On an already balmy January night in The Pleasure Gardens, the team behind “Cake – Late Bite” delivered an absolute scorcher of a show, likely one of the hottest without an actual fire act at this year’s FRINGE WORLD.

From an opening routine to the refrain of Donna Summer’s “MacArthur Park”, where the cast constructed a cake from several materials illicit or sexual, through the rapid-fire patter of Sydney’s burlesque clown Memphis Mae, which included ketamine and a splash zone without water acts, to the delicate beauty, artistry, and raw strength of not one, nor two, but three extremely talented circus performers, the directions this evening took could not be seen in advance, one routine to the next. The only predictability was the unpredictability.

Swedish artist David Eriksson, making his Perth return after seven years, stormed onto stage to Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades”, with a voice of gravel and concrete, and proceeded to entertain with the most delicate of ping-pong ball acts. Kamilaroi Cowboy and current Briefs performer, Dale Woodbridge-Brown, slung lassoes, cracked whips, and flirted outrageously with the very passionate crowd.

The crowning achievement of the evening would only be massively spoilt if detailed here, beyond the involvement of further cake. What more could be said was perhaps not to attend with workmates, the Bible study group, nor anyone’s more prudish relatives. For everybody else, it was a performance worthy of the late hour, the eclectic troupe, and it needs to be seen to be truly appreciated.

Cake – Late Bite was a fabulous return to the truly experimental, chaotic, and yes, fringe aspects of the festival, a show seemingly always five seconds from spinning out of control, held together by sticky tape and the force of the artists’ willpower. This only appeared to be the case, the performers had rehearsed these acts dozens, if not hundreds of times before, but what came to stage before the audience was barely on the leash and totally off the handle.