IN three weeks they have become the most feared duo in town. Meet the Gazillionaire and Penny Pibbets, the host and hostess of the outrageously bawdy and fantastically acrobatic Absinthe show, which has settled in for a 40-show run in the Spiegeltent at Wheeler Place in downtown Newcastle.
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While some of the acts have changed, this pair have stuck together for eight years as the audacious presenters of this racy burlesque gig. They know each other and audiences like they were wearing each other’s underpants every day.
Look hard and you can find the Gazillionaire grabbing a coffee at Good Brother on King Street after noon on most days, disguised like any hipster in thongs, grey T-shirt, Capri pants and big sunnies. But on stage, complete with gold tooth and green ringmaster’s jacket, he is bigger than life.
And Penny, in her timeless pink frock, is his foul-mouthed foil, with perfect timing and a cut-throat sense of humour pouring forth four-letter-words like a fountain.
No matter the costume, they love Australia.
‘‘The coffee is mind-blowing,’’ Penny says.
‘‘It’s nice to eat eggs with the right colour of yoke,’’ the Gazillionaire says. ‘‘We’re not used to that.’’
They love the Newcastle audiences, and the fact the audience hangs in for the ride through their profanity-laced schtick about everyone and everything.
‘‘They like to laugh at themselves,’’ the Gazillionaire says in praise of the local crowds. ‘‘They can handle that. They are thick-skinned.’’
The numbers prove the show is a hit. But has anybody walked out in offence?
‘‘I hope so,’’ the Gazillionaire says. ‘‘If people have not walked out, we are not doing our job. You can’t push boundaries and appeal to everyone. I like a 90-10 split of approval. 80-20 is fine, but I like 90-10.’’