Category Archives: Artists

Ventriloquism Museum

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We head over to the USA to take in a curious museum that you certainly won’t see on the streets of London. Dubbed as ‘The World’s Only Museum Dedicated to Ventriloquism’, Vent Haven in Kentucky is certainly a place that you won’t forget in a hurry.

How does one start a museum of ventriloquism? The answer of course is that you have to have a passion for the art and that was the case with William Shakespeare Berger, a businessman from Cincinnati and amateur ventriloquist. Having amassed a vast collection of memorabilia and merchandise related to ventriloquism throughout his life, he eventually set upon the idea of opening a museum in the heart of Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, just five miles from where he initially made his name.

Unfortunately for Shakespeare Berger, he died in the same year that Vent Haven opened – 1973 – but that hasn’t dampened the museum’s success with numerous photographs, posters and other merchandise being donated the premises over the last 45 years. Although these items undoubtedly improve the offering of Vent Haven, the real jewel in the crown is of course the 900+ retired ventriloquist dummies in their possession that have come from more than 20 countries around the world.

To a ventriloquist, Vent Haven is guaranteed to raise a smile but for those who find even one ventriloquist’s dummy a bit creepy, over 900 of them is sure to have them running for the door. Who knows upon which stages these dummies have been used? Or do you look at these specimens and only think of films like Annabelle, a horror movie about a family being terrorised by a vintage doll?

Whichever side on which you sit, one can’t deny that the museum is of great historical importance considering the various types of ventriloquist dummies on display. Although some wouldn’t be out of place on stage today, others are profoundly darker, harking back to a time when racism was commonplace and often ignored by the masses.

Ventriloquists will absolutely love a visit to Vent Haven and the best bit is that they even hold a convention each and every year, which is brilliantly stylised as the Vent Haven ConVENTion. Over 400 ventriloquists turn up to celebrate and we can only imagine the tales they must tell!

Scottish Rap

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When it comes to facts or interesting stories, this is a great one. How do you get taken seriously as a rapper in the music industry? The answer for two young men from Scotland was to pretend to be two American rappers from the West Coast. A brazen move, the lie was soon out of control but it makes for a great story…

Gavin Bain and Billy Boyd had met at college in Dundee and loved rap. They wanted to be the next big thing in the industry but due to their accents were derided by executives as ‘The Rapping Proclaimers’. Despite the fact their demos were good enough to earn them record company meetings, within 20 seconds of performing their first track live they were laughed at because ‘real’ rappers did not come from Scotland.

Heartbroken but undeterred, Bain and Boyd decided to fix their image and have another go. Within just a few weeks they were now going as Silibil N’ Brains (Boyd and Bain), two obnoxious rappers from Huntington Beach in California, who had met over a rap battle contest in San Francisco. Playing up their invented personas, the two men became monstrous, obscene and egotistical, which the industry absolutely loved, seeing them a new version of The Beastie Boys or memorably describing them as ‘”Two Eminems”.

They were quickly signed up by Jonathan Shalit, the man who had discovered Charlotte Church. From there they were signed to a record deal with Sony who negotiated for them to appear on channels like MTV, got them attending the BRIT Awards and had them supporting Eminem’s rap super group D12 on tour. The only problem with the plan was that Bain and Boyd had to keep up their act almost 24/7, lying to fans, fellow musicians and all of the business people they came into contact with.

Silibil N’ Brains managed to keep going for three years, a few times almost coming unstuck in their lie, most notably being when they saw Proof and the rest of D12 for the first time. Having previously bragged that they were friends of the rapper, and with all eyes on them, they went straight in for a hug when they saw him, explaining how great it was to see him again. Suitably confused and not wanting to be rude, Proof went along with everything because hey, maybe he had met them before?

As with any lie, the longer it went on the harder it was for the duo to maintain their deception. They absolutely hated the characters they had created, even if some in the industry thought they were the next big thing, and the understandable stress of being someone you aren’t each and every day began to take its toll. Incredibly even Bain’s Texan girlfriend never suspected a thing.

When Sony’s merger and subsequent job losses left them strung out to dry – with their first single being delayed by six months – Boyd decided to call it a day and return to his wife in Scotland, where he was expecting a child. Bain continued for a little while but also finally called it a day, revealing the hoax. That wasn’t the last of the rappers however; they reunited for The Great Hip Hop Hoax, a documentary of their story in 2013, and released an EP to celebrate the film titled Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Blue Jokes

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As anybody who likes comedy will tell you, you’re in for an interesting night when the comedian starts doing their ‘blue’ material. A blue joke is referred to when the comedian says something a little risqué or dirty, but where does the term come from?

So far as we can tell, the term originated in the 20th century, so it hasn’t been on people’s lips for too long. As with so much of entertainment, we can be justly proud that the phrase originated in the UK, primarily under the performances of Max Miller, a comedian that was widely known as ‘The Cheeky Chappie’ and revered by many to be the greatest stand-up comedian of his generation.

Brighton born and bred, Miller made films, toured music halls and sang and recorded his own original comic songs. Known for his charm and flamboyance, he was often in trouble with the censors of the time for his controversial risqué material, which is where the blue joke comes from!
The laws on censorship were strict during the years that Miller was performing; he was hugely famous in the 30s and 40s and died in 1963, so his material could only be approved by the Lord Chamberlain in London and local watch committees in other parts of the UK. However, if he left out the last work in a naughty rhyme or used innuendo, he could get away with much more saucy material than he otherwise would have been allowed.

Impressively, he proudly announced during his career that he had never once told a dirty joke onstage, presumably believing that if you leave out the last word, it’s all in your head (in fact he’d often say “I know exactly what you are saying to yourself, you’re wrong, I know what you’re saying. You wicked lot. You’re the sort of people that get me a bad name!”

So where does the ‘blue’ joke phrase come from? In one of Miller’s acts, he’d take out a white book and a blue book, asking the audience to pick which one he should use for jokes that evening. The white was full of pure jokes with an innocence to them. Conversely, the blue jokes were full of risqué material. As one might expect, they most often voted for the blue material.

Black History Events

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Why not hold an authentic event which celebrates Black culture, and add a few artists and party suppliers?

Poets.
Poets: take social, political, emotional, and historical issues and form them into powerful poetry. You can speak with them ahead of time to see if they have material that fits the message you’d like to convey, and some may even be able to create new material for your students. These speakers would probably work better with older students, such as junior high or high schoolers, since the performances can be intense or contain complex symbolism.

Tribute Artists
There’s no doubt that history is filled with amazing musicians and singers from the last several decades, so why not highlight them during your event? Hire a tribute artist for your students and let them experience some “new” music! In the days where iTunes rule, a tribute performance can bring the past to life for them. Shake up the usual routine with a tribute to the “Velvet Voice of Our Time” Nat King Cole, the king of soul Ray Charles, or the power of Diana Ross. Your students will definitely find inspiration in the legacy that these artists have left behind.

African Music and Dance/Carnival
If you’re looking for something that’s more captivating and engaging, try including an African Music or Dance group in your school assembly. Many traditional African musicians use drums and/or koras (a 21-stringed instrument made from a large gourd) to create beautiful and fascinating music. Some groups enhance the experience with griots, which are West Africans musicians, poets, and storytellers.

Storytellers
Professional storytellers have the unique ability to take a subject and weave it into a tale that grabs the audience and doesn’t let go. Most children love hearing stories, and you can add an historical twist with the right storyteller. Bring your event to life with a storyteller that can share about the inspirational lives of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and more.

Entertainment for your award ceremony

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Let’s take a look at how you can have our very own awards show, and how to make it extra special and fabulous ways to improve the awards evening using event entertainment.

Cocktail Maker
Why not make getting a drink a little bit more fun than usual? The easy way to do this is to hire a few cocktail makers who understand the art of theatrics and entertainment in putting together a cocktail. It is not simply pouring a few liquids together but perhaps setting it alight, throwing it up and down and adding an umbrella at the end.

Vintage Paparazzi
With vintage paparazzi at your event, everybody will get their photo taken and feel like their privacy is being invaded just like the celebrities you see in the paper. Great fun and you’ll get to sigh with relief that it doesn’t happen to you every day!

Live Show
This is pretty obvious but many people don’t really ever think about it, despite the fact that every famous awards show tends to begin with an exciting opening. Simply look on Twitter the day after a big awards bash and no doubt an eight-minute host – a massive song and dance routine will have had the crowd in raptures. You might not have the budget to hire ​James Corden ​, but there are always other options. An indoor fire display is sure to get the pulse racing ahead of the nominations.

Awards Stings
We’ve all seen awards shows on television and to be honest, they all do the same frustrating thing when somebody wins an award. The lucky winner stands up, hugs a few people nearby and then proceeds to the stage whilst a brass band play. A brass band? This is 2018! Let’s liven it up a bit. If you hire a beatbox crew, you get an astonishing slice of entertainment every few minutes.

Event magic

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Magic is undoubtedly an ancient art. The earliest reported magic trick (the ‘cup and balls’ trick) is almost 5,000 years old (2,700 BC) by Dedi in ancient Egypt. The same trick was performed over 2,000 years ago in ancient Rome.

The cup and ball trick has been used for centuries since by street hustlers to con people out of money. In fact, throughout time magic has often been used to trick people into believing that the magician held some other kind of ‘power’, such as great gambling skill, the ability to make mechanical objects that are ‘alive’, or the possession of almost miraculous skills at lock-picking, psychic abilities or psychological ‘mind-reading’.

Another example of an ancient magic trick is the ‘Indian rope trick’. The trick is performed outside. The magician throws a rope up into the air. The rope surprising stays standing up, reaching up into the air. The Magician’s boy assistant then climbs up the rope and apparently disappears into thin air at the top. The magician then climbs up the rope and also disappears. The audience hear them argue, then the limbs of the boy all fall down to the ground. The magician comes back down, places the boy’s limbs into a basket, and the live boy climbs back out.

Recent researchers have claimed that the magician hypnotised all the audience at once, and performed the trick at dusk, with the low sun in the eyes, near a tree with low-hanging branches, which could have held the top of the rope up.

A lot of ancient magic came out of tricks used to cheat people at gambling. Playing cards have long been used in magic tricks. Although their exact origin is a mystery, it’s widely believed that playing cards were invented in China. They then arrived in Europe, via Egypt, around the late 13th Century. The four suits of this pack were different to the ones we have today, they were polo sticks, coins, swords, and cups. The modern design originated in France in 1480.

The best modern example of the use of magic tricks to fool the public into believing that the performer has some amazing mind-reading skills. Sometimes, however, they act like they are not a magician but are genuine mind-readers, using advanced psychological, or even psychic techniques.

Whilst we should admire the ingenuity and skill of magicians who put on honestly described performances, we believe we should remain alert to those who claim additional powers when in fact they are just using the traditional effects of trickery

The History of the DJ

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Whilst everyone knows what a DJ is, few people know the rich history regarding the rise of the DJ over more traditional forms of live music and entertainment. What most readers definitely aren’t aware of is that the history of the DJ goes back to the 1800’s before radio’s were even invented.

The precursor to the DJ was the invention of the phonograph, the first device ever invented to play music. Invented in 1877, it was closely followed by the gramophone records in 1892. Soon after, these records went into commercial production and marked the first time ever the public was able to purchase music.

The tipping point happened in 1906, when the first ever radio transmission was sent. This was not only a defining moment in the world of the DJ, but in human history itself.

1909, however, was the year in which the 1st ever DJ spun a record. Ray Newbie from California is officially recognised as the 1st DJ to ever hit the airwaves (and that is a pretty cool name to have by 1909 standards.) Although just 16 at the time, Ray or “DJ Newbie” used to pump the music, as him and his team kept the music going 7 days a week, with the exception of a bit of downtime during World War I.

It wasn’t until 25 years later, however, that the term DJ or Disc Jockey was ever coined. Prior to then, the guys behind the scenes were called “record men” instead of DJs.

Up until this point, the DJ was in charge of selecting music, not mixing it. What brought the DJ out of the shadows and into the mainstream however was the growth in bars, nightclubs and discotheques, as well as the fact turntables and DJ equipment became cheap enough for average people to afford.

Shortly after, DJs were transformed by the Hip Hop culture by Afrika Baambaata who invented the 5 pillars of hip hop music and culture, of which DJing and turntablism is one. (For those who aren’t aware, the 5 pillars are DJing, rapping, breaking, graffiti and knowledge.)

Today, however, the best DJs are from the electronic music genre, in particular trance music with DJs such as DJ Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, and Paul Van Dyk.

Wanna your track to be heard by thousands of people? Club Dance Mixes gives you the opportunity to promote your music!

Planning New Year

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New year is that time of year when we start to reevaluate our lives, think about what the year has brought us and how we can smash the next with bigger and more exciting adventures. Whether you are having a small New Year party with close family and friends at home or planning a huge blow-out ball Red Masque have entertainment to suit all event shapes and sizes. So, we thought we would put together a list of fabulous acts up grabs for the 31st, that will really make your night shine…

Want to leave your guests begging for more? Busking Bellas are an exceptional, and are completely unplugged and acoustic who can get mingle with your guests on the dance floor by recreating some of your all-time favourite songs with flare, creativity and excellent fluidity.

Caricaturists are a brilliant way to entertain the guests and to salvage some memories from the year. They can work the room quickly and smoothly producing 10-12 full-body caricatures per hour, while you guests are chatting and soaking up with atmosphere. No matter what your event is celebrating, ensure your guests take home a memorable free gift from you. Caricatures for corporate events, weddings and parties. We highly recommend extremely talented artists for guests entertainment,

Get together enough people to fill a dance floor – then book Swing Patrol and we assure you – they will do the rest! The talented team of swing dancers can bring exciting floor shows, fun and friendly dance lessons or just a great group of dancing couples to social dance and add atmosphere to your event.

Calling all Dancing Queens! Abba’s Angels reproduce the original vocals perfectly whilst performing professional choreographed dance routines just like the real ABBA! Featuring some incredibly talented singers and musicians they offer one of the most captivating and authentic tributes to one of the greatest bands of all time.

Intimate dinner party acts

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Cello

The cello is the perfect sound for a classy dinner private party amongst a few choice guests. It has a sound that many people absolutely adore, its low timbre fitting perfectly with a number of other instruments or in a solo setting.

Violin

The Violin is popular entertainment for private parties and corporate events, no matter intimate or otherwise. Mixing a Cello and a Violin are extremely popular which fits for virtually any occasion. Another act combination that people enjoy for intimate dinner parties is violin and…

Harp

The harp is a gorgeous, gentle instrument that many adore but rather interestingly, rarely get to experience live. It could be because it’s a rather bulky instrument for a child to play, so many performers actually learn when they’re adults. Perfect as an accompaniment to dinner, the harp is also great in combination with strings or woodwind.

Pianists

Pianists are fantastic for creating mood and providing a soundtrack to your evening, no matter the function. Providing a repertoire of modern and classic hits, they tend to provide a fun and informal atmosphere for a whole host of events including dinner, drinks receptions or a small networking function.

Classical Guitarist

What is there to say about classical guitarists that hasn’t already been said (or assumed)? Well, for starters it’s not only western styles of music that are often booked; flamenco is extremely popular whilst many prefer a slightly different sound to what they ordinarily listen to as it promotes a sense of occasion for the evening.

Magician

Now you may be thinking that a magician wouldn’t fit in at all at your intimate soiree but they can be extremely effective for engaging a room and have been proven to be great for informal networking events. For dinner parties, there are some brilliantly parlour magicians that can sit with you at the tables.

As ever with these things, it’s all about finding the right entertainment for you.

Restaurant events

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Restaurant Entertainment can be quite tricky as it has to create the right ambience. If you want to hire a band or musician, be aware that the music can’t be too loud or your customers will not be able to speak amongst each other, and that might be awkward. Make sure your entertainment fits into your venue as you wouldn’t want to hire a big 6 piece live jazz band, only to squeeze them into a corner. So it is better to ask how much space they need and then work it into your restaurant layout.

1. Magicians – Magicians are great restaurant entertainment as they can meet and greet your guests. The magician can also walk around and do some table magic which your customers would thoroughly enjoy. It also means they would not have to move about much and can enjoy the magical party entertainment from the comfort of their own table with their family and friends.

2. Live Band- Whether your band range from a 2 piece to an 8 piece, hired live bands are a great source of entertainment. Your customers will love listening to some smooth jazz, or even some modern hits played live in the background. Having a live band may also keep your customers at the restaurant after they have had their dinner. Offer them a seat at the bar, where they can order more drinks and
listen to the band, even dance to the band if they wish.

3. Solo musicians. Give your restaurant that classical elegant and sophisticated feeling by having a solo musician play beautiful music in the corner of the restaurant. You could choose from a solo saxophonist, a solo classical guitarist or the beautiful sounds of the piano. All would suit any restaurant as this style of music is pleasing to most people.

4. Dancers – Dancers can really bring your restaurant to life with the vibrant colours, the fast paced music and of course the exciting dance moves. Have your dancers situated outside the restaurant building to make your customers experience start from when they literally walk in the door. Plus, think of the exposure you will get from the public taking photos with your restaurant logo behind.

If you choose Restaurant Entertainment you will most definitely see your customers happier and even your staff happier. It will bring a new lease of life into your restaurant and should attract some new customers. So give restaurant entertainment a go, you never know what it could do for your business.