Bernie Dieter on the pleasure of performance: ‘It’s like good sex!’
With her latest show, Bernie Dieter is bringing spills and plenty of filthy thrills to Adelaide. Claire Sawers chats to the cabaret queen about Fringe memories and getting her audience in the right mood
‘Adelaide has a special place in my heart,’ says sultry singer and punk cabaret impresario, Bernie Dieter. ‘It’s where I catch up with all my Fringe family from all over the world. I’ve not been back for six years so I’m excited to return.’
Dieter (real name Jen Byrne) is the half German/half Australian diva who invites audiences in for 100 minutes of irreverent, saucy fun in Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett. Her troupe of circus and burlesque performers wow with contortionism, trapeze, fire, tap dance and drag. It’s Dieter’s job to weave it all together; she makes her way to the front row in stilettos and a bodysock, fluffs her crowd, teasing folks out of their shell and straight into her bosom. She’s followed by the likes of fire-breathing stripteaser Jacqueline Furey who combines flaming torches and burlesque sass, then the tall, elegant and neatly moustachioed Iva Rosebud, a drag queen in slippery pink silk. Contortionist extraordinare Soliana Ersie makes it look like no big deal as she casually wraps her legs around her ears. Jarred Dewey turns in a magnetic performance in porn heels while turning himself inside out on the aerial trapeze, and incredible tap dancer Caleb Cameron (fresh from the Crazy Horse club in Paris) melds seamlessly with the live band.
Dieter reminisces about being ‘a cabaret baby’, performing her late-night Little Death Club in The Garden Of Unearthly Delights back in the day. ‘I’d flyer four hours a night. We completely sold out which was amazing. We ate lots of pancakes: there’s a 24-hour pancake parlour in Adelaide. It’s beautiful summer weather and the Garden is such a chill place to hang out and meet artists that really inspire me, like Dr Brown, Frisky & Mannish, Abandoman.’
‘Little Death Club has evolved and matured since then. The flow feels really right. It began as a variety show with naughty, absurd artists that I love, but Club Kabarett is in a different league. We create this world that people can come into, this Berlin cabaret club. The show has taken on important social and political commentary but retains that punk energy.’
Dieter prides herself on reading the room every night. ‘Meeting the crowd where they are; holding them, lifting them, bringing them in. It’s like good sex!’ she declares. ‘Everyone in the right place at the right time. Creating a mood, considering what’s come before: has it been a stressful day? That’s when the magic happens, right?’
Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett, The Garden Of Unearthly Delights, 21 February–22 March, times vary; picture: Matthew Gedling.