The salacious, raven-haired Bernadette Byrne is a vision in black: think a feathered Sally Bowles by way of Cruella de Ville in precarious, spiked heels, after a hard, absinthe-drenched night in a Eurotrash-themed S&M dungeon.

Her suit-and-frock wearing partner, the one man/woman band Victor Victoria, may or may not be a murderous psychopath (the evidence is mounting), but s/he’s also a mean accordion player and a whiz on the keyboard and loop pedal.

Together, they are a delicious pair of smut-peddlers with gorgeous voices and killer stage presence. Their show, EastEnd Cabaret, offers a delightfully filthy night that combines ribald humour and outrageous songs with beautifully pitched character comedy.

Despite taking place in a marquee on a rainy night, and being victim to a bit of sound pollution from the show one tent over, the performance maintains an intimate and warm feel. The pair have a remarkable gift for making the audience feel special and not just because Bernadette, in particular, is dead keen on lasciviously macking* onto anyone and anything with a pulse.

The poor (but not necessarily unwilling) men who are drawn in to support her various acts are never the butt of the pair’s jokes, even if there’s a fair bit of butt touching.

The performance itself, for all the fluidity, looseness and banter, is sharply honed and the technical staff offer outstanding audio and lighting support to the performers. We run a bit over time – but as the last show of the night, no big deal – and it’s clear that the audience would have been thrilled for another hour. Or a night.

If you think you’ll like genre-bending songs about stealth masturbation, gin-soaked evenings on the prowl and deflowering strangers, then this is certainly the show for you. Even if you don’t, come along and be seduced and, if you’re lucky, you’ll have your faced licked, then succumb to the sexual tension and finally dribble out into the night a satisfied customer. What happens in the tent stays in the tent.

*[flirting, being ostentatious to attract member(s) of the opposite sex – urban dictionary]

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