Celebrate halloween with SPOOKTACULAR! Brisbaret present a joyful and chaotic celebration of all the incredible performing artists creating, right now, in this city. A topical variety cabaret filled with music, comedy, the absurd, the offbeat, and this time, the spooky!
Your favourite local variety show Brisbaret is back, with its chaotic mix of the best Bris-lebrities (yes Bris-lebrities, like celebrities but actually hot and local) bringing you the silly, the topical and ridiculous. Prepare for frights and delights in a one night only Haunted House, or as they prefer, Queenslander of Curiosities!
Created and hosted by musical comedian Sophie Banister along with the musical stylings of Thien Pham, Brisbaret is a curated variety night bringing you a smorgasbord of local talent.
From singer-songwriters to stand-up comedians, dance, drag, sketch comedy and burlesque, you never know who will join this spooktacular carnival of horrors!
Brimming with hilarious tunes and games inspired by this great city, join us for a variety show filled with more terrifying twists than the brown snake itself. Stay tuned for the release of the line-up!
This year's Spooktacular! line-up includes local acts:
Whalehouse - New Wave Gal Punk Band
Charlie Love - Pole Dancer
Anna Straker - Character Performer
Borishkiva - Cabaret Comedian
Harrison & Andre - from Hot Brown Honey...
Sophie Banister is a musical comedian most known as the host and producer of local monthly variety show, Brisbaret. This year Sophie produced and performed Brisbaret at Queensland Cabaret Festival and Brisbane Comedy Festival. Other recent performance credits include ‘Women in Voice’ (toured Cairns, Bundaberg and Brisbane), ’All Day Breakfast’ (Adelaide Fringe and Brisbane Comedy Festival), ‘Everyday Requiem’ (Australasian Dance Collective), and ‘Our Carnal Hearts’ (Brisbane Festival).
In 2018, Sophie was awarded the Lord Mayor’s Young and Emerging Artist’s Fellowship which led her to New York to study sketch, character and improv at Upright Citizens Brigade and undertake a musical theatre writing mentorship. Sophie performs regularly as a member of The Australian Voices where she has collaborated with companies such as Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Camerata and Omega Ensemble. When she is not touring to festivals, Sophie performs musical comedy in comedy venues across South East Queensland.
Thien Pham is a Brisbane based performer, musical comedian, and piano accompanist with a passion for making an audience laugh.
He has been fortunate enough to lead a varied musical career from accompanying for Melbourne Fringe Festival (Hi, Can I Help You?), Queensland Cabaret Festival (This Could Be You!) and performing musical comedy regularly around the Brisbane comedy scene. He has also produced, wrote, and performed his own cabaret show for Anywhere Festival (I’ll Count You In) as well as being part of the ensemble for Act React in 2021 (The Importance of Being Wasted).
Currently, he is co-hosting and performing at Brisbaret, a variety night that provides a platform for new and established local artists to perform and aims to celebrate all things Brisbane. When he is not performing on stage, he is also contributing to the music education scene through mentoring and school choirs.
Borishkiva (Johanna Lyon) returns! She’s there when you close your eyes to go to sleep at night, she forms all your dreaded disastrous dreams, basically she’s like sexy-evil Sandman with a knack for turning those fears into hate.
Anna Straker is a Brisbane based theatre maker known for her originally grotesque yet whimsical plays. Insisting on never making life easy for herself, she creates everything by hand for that necessarily ugly feel. After receiving a Matilda Award nomination for her debut production “Umami Mermaids” for Best Set Design in 2018 Anna has been gratefully working as a set designer for multiple Queensland productions, making sure to keep budgets low and designs sustainable.
Look out world, footy stars of bulimba’s rugby club Andre and Harrison are bouncing around town with their sidesteppin’ 90s pop preppin’ the crowd for consensual thrusting – but that’s only if you want to, because it’s consensual and it’s only if you want. Witness the conversion of Hope One and BADASSMUTHA into Andre and Harrison for 2 extra points, scoring your heart and your mind, you could win a date with these boys tonight!
Scurrying from the crack in the bottom of your wheelie bin it’s WHALEHOUSE, three piece all-women new wave punk band from Brisbane. Screaming and writhing at venues in and around Brisbane since 2016, they’ve shared stages with national and international talent, such as King Gizzard, The Chats and Aunty Donna. In 2021 they released the proverbial hounds with their first album Latte Art for Beginners to rave reviews! Set a trap and catch them at Brisbaret this Halloween! Bring your crosses and holy water because it might get scary!
Charlie Love started pole dancing in 2015 when being gay and vegan stoppedgetting him attention and he hasn’t looked back. He’s now a prominentfigure inthe pole community and has performed and competed right across Australia.Inspired by burlesque and theatre, Charlie likes to bring sexiness, silliness andstory to the stage.
Charlie Love is a professional pole dancer who found his way into burlesque afterbeing booked at venues with very low ceilings. Charlie brings silliness, sexinessand story to the stage. Feelingfierce in 8 inches and inspired by the women whobuilt the platforms he strips on, most of all Charlie wants to have fun with hisaudiences.
Charlie Love is a professional pole dancer who likes to bring sex, story & nonsenseto the stage. Charlie’s performance style was influenced by burlesque after movinghome to Meanjin/Brisbane tofind aflourishing scene and venues with ceilings toolow for a pole. Packing a full 8 inches of heel, a girthy smile and just the rightamount of cheek, Charlie aims to make sure any Wet Floor signs are put to gooduse
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Acknowledgement of Country
Metro Arts acknowledge the Jagera and Turrbal peoples, as the custodians of the land we work on, recognising their connection to land, waters and community. We honour the story-telling and art-making at the heart of First Nations’ cultures, and the enrichment it gives to the lives of all Australians.
Metro Arts accepts the invitation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and supports a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Australian Constitution.