For kids, seeing a circus performer do a handstand on an elephant is a form of wonder that makes their clean little minds flip. For the rest of us, there's La Soiree.
La Soiree is well known to Sydney, having bowled us over in earlier La Clique form as early as 2007, in the Famous Spiegeltent. The cheeky, ever-evolving international cabaret circus now sells out with each visit. If there's a number of viewings required to dull its shine, awe, and utter glee, no human audience member is reported to have reached it yet.
The trick is their special collection of burlesque vaudeville contortionist aerialist acrobat comedian evocateurs who are just a little bit grungy and a little bit sexy. Although the show is always changing, you can count on the return of the inimitable 'Bath Boy' (aka David O'Mer), whose dramatic flights from the air and into the tub will redefine how you think of aerial arts (and having water flicked into your face).
Cirque du Soleil run when they hear these carnies coming. See them in the Opera House Studio; it may not be mirrored, but it's a perfectly intimate cabaret salon.