British entertainer Amy Saunders - otherwise known as Miss Behave - could probably not be accused of phoning in a performance in The Miss Behave Gameshow. In a sense, she makes the audience do it.

Saunders' show - her first in Canberra - will be at The Playhouse as part of the Canberra Theatre Centre's new season, ETCETERA, of alternative and independent works. It's appropriate, then, that it's not presented in the traditional manner. The audience will be seated on the stage, which has been reimagined into a flat-floor club with two bars. The idea is to create an intimate, casual vibe (that may or may not descend into drunken raucousness).

With the assistance of her faithful offsider Tiffany (Brett Pfister), Saunders first divides the audience into two teams. The selection is based on whether they have an Android or an iPhone.

And then, Saunders says. "We play silly games ... a mixture of highbrow and lowbrow plus a therapy group."

For example, in one game her aim is to find the oldest person in the room: everyone stands up then, as their age range is called, starting from the youngest ("25 and under") , sits down. Whoever is left at the end, after the highest ages are called, wins.

In another game, whichever team shouts the loudest, wins. Saunders likens it to the crowd at an Australian Rules match barracking for their side.

"Something quite special happens between the two teams."

A number of the games involve the audience members' phones and some have prizes. Saunders says the competition between the iPhoners and the Androids can become quite fierce (encouraged, presumably, by Miss Behave and possibly a beverage or two).

Saunders is a longtime entertainer who started out in London clubs and worked her way up and expanded her talents. She is a cabaret artist who has toured in La Soiree, La Clique and Absinthe .

There's another, more unexpected talent: she is a self-taught sword swallower and has broken the record for most swords swallowed by  a woman three times (the last was seven swords, in 2004). Asked how she swallows a sword she quips, "Carefully!" then, more seriously, adds, "You have to train yourself to do it."

It took her three years to perfect. The sword has to go into the mouth, down the oesophagus and to the stomach without damaging anything.  Saunders says she's only injured herself once, on a night she went on tired but wasn't really aware of the problem until the she threw up a glass of wine afterwards. But she kept going and there have been no mishaps since.

She has a number of different variety shows and has presented The Miss Behave Gameshow internationally over the last four years. She's performed in Britain and the US as well as Australia and will be coming here after a long and successful stint in Las Vegas.

Saunders says that one important aspect of the show to note is that nobody is forced to participate. if people just want to enjoy the atmosphere - or chat, or drink, or play with their phones - they are welcome to do so (though of course, the more people there are taking part, the more fun it is). She doesn't like shows where people are dragged on stage to participate. Interestingly, though, she is a fan of Barry Humphries, who in character as Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, involves members of the audience in various ways. He has the finesse to make it funny without being cruel, she says, and only enlists the willing.

In addition to the games, there are variety acts. To the relief of some and the disappointment of others, no doubt, sword-swallowing is not included but both Miss B and Tiffany will strut their stuff in other ways. One or both might perform acrobatics, dance and sing. Also on the program is a performance by the American husband and wife comedy act Daredevil Chicken.

And unlikely as it seems, the show apparently has a bit of a philosophical underpinning.

Saunders says, "There are messages that come through: life's not fair; charity is good; and if you don't ask, you don't get."