I’m excited that I have a sold out show this Saturday. I’m still setting up so I can do full rehearsals all week but here’s a few pics of the performance room upstairs in my house creatively named “The Magic Room”....

Also, I built a display stand to perform with my stage size ESPoe cards. The stand has holes in front of where each card will be for the placement of coffin nails (you can guess which routine I’ll be doing). Took 5 min to make and paint but it allows a routine that would normally be done flat to be done vertically so it keeps audience interest.

Show is called Stories After Dark. First half is a lighter theme. Second half of show is called Dark After Stories, and the darker stuff comes into play..

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d_DYwhg......drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cNgjOUi......drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rbUMdBb......drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ghjbdyb......drivesdk

NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations on a sell out crowd. Performance room looks great.

I have 18 prepaid attendees ($20 tickets). Not bad for a hobby.

Congrats on your sell out show !! I love your set up & yes pretty darn good for a hobby !
Love that you have a Departed, can't get much darker than that, lol.

That is a great number of paid attendees. I usually have to offer half a dozen homeless people free lunch to get that many.

Great performance space. And excellent card display for ESPoe.

Break a leg, sir!

Now you can buy more cool props ;-)

Beautiful.

How did it go??????

Thanks for asking. It went great. I don’t think the audience was ready for how emotional I made parts of the show. I wanted a mix of emotions ranging from sad, to fear.

I opened with an amulet that appears in a flash over a burning candle, via flash string ala Borodin. I give the introductory lines and go into explaining how salt has long been believed to protect against dark spirits. I go into a candle to salt routine. It’s visual and draws them in. Next came reciting the ballad of the harp weaver. No magic, just reciting it. It’s presented in a very emotional/theatrical way. I then do an original routine about twins. My great grandfather was one of two identical twins. One twin died at 16 from typhoid fever. The other lived to his 80’s and of course became my great grandfather. However; when my great grandfather died in 2002, they said they couldn’t issue a death certificate because they already had one on file. Turns out, when his twin died in the late 1920’s, they did the death certificate for him instead. He basically lived his life as a legally dead man. True story. Then the family rumors started and there is a belief that maybe the death certificate was correct originally but the surviving twin took on the name is his brother. Makes for great bizarre material. Truth is always better than fiction. I did a lota pot routine using a Martin Duffy lota and an original routine, influenced by Mary Tomich’s Native American routine. I end for first act with Bob Neale’s “The Last Dream” which sets a somber tone for the next act. A 15 minute break for food, drink, and bathroom runs and act ii starts. I also do a variation of David Parr’s Dinner with the Borgias. It’s a wonderfully playful routine. There’s a routine I do where you play a game of cards with the devil. I play the devil. Inevitably you lose and sign a contract giving up your soul. I give the spectator the contract and say “I wouldn’t TRULY feel right about sending you away after signing over your soul to the devil. Here, tear up this contract so you don’t have any regrets.” The contract is Tyvek paper. Intearable. After watching the spectator struggle I say “Oh no, it appears a contract with the devil is more binding than I anticipated. I’m sorry, it appears to be permanent”... that routines influenced by Eugene Burgers take on a Max Maven routine called Wagers of Sin. I use a different story and slightly different handling. I then go on to tell of how 60 years later, the same man, now on his death bed, is revisited by the devil. The man pleads for another chance to win his soul back, this time offering his wife’s soul as a double or nothing offer. The devil, never being one to pass up such an offer, agreed and we play again.. I won’t spoil how it ends... but it’s a wonderfully dark resolution.

Act II consists of a routine built around “the departed” by Wisseman. I don’t go crazy with it. I believe less is more. There is no Y/N Q&A with the bell answering. It simply rings once at an unexpected time. Some other things transpire that are “unexpected” and things seem to get out of control. Luckily I have my own space to work with so I can do more behind the scenes prep work so I have control over an old cathedral radio as well as a few other things.

I end the show with the Pain Game as a demonstration of fate vs free will. I hate when it’s presented as exposition. Others pull it off. I have to put context to it. So I pitch it as I’m giving the audience free will to choose the outcome. But is it really free will? “Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism. Free will is how you play the hand”...

I got great feedback. One comment left on my site was “It was an incredible show. Very intimate...you could feel the energy....!”

Another left a review of “I attended stories after dark. The show was very entertaining. I could tell that a lot of work was put into the show. Everyone had a great time“

I’m doing two more performances on June 1. The first show is sold out. Working on getting the second show filled. Once those shows are done I’m going to work on a new show for the Halloween Season. That new show will be darker in content. I plan on doing more gimmicked work in that show and work in elements of Brynnmore’s Roxanne as well as some routines influenced by TEB3.

Had some show posters made. Here’s a peek. They’re 11x17. Turned out great:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19hK5RKf......drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kJJxPaQ......drivesdk

Forgive typos. Typing from a tiny iPhone!

So wonderful to hear!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for this very detailed account of your presentation. An unusually giving gesture from this rather secretive community and your generosity doesn't go unnoticed. Thanks again. Sounds like a very engaging and affecting night.

A great show. How many do you seat at a sold out performance?

Loved the posters.

I meant ungimmicked* when referencing my Halloween show.

Will, I had 17 this last show. Shooting for 15 for each of the next two for 30 total for the night.

That is a great turnout. Do you advertise or just offer the shows for those who know you? I'd love small group shows much better than larger ones because I can get more personal.

I target friends of friends mostly. Or I’ll encounter someone, perform for them and tell them about my show. Facebook and word of mouth has been good to me. After the first show, those attendees told their friends and I got more ticket sales from word of mouth. Which means it must not have been too terrible!

I'd say it must have been pretty good.

That's how I get my clients, facebook, word of mouth, and money laundering. Cadavers make great cavities for sending stuff in. Wish I could see your show.

Once in a while, someone would complain this board lack the discussion of performance, our board need more sharing like yours, your routine and arrangement sounds really entertaining, thanks for your sharing

Joemcdull... thanks for bumping this.

Topherhester...Congratulations on your show, and thanks for sharing your experiences. It's inspiring and appreciated!