Thrillville: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Little World

"Joan Holloway" and "Don Draper" host a Mad Men Party at the Ivy Room

Project Pimento thrills the crowd at Kingman's Ivy Room

We had a wild week in Thrillville last week, starting Thursday January 21, with the SHANTY TRAMP gig at the 4 Star Theater in San Francisco, where hot burlesque troupe Hubba Hubba Revue and the hilarious Vicar of Liquor put on a very steamy show, and then Saturday January 23: our MAD MEN MANIA PARTY at Kingman's Ivy Room, with Project Pimento, which was another swanky, swingin' success. The Shanty Tramp show, while very fun, attracted a small but enthusiastic crowd of drooling Thrill Seekers; the Mad Men gig, on the other hand, was a bona fide smash, with lots of swingers decked out in period attire, episodes of the series showing on both bar TVs, and Project Pimento performing three perfect sets, including a cover of Enoch Light's "Autumn Leaves," the inspiration for the Mad Men theme. After the recent, equally well attended Sinatra (Ivy Room) and Elvis (Forbidden Island) events, it seems that Thrillville's appeal is trending away from the movie theater format and into the "bar scene." Makes sense - my following is mostly based in the East Bay, these bars are in the East Bay (Ivy room in Albany, Forbidden Island in Alameda), there's no cover charge, and best of all - there are outstanding cocktails being served. Hard to throw a real party without quality booze. The Parkway and Cerrito theaters served beer and wine and had sofas. They were the perfect match for Thrillville - which makes sense, since the show was born at Speakeasy Theaters, and therefore tailored for those venues. After nearly 13 years and the demise of Speakeasy, Thrillville is bound to evolve if it's to survive, and right now, the multi-media theme events in bars seems to be the future. This is not to say I'm giving up on movie venues - I still have several shows lined up in San Francisco and San Jose - but realistically, logistically and logically, Thrillville may thrive most thrillingly as a roving pop culture bar party, not a movie theater show. We'll see - ultimately, you, the Thrill Seekers, will dictate where, and how, you'd rather experience Thrillville. For now, I'll keep spreading myself as thin as possible. I am also planning straight up movie/trivia nights at both Ivy Room and Forbidden Island, along with more theme nights revolving around live music, stay tuned as Thrillville enters its next natural phase....and I'm loving the elegant "Don Draper" look too, so I may swap out the ol' fez and smoking jacket as well....or maybe not, we'll see...cheers!

Hosting "Shanty Tramp" at the 4 StarKingfish and Whatsit of Hubba Hubba RevueThe Vicar of LiquorLady SatanJosie Starr
Sassy Hotbuns