THE opening of Cirque du Soleil’s third visit to Liverpool was a damp squib – a clown coming out of character to run through a list of health and safety announcements and sponsors’ names.

But it picked up as a troupe of harlequin acrobats slunk their way on stage on their bellies, arms coiling in the air like giant sea anemones.

To a jazz saxophone soundtrack they clambered up a line of vertical Chinese poles, hanging from them in a feat of strength and agility.

Though they moved together on the ground as a single entity, on the poles they behaved as individuals – one spinning around by the hand, more like a ragdoll than human.

This was as exciting as it got in the first half of the show, which focused more on clowning than acrobatics.

There was a funny little man in a red cap with a mime act that involved playing catch with an invisible ball and a member of the audience.

It was quite amusing at first but dragged on a bit as the performer mimed getting locked in a toilet and nearly drowning before being rescued by a freaky blue creature with a mobile phone in its tail.

A juggler showed off his skills from the top of an orange perspex set of steps, watched by characters who looked at though they stepped out of a Dr Seuss book.

The second half was more adventurous with a pair of silver-clad trapeze artists working together on a single trapeze.

A set of synchronised bungee performers had even more wow factor – twirling up to the lighting rig before spinningbouncing downwards again.

They finished with a drop, holding hands in a starshape, like skydivers seconds before their parachutes open. It was impressive, but overall Saltimbanco was a bit hit and miss.

Laura Davis