THE Edinburgh Fringe has clasped the variety show format to its ample bosom, treating avid audiences to hybrid permutations of burlesque, cabaret, circus and performance art. Unsurprisingly, given such genre-busting inclusivity, the tone of the entertainment ranges from the sublime to the subversive, the hot to the hilarious.

The “Spiegel Garden” in George Square is hosting two of the most polished productions, one in each of its Spiegeltents. These handsomely preserved relics provide the perfect atmosphere for The Burlesque Hour, an all-female Australian import, and last year’s Fringe hit, La Clique.

Although the burlesque-based spectacle nods to a bygone era of glamorous naughtiness, The Burlesque Hour is a winking reinvention of the form. Here conventional feminine pulchritude tips over into transgressive comedy.

Co-director Moira Finucane is a raging, raven-haired beauty one moment and a rubbery-faced comedienne the next. The evening is pretty evenly distributed between her and the equally wild, strong showgirls Yumi Umiumare and Azaria Universe. Sprinkled in between their acts are smart, saucy dance routines from guest artistes Gabi Barton and Carla Yamine, who call themselves the Town Bikes.

The performance lasts not one hour, but two. The first half has weak spots. The most remarkable bit casts Finucane as a buttoned-up Victorian lady quivering with repressed desire to an Elvis Costello song. Events kick into high gear in part two with her front-of- curtain monologue as a woman who runs (or swims) with the wolves, bears and whales.

Universe, in torn fishnet and bandaged stilts, wrestles with a giant heart to P. J. Harvey, then tops that with a physically charged lip sync to Bonnie Tyler in nothing but platform shoes and pearls. Finucane’s finale as a human pincushion is outrageous and unforgettable.

La Clique is an even more sensational yet intimate night out featuring nine international performers whose collective talents encompass music, circus, comedy and dance. The experience is so rich that only highlights will suffice, but which to choose? David O’Mer does an aerial act with a bathtub that is the last word in inventively sexy skill.

The striptease magician Ursula Martinez finds places to secrete a hanky that nice girls would shun, while Katrina Engelhard is the Anjelica Huston of contortionist trapeze artists. In a word, fabulous.

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