something no music or performance loving creature should miss. I also add that if you do not catch Missy Macabre's first Scottish performance of 2010 you will regret it."