cabaret: kim david smith - morphium kabarett

adelaide cabaret festival: kim david smith - morphium kabarett
His Vampness, Kim David Smith, has returned to the Adelaide Cabaret Festival this year, and he once again proves that he's a consummate performer.

I know I've said it before (probably in relation to all three previous shows) but Smith's slightly deranged, somewhat evil and incredibly vampy stage persona is someone you want to seduce you and someone you're slightly frightened might stab you in equal measure at an moment.

And I'm okay with that.

The false eyelashes, bondage harness tuxedo shirt and top hat ensemble suited not only Smith (and yes, we were in fact looking at your boobies... there were times when they were a little hypnotising, especially from front row centre) and his music, but also the Spiegeltent venue.

Much like last time, there's much of the hypnotic, sleek snake about his performance, but there seemed to be a little more of a comedic edge to his between songs banter this time. Although his ability to absolutely mesmerise and capture an audience hasn't changed.

I think almost all of the songs were ones I'd heard in previous shows... but that tends to happen when you've been to all of the shows.

Old tunes like Pirate Jenny, Black Max and Padam Padam all make a welcome return as his own interpretations of songs like Dracula's Tango (Sucker For Your Love) and Nature Boy. I will say that the decidedly unhinged arrangement of Pirate Jenny and the fact that Dracula's Tango takes a brief Kylie detour in the middle make them personal favourites.

Accompanied once again by pianist, Amanda Hodder, and the cellist whose name escapes me, were both excellent, mostly melting into the background but playing flawlessly throughout.

It's always an experience to see Kim David Smith... and he's both too, too much and never enough all at the same time.

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