Part of the inspiration for Anna Lou Larkin’s show Le Wine Club lies with her dad, who introduced her to wine at a very early age. Not in an irresponsible manner, of course; he was a wine buff sharing his enthusiasm for the blessed grape.

‘Ever since we were little he would give us a little sniff: “what do you think that smells like? That’s sauvignon blanc, so that smells like gooseberry.” I’ve still never had a gooseberry; I only know what gooseberry smells like!’ Unsurprisingly, Larkin went on to study wine herself, gaining the specialist WSET Level 4 qualification. 

Though her eclectic cabaret show is meant to include a wine tasting element, at the time of going to press it was unknown whether Larkin would be allowed to give the audience a tipple at her venue (ironic given the name of the room she’s performing in is Nip). Nevertheless, those attending can always supply their own from the bar, and in any case, there is far more to the show than just that.

Le Wine Club has had a few runs since its first incarnation in late 2021 and has finally reached the Fringe; the result is in part a murder mystery. ‘I love a whimsical crime drama, Midsomer Murders and all that. That was our lockdown basically; drinking wine and watching whimsical crimes, which is kind of what the show is. There’s always that little thread, a sort of murder mystery. Someone gets killed in a big vat of merlot . . . it’s quite dark in some ways, but also very silly.’

In many aspects, Le Wine Club is the culmination of Larkin’s life journey so far. As well as wine and lockdown crime drama, a little French is dropped in, soundtracked by an iconic instrument very much associated with our Gallic neighbours. Having studied performance in Paris, Larkin toured in a French-speaking theatre company and subsequently decided to perform cabaret with the accordion.

‘When I first started doing cabaret shows, the shows that I was enjoying were things like The Tiger Lillies. I think that was one of the things that inspired me in playing the accordion; it has a really evocative sound without doing too much. You get a sort of film sound that really takes you somewhere.’

Larkin has performed a lot of late-night cabaret in clubs over the years, but she’s made an effort to tone down the level of filth for afternoon Fringe-goers. Don’t worry though: only a touch. ‘The audience expected really dark, really filthy material. The levels got so high that I expected everything that I wrote to be filthy because they expect it to be filthy. But for this show, I’ve really tried to bring that down. So I think this is my easy-going commercial piece. But it’s still very adults-only and quite blue in terms of the songs. I love lyrics and rhyming and making things a little bit naughty, but also smart and a bit informative at the same time. That’s what I’m trying to do with this show.’

As if that wasn’t enough, there’s a bit of magic too. ‘It’s quite a simple magic trick. I have done bits and pieces of magic in various shows but I’m not naturally gifted at it. You’re trying to conceal something from the audience with magic whereas I think I’m always like, “I want to show you everything!” When I watch magic, I’m like the best audience and just like [*looks astonished*] “tell me how you do it?!”’ Free wine or not, it’s clear to see fun will be had with Anna Lou Larkin behind the bar. 

Le Wine Club, Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, 2–27 August, 3pm.