Striptease, drag and adults-only acrobatics: New York's Empire sexes up circus for Sydney

It's kooky and it's kinky, and definitely not for kids: Welcome to the wicked world of Empire, presented by travelling circus agent provocateurs, Spiegelworld.

After debuting to high acclaim in New York in 2012, Empire Spiegelworld has arrived in Sydney this week and brought its own brand of adults-only raunch to its eye-popping show of circus, cabaret, music, comedy and spectacle.

Dubbed "Cirque du Soleil channelled through The Rocky Horror Picture Show" by the New York Times, the show is packed with impossibly ripped bodies doing, well, the impossible.

That means scantily clad burlesque strippers, eye-popping aerialists and acrobats, superhumanly strong musclemen doing balancing acts, and naughty tricksters (you may never look at bananas the same way again). And that's just the preview clip above — take a look (and drool).

Empire Spiegelworld plays in Sydney from now until March 9, 2013 at the Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park. The show moves to Melbourne from February 17 at Crown Melbourne, and starts in Brisbane from May 24 (venue to be announced).

For tickets, go to ticketek.com.au.

For more info, go to www.empireaustralia.com.