THE ringmaster of the Circus of Horrors warned the audience his show would not be politically correct, backing this up by entreating volunteers to help “strangle a midget” in a tug-of-war.

Douglas Disorderly survived the attempt on his life and went on to fire a cascade of sparks ten feet into the air from his backside, summing up the spectacular yet offensive fun to be found at The Riverfront Theatre on Wednesday.

Much of the show can’t be discussed in a family newspaper, but the audience loved the high energy burlesque-meets-Rocky Horror-meets-Dumbo caper through plague ridden London soundtracked by live heavy metal played from the stage.

Highlights included the “Samhain” acrobats effortlessly leaping into human pyramids and somersaulting over a burning skipping rope, trapeze acts who hung from their teeth and whirled through the air and the double-jointed Vitali who dislocated his shoulders to rotate his arms back and crawl around the stage.

Pytrotechnics filled the theatre with the smell of smoke and at times the audience were blinded when the spotlights turned on them.

The tongue-in-cheek freakshow became personal when performers scrambled over seats between audience members to get to the stage in the opening scenes, leering as they went.

An enthusiastic audience, some even dressed in white tie, were greeted by the ensemble of the undead as they came into the theatre.

Catch the circus next time it comes to town - but don’t bring the kids.