The Oompah Loompah Band

Brass, costumes and a beer-hall singalong, in Sydney. The Oompah Loompah Band mixes the old German oompah repertoire, Ein Prosit, the Beer Barrel Polka and the Chicken Dance among them, with Aussie pub rock and pop that the whole room already knows. Working Class Man sits beside a Liechtensteiner Polka. Bohemian Rhapsody follows 99 Luftballons. It works because the crowd is part of the act: call-and-response choruses, stein-holding contests, a bit of yodelling and a conga line that tends to start on its own. There are two ways to book it. The full stage show needs a flat patch about two metres by three and a power point. The roving version is acoustic and self-contained, so it can wander through a beer garden or a brewery floor with nothing plugged in. Either way, sets run 40 minutes, up to three of them, slotted wherever the running sheet has room. Family friendly, and the volume gets set for the room.