Dying Variety Scene?

[Magic Brian]

Hello All!
I'm sending this out there to get a sense of the variety scene in your neck of the woods. Specifically I'm talking about indoor cabaret/variety shows.
Why? Because I really feel like variety is taking a back seat to a lot of things and it's becoming increasingly harder to find work and it's not just because of the current economy.

Here in New York City variety used to thrive. There were all types of crazy, weird, great, fun, good, bad, whatever, variety shows happening all over the city. They were good place to work on material, a good place to meet other variety entertainers, a good place to play for an excited and appreciative audience, a good place to make money. What you got out of it depended on the show but the fact was, there were shows, there were opportunities.

Over the last several years (before the economy went into the toilet) the variety scene here in NYC has become almost non-existent. A big reason for that is "burlesque". A friend of mine, rope spinner and cowboy from the Bronx (yes, it's true a cowboy from the Bronx!), A.J. Silver, said to me years ago that burlesque killed variety. And I can see how that's true. Where in the past a burlesque performer was a part of a variety show, now a variety performer is a guest in a burlesque show.
Part of the reason burlesque started taking over was cheap tickets to see boobs. Can't go wrong with that right?
So people could pay less money to see someone take their clothes off instead of paying more to see a highly skilled variety act. Simple math, right? This is not to say that all burlesque is bad and that all variety is good but there isn't much variety in burlesque. You know what your going to get.

Another issue here is the dwindling number of proper venues to present variety in. One venue, The Zipper Factory Theater, that was gaining steam as the new favorite venue to put on shows was just shut down a couple of months ago due to an issue unrelated to the theater. When Guiliani was in office he did little to help the performance arts scene by instating his cabaret laws. It just seems that there is little support for venues to open or prosper.

A huge force in variety here in New York is the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus who have worked tirelessly over the years to maintain, create, and foster (not necessarily in that order) a strong variety community. They were, in a lot of ways, the glue that kept it all together but with the current climate they, as we all are here in NY, struggling to keep it together.

These are a few of the things that I've noticed over the years that have affected what used to be a great city to be a variety performer in.

So I pass the torch to you, the variety community here on P-net to post your thoughts about what is happening in your town, city, or country. I know that there are variety shows out there that are having success like the scene in Germany and the show La Clique, but there must be more? Right?

I'd been around the world at festivals talking to friends about this and they all seem to be saying similar things, but I haven't been everywhere and I haven't talked to everyone. Please post what's going on in your neck of the woods.

[Schuyler]

A quick google search in my area turns up two shows, one with absolutely NO information and another that runs twice a year, both local community events. In a place the size of Edmonton, that prides its self on being the "festival city" and THE place for live entertainment that does seem pretty damn sad.

[Juggalicious]

some things keep it alive. check out moisture festival, phyzgig, medora musical, comedy barn - things like that.

[Moira]

Over the past few years DC seems to have gone from "mostly dead" to "a little head jiggle," thanks mostly to the Palace of Wonders. The Cheeky Monkey Sideshow, VoixDeVille, the Vixen Variety Show, The Weirdo Show, and The Comedy & Mystery Society are all chugging along with limited or no burlesque interruption. The Maryland and Virginia renaissance festivals are nearby and they offer variety arts all day long. I've also seen variety arts in more mainstream venues lately, like Bindlestiff and Lucky Daredevil coming to the Birchmere, or Cheeky Monkey at the Arlington Drafthouse and soon Shamrockfest. The Capital Fringe Festival hasn't hosted many variety artists yet, but I see a lot of potential for them there. Things aren't exactly hopping around here, but I wouldn't say there were dying.

[Stephon]

Even in DC, the burlesque scene is growing faster than the variety scene, probably for the very reasons that Brian mentioned.

The Palace is the only place in the area truly supporting variety, and at this point I think there are more burlesque shows there than non. We always have a burlesque act in our show, 'cuz it promises a larger turnout.

So far, I don't think burlesque is killing variety here, because we're mixing the two disciplines, to the benefit of both.

[Funny Bones]

I was playing a game on the XBOX 360 called GTA IV.

I was in a car chase driving around Liberty City and i passed a variety venue so i swerved and got out and was surprised to find i could enter. I was even more surprised to find they had acts on stage. Some lame and some very good but there i was in a game made for shooters watching variety acts.

After this i ventured more and found a Comedy Club full of acts that actually made me laugh. There were over 25 different stand up acts. Just something to look out for if you ever play this game.

Just a little off topic fun...

I also ventured even more and found a strip club !! and was pleasantly surprised to be invited into the back for a private dance. Well this game holds no boundaries and i was amazed at what i was seeing then i heard a "WTF" my wife came steaming in and grabbed the controller and frantically started pressing buttons and managed to shoot both strippers.
Whilst i was in fits of laughter and trying to calm down the misses my character was being beaten up by the bouncers of the club.

Oh how i love the ironic concept of Japanese girls being jealous of western manga....

[UCO]

Burlesque is french for fat chicks. Wish it was my joke

[theballoonman]

brrrr- urlesque

burlesque has taken over at a grass roots level in vancouver... schools,classses, networking...
empowering women to take pride in their body despite their body bla blah ablah...
women join groups... the support they foster and nurture in their community, GBLT et Al (Other things women are good at) is amazing. standing room only shows, everyone a friend of, hoping to be better friends with, or a burlesque performer themselves. somehow the empowerment issue has started the belles of liberation ringing...
to GREATLY paraphrase an old adage'
"Women will come and see the women, and the men will come to see the clothes."
Vancouver NEVER had a great variety scene, but burlesque now eclipses even the stand up scene here.
the morale...
start twirling those tassles boys, or start nurturing.

[Kate Awesome]

I've noticed that trend in Toronto. While I haven't been in the scene for a ridiculously long time, I did enter as a guest performer in burlesque shows (ha ha ha... no, not as a dancer). There are variety shows and cabarets starting to pop up again (the Lunacy which we hold at the Zero Gravity space comes to mind--it's been sold out the last few months!) but burlesque is still riding it's wave of popularity.

I kinda blame burlesque's take-over on how accessible it is (ie. easy to do) compared to variety skills that typically require a lot of practice.

Hahaha as a corset-maker, I've noticed a HUGE influx of inquiries from potential clients who all want free corsets to model because they are "burlesque stars".

[theballoonman]

lunacy rocks

The lunacy's shit rocks.. I've seen jeffs vids...it seems like an arguement i've heard about bands vs. DJ's...try splitting a grand 5 ways....
like open mike amateur comedy nights...headliner a bill, 5 newbies 2 beer, managers income? priceless...
same format but with women who'd probably be dancing half naked for drinks anyway.
MAJOR EXCEPTIONS>noted.
that the variety scene is getting bigger...?YES . Britains got talent, Americas got alot of selfdeluded colorfull people, and Talent, And Canada's had talent but they eventually moved... all point in that direction ....google{i guess?} Lunacy cabaret...and see a prototype, for one of the oldest art forms..
HEY, LETS PUT ON A SHOW...!!!
love.

[Lee Nelson]

Where I am living in Iceland all of the paid work has totally dried up since last October and that has led to a resurgence in artists stopping working for corporations and starting working for themselves. The only place we can get paid now is a theatre.
Since October I have produced 3 variety show seasons. All of which have sold out. Without doing this I would have been hungry and bored.
The fact that they sold out says that people want to see variety. People have always wanted to see it but we the artists havent been hungry enough to do all the work that it means to make a show.

[Kate Awesome]

Balloonman: interesting food for thought! And yes, the Lunacy is definitely a really great thing. Jeff works SO hard putting it together every month, and it keeps getting bigger and better. Any time I've performed in it has gone so smoothly and awesomely!

Hahah, re: Cdn talent leaving. Pretty much every variety bit I've picked up has been on the road!

[gav]

On friday night, Zagreb hosted it's first caberet night in about 50 years !! The local circus folk did a great job of getting it together and promoting it mainly through the internet. No one expected the over 200 people that crammed into the space like sardines. Judging by the reactions of the crowd, there will be more to come in the near future and probably the need to find a bigger venue.
Exciting times ahead.

[Scot Free]

The Variety scene could'nt be more alive here in Toronto. For those of you who don't know we have revitalized a 5000 sqft original 1914 vaudeville theater and turned it into a circus trianing studio. We host a weekly juggling club, a weekly theatrical workshop night, circus classes and our flagship rent show "The Lunacy Cabaret". Our past 5 shows have sold out at around 300 people. Here's the youtube channel link to see videos of the shows: http://www.youtube.com/user/LunacyCabaret or join the Lunacy Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/gr...=1239127320937
The next show is this Saturday. Its our 4 year aniversary!
Come on down anytime Brian, my place is yours!
jeff

https://www.centreofgravity.ca

[unklesteve]

I've been scraping up a gig here and there opening for bands, but that's about it. Managed to land the half-time slot for the local roller derby league, but that's the sort of thing I can pop out once or twice a year, that's it.

Working on getting my own troupe started with a couple of local friends, since we're going to have to build a scene here from the ground up.

Struggling for work. Just like everyone else.