This show is silly. Absolutely silly. And it will tickle most people’s sense of humour between eye rolls and groans. It’s three dumb detectives and a high-class chanteuse in a flimsy, non-sensical plot that is nothing more than a good excuse for absurd clowning and a handful of impressive circus skills, all in a 70-minute mishmash of WTF moments. The story opens with one of the wittiest death scenes you’re ever likely to see, which leads to the three hapless detectives being hired by the victim’s seductive wife to find the killer. The investigation sends them into all sorts of adventures that unravel through puppetry, clowning, mime, song, a bit of burlesque and of course, their circus skills that are smoothly weaved into the narrative. If that’s not enough of an oddball combination, one performer even plays a saw for some quirky instrumental underscoring. The use of language is uneven. Most of the action is without dialogue or uses unintelligible mutterings that gives the show a universal appeal. But every now and then, the characters break into short conversations that add back the language barriers they had previously removed. The Détectives in Cirque Noir is a fun piece that looks like a lot of fluff on the surface but is actually quite intricate in its storytelling and staging. The outrageous humour may not appeal to more conservative audiences, but it will carry mass appeal for anyone out for a night of laughs with some circus treats thrown in for good measure.