Brighton Fringe 2026
Cabaret Impedimenta
Liebenspiel Presents
Genre: Cabaret
Venue: WunderBarn at SpiegelGarden
Festival: Brighton Fringe
Low Down
Heralded as “the late-night sensation of Edinburgh Fringe 2022”, this highly original cabaret show introduces us to the talents of a variety of Fringe performers while entertaining the audience with a hilarious, unpredictably chaotic experience.
Review
The WunderBarn’s intimate, carnival style pop-up space is the perfect venue in which to experience a fabulous show like ‘Cabaret Impedimenta.’ Set in its own private garden with a cute bar, this is one of the best venues to enjoy a fully fledged Fringe night out. The late night comedy show crowd rock up early to enjoy pizza and cocktails beneath the SpiegelGarden’s huge trees festooned with lights, creating a buzzy pre-show atmosphere that promises plenty of lively audience participation.
The seasoned host is acclaimed standup comedian and show co-creator, John-Luke Roberts, who invites five Fringe performers onto the stage, one by one, to complete their acts while being besieged by a variety of ‘impediments.’ These range from relentless distractions caused by faux-technical malfunctions, to the hilarious nonsense provided by a bizarre cast of characters. To our enthusiastic chant of “Spin the Wheel!”, the homemade ‘Impediments Wheel’ strapped to John-Luke’s showbizzy jacket chose to immediately malfunction. Undeterred, it therefore fell to our host to ‘choose’ which obstacles would be (cumulatively) introduced in an attempt to thwart each of the performances.
Musician Laila Woozeer was sabotaged at her keyboard by a mischievous Victorian ghost (aka Maddie/Marina Bye, the sisters from ‘Siblings’); mime clown Enrico Touché was constantly upstaged by a crooning Terry Wogan (aka Benjamin Alborough); poet Gareth Gwynn had to cope with uncomfortable fondling by Inspector Javert from Les Mis (aka BAFTA award-winning actor Luke Rollason), who went on to handcuff himself to magician Danny Lee Grewe for “crimes against comedy”; and finally, juggling clown Darryl J Carrington was tasked with enduring everything everywhere all at once for the ultimate chaotic finale.
There is enough wiggle room in this ‘anything can happen’ show to provide plenty of genuinely hilarious moments, as well as the occasional inevitable miss. And that’s the thrill of the ride! The audience needs to be fully on side for the fresh ad libs and improvs to land – whether that’s being dragged up on stage to do something utterly ridiculous, being earnestly interviewed by Mr Wogan, or simply roaring with laughter in the ranks. Both Cabaret Impedimenta and its cool venue are a fantastic homage to the spirit of the Brighton Fringe, subtly promoting the smaller, independent shows of an ever revolving cast, while celebrating anarchic comedy in a carnival atmosphere.
