Circus of Horrors, New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham - review

Last night, Circus of Horrors brought their brand new 21st anniversary show The Never-Ending Nightmare to Birmingham's New Alexandra Theatre, a spooky dream-scape with otherworldly beings with out of this world talents - I couldn't wait.

Firmly sat in the aisle seat, wishing I had eyes in the back of my head, me and my partner waited in anticipation trying to peak behind the black out curtains on stage to see what awaited us.

Smoke piled from the stage, and an eerie Count Dracula type paced the aisles of the theatre staring dead into the souls of any who couldn't avert their eyes quick enough.

Suddenly, he bellowed hello! Providing my first jump scare of the night, and introduced himself as Camp Dracula - the love child of Bella Lugosi and Dale Winton.

The Circus of Horrors have their forked tongue poked firmly in their cheek when it comes to humour. They are the masters of the double entendre, inducing belly laughs from the crowd as they pick on their unwitting audience member of the night - Martin. A racy and spine-tingling PSA adorned the six screens on stage shortly after, promising gratuitous language, nudity, terrifying scares and gore aplenty. I really wished I had those eyes on the back of my head, and all around the sides at this point.

The Circus not only combines an array of daredevil stunts and spooky talents - but also live music as the mad mind behind the whole show, creator Dok Haze took to the stage to raging metal music and bellowed his powerful voice across the stage to introduce his hellish bunch.

Along with burlesque beauty Maria Morose, the pair told the story of the circus through their powerful, harmonious voices. Unfortunately, sometimes it was hard to understand exactly what they were saying so the tricks came across as tenuously sewn together by a dwindling rock narrative - though this unpredictable, eclectic guise worked somewhat in their favour.

The backing band provided the high octane soundtrack to the night aside from the vocals, with crushing metal odes that created an intense sense of dread at the culmination of each stunt - it was almost unbearable to watch at points as the music really did create the stuff of nightmares.

The acts themselves have shocked crowds on stage across the world and even on our TV screens as they made jaws drop on Britain's Got Talent - and it's easy to see why with their combination of shocking humour and unbelievable feats of physical endurance.

Camp Dracula doesn't last for long as he is forcibly shoved into an oversized washing machine and accidentally shrunk - introducing to the stage dwarf performer Captain Dan.

I can safely say I have seen more of Captain Dan than I thought I would as he repeatedly flashed the crowd at opportune moments - whether through his overcoat or being swung over the crowd with no underwear on. My throat hurts even now from the amount of squeals I couldn't keep to myself over his raucous behaviour.

His grand finale culminated in eating glass like a light snack and weighting a bowling ball from his private parts, both moments I had to watch from behind clenched fists. He's not all shocking behaviour though, Captain Dan is a show-stealer as he frequently appeared on-stage to steal the limelight from other performers - whether dressed as a blushing bridesmaid, or just to flash once more.

Upping the ante of physical endurance, the walking piece of art Hanibul Hellmurto strutted onto the stage ready to shock the masses.

He is introduced as one of the most modified men in the world, covered head to toe in tattoos with a forked tongue and ivory implanted into his mouth. You would think they are the most shocking modifications he would showcase, and you would be wrong.

Screams erupted as Hanibul demonstrated how his first two ribs are permanently broken to aid his sideshow act.

Small daggers, lengthy swords, a biblical saw, a curved scimitar and a neon rod - Hanibul swallows them all and took great pleasure in doing so to raucous cheers from the audience.

If that wasn't enough to turn your stomach and make your eyeballs pop, Hanibul can also balance a heavy piece of wood from chains through his septum piercing and balance a sword shooting fireworks in his throat - if anyone could summarise the Circus of Horrors perfectly, it would be Hanibul Hellmurto.

The Circus of Horrors doesn't just aim to shock the squeamish, it also aims to scare and it does so perfectly with the acrobatic Kenyan Warriors - who show great physical prowess as they limbo under burning metal and skip with a flaming jump rope.

The scare factor reached a crescendo when the screens were suddenly interrupted by the face of a terrifying horror clown, and Killer Klown and his minions entered the room climbing over the crowd to my absolute horror.

They frequently taunted the audience with their terrifying prosthetics and terrible language - the perfect villain for this nightmare.

Acrobatics is normally a calming, elegant act against all of this horror but with the Circus of Horrors, of course it wasn't going to be.

Anastacia Sawika soared above the crowd by her hair, balancing the weight of other acrobats from her lengthy locks and becoming a human Catherine wheel in the shows grand finale.

Physical feats don't have to be brutal, they can also be charming and beautiful as the Circus' acrobats proved with tandem aerial silk performers, the teeny tiny Girl in the Bottle, hula hoop performers and a contortionist who could drink a glass of wine by bending in half backwards and picking the glass up with her mouth - a trick I am trying to perfect right now.

I was promised gore, and gore I got as the audience were gleefully treated to stunning illusions in which Maria Morose was brutally cut in half and continued to sing her melody, while another female member of the cast had her throat cut spurting blood all over the audience.

So much mayhem and so much chaos caused by these talented performers - but the real star of the show that deserved the biggest round of applause was audience member Martin. Martin joined an obscure tea party with Hanibul swallowing a chair leg, he received a burlesque routine from Maria Morose and Killer Klown and he was eaten alive by a bed - probably not what he expected from an evening at the theatre.

A well-rounded night of screams of shock and laughter - the Circus of Horrors is a hair-rising ride through your deepest, darkest sub-conscious with performers that you can barely believe your eyes have laid upon.

Watch, if you dare!

By Becci Stanley