Last weekend I did a “one off” spot in Lord Franzannian Royal Olympian Spectacular Vaudeville Show. This is a super fun vaudeville show that takes place in Olympia, WA. It’s in an 85ish seat theater and the acts (are supposed to) do 5 minutes.
This was the show’s 20th year, and my first year in the show. The cast of the show stays the same for the three weekends it runs, except there are a few one night pop ins, like me.
Showtime was 8pm on the day that I was in the show, but I showed up at 5:30pm for tech. I was doing hand shadows in the show, so my set up was pretty simple and tech took about 5 mins.
When the acts started showing up, I got to catch up with my friend G Sparks!
I first met G Sparks in the mid 1990’s at a Desert Magic Seminar in Las Vegas. He was demoing his No Switch Bullet Catch. This is one of the best bullet catches; there’s no gun involved!
Before the show, there was a meeting, which was a quick talk about things we need to be aware of and general info.
The show takes place in the showroom at the back of a restaurant/bar that’s really for bands, so there’s no real backstage. The area they have is small, so the green room in the alley behind the building!
I love quirky things like this, and it’s a fun way to build community. In my night there, I got to talk to everyone!
My act was in the second half, so I got to watch most of the show from the audience. The show also had a live band, and I think every act used the live band.
If you’ve never worked with a live band, when you get the chance, DO IT! I don’t really do anything to the music; they play my walk on/off, but I give them the freedom to do whatever they feel to accentuate my act. That leads to some fun spontaneous moments, like when I was asking each band member what a rimshot sounds like on their instrument!
This is a super fun show, and if you’re near Olympia, WA, check it out! Or if you’re going to be in the area next year, they start looking for acts in September, keep an eye out then at: https://www.professionaltalker.com/ for details.
-Louie