The Stage

Variety by the Sea

Published Thursday 24 February 2011 at 11:49 by Liz Arratoon

It’s official. Variety has found the perfect home in Slightly Fat Features’ family show, and what better showcase for it than Showzam!, Blackpool’s annual festival of light entertainment. The engaging Goronwy Thom must have showbusiness running in his veins. With a brilliant line-up, including the multi-talented musician Robert Lee, he has packed this lovingly crafted production with fun and skill.

Matt Barnard and Gareth Jones in Slightly Fat Features' show Variety by the Sea at Central Pier Theatre, Blackpool

Having already whipped up a storm at the event’s carnival ball, and performed their turns at Showzam Central and outside in the Arctic cold, the magnificent seven - mostly seasoned street entertainers - now work the sell-out room like a dream. From spoof performing elephants to a miniature cowboy on a pantomime horse, from Gareth Jones’ cling-film escape to teeth made from Tic Tacs, you can’t help but laugh out loud at their silly antics.

Breathless ensemble club juggling routines, sometimes on six-foot unicycles, meld with comedy, eccentric dancing, plate spinning and Jon Hicks’ sensational painting. Matt Barnard’s beer balance/knife juggling number and Herbie Treehead’s magic and song jostle with a hilarious version of Find the Lady. And quite how Richard Garaghty cheats certain death inside a simple cardboard box as an onslaught of 27 steel-tipped umbrellas pierce it from all angles is a mystery. For the finale, they turn to stone and form an Italianate spouting-statue fountain that brings the house down.

Clearly heading for the big time, Thom and his team are pure showmen, with myriad talents at their fingertips. Their enthusiasm is infectious and, put simply, they know how to entertain.