Tag: Vancouver Island

[Victoria, BC] Unofficial Changes to IFCon’s Guest List

By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

ifconhalloweenThe news of this shuffling of guests is not official at time of press, but Claudia Christian (TV’s Babylon 5/The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) and Ari Lehman (Friday the 13th and frontman for musical act First Jason) will not be appearing.

Regarding the matter of the convention, the administrator of Claudia Christian’s FB made a post on the morning of October 22nd. In that post the admin states:

“We’ve got a bit of bad news for anyone hoping to see Claudia at IFCon Victoria on Halloween weekend. Sometimes conventions find they need to shrink their guest list at the last-minute and unfortunately that means Claudia will NOT be at the con. While we are sure this will be disappointing to those of you looking forward to meeting Claudia at this event, please know this was not her choice.”

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[Victoria, BC] In Saanich for Evil Acres — Take 2015

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

1607035_386482928176879_630313543971803379_nfrom 7 to 11pm daily
continues to Oct 31st
10375 Wilson Rd.
North Saanich, B.C.

In the month of October, some residents of Victoria, BC make a ritual out of going to Evil Acres, a haunted attraction located near Victoria Airport. Part of the joy is in entering the Slaughter House. This spooky abode has changed from what I remember last year. There’s a room that is truly dark, and you have to feel around to find the way out. There’s no joy in going through this home alone (although you’ll get the best experience out of the ‘solitude’ of the situation; some of the best horror stories involve divide and conquer) and I had to wait until two buddies of mine had time so we can go to this spookfest together.

I’m rarely disappointed, even though my stoicness is tough to break. When my writing partner James Shaw is tough to entertain in a concert, I’m harder to freak out when it comes to these walk-through tours. Yes, I can be startled but to get that creeped out feeling, it better be 100% real. That’s just one of the many reasons why I became a paranormal investigator. Although I know most ghosts can not harm you, the feelings you get when something happens and your logical mind can’t figure out, the spine-chilling feeling will just not go away!

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[Victoria, BC] Building Heart in Kaleidoscope Theatre’s 2015 Fundraiser: A Little Shop of Horrors

little shop square

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Tickets can be bought at the McPherson Theatre Playhouse (3 Centennial Square, Victoria, BC) at the box office or online.

Showtimes:
OCT 30, 8PM
OCT 31, 8PM
NOV 1, 2PM

Kaleidoscope Theatre‘s Halloween spectacular is not just taking place in the support of bringing youth to the arts. It’s also a major fundraiser for the theatre company to keep their programs running year-round. Artistic Director Roderick Glanville leads this year’s production of Little Shop of Horrors and he recounts his youth as one of simply finding the right place to belong when the academic side of the education system didn’t quite hold his interest very well. Fortune would find him discovering theatre at the suggestion of his teacher and he loved it.

“From that point on, throughout my whole schooling. I was involved in every theatre program, did every single show (all the way through middle school and high school), excelled in all communications and theatre and formed my own,” said Roderick.

Frequent attendees of this autumn-centric show will find familiar names in this production. This director knows that he should not stress them out since they are volunteering their time to put on a Halloween treat for the theatre-loving community of Victoria, BC. He likes to see performers come back and not feel burnt out because of how stressful last year’s event went. The point is to have fun, and it’s shown in The Addams Family Musical and Rocky Horror, which played in the past two years.

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Looking at Launch Pad Production’s Past, Present & Future with Arkenham Abbey, a Preview

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Arkenham Abbey Poster(1)

Christina Patterson and David Radford are the heart and soul of Launch Pad Productions, a Victoria, BC based theatre company, and they have a new production coming up that will be a delight to Batman fans. They are presenting Arkenham Abbey, a horror comedy which pays homage to the comics, TV shows and films about this Dark Knight. It will be playing at Craigdarroch Castle starting October 15th and leading up to Halloween.

I started noticing them when I decided to make attending shows at The Castle an annual tradition. They appeared in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2009) and Dracula: The Blood is the Life (2012/13). In alternating years, I saw what they did at 2011 the Victoria Fringe Festival was more than fun. They showed a true love for the medium. Tara Firm and the Lunar War Chronicles (2011), according to Radford, is a Teslapunk styled story than steampunk. His imaginative spirit is captivating and he knows how to write for his wife, Christina. I had always hoped for a continuation of this saga and was told that if there’s a venue to continue it at, it would be at the Victoria Event Centre. Hopefully I did not miss any advertising for it, but alas there were years where my nose was stuck behind many an academic book. In what I took from my past inquiry with Radford, I instantly knew he was a literary nerd and it seems there’s many in this community who are just the same. When the cast included my favourite one-man act, Charlie Ross (One Man Star Wars and One Man Lord of the Rings), I knew everyone in this company are big-time pop culture geeks.

Batman is loved by all. Ross will be putting on his condensed version next year in Vancouver and for Patterson and Radford, they have Arkenham Abbey to treat Victorians with. For the folks who thought Giggling Iguana Productions has left the building without leaving a surprise will be glad to know that Launch Pad is the group who is taking over.

“We were very privileged to have Ian pass this torch to us,” said Patterson, “We will continue to uphold the standard of great Halloween entertainment modelled by Giggling Iguana.”

To truly discover who they are, I had a chance to talk to this couple about their beginnings, their company and what’s in store for this play.  When I look at the towering spires at this venue, I’m often wondering if there are bats up there or if a ghost is lurking behind The Castle’s walls.

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Can Pop Culture Fandom Return to Victoria, BC with Island Fantasy Convention?

IFCon Preview - Unicorn logo

Island Fantasy Convention
Oct 31 to Nov 1, 2015
Pearkes Recreation Centre
3100 Tillicum Rd.

Tickets available
at Legends Comics, Incendiary Tattoos, Dragon Impact, Epic Games Style & Print or online through EventBrite

Weekend pass: $45
Saturday: $30, Sunday: $25

Over the past 25 or so years, the City of Victoria has seen pop culture conventions come and go. None of them were steady and one of my earliest memories was attending I-Con and sponsored shows, namely Star Trek, that had fans congregating inside the Royal Theatre for speeches. I haven’t been to all of them, but my introduction to this scene was in the late 80’s, when the Empress Hotel was used at the venue for the Big Brothers & Sisters comic book charity show. They brought talent from New York. Artists like Sergio Aragonés (Groo) and Howard Chaykin (The Shadow) were present. I met the editorial staff from Marvel, and I remember getting Jim Shooter and Archie Goodwin’s autograph. That was the grandest time of my life. Those were the good old days, and that was quite the show that made me a nerd for life. While I continued my love by leaving this city for the bigger shows in the late 90’s (there was nothing after I-Con died), I still yearned for a stable fandom event in the city that I call home.

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[Victoria, BC] How to do the Nerdy Fringe 2015 Edition

Fringefeaturedimage1

Various Venues
August 27 to Sept 6
Victoria, BC

Requires Fringe Button ($6)
Tickets range from $9 to 11
Available through Ticket Rocket or at the door

I’m fairly certain that there’s more than a few staff members at the Victoria Fringe Festival who are nerds too. I’ve met one person who worked there who is an avid LEGO enthusiast and I’m sure that buried in the closet are a few NERF guns. When nobody is looking, it’ll be time to bust a move.

People not acquainted with what the Fringe is about will quickly discover that the shows are experimental in nature, and the stages used are small to accommodate an intimate performance. Anything can happen, and the idea of a festival is to give new up-and-coming talent a chance to earn their cred. There’s a few groups that have moved on to bigger shows. The Reduced Shakespeare Company got their start at Fringe and Tom Stoppard‘s play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead was performed first at the Edinburgh Fringe. In a tiny way, Evil Dead: The Musical owes its debt somewhat to this method of putting on shows. It opened in a club before making it big. Musicals are just one part of what can be experienced at Fringe Festivals, and that’s what I tend to gravitate to when the Victoria Fringe Festival caps off the Summer.

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