Pop Horror is clearly a guilty secret of ours. Ok it isn’t a scare attraction in any way, but as fans of horror we just love the camp silliness of it all. Where else could you find international drag queen Tracy La Bouce Barlow dressed like Freddy Kruger miming along to Madonna as Vogue in a mock up of a bad 70s hotel?
Although Adam All and Apple Derrieres did a great job of hosting they didn’t have the raw entertainment and shock value of regular host Baby Lame, and as such weren’t able to whip the audience up into a frenzy. Also the misjudged comedy routine of the usually excellent Emily Feist, meant the evening started off slowly but picked up quickly afterwards especially with a stunning energetic routine from Lasanna Shabazz
With a drop-in performance from Baby Lame at the end of the night and puppy troubling cameo from Mynxie Monroe, the evening ended up on high with the packed audience dancing the night away.
If you are ever in London and want a bit of camp entertainment – we would highly recommend you check out the crazy guys at Pop Horror. They will be back next year for their Valentine special.
So, after surviving Bjorn of the Dead by at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London (see review below), we knew we had to check out Pop Horror's latest event - Slice Up your Life. We weren't disappointed!
Following a similar theme to the previous event, Slice Up Your Life was a camp and silly night that entertained us from beginning to end. Once again hosted by the the filthy Baby Lame, the evening consisted of sketches, songs, games and a lot of crazy fun themed around Girl Groups.
Quite naturally, The Spice Girls featured prominently but who knew that a drag queen biting off the private parts of a "Chucky" doll would go so well with No No No by Girls Aloud? Other acts included a hilarious vampire sing along that ended like some bizarre panto as Van Helsing stalked our heroine, a boylesque fire routine to Black Magic by Little Mix and a deranged Ryan Air air-hostess trying to "serve" the passengers whilst the plane is crashing to the ground. "You didn't chose to pay for the optional lifejacket for an extra 35 Euros? Not my problem!" It was hilarious and satirical, as it ridiculed Ryan Air's quite ludicrous business methods.
The scenes were punctuated with some silly games (yes we ended up on stage again!), as well as some hilarious routines by our host - who definitely took a liking to one of our party and fixated on him all night!
Although not a "scary" event in any way, we absolutely love the idea of mixing horror movies with cheesy pop, and you cant help but laugh along with the infectious, bawdy (and sometimes gory) routines during the night. The Pop Horror team will be back at the venue at Halloween - book your place now!
Everyone will know by now, that we cover a wide range of events. From scare attractions and scary room escapes through to immersive and live theatre - we celebrate all forms of entertainment. However, even we were surprised when the invite came in for Bjorn of the Dead!
Hosted at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London, Bjorn of the Dead is the latest show curated by the twisted minds at Pop Horror. Following the success of I Know What You Did Donna Summer, and The Cher Witch Project, they have turned their attention to Sweden’s greatest export – Abba. As you would expect - it was camp and cheesy in equal measures with Vaudeville acts doing horror inspired pop songs, all mixed up with some audience participation, and hosted by a bearded drag queen. The acts ranged from Annie Wilkes from Misery singing Lay all Your Love On Me, while holding a blood-covered axe, through to someone in a Saw head trap singing SOS while pulling her eyes out.
The Saw routine was probably the goriest of all the acts, with the rest of the shows generally going for humour more than horror, especially with drag king Adam Arr as a mad professor creating a man in a lab to the tune of Gimme Gimme Gimme (a Man After Midnight).
Between the shows were madcap games including a hilarious round of “Ikea or Swedish town” as we tried to guess the origin of certain words, and a convoluted Instagram photo challenge that we managed to win by default!
Clearly, given the location (RVT is one of London’s oldest and most famous gay bars) and the late night nature of the show, this really isn't for the easily offended, or the boring. The main host – Baby Lame was as potty mouthed as you would expect, but really pulled together all the disparate parts of the show to create a thoroughly entertaining night out.
Kudos has to go to Tim and Paul at Pop Horror who created this incredibly silly show and kept us entertained all night. It’s a testament to them that we originally planned to stay just for the first hour, but then found ourselves dancing away at the late night disco 3 hours later! Although a little, rough around the edges (faulty mics, missed cues etc.) this all just added to the charm, and we thoroughly look forward to their return visit to the venue this summer!
Little Toad Creek Brewery and Distillery fun overflowed into the street on Saturday with the second annual Toadfest. Breweries from across the state sidled in with samples of their brews while customers sipped, danced and competed on a blocked-off Bullard Street.
“We could not be happier with this year’s Toadfest,” said general manager Sam Castello. “Hundreds of people came out to dance and have fun with us. All day long and into the night, I saw nothing but smiling faces. It’s great being a part of this community.”
Fifteen breweries with more than 20 beers provided the libation for the celebration, even more than attended last year.
“It is — I feel safe saying — the largest volume of craft beer that has ever been in Silver City at one time,” Castello said.
For their part, Castello and co-owner David Crosley created their new Gateway Ale, a pale ale, in honor of Silver City’s designation as New Mexico’s first Gateway Community to the Continental Divide Trail. The new brew got the stamp of approval from locals and visitors alike. Longdistance hiker Whitney “Allgood” LaRuffa — in town to give a lecture for the first Continental Divide Trail Days — said, “They (pale ales) aren’t always my thing, but this is way cool.”
Little Toad Creek Brewery and Distillery bartender Bart Brown participated in the keg toss competition at the second annual Toadfest Tap Takeover Saturday, April 11, 2015.
Outside on Bullard Street, Zeke Cassidy took first place in the keg toss competition, a leftover from 2014’s OkToaderfest, launching an empty keg farther than a diverse field of men and women.
Other competitive customers grabbed ropes in the handmade human foosball arena, raised for the event. The live action adaptation of the popular table game sent footballs and laughter flying up and down the street.
Monday’s spot of rain is not expected to do much to deter the four fires actively burning and growing on the Gila National Forest. In fact, Forest personnel are preparing for lightning from the storms to spark even more.
Late June is often the busiest time of year for the Gila National Forest’s fire crews — both local and visiting — but with the National Weather Service predicting record highs later this week, their schedules may soon be even busier.
“We’re anticipating lots of new starts,” said Gabe Holguin, Forest fire management officer. “Surprisingly we haven’t had any yet. This is definitely always our busiest time. It is about the time the monsoons start setting up. It’s a gradual progression, though, until we really get into the monsoons. Early on, we get these little pulses that produce lightning before the storms begin to get wetter later on.”
National Weather Service forecaster David Novlan said southwest New Mexico residents can expect thunderstorms and a 20 to 40 percent probability of precipitation today and Wednesday. But, that small amount of rain isn’t likely to dampen the fires on the Gila.
“A lot of times we get this mini-monsoon stuff and it has little effect on the fires,” said Forest Public Information Officer Marta Call.
Right now, the Corral Fire and Straw Fire are burning in the Gila Wilderness at 15,050 and 6,675 acres respectively, on either side of the Gila Cliff Dwellings. In the Aldo Leopold Wilderness, the Round Fire burns at 6,062 acres. The Gravel Fire, in the Turkey Creek drainage, has grown to 2,450 acres.
That the rains won’t stop the fires burning is a fine thing, according to Holguin, who said the Forest is getting a lot of use out of the flames.
“Fire behavior has been very favorable thus far to help us achieve some desired conditions,” he said. “It’s been really low to moderate, staying on the ground, catching a tree here and there, but there have been no stand replacement effects so far. The fires are burning up from 50 to 100 percent of dead trees on the ground.”
The only problems Holguin said these fires have caused are a large level of smoke. A report from the Forest on Monday labeled air quality in Reserve, Glenwood and Cliff as just moderate. That means “unusually sensitive individuals should consider limiting prolonged or heavy exertion.” At the Gila Cliff Dwellings, the report described air conditions as dangerous in the morning, until noon.
“One thing we’re really paying attention to are the smoke impacts this year,” Holguin said. “For the first time, we’ve brought in an air resource adviser, who looks at ongoing fires, considers the forecasts and predicted weather, and can model where smoke impacts might be. He deploys smoke monitors to different areas so they can report back and we can let the public know.”
Novlan said the hot weather of recent days will only get hotter this week after the storms pass. From Wednesday to Friday, the forecast is for record highs, around 105 degrees, continuing a trend Novlan described of temperatures significantly above normal. He said another round of storms is then expected over the weekend that should cool the area down again.