Convention Report: Gaslight Gathering Day 1 San Diego. Theme: Steam Punk
I arrived at the convention shortly before noon, and checked into my hotel where my partner Paul Draper had already been waiting for me since last night. The convention grounds is absolutely fantastic! The atmosphere here, the decor, and the cast of characters walking around in their garb really does transport you into another place and time. The convention is already lit up with the buzz and anticipation of the nights Seance. An event that Mr. Draper and myself were running.
We arrived to our room a full three hours early for tech and run through, and as it turned out that wasn't a bad idea. Paul and myself worked out what effects we would do and the pacing for how we wanted the night to run. Once seated we agreed upon a run time of about thirty to forty minutes with total blackout lasting about 5. At 9 we began seating the house two and three at a time. Splitting up everyone from their parties.
The seance ran smoothly and turned from a 40 minute show into a hour and half show without us realizing it. The only bad part is my spirit bell Death Toll from Christopher Taylor spazed out on me and became unreliable for practical use. FML I really was depending on that to finish off my portion! I dropped the bell from the act favoring that over drawing more attention to what would now be an obviously gaffed prop, and let Paul come up to do his thing. His selection of psychic material left the room with a different set of chilling atmosphere. Where my character was dramatic, heavy handed, and intentionally serious/dark, Paul added in a lighter, heartier, spooky but scholarly flavor which brought the room through a roller coaster of emotional experiences between the two of us. I really do like working with Paul on that regard. I'm lucky to have him as a mentor, our characters really do work well with each other.
By the end of the night I think we had achieved what we set out to do. We recreated a Victorian style seance, and left some people with some real chills and spooky feelings! Today will of course be the ultimate litmus test of that, as I'll be looking for feedback, but I think everything went well. Now to just survive the big stage show tomorrow and I'll be golden!
I arrived at the convention shortly before noon, and checked into my hotel where my partner Paul Draper had already been waiting for me since last night. The convention grounds is absolutely fantastic! The atmosphere here, the decor, and the cast of characters walking around in their garb really does transport you into another place and time. The convention is already lit up with the buzz and anticipation of the nights Seance. An event that Mr. Draper and myself were running.
We arrived to our room a full three hours early for tech and run through, and as it turned out that wasn't a bad idea. Paul and myself worked out what effects we would do and the pacing for how we wanted the night to run. Once seated we agreed upon a run time of about thirty to forty minutes with total blackout lasting about 5. At 9 we began seating the house two and three at a time. Splitting up everyone from their parties.
The seance ran smoothly and turned from a 40 minute show into a hour and half show without us realizing it. The only bad part is my spirit bell Death Toll from Christopher Taylor spazed out on me and became unreliable for practical use. FML I really was depending on that to finish off my portion! I dropped the bell from the act favoring that over drawing more attention to what would now be an obviously gaffed prop, and let Paul come up to do his thing. His selection of psychic material left the room with a different set of chilling atmosphere. Where my character was dramatic, heavy handed, and intentionally serious/dark, Paul added in a lighter, heartier, spooky but scholarly flavor which brought the room through a roller coaster of emotional experiences between the two of us. I really do like working with Paul on that regard. I'm lucky to have him as a mentor, our characters really do work well with each other.
By the end of the night I think we had achieved what we set out to do. We recreated a Victorian style seance, and left some people with some real chills and spooky feelings! Today will of course be the ultimate litmus test of that, as I'll be looking for feedback, but I think everything went well. Now to just survive the big stage show tomorrow and I'll be golden!
