You’ll want to know what a spiegeltent is and what makes it famous. Well a spiegeltent is a mobile entertainment venue, a cross between a circus big top and a fairground ride. Spiegel is mirror in German although the tent was made in Belgium. What made it famous? You know that line in The Lincolnshire Poacher where it refers to famous Lincolnshire? I don’t know what that’s about either.
Anyway it’s a lovely, mysterious, slightly sleazy auditorium, they do burlesque in there, that kind of thing. We’d no idea what we were booking when we got our tickets.
Lost Fingers is a reference to jazz guitarists Django Reinhardt who lost two fingers and developed his distinct guitar style to overcome his disability. If you like Reinhardt you’ll love Lost Fingers. They’re a Canadian band so they sing a lot in French. They did a rendition of various eighties classics even including Sam Fox and Michael Jackson not to mention Soft Cell. All in a jazz style. It was a surreal experience but such a musical pleasure I downloaded one of their albums straight away. We sat on wooden fold away seats straining for a good view. By the finish several of the audience were on their feet dancing. Were it not for the fact that the seats were so damned uncomfortable I’d have sat through it all again, that and the £18 entrance fee.
So there you have our Edinburgh Fringe experience, missing out most of the pubs. And the traffic. And the weather. Get yourself up there next year if you can. You won’t regret it.
The spiegetent from the inside, Lost Fingers on stage. Photo courtesy of Lost Fingers website.
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