The Trip

The Famous Spiegeltent, with its House of Mirrors feel, seems a perfect venue for this genre defying performance. The Trip is equal parts circus, burlesque and vaudeville, with a touch of cabaret thrown in for good measure. And, judging by the sold-out performances, it's a formula Melbourne seems keen on. At last year's Melbourne Festival, La Soiree – which shares many stylistic commonalities with The Trip – was one of the most lauded shows on the program.

Hailing from Berlin, The Trip is cheeky and fun and then, almost without warning, mind-blowing. The Caesar Twins are the troupe's best known performers; they climb all over each other and get themselves into seemingly impossible positions, only to roll or turn a certain way, which somehow unlocks them from one another and there they stand, as if they've done nothing more than shake hands.

There's also the juggling sensation Girma Tsehai, whose ball handling skills would rival those of Jenna Jameson. But it seems only fitting and in keeping with normal custom that at least one person in a German company ought to be dubbed a wunderkind, and that honour must certainly be bestowed upon contortionist David Pereira. He bends his body every which way and, as if that wasn't enough, even manages to find new ways to use the common supermarket trolley.

The Famous Spiegeltent to Sunday 3 March