So you want my arts job: Cabaret Artist

Award-winning performer Ali McGregor shares insights from her profession and why a hot glue gun is a cabaret artist’s best friend.
A profile photo of cabaret artist Ali McGregor, wearing a dark green dress with fur shoulder accents and flowy waves in her hair.

Australia hosts a wealth of cabaret festivals and performances, including the world’s biggest cabaret festival, which takes place annually in Adelaide. The art form itself is versatile and diverse, and it can include singing, dancing, comedy, theatre and more. So what does it take to become a cabaret artist?

McGregor will soon embark on a seven-city national tour of the Hollywood Songbook, teaming up with the Berlin-based Signum Saxophone Quartet to explore the turbulent first half of the 20th century through the voices of artists who lived through those transformative years.

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Celina Lei is ArtsHub's former Content Manager. She has previously worked across global art hubs in Beijing, Hong Kong and New York in both the commercial art sector and art criticism. She took part in drafting NAVA’s revised Code of Practice - Art Fairs, and was the project manager of ArtsHub’s diverse writers initiative, Amplify Collective. Celina is based in Naarm/Melbourne. Instagram: @lleizy_