Big Wheel Bingo: Not Your Grandmother's Bingo
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Big Wheel Bingo is the coolest thing ever. I went there on a whim a few years ago when it was at The Rendezvous on a second date with a guy I was still getting to know. I figured if we went to bingo, the experience would at least be amusing, for me at least. And, generally speaking, if a guy goes to bingo with me then he MUST be into me. We went, and we were both thoroughly surprised and entertained by the whole experience. It turned out to be a great event to attend on an awkward still-getting-to-know-each-other date. I had no idea Big Wheel Bingo would be a full show, with singing and dancing and comedy. And the bingo game prizes are quirky and fun; most of the prizes were from Archie McPhees, thrift stores, or garage sales.
Mere words cannot describe the wonderment of Big Wheel Bingo. It is bingo, so if you have your own bingo dobber, bring it. Otherwise, they sell them for a buck or two at the show.
The next show is at the end of next month, on June 28, so you have plenty of time to clear your calendar. Everyone should go to Big Wheel Bingo at least once. Yes, it's that entertaining.
Location: Can Can Kitchen and Cabaret 94 Pike Street in Pike Place Market
Date and Time: June 28, 9:30pm
Price: $10
Reefer Madness The Musical
In 1936 a movie was released about the dangers of marijuana. Marijuana horrified the clean-cut sect of US citizens, so a group in the clean-cut sect of the US made a film to horrify children away from doing the pot. They called it Reefer Madness. This movie grossly exaggerates and invents bizarre side effects of smoking marijuana, which makes the movie seem really funny and silly today, and most likely hindered drug awareness in the US thus having the opposite effect of what was intended. Oh well. Below is a clip of people freaking out when they smoke marijuana in Reefer Madness.
Even though this doesn't happen in real life when people smoke marijuana, the reality of what happens to people when they smoke pot would be far too boring to make a movie about, unless you like watching someone play video games all day. The fact that this movie is so far fetched has inspired Reefer Madness to become... a musical! RK Productions has brought to Seattle Reefer Madness: The Musical, running February 22 - March 22. From the Reefer Madness: The Musical press release:
The year is 1936: FDR is in the White House, Duke Ellington is playing the Jazz Clubs; Gone with the Wind sits on everyone's nightstand and Our Gang plays on the goggle box. The unsuspecting nation sleeps easy while a leafy green assassin lurks in the shadows, feeding on America's seedy underbelly of filth and degradation. Marihuana is that assassin: a violent narcotic, and unspeakable scourge; the real public enemy number 1!
REEFER MADNESS: THE MUSICAL depicts the tale of Jimmy Harper, an exemplary, upstanding lad tragically ravaged and twisted into a hedonistic and murderous weed fiend. YOU WILL BE SHOCKED as the reefer seduces him into a world filled with sadistically wild orgies, junkie zombies, homicide, and the devil himself!
***REEFER MADNESS is a highly stylized and satirical political commentary. It contains adult humor, religious parody, drug use, as well as suggested violence and sexual explicitness. It may prove TOO SHOCKING for some audiences! ***
Too Shocking!
Location: Live Girls! Theater (map)
Show Dates: March 6-8, 13 -15, 20-22
Time: 7:30pm, Saturdays 7:30pm and 10:30pm
Price: $20 (buy tickets online)
Seattle Burlesque Classes
I recently received a couple of comments on an older post, Burlesque Class, so I am bringing up this topic again.
If you are toying around with the idea of getting into the Seattle burlesque scene, a good way to meet people in the burlesque community and get your start as a performer is by taking a burlesque class. If you're not interested in becoming a burlesque performer, you can simply take a class for fun and add a little spice to your life. Everybody will take away something from a burlesque class, whether it's finally feeling comfortable in your own skin, or learning how to do pin-up pretty hair and make-up.
I have mentioned Miss Indigo Blue's School of Burlesque in a recent post, I know people who have taken the class and have loved it, so there is one option for you.
It was recently brought to my attention that there is another school of burlesque in Seattle, Old School Pin-Ups Presents: Trixie Lane's Kindergarten of Burlesque. This is a 5 week course where Trixie Lane, a long time professional burlesque performer and entertainer, coaches students how to create an audience ready performance including hair, costuming, make-up, stage presence and all of that fun stuff, but also how to promote yourself as a performer. Trixie only allows 6 students to enroll at a time so she can give each student the attention they need. Here is the part that really excites me: they do professional pin-up photography! That is SO cool! A pin-up photograph of yourself could be a very romantic Valentine's Day gift. You can view samples of some of the pin-ups, and, wow, those are some great pictures.
If you want to get a glimpse of the result of Trixie Lane's Kindergarten of Burlesque, you can check out the next class recital on February 20 at the Rendezvous Jewel Box Theater at 7pm, tickets $10. Trixie informed me that she generally starts a new class every 2 months and the next will be sometime around the 24th of March. If you are interested in finding out more information, you can contact Trixie Lane.
100 Heartbreaks
If you don't already know what it's like to be a single lady in Seattle, I can tell you from personal experience that it can best be described as amusing. Imagine the stream of oddballs and eccentrics you see every day in the streets, restaurants, bars, and clubs of Seattle. Now imagine going on dates with those oddballs. Hilarity, of course, ensues.
The experiences of a single lady have now been transformed into a musical performed by one Charlane Tucker (played by Joanna Horowitz), but not just any kind of musical, a country musical.
After a year of single life in Seattle, Joanna Horowitz was inspired to create a one woman country musical based on her experiences called 100 Heartbreaks, premiering at CHAC on February 15.
Just in time for Valentine's Day, 100 Heartbreaks chronicles a singer's quest to get loved and left 100 times - all with the sole purpose of accumulating enough "country cred" to be taken seriously. As Charlane Tucker sees it, each failed relationship gets her "one man closer to Nashville." A little bit country music, a little bit theater, a little bit cabaret, 100 Heartbreaks combines quick-witted storytelling with live country music inspired by the likes of Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, crafted under the musical direction of John Osebold (of the band "Awesome").
Ah, the humorous woes of a misguided woman... who wouldn't want to see that? Horowitz currently resides in Seattle, but she has attained her true country cred by growing up in Eastern Washington where she performed at some "suitable downhome venues" including fairs and farmer's markets. Teaser of Horowitz performing a song from the show in the video below:
"One Man Closer to Nashville"
The opening night "hoedown" on February 15 will feature musical guest Purty Mouth and country drag by Dusty Hauck.
Show Dates: Feb. 15, 16, 22, 23, 29 and March 1, 8:30pm
Location: Capitol Hill Arts Center Lower Level (map)
Price: $15
Columbia City Cabaret
Last Friday I went to a Variety Show. Yep, like The Sunny and Cher Comedy Hour, only this show was less Sunny and more Cher. Imagine, if you will, if Cher were blonde and did a trapeze act while being silly, quirky, and funny. And imagine if Cher was dressed like a conservative school teacher for half of the show, and then wore pasties for the other half of the show.
Hosted by Tamara the Trapeze Lady, this weekly review is different every show. The show I saw included death defying stunts with swords and rebar by Pure Cirkus, fun striptease and burlesque by both Tamara the Trapeze Lady and Miss Indigo Blue. There was comedy, daredevil stunts, fire dancing, and a great performance by the girl pictured on the left who was one of my favorite acts of the evening.
This is a weekly show that happens every Friday at the Columbia City Theater at 8pm. Most of the performers are local performers, and it's great show to see for $20 ($25 at the door) in a beautiful old theater. I suggest buying your tickets in advance. Every seat in the house is a good seat, but I got a great table when I bought my tickets in advance last week.
Location: Columbia City Theater (map)
Time: Fridays at 8pm
Crispin Glover!
I generally fear celebrities because they are nuts, but there is one celebrity who I like. Granted, he is also a little strange, but I am in love with him and his work: Crispin Glover.
Crispin Glover is famous for being an actor in cult classics such as River's Edge and Rubin and Ed, and he has also played key roles in the blockbusters Charlie's Angels and Back to the Future. He is one of few artists who has been able to maintain his indie status while trying out his craft in the mainstream. He is also known for his quirkiness. I have heard rumors that he is a collector of glass eyes.
Aside from a successful acting career, Crispin Glover also performs spoken word, and this weekend he is performing live at the NW Film Forum in Capitol Hill and presenting his movie, It's Fine! Everything's Fine. Everything's Fine is a horror movie and sequel to What is It? Beware: this movie looks really disturbing, so leave the kids at home if you want to see it, m'kay? Or bring the kids, but only if you are a lousy parent.
Crispin Glover will be doing an introduction and live dramatization of the movie in conjunction with Crispin Glover's Big Slide Show.
I saw a version of Crispin Glover's Big Slide Show about 10 years ago in San Francisco, and it was quite entertaining. It included a short movie, starring Crispin Glover as a small town boy who wanted to win the local talent show by singing along to a boombox while in drag as "Olivia Neutron Bomb." Then there was a slideshow, and I remember there being some sort of emphasis on pelts, which was a topic of his book being released at the time. Beaver pelts. You must be open to the quirky and offbeat to enjoy this show.
More information about the show on KEXP's blog. On the KEXP blog post, you can also play a short audio clip of Crispin Glover explaining some details of the show. Note how he introduces himself as "Crispin Glover Dot Com."
Location: NW Film Forum (map)
Dates and Time: January 10, 11, 12 (What is It? will be playing), and 13 at 7pm
Price: $17/NWFF Members, $20/General CASH ONLY
Puppet Show For Adults of All Ages
During the season of Halloween, watch a dark tale about Dracula.... acted out with puppets! The same folks who bring you Drunk Puppet Night now bring you the harrowing tale of what happened to the most famous vampire's survivors in Dracula: A Case Study:
A handful of survivors from Bram Stoker's original tale have been locked up in Dr. John Seward's insane asylum, their minds having proved too fragile to withstand Dracula's terror. Dr. Seward has developed a fascinating new therapy to restore his tortured patients to sanity. They are using puppets to relive the events of the novel and to reach an understanding of what REALLY happened when they fell under Dracula's evil spell.
This show is produced by the professional puppeteers at Monkey Wrench Puppet Lab, who have:
made a reputation for themselves as Seattle’s most creative, most courageous and most disturbing puppeteers, dedicated to creating ridiculous, inappropriate and artistically excellent puppet plays and events.
Ridiculous and inappropriate puppet plays? The concept is so wonderfully bizarre that I cannot imagine why anyone would not want to experience it. Unless you are afraid of puppets. Then, probably, don't go see the scary vampire puppet show.
Dracula: A Case Study plays October 11 - November 3 at Theater off Jackson (in the International District), Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm. Halloween Show on Wednesday, October 31, at 8pm. Tickets are $15. Thursday, October 18 is Pay-What-You-Can Night.
Moisture Festival
There is a lot of sharing of ideas in burlesque, and I am deeply into sharing ideas as opposed to stealing ideas. I recently viewed the burlesque acts at the Moisture Festival, hoping to get some inspiration for make-up and costumes. Oh, man, there were some GREAT made-up mugs and terrific costumes at the show. My favorite act was a dance troupe called Nanda, which consists of four delectably fit men. They are awesome. Words cannot begin to describe their awesomeness. They fought and did flips and then fought in slow motion while tearing off clothes and then they synchronize danced their way into my heart.
Another act I loved was The Aerialistas. These girls are totally hot and can defy gravity, which makes them even more hot. The guy sitting behind me remarked gleefully after every trick, "Oh no they didn't! They did!" Oh, they most certainly did, gracefully swinging from hoops and silks suspended 15 feet above ground while swimming through the air in perfect synchronicity. The whole experience of watching The Aerialistas perform made me want to go to circus school.
