We all go to a party hoping to have a good time. Whether we do or not depends on a few variables. For most people, the more the merrier, starting with alcohol, a group of friends and no work the next day.

So, packing out a show with a pumping vibe at 8.30pm on a Sunday night isn’t an easy ask, especially at the tricky South Bank Piazza. Offering floor-level and tiered seating, it’s an expansive space that holds around 1300 punters.

The cabaret tables and booths create the right atmosphere but it dissipates with the standard seating a bit vacant. By contrast, the intimate bubble of the Spiegeltent provided the perfect setting for Strut & Fret’s 2022 hit production, Blanc de Blanc.

Nonetheless, The Party’s scantily-clad cast and keen viewers did their best to raise the rather high roof during a wild 90-minute ride. Audience members are invited to get in on the action, and a trio of blokes invited onstage to strip-off delivered their best Magic Mike auditions.

This R-rated outing escalates the previous antics and goes full Bacchanalian. There’s likely nothing you haven’t seen before – but probably not in combination in a theatrical show.

While real penises don’t play the starring role they did in Blanc de Blanc, they do make an appearance in the first minute. We’re also presented with dildos galore, copious derriere cheekiness, the occasional female nipple and literal toilet humour.

The talented cast’s acrobatic and aerial skills are mostly provocatively staged, in some instances challenging and – depending on your taste and definition – transgressing the notion of art. In so doing, The Party would sit more comfortably in its original festival fringe context and it actually debuted in March at Adelaide’s Garden of Unearthly Delights as part of the Adelaide Festival Fringe.

For me, context and degree are key when it comes to crudeness. Even though an array of simulated sex acts and toilet humour is presented comically here through song (opera and pop, recorded and live) they didn’t tickle my funny bone. Don’t write me off as a wowser – I’m a fan of The Rocky Horror Show (which incidentally has just opened at The Star Gold Coast) and I did laugh at There’s Something About Mary)

Other sections set to energetic music and featuring mime are inspired and clever – the cartoonish choreography with sound effects is gold. The crowd interaction bits are fun, and I can see The Party going off on a Friday or Saturday night with a full house and an audience in the right mood – preferably well-lubricated rather than a sober reviewer whose cup of tea might actually be coffee.

The Party is on at the South Bank Piazza until September 24
brisbanefestival.com.au