Although its history goes back 105 years, and echoes with the ghosts of performers from the legendary Weimar Republic cabaret scene, The Famous Spiegeltent is, for Edinburgh audiences, inextricably connected to the rise of 20th-century cabaret. From its riotous variety nights around the turn of the century through the formation of iconic cabaret La Clique, The Famous Spiegeltent has been a familiar site around the city during the Fringe and, for 2025, returns to St Andrew Square to celebrate the 21st anniversary of an award-winning club.

Since being built by master craftsmen Oscar Mols Dom and Louis Goor in 1920, the largest of the remaining tents has literally dazzled audiences with its interior of mirrors. Yet the design’s beauty is matched by the famous performers who have appeared on its round stage: in 1930, Marlene Dietrich famously sang ‘Falling In Love Again’, while contemporary cabaret acts, including Fringe superstar Camille O’Sullivan, Tim Minchin, Meow Meow, The Tiger Lillies, and even 1970s pop star Leo Sayer, have all added their magic to the venue’s mystique. 

For David Bates, who has spent over a quarter of a century touring and programming this venue, ‘it was love at first sight! I first saw The Famous Spiegeltent in Charlotte Square for the Book Festival when I was playing with an Australian jazz band. One night, I was talking to its owners, Scottish And Newcastle, and asked whether I could hire it. That was 1996. I thought it would be a one-off crazy thing to do... the rest is history.’

The following year, Bates’ distinctive curation arrived, mixing music and the rising cabaret and circus scenes. ‘It was eight years after the first season that La Clique was born,’ he says. ‘It was very eclectic. The Fringe has always been full of stand-up, but that has not been my inclination. In the early 21st-century, there was a really big gap for live music. And out of the late-night Club Spiegel, which became notorious, La Clique was born.’

La Clique appeared at a serendipitous time. ‘It was a fluke, laughs Bates. ‘Back in the day, nothing cool ever happened before ten o’clock at night; now, nothing starts late. We used to run the club until two or three in the morning. Within that club, I saw lots of acts who had a really great five minutes but not in a show context.’ By bringing these artists into a show that generates an immersive and exotic atmosphere, La Clique propelled variety away from light entertainments towards a contemporary and bold identity.

‘Around 2003, we decided to put a bunch of these artists together and gave it a pretentious French name, as a subversive little gang.’ The moment was clearly right. ‘It was at the time when there was this resurgence of burlesque. Young women were reclaiming its power rather than letting it fester in seedy men’s clubs. There was this underground movement of artists. And a lot of the late-night, subversive transgender artists appeared plus the circus-based acts that were not interested in being in Cirque Du Soleil but were interested in retaining their individuality. And we just happened to put together this extraordinary group of people who were at the peak of their powers: young, hip, groovy, with a bit of an attitude. It was on the fringes to start with but gradually became mainstream.’

In subsequent years, cabaret and burlesque, which had been marginalised by the immediacy and (in the Edinburgh Fringe context) inexpensive nature of stand-up comedy, would grow and occupy that mainstream. Eventually cabaret would receive its own section in the Fringe brochure, staging a glamorous protest towards hostile critics and creating its own creative aristocracy.

Through those years, La Clique maintained its status as the standard and inspiration. ‘The first time was like chucking a stone in a pond,’ Bates states. ‘The circles are very small, and the cognoscenti thought it was amazing. And then the circle has gone right out now.’

But the show was not just about the performers: the audience themselves, who are reflected above, behind and around the performers in the mirrors, are an essential element of the club. ‘We say that the show begins when someone buys a ticket. The experience is as important as the artist on stage. It’s what we imagine it was like in those Weimar clubs where the drinking and socialising environment is as important. The audiences are looking at each other through the stage, through the performers.’

La Clique, the show which gave The Famous Spiegeltent both its greatest success and defined an era of adventurous cabaret, is at the heart of the programme, with two show formats and an extended run. ‘La Clique is legal now, and it’s having a party,’ says co-curator Persephone D’Arbela Bates. The cast for the show is, she adds, ‘a cavalcade of returning La Clique artists from our original season, some of whom are coming out of retirement, and modern artists, many of whom saw La Clique as teenagers and now they’re joining us on the stage 20 years later. It is a mesh of legacy meets latest: a rotating cast, a lot of guest spots.’

Beginning with a week of Jazz Festival events, the Spiegeltent then presents an unprecedented six-week season for La Clique. ‘It is happening outside Fringe time as well as inside,’ continues Persephone. ‘That is an unexpected choice, but we wanted it because we are bringing La Clique and the Spiegeltent back to Edinburgh where it was born. It is a love letter to Edinburgh where it all began.’

With a lively curated programme, its distinctive glamour and history, The Famous Spiegeltent embodies both contemporary dynamism and nostalgic elegance, and even after 21 years, La Clique promises, once again, to energise and redefine Fringe culture.

La Clique, The Famous Spiegeltent, 23 July–31 August, 6.30pm; Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, The Famous Spiegeltent, 11–20 July; main picture: Jacquie Manning.