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Moisture Festival is an annual, four week long, spring festival held in Seattle, Washington. Established in 2004, it is claimed to be the world's largest comedy/variety festival. [1] [2] Performances include musical acts like Jason Webley, comedy acts like Bill Robison, and a variety of circus and burlesque artists. [3]
The first festival was organized in 2004, spanned only five days, and was held in a rented tent in Seattle's Fremont district. That same year, Mike Hale, the owner of Hale's Brewery, volunteered to convert his warehouse space into Hale's Palladium. The Palladium has served as the heart of the festival ever since. In 2008, Moisture Festival became an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. [2]
The following outline provides an overview of and topical guide to entertainment and the entertainment industry:
Vaudeville is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition or light poetry, interspersed with songs or ballets. It became popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s, while changing over time.
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. The word derives from the Italian burlesco, which, in turn, is derived from the Italian burla – a joke, ridicule or mockery.
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932. Though most famous for their visual spectacle, revues frequently satirized contemporary figures, news or literature. Similar to the related subforms of operetta and musical theatre, the revue art form brings together music, dance and sketches to create a compelling show. In contrast to these, however, revue does not have an overarching storyline. Rather, a general theme serves as the motto for a loosely related series of acts that alternate between solo performances and dance ensembles.
The Crazy Gang were a group of British entertainers, formed in the early 1930s. In the mature form the group's six men were Bud Flanagan, Chesney Allen, Jimmy Nervo, Teddy Knox, Charlie Naughton and Jimmy Gold. The group achieved considerable domestic popularity and were a favourite of the Royal Family, especially King George VI.
The Flying Karamazov Brothers (FKB) are a juggling and comedy troupe that has been performing since 1973. They learned their trade busking as street artists starting in Santa Cruz, California, eventually going on to perform nationally and internationally, including on Broadway stages.
Joel Edward McHale is an Italian-born American actor, comedian, and television presenter. He is best known for hosting The Soup (2004–2015) and his role as Jeff Winger on the NBC sitcom Community (2009–2015). He has performed in the films Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011), Ted (2012), and The Happytime Murders (2018).
Hale's Ales was a brewery in Seattle, Washington, USA, founded in 1983.
Neo-Burlesque, or New Burlesque, is the revival and updating of the traditional American burlesque performance. Though based on the traditional burlesque art, the new form encompasses a wider range of performance styles; neo-burlesque can include anything ranging from classic striptease to modern dance to theatrical mini-dramas to comedic mayhem.
Sam Wills is a New Zealand prop comic, busker, clown, and mime artist residing in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. He performs under the name The Boy With Tape On His Face and, more recently, as Tape Face. He was also half of the two-person act Spitroast and sometimes performed under his own name, Sam Wills. He has been featured in the New Zealand International Comedy Festival, the World Buskers Festival, and was a finalist on Season 11 of America's Got Talent.
Murray Hill is a New York City comedian and drag king entertainer. He is the entertainer persona of Busby Murray Gallagher, although this persona is maintained even in private settings. Murray Hill is the self-proclaimed "hardest-working middle-aged man in show business".
William Ray Robison is an American physical theatre artist.
World's Funniest Island was an Australian comedy event held on the third weekend in October on Cockatoo Island, in Sydney Harbour. The first World's Funniest Island event took place 17–18 October 2009. It consisted of approximately 200 shows and involving over 250 performers in 12 indoor venues, and three outdoor stages, playing to 12,000 punters.
La Soirée is a cabaret/variety show presented by Brett Haylock, Mark Rubinstein and Mick Perrin that debuted in London in October 2010 to rave reviews. The show features a number of artists who previously appeared in La Clique, a variety show co-created by Brett Haylock. Haylock was also the Creative Producer of La Clique. La Soirée is traditionally presented with a small, circular red stage as its centerpiece, with the audience sitting in rows surrounding the stage. The show features a rotating cast of approximately 25 artists, with the acts varying from night to night.
Dirty Martini is an American burlesque dancer, pin-up model and dance teacher.
American burlesque is a genre of variety show derived from elements of Victorian burlesque, music hall, and minstrel shows. Burlesque became popular in the United States in the late 1860s and slowly evolved to feature ribald comedy and female nudity. By the late 1920s, the striptease element overshadowed the comedy and subjected burlesque to extensive local legislation. Burlesque gradually lost popularity beginning in the 1940s. A number of producers sought to capitalize on nostalgia for the entertainment by recreating burlesque on the stage and in Hollywood films from the 1930s to the 1960s. There has been a resurgence of interest in this format since the 1990s.
The New York Burlesque Festival is an annual four-day event that takes place in New York City each fall, where performers from all over the world appear on stages for musical acts, burlesque shows, and other performances.
Wanderlust Circus is a theatrical circus troupe based in Portland, Oregon, founded in 2006 by creative partners Noah Mickens and Nick "The Creature" Harbar. Since 2006, Wanderlust Circus has grown from a small band of creatives to a full-fledged circus troupe, and non-profit organization. The organization presently comprises a team of acrobats, a 10-piece swing band, a trick-roping cowboy clown; and several aerialists, contortionists, hand balancers, jugglers, and dancers. Their most popular recurring shows have been The White Album Christmas, A Circus Carol, and the dance party series MegaBounce.
Waxie Moon is a gender-bending neo-burlesque persona of the performer Marc Kenison. Kenison studied modern dance at Juilliard School and acting at University of Washington. During his six years dancing for the José Limón Company, Kenison performed for the White House and toured other parts of the world, including the war-torn Sarajevo and El Salvador. After co-founding the Washington Ensemble Theater in Seattle, Kenison turned to burlesque and created Waxie Moon, whom he describes as "the gender-blending queer lady boylesque performance art solo stripping sensation".
Jett Adore is an American burlesque dancer. He has performed as part of Stage Door Johnnies, Chicago's only all-male burlesque troop. Due to his career success, Adore has been referred to as the Prince of Boylesque and is an inductee of the Burlesque Hall of Fame.