Well, it appears that the Astonify Show WILL be back in 2020 after all. The one difference is this version will be VIRTUAL. It will still be presented LIVE and it will be INTERACTIVE. I'm currently working out the various details. The shows will be for fairly small groups, but I haven't decided how small yet. When you purchase a ticket you will receive in the mail, a package with some props needed for the show. These are the same items you'd receive if you were part of the show in person. AND not everyone gets the same package! Some items are duplicated, but some items are unique, this allows a slightly different experience among the attendees.
I am expanding the SEANCE portion of the show this year and it will be more interactive. That means there is the potential for very spooky/creepy things to happen in your own home! We have been beta-testing much of the material and so far the responses have been beyond my expectations. I honestly never envisioned doing the show this way, but circumstances being what they are, this way is safe and frankly MORE people will be able to see the show than could in a typical season.
Dates and Ticketing information will go online in Early September. Dates for the show will run from Mid September till the end of October! If you go to Astonify.com right now and sign-up for the newsletter updates, you'll find out about the dates before everyone!!!
I was quite proud to bring version of my Astonify Show back to The Old Jail in Warrenton, VA. The shows are presented within the cells and it is all out good fun. We only have room for a few people, tonight it was 19 people and I'm not sure they could have squeezed in one more person.
I added some new material in this show. One of my favorite new routines involves a story about John Wilkes Booth the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. I would say, as much as I like it, I feel it is more a 'work in progress'.
The clear favorite of the night was Spiritus, a routine I created and scripted and based on a wonderful Woody Aragon routine. Also new this night was The Coins in Glass routine. Now, I must admit, I think my blocking on this was such that it might not have been visible to everyone. So that will need some adjustment. But overall the audience was very into the show. They were a lively crowd which was fun.
OH, and I was finally able to do the Rope Tie in conjunction with the Harry Cooke Story, without fear of health issues later. For those who don't know, I've been on blood thinning medication for a while, but was finally taken off of it recently. So I decided to bring my escapes BACK into the show. And the two gentlemen who tied me tonight, OMG, did they ever do a GREAT JOB. I think it was the tightest wrap and tie that anyone has ever done. Of course, I escaped in about 10 seconds without untying the knots. And that is the point of it. It felt sooooo good to do that routine and my wrists are still red from the timing, but I love it!
All in all, it was a fun crowd tonight and I believe they thoroughly enjoyed the show. Thanks again to The Fauquier History Museum for bringing me back for a second time!
I have finished my run of shows at The Secret Parlor Theatre in Chantilly. The Secret Parlor Theatre is now gone, vanished into the night. That was the plan all along. It was an experiment and was not planned to run more than the month. Will the SPT ever appear again? I'd say the chances are quite good, but in a different location(s).
My final performance at the theatre was great fun. I got to share more of the light seance routine, but as with other nights, I did not do the full seance. We had a small audience and I held some things back. Also, on this night, we had ZERO actual spirit interference. What does that mean? The building we were in is haunted. Every night we were there, something unusual would happen. People heard footsteps, people felt a presence, things would not work, it was crazy. But on the final night, not a peep out of our ghost. Now, that isn't to say there weren't manifestations during the seance, because there were. But as I mentioned in the show, this was an example of Spiritualism without the aid of Spirits! By the way, that line comes from a handbill belonging to Professor Harry Cooke, which I now have in my collection, and which is part of The Astonify Show. (see below the article)
The straight magic from the show included: Hofzinser's Everywhere & Nowhere, A Surprising Rope Mystery, and a Classic Ring in Nest of Boxes. There were other pieces, but those were the main ones. The seance part of my program begins with my Spirit Photo routine, which is so much fun to do. The Spirit Dial, which is shown at the top of the page is presented during the seance portion, and it concludes with the Spirit Horn. Missing from the seance was the new slate routine, and one other routine that I'm forgetting at the moment. Because this was the smaller seance, it does not include the Spirit Cabinet.
The Astonify Show is a work in progress. I wanted it to be a smaller venue show, but it seems that it will be growing in size very quickly. I plan to add a couple true Victorian routines to the show, and then some adaptations of modern routines. Kind of like when I steampunked some props in my other show. I'll Victorianize props, lol. to make them work in this show. Then of course, there is another option and that is recreating actual forgotten Victorian era magic. And I have two routines in mind, the bad part, no one knows how they're done today (thus the forgotten part). One routine, The Devils Cage, is a routine I've had my heart set on for a long time. I sense it's in my very near future.
I continue to write routines for the show, so expect amazing things to debut in next years version of the show!
The Astonify Show is now playing every Saturday during the month of October at the new Secret Parlor Theatre in Chantilly, VA. Last night was a showcase of sorts, where I showcased part of The Astonify Show and my friend Rick, who owns the Secret Parlor Theatre, showcased part of his show. The results were, well, astonifying!
We started the show at 8pm and had a nice audience. The venue only seats 24 and we didn't quite have a full house. Some friends of mine that purchased tickets were no shows. I hope everything is ok with them, because I know they were excited about attending.
Astonify, is my interpretation of a 19th Century Parlor Magic Show. I do take some liberties along the way, but they are more for the appeal of 21st Century audiences. Basically, I speed up the presentations slightly. The magic is the type you'd see if you were alive in the 1800s. No modern technology is used in the show, no iPhones, smart phones or that sort of thing.
My set ran about 33 minutes. I did half of my magic portion and half of my seance portion. My take on the traditional Victorian Seance is different. But I have an edge over most people.....this theatre actually has a ghost! He has made himself known twice now, once during this show, and once during dress rehearsals the night previous. We heard footsteps coming from the back of the audience, right down the side isle to the front and then stopping.
The photo to the left you can kind of make out my Spirit Dial that is a feature of my show. I chose this specific trick because many 19th Century era magicians used it. And wow, does it ever deliver. It's basically a glass clock face with no inner workings. A dial is spun and always lands on the number that people call out. Strangely, it even lands on a number secretly chosen by a spectator, even though, NO ONE knows the number until the dial stops spinning!
There is one thing though that I must point out because it is something that I must be firm on in all future shows, this show is NOT FOR CHILDREN, so don't bring them and especially don't bring a baby. Yes, this is exactly what happened Saturday night. A clueless woman brought her 4 year old and infant baby and the baby cried and the kid wandered around. After the show numerous members of the audience complained. They said they really enjoyed the show but the experience was ruined due to the crying baby. I have to agree. No offense to people with kids, there are plenty of activities for kids, and hey, there are magic shows FOR kids, this one is just not one of them. This was designed for adults.
The next performance is October 20th at 8pm. You can find out about tickets via Astonify.com
The Astonify Show was presented August 11th at the Old Jail Museum in Warrenton VA as part of their Sleepover at the Jail Event. I presented an hour long version of the show which was kind of customized to the venue. Due to the small performing area, I created a show that utilized many audience members, in fact, all but two routines were audience participation.
I began by sharing a couple 'ghost-like' stories from my travels. And then told them about the incident that already took place at the jail. My brand new iPhone X stopped working. I was in the midst of taking photos and it just locked up. I tried to reboot it, but no matter what I did, the phone would not turn off. (when I left the building after the show, the phone worked fine)
Two audience members told me they heard a voice say, "get out" during my show. All the jail cells are haunted apparently. In fact, there was a mannequin inside of a glass cabinet at the back of the room whose head had moved directions DURING my show!!!!
This version of ASTONIFY had several card routines, a wonderful rope routine that looks impossible, a very surprising effect with a borrowed ring, a routine using Spirit Photographs, the 19th Century classic The Spirit Dial, and finally I bring out an actual Spirit Trumpet which can be examined and then we use it to contact a spirit.
As with every show I've done at a haunted location, there were issues with things. These, thankfully, were minor, but it did cause me to drop two routines from the show. As it turned out, I didn't need them, as I still went slightly over an hour according to my clock.
I will admit to being a little nervous during the Spirit Trumpet routine as I feared a voice other than Anna Eva Fay's would be speaking through the trumpet. That did not happen, but damn if the spirit didn't decipher and reveal something that no one in the room was aware of. Crazy!
The folks who attended my show, were going to partake in a paranormal tour following the show, so I can't imagine what happened during that activity! Then they all were sleeping over at the jail. I don't think I could have done it!!!!
The Astonify Show will be one of the features of an upcoming Sleepover At The Old Jail, in Warrenton VA, on August 11th. This event is a fundraiser for the Jail, and my portion, The Astonify Show is only part of the overall festivities. There is also a paranormal tour, and of course the actual sleepover at the jail!
My show, ASTONIFY, is a perfect fit to get things started off. If you're at all familiar with the show, we end with a light seance. Given the fact that this jail is already known to have paranormal activity, this should be really interesting!
Here is another update on my new show called ASTONIFY. Today, the rack cards arrived. These are the first pieces of printed marketing to help promote the show. I was very happy with the way these turned out.
If you go over to the website Astonify.com, you'll notice a number of changes. I have resisted adding more pages to the site, but I do have a menu that takes you to the various sections on the first page. There is no video, yet. But keep watching.
The new show, Astonify, is really moving ahead well. I have been testing out various routines on test audiences and have been thrilled with the responses. This is a very different sort of thing for me. I have created 'themed' programs in the past, but for this show I really delved much deeper into the process. The results are astonishing, or should I say astonifying.
The show is made up of three parts, but right now, the only part you see in the promotions is the ghostly part. The first routine that opens the Spirit portion of the show is my take on a Woody Aragon routine. I don't want to say any more than that, except, I believe my version is the best rendition of his fabulous effect. The Spirit portion is supposed to close with the Cabinet of Spirits, which is what we are calling the Spirit Cabinet. Our version has similarities to past routines, but we think the things we've added to our version will make it stand out greatly.
Right now, I think I'm most excited about the Conjuring portion of the show. This is the longest part of the show and opens with an interactive routine and then an audience volunteer sequence. It isn't until the third effect in the show that a prop is even seen. Speaking of props, I expect there to be a lot of props in this show. It is afterall, a Victorian based show, and the magic from that time period was very prop heavy. A routine I really would like to include in the show is the Kellar Coffee Trick. I've loved this since the first time I read about it many years ago. Now, I own the props for the Coffee Trick....well actually I own most. I still have one piece yet to track down, or build. But I would like to include it in the show because it's another way to involve the audience. And here is a treat, below is a video of the Coffee Trick. This is NOT Victorianized, however. It's just me having some fun on National Coffee Day. The show routine will be slightly different, but you get the general idea.
The one portion of the show I'm not discussing is the Clairvoyant section. OK, I will discuss it a little. With the popularity of Mentalism at an all time high right now, I wanted a way to present the material in a manner that no one was currently using. Now, I say no one, but there may be someone out there following this same path. If so, I have not heard. Our take is not completely original. I read about it years ago and the performers who used this unique approach, lived years before the book was written. So to today's audiences will it look brand new. It is a perfect fit for Astonify, and I'm anxious to get it rolling.
For my friends who are wondering the status of The Steampunk Illusionist show, well that program is also moving along nicely. In a way, Astonify is the precursor to Steampunk Illusionist. Both are Victorian programs. And some of the Astonify material has been in, and will continue to be in, the Steampunk Illusionist. Both shows are presented as if it was still the 19th Century, but there are occasional references to modern times as well. I've got new material going into The Steampunk Illusionist this year, including something I'm calling The Re-animator. Keep watching for more news and updates. Oh, and if you want to get on the list for Astonify tickets, click the link and sign up!
I have been working diligently on a new show. The show that I speak of is called The Astonify Show, or simply, ASTONIFY. It is a theatrical recreation of a Victorian Parlor Magic Show and Victorian Seance. You might think, "this is perfect for Halloween." And that would be true, but this was was designed to play ALL YEAR LONG.
Originally, this show was meant to be a small venue show, like a parlor show. But I discovered along the way, that this show could play small and it could also play LARGE! In other words, I had a theatre show on my hands, and it didn't matter the size of the audience due to the nature of the material. But for starters we are planning on a more intimate size, so around 50 or so.
The show is divided into three parts. Part 1 Conjuring. Part 2 Clairvoyance. Part 3 Spirit Phenomenon. The show will include a short intermission as well.
This is a two person show, so I'll be doing the bulk of the Conjuring, while my performing partner will be featured during much of the Clairvoyant section and she will be the 'medium' in the Spirit section when we present The Cabinet of Spirits.
When will the show debut? Right now, my target is Spring 2018, but I don't have an exact date. I'll probably set up some trial runs of the show with test audiences. Once it's ready, watch out!!!! It's going to be a hot show, that much I am sure of!
You can find out more about the show by going to Astonify.com and please, sign-up to get on the list for ticket notification and upcoming performance info!
