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An Afternoon of Comedy, Music and Mayhem

Slightly Fat Features' show, Variety By The Sea, is back for a second year at Showzam. I went to the show last year, which I loved and saw twice (my Mum also liked it) and so I was expecting them to bring some new Slightly Fat Features to the show which, hopefully, would be as good as last years.

Although they were missing a cast member, they still brought comedy, music and mayhem to the show (Presenter of the show, Goronywy Thom also used those 3 words to explain the show) and  my friend, Phebe and I were laughing the whole way through. Non stop. Goronywy had the whole audience giggling and enjoying themselves with his one liners and jokes. It was an all new show which had everything in it, from special guest comedian Steve Faulkner, a theatre play which starred a member of the audience and also new and improved songs and weird dance moves. One thing they did keep the same was John Hicks' amazing painting of a certain somebody which kept the audience guessing until finding out at the end who it was.

It had children and their parents laughing and smiling the whole way through and it is a great show for people of all ages. My favourite show at Showzam for the second year running.

Variety by the Sea can be seen at The Sands Venue until 18 February

Written by Molly-Mae Calladine and Phebe Gledhill

A Magic Night at the North Pier

North pier was the venue for the first Showzam Fringe event of the festival and if Steve Faulkner’s Monday Night Magic was anything to go by, Showzam 2012 will be the best yet. The Merrie England Bar on the North Pier was standing room only as the news spread that Steve and his impressive roster of performers were in town, and at £8 a ticket, this two hour event had to be one of the best value for money shows you are likely to see anywhere this year. The Merrie England buzzed with excitement and anticipation as the audience hurried to order their drinks and secure the best seats for the 8pm start. 

Steve, who has twice won the street magician of the year award, was a warm and graceful host throughout. His witty banter and impressive illusions have been impeccably fine tuned throughout his career and there is no doubt in my mind that that the audience would have been more than happy for him to perform solo all night. He introduced the evening and his first guest, the wonderful Alan Hudson, a finalist in Hackney Empire New Act Of the Year. His impressive slight of hand and thimble performance was the perfect start to the evening and set the standard for what was to follow.

Slightly Fat Features (performing at the Sands all this week), showed why they are the undoubted kings of family entertainment. Whilst the performance was more stunt orientated than magic, the boys from Wales had the audience in fits of laughter with an impressive combination of Slapstick comedy and audience participation (I don’t think ‘Ted’ will be attending any magic shows for a while).

After the interval, Steve returned with a master-class on miss direction and his own unique twist on the well-known 3 ball and cup trick (I still don’t know where that melon came from!), before introducing John Archer, who marched onto stage and then proceeded to swallow a 6 foot inflated balloon, whole! What followed was a performance that combined music, comedy, mathematics and magic to the highest standard.

It is a real shame that this was only a one night show as it easily could have had a longer run to a larger audience. With illusionists like Dynamo and Penn and Teller taking centre stage on TV, it is refreshing to go back to the roots of magic and see tricks up close and personal, with no gimmicks or large sets, just pure individual skill of the highest level.

All things considered, the show was absolutely fantastic and the perfect start to the Showzam Fringe events.

Showzam - Blackpool's Annual Festival of Circus, Magic and New Variety is running until 19 February.  www.showzam.co.uk

Chris Pope

A Visit to Showzam Central

Showzam Central is the main hub of the festival located in The Olympia at the Winter Gardens.  As we stepped foot into Showzam Central, which holds all the secrets to Showzam, it was like we stepped into The World of The Circus. There were different shows, such as The Monster Show, The Headless-Lady show, Van Buren’s Temple of Illusions and also the performances by The Bikini Beach Band and much more.

The Monster Show stood out for us in particular. Goosebumps arose on our arms as soon as we stepped behind the dark curtain. As the 2 main characters, Helga (who spooked the audience with her German accent, snowy white hair and white doctor’s coat) and Doctor Zomb (a young, crazy doctor making us fear for our lives) contributed into making the whole audience shiver with fear. Behind the curtain they showed numerous creatures from previous failed ‘experiments’.
Doctor Zomb chose a worried member of the audience to take part in his new invention, The Invisible Ray. For the poor audience member, her fate was unknown as she was locked in the chained box. At this point, many people had left being too spooked out and even Phebe and I were contemplating leaving because we are such wimps.

We interviewed some people visiting Showzam, and found out some people travelled from such places like London, Chester and Manchester just to see the sights and shows that Showzam had to offer.

 

Kerry Hunt, worked at Showzam 2 years ago, and comes every year to see Showzam and it gets bigger and more spectacular year by year. She has recommended it to lots of friends and family as it is a great family fun packed day out that everyone would enjoy.

Showzam is here until the Sunday 19th February and Showzam Central is open at 11am till 6pm so you have plenty of time to fit in all the Showzam Central attractions and don’t forget to bring all your family as it’s free, free, FREE!

Written by Molly-Mae Calladine and Phebe Gledhill
Photography by Jess Stone