Burlesque as You Like It - Not a Family Show performer Eve Gordon wowed the lunchtime crowd at the University of Otago with an aerial performance.
"It's called a silks performance and it's a big part of circus arts," Gordon told the Otago Daily Times.
The show, which includes trapeze, acrobatics, dance, singing and film, had to be moved from the Fortune Theatre to the Regent Theatre to accommodate all the high-flying action.
"The show was a lot bigger than we realised," festival director Paul Smith said.
"The Fortune just couldn't cope with nine aerial points. It was just too big. It's going to be fabulous to see how it looks in there. It shows how important the Regent is to Dunedin. There was no other venue in town that could handle it.
Gordon said: "It's a very sexy show. It's titillating, salacious and seductive. But it's infinitely accessible for everyone and there's a point to it. There is nudity in it and it definitely pushes the boundaries. It's probably more suitable for people 16-plus. But it's a lovely and gentle show."
Burlesque as You Like It - Not a Family Show is at 8.30pm tonight and tomorrow night at the Regent.
• It will be a trip down memory lane at the Cellars Bar tonight when the Troubadours of Mercury reunite.
The band will also finally release its album, A Bit of Magic, which was recorded in 1999 but only mixed this year.
"It's been 10 years since we played together and the Fringe just seemed like a good opportunity to do it. It's been wonderful getting back together," guitarist Phil Corfield said.
Vocalist Josephine Skipper plays at the Cellars Bar at 8.30pm tonight, followed by the Troubadours at 9.30pm.
• Funny man Raybon Kan steps out tonight.
"I really enjoy performing in Dunedin. I used to choose Dunedin to try out new material, because the audiences are very fair - a good mix of brainy and drunk - which works perfectly for what I do. This time round, the guinea pigs were in Edinburgh and Wellington, so Dunedin will get a show that's been road-tested," he said.
"The show is stand-up so, ultimately, it's about saying the truth; stripping away the bull from sacred cows and holding things up for what's honestly there. All we want is love and little doses of happiness, but we get in our own way."
Kan says live comedy can be a mixture of pleasure and pain.
"When a show is going really well, you're conducting this orchestra of laughter. There's a rapport and connection with the crowd that's almost psychic. When it's going really well, the trick is just to hold it together and nail the dismount, rather than stop and go for a group hug," he chuckles.
Kan is on at 9pm tonight and tomorrow night in the Fortune Theatre studio.
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PROGRAMME
> Daily: Blue Oyster Gallery performance series, Blue Oyster Gallery and various locations
> Daily: Opuscules, various locations
> 9am-5pm: Ltd Festival Kiosk, Octagon
> 9am-midday/2pm-5pm: Camp Dunedin, lower Octagon
> 9.30am-8pm: Express, Dunedin City Library
> 9.30am-8pm: Monolith, Dunedin City Library
> 10am-5pm: Fringe Inventions, Otago Settlers Museum
> 11am-4pm: Dowling Street Project, 20a Dowling St
> 11am-5pm: Core, In Mono, Installations and Live Arts from Rainer to Dr Sonique (Blue Oyster > Gallery Performance Series), Blue Oyster Gallery
> Midday: Pick of the Fringe, Octagon
> Midday-3pm: Chapter 6, Dunedin Botanic Garden sound shell
> Midday-3pm: Quixotic, None Gallery
> 3.30pm/3.50pm/4.10pm: Mr Bun Bun's Terrible Day, various locations
> 5pm: Improsaurus, Academy Cinema
> 5.30-6.30pm: The Pedagogy Festival Workshop, Mary Hopewell Theatre
> 6pm: Simon McKinney: My Time as a Talking Fish, Polson Higgs Comedy Club, XII Below
> 7pm: Cross-Overs Between Dance, Visual Arts and Architecture from Lucy Guerin to Oskar Schlemmer - Film (Blue Oyster Gallery Performance Series), Havana Club and Cinema: cnr Moray Pl, Filleul St
> 7pm: Scared Scriptless: Improv Deathmatch, Fortune Studio
> 7pm: heel ruby, Allen Hall Theatre
> 7pm-8pm: The Pedagogy Project Masterclass, Mary Hopewell Theatre
> 7pm: Alfonsina, Globe Theatre7pm: Te Ngaru Hou 2010, Puketeraki marae
> 7.30pm: The Comediettes Better Living, Polson Higgs Comedy Club, XII Below
> 8pm: Anti-Social Tap presents Academy Comedy Week, Academy Cinema
> 8.30pm: Project One, Allen Hall
> 8.30pm: Burlesque As You Like It Not a Family Show, Regent Theatre
> 8.30pm: The Troubadours of Mercury, Cellars Bar
> 9pm: Justine Smith in Juzzi Town, Polson Higgs Comedy Club, XII Below
> 9pm: The Acoustic Fringe, The Empire
> 9pm: Raybon Kan: Discomfort Zone, Fortune Studio
> 10pm: Festival Club, XII Below
> 10pm: Fu Ta Go / Twins, Dunedin Railway Station
> 11pm: Doom Gravy: A Radio Disaster in 6 Parts, Festival Club, XII Below
