Virtual Vaudeville This Saturday: Featuring The Acme Flea Circus!

I'm very pleased to announce that I'm getting into the remote performing craze.

This Saturday, from 3 pm to 9 pm (Chicago time), I and 8 other performers are creating a "Virtual Vaudeville" show that will feature 6 hours of continuous entertainment from some of the top vaudeville and variety artists in the country.

The show will take place on Instagram Live on the account phonographdjmac.

You can find out more about it on the following facebook event:

https://www.facebook.com/events/2361081560859357/

Over the course of the 6 hours, each performer will do a show or piece of their show at least 3 times.

UPDATE:  I will be on at 3:50 pm, 5:50 pm, and 7:50 pm.  All times CST.  Tune in a little before that to make sure to catch the whole flea circus act. 

Viewing is free, but we are asking for donations that will be split equally with all of the performers.

In addition to my show, the performers include some of the best in the business, including:

The performers of the first Virtual Vaudeville (Listed below top left to right, middle left to right, bottom left to right.)

•      Professor A.G. Gertsacov - Acme Miniature Flea Circus
•      Alex Vernon & Sarah Olmsted Thomas – Puppeteers
•      Mark Jaster & Sabrina Selma Mandell - Dizz & Izzy
•      DJ Phonograph Mac- MC and DJ
•      Gin Minsky– The Tapdancing Sword Swallowing Delight
•      Keith Bindlestiff – Top Spinning Extraordinaire
•      Peter Mintun –  1920s Keyboard Capers 
•      Andy Sapora– Variety Performer/ Clown

I've seen and worked with a few of these people before, and they are great.  And what I've seen from the other performers shows that they will also be a lot of fun.

I've got a few technical issues to solve, like where in my relatively crowded apartment I'm going to perform the show, and whether or not I have enough lighting for it, and how I'm going to adapt my heavily audience-involved show happen without being able to see the audience!

 All solvable and all worth the challenge.

 I look forward to you seeing me (and the fleas!) and my friends on Saturday!

Creatures of the Night at Garfield Park Conservatory

The Garfield Park Conservatory is one of the largest and most stunning conservatories in the nation. Often referred to as “landscape art under glass,” the conservatory occupies approximately two acres inside, where eight rooms featuring thousands of plant species are on display.  There's lush greens and tropical temperatures all year round, and during the summer, they have over 12 acres of stunning outdoor gardens. 

On Saturday, October 28, from 12 noon until 3 pm, they'll be featuring an event they call Creatures of the Night. 

 It's a Halloween themed event where kids and their families can come to do a little trick or treating.  As they collect treats throughout the building, kids and their families will learn about unique relationships between animals and plants.

Animals that will be making a special day-time appearance at the event include: owls, a sloth, a red-shouldered hawk, an opossum, an armadillo, a bearded dragon, a chinchilla, a bat-eared fox, a tenrec hedgehog and more! Families can also enjoy face painting, make-and-take activity stations, live music and the Monster Mash Costume Bash at 2pm and, new this year, Midge and Madge of the Acme Flea Circus with performances at 12:30pm and 1:30pm.

(Oh yes, did I happen to mention I'd be performing my flea circus?  Let me please mention it!)
This is one of the few public opportunities to see the flea circus this season!   Read my flea circus press release in full at http://www.trainedfleas.com/garfieldpark.html

  

Families are encouraged to come in costume!

Admission to Creatures of the Night is a suggested donation of $5. Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance members and kids 3 years and under are free. For more

information go to www.garfield-conservatory.org or call 773.638.1766.

Directions

Garfield Park Conservatory is located just fifteen minutes west of downtown. From I-290, exit Independence Avenue (3800 west) and travel north. Turn east onto Washington Blvd. Turn north onto Central Park Avenue (3600 west). Alternatively, take the CTA Green line and exit at Conservatory/Central Park Drive. A Divvy bike station is available in front of the building.

The Family Business

Publicity shot from the flea circus.

I'm performing my show The Acme Flea Circus 5 times this summer as part of the Chicago Park District Night Out In The Parks Program. (see here for all the details. )
The shows are all free, so it would be great if you came out! I've got 4 more!

My first show was today. (Not open to the public-- it was part of a camp program.)

POP QUIZ

 My son came along because of the following:

A) my wife was working, and had an appointment, so I couldn't leave him with her.
B) we're trying to save money, so he's not going to camp every day.
C) I wanted him to see what I do.
D) ALL OF THE ABOVE

If you guessed D) ALL OF THE ABOVE you would be correct.

On the drive to the show, I realized that this is the first time that he was going to be helping me do a show. Yes, he's seen my show multiple times but he hasn't been in the business (backstage, setting up, striking, etc.)

Shows in the Chicago parks this summer.

He's never really expressed an interest in performing, other than glibly. He loves acrobatics, and he loves to do tricks, just not in front of people. If we were waiting in line, and I said, "Let's do a trick for these people in line." he would demur.

 I've never wanted to push him into performing if that's not what he wants to do.  I have a friend who is also a performer, has a son born around the same time as AA, and that kid was born wanting to perform. (he has been on a soap opera, in an opera at BAM, just booked a national commercial, and is currently in an HBO series with James Franco!)

I think he'd be good, as he loves to pretend, he's very cute and photogenic, and he can be quite funny.  But he has to want it.

Anyway, he agreed to help out today.  His big job was to be the house manager.  He had to go open the door to the room, kick down the doorstop and say "Ladies and Gentleman, the house is now open."  He confided to me that he was a little nervous about it. We went over the ground rules (watch the show quietly, he has to do what is expected of him, he can't ruin the show for other kids by saying what comes next, etc.)

Trying on the hat for size.  It could work!

He did well, opening the door perfectly, sitting quietly.  I explained to him that one of the hardest things a performer has to do is wait.  We arrived at 8:45am for an 11 am show.  (an hour to set up typically, and an hour to troubleshoot anything that might go wrong.) He was a little restless but mostly held it together.  He also asked me a bunch of questions about training the fleas. I told him that I don't tell anybody how I train them, but if he ended up wanting to perform the show after I retired, I would teach him.  He seemed pretty excited about that.

 Before I had my son, I was performing on a pretty regular basis, making an okay and occasionally decent living from it.  I was touring a lot, going to festivals a lot, driving a lot. But that all changed after the baby was born. It made sense for me to be the stay at home parent, and my wife to become the bread winner. I still perform occasionally, but not as often. And that is an itch I would like to scratch.

I have a weird fantasy of us putting together a show and going on tour together. Maybe do the Summer Fringe Festival Circuit? We'd make a good team I think; I'm so big, he's so little, he can be very bossy.   (I am not sure what my wife would do in this summer touring fantasy.  Run the box office?)

Anyway, that probably won't happen, but today was a nice start. And who knows? If I can teach him to run the sound system and do all the sound cues it could still work out!

Free Performances of the Flea Circus in Chicago July 16 & 18

If you are looking for something to do this summer, let me plug my own show!

I am performing my world famous Flea Circus at two Chicago Parks this summer!

July 16 6:30 pm  Paschen Park (1932 W. Lunt St)

July 18 2 pm Pulaski Park
(1419 W. Blackhawk St)

COST: Free (seating limited, please arrive early)

Find out more!

Would love to see you at one of the two performances.

Please let your friends know, I'm hoping to have the parks bring me out for more performances, and it will help if I can get a big turnout at these two.

Thanks!