Cabaret – a frivolous form of entertainment involving various musical, dance, and theatre acts being performed to an audience whilst they drink and dine – is a significant aspect of Parisian culture, which has helped to define the city’s very character. The cabaret clubs in the French capital – the Crazy Horse and Moulin Rouge, for example – are nothing short of legendary and have inspired various international artists, film-makers, and writers over the years.

It all started in November 1881, when Rodolphe Salis created what was initially called Le Cabaret Artistique, in Paris’s Montmartre district – the city’s bohemian center. It began as a sort of creative hub, where various musicians, dancers – even poets and writers, gathered to socialise, discuss their ideas and trial their pieces over a few drinks. Salis himself acted as the host and would introduce the numerous artists who gathered at his venue, …

The word “cabaret” brings with it tons of evocations, many of which are false. All that cabaret means, really, is a combination of song and storytelling; an artist able to perform as their authentic self. And as an audience member, there is usually booze involved. What could be better than that? Los Angeles, of course, has dozens of cabaret venues throughout the city at which top-tier talent from around the world will drop in for performances. Here are some of the best.

Catalina Jazz Club

Where: Hollywood
What: With a slogan like “Nothing but the best in jazz,” Catalina has a lot to live up to. Luckily for patrons and performers alike, it meets expectations. Countless jazz stalwarts have graced its stage including Joe Williams, Marcus Miller, and Dizzie Gillespie. However, Catalina has also welcomed performers from outside the strictly jazz realm as well, including talents from musical theater like …

Cabaret. What does the word mean to you? Perhaps it’s Liza Minnelli in a bowler hat and suspenders. Or can-can dancers in fin-de-siècle Paris. Or a crooner in a 1950s’ New York supper club.

Perhaps it means a scene that’s preserved in aspic, a historic curiosity, a dead art form. Well, if so, it’s time to reconsider.

A cabaret revival has been throbbing in London for several years now. From the scruffy environs of the Bethnal Green Working Mens Club to the opulence of the Café de Paris near Piccadilly Circus, sizeable crowds gather most nights of the week somewhere in the capital to take in a variety show. And now the performance art has been included as a separate category on this month’s Edinburgh Fringe programme for the first time. Cabaret is no dusty tin of preserved fruit – it’s fresh, ripe and bursting with flavour.

So what is …