Monthly Archives: May 2012

Mr. Saturday & Sixpence

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Mr. Saturday & Sixpence are this universe’s prime space-time bending gentlemen-for-hire, at your service! No other high caliber masters of their art can claim to include the finest mentalist in 16 dimensions and a charismatic mime wanted in 13 of those 16 dimensions!

Saturday & Sixpence are entertainers extraordinaire with a high improv flair when not on one of their fantastic (and assuredly foolish) adventures, enjoying the adoration of the crowds, gaining energy from their applause, laughter, and if need be, outright confusion.

When in this space-time quadrant, they attend conventions for jolts and jollies, head up the San Antonio Neo-Victorian Association, and for some strange reason, can usually be found in the Texas vicinity. They also happen to be the con-men behind AetherFest, Texas’ first Steampunk convention in San Antonio, TX and they do put on one hell of a convention!

Check out their Facebook page here!

Find Mr. Saturday and Sixpence all over SPWF including:

Hangout
Saturday, Noon – 1:00pm
Portable Daffodil Cafe (Radisson)

To Whom Does This Line Pertain
Saturday, 10:00 pm – 11:00 pm
Embassy Stage (Embassy)

Mighty River of Tea (ticket required)
Sunday, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Fusions Restaurant (Radisson)

The World’s Largest Steampunk Event!

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Our friend Galia

This is a picture of the official World's Fair Muppet. Her name is Galia. If you see her, say hello!

Special note:  There’s more info below, but if you’re at all near New York City, you should check out our Halloween event, October 14th, The Anachronism Meets The Goblin Market!

It’s finally time!!  Steampunk World’s Fair tickets are now onsale!  

With EVEN MORE amazing absinthe-and-other-special-beverages tastings; a gourmet buffet dinner created by the world’s premier geeky chef; and the fifth, most intricate and enthralling iteration of The Goblin Market, live and in person.  First 500 tickets win a shot at free absinthe pastries, autographed books, posters, t-shirts, jewelry, tickets to our other shows, and many other special prizes!  Don’t delay – get your tickets now!

BUY TICKETS HERE!!  Hurry!  Hurry!  There’s not a moment to waste!  Unless you have a time machine, in which case, you can worry less.

 

We’re rapidly gearing up for “WE INTERRUPT THIS STEAMPUNK WORLD’S FAIR!“, our most eccentric and improbable Steampunk World’s Fair event ever (and that’s saying a LOT, coming from us).   We’d say “expect the unexpected”, but we think you’re already going to expect the unexpected, so we’ll say, instead, “Expect the unexpected that you didn’t expect when you expected the unexpected you expected!”  Though we’re not sure what that means.  

You can now RSVP on Facebook to stay updated on the event, as well! And if that’s not enough, you can follow us on Twitter!

Update, September 25th:  Steampunk World’s Fair tickets go onsale at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 27th!  First five hundred tickets get entered into a drawing for absinthe cocktails and other prizes!

Pssst!  Are you getting anxious waiting for next May’s Steampunk World’s Fair? Are you eager to see Joe Vourteque, Unwoman, Voltaire, and Psyche Corp all in one place? Have you been delighted, astounded, even entranced by The Goblin Market? Well, then, have we got a show for you: The Anachronism Meets The Goblin Market – Oct. 14 at Club Element in NYC!

Steampunk World’s Fair Vending applications are now open and available at http://steampunkworldsfair.com/?page_id=7088!  Due to demand, SPWF vending applications have been extended until 3 p.m. on October 5th!  Please note that we cannot accept ANY applications after that time.

And finally, in simply fantastic news, we  are ever-so-happy to announce that next year’s SPWF will include Jeff Vandermeer, the brilliant writer/editor/publisher who is responsible for an insanely great body of work (though he may be best known to many as the force behind The Steampunk Bible, he’s done way too many amazing things to list in this paragraph) – and the irrepressible, amazing, award-winning, genre-sizzling band Steam Powered Giraffe!

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The Steampunk World’s Fair III brought in over 4,000 attendees, making it the world’s largest ticketed Steampunk event!  Thanks to all of you who came by!  To stay in the loop about what we’re doing, please feel free to check out our Facebook group, and/or join our mailing list via the link on the right-hand side of this page. This coming year’s Steampunk World’s Fair will be at the same locations, on the weekend of May 17-19th, 2013!

 

If you enjoyed The World’s Fair, check out our original event, which inspired The World’s Fair  - The Wicked Winter Renaissance Faire, coming to The Doubletree Hotel & Conference Center in lovely Somerset, New Jersey, February 15-17, 2013.   We’re adding an entire hotel of Steampunk delights for your delectation – check it out!

And again…thank you all!!!

much love,

Jeff Mach

(The rest of this website is unchanged and refers to the event that just passed.  Do feel free to take a look around for more information!  We’ll be updating it in a few weeks!)

In more somber news, a few months back, we went public with something that we think is important, regarding behavior within the Steampunk world.  We’ve joined with other Steampunk events in this: An Open Letter To The Steampunk Community.

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And we’ve kept the last few updates from right before Wicked Faire 2012 on the site.  They’re below..including last year’s GIGANTIC event schedule!

May 16, 2012:  Hello, and welcome to the madness that is this website, less than a week before World’s Fair!  We’re running around like mad, hammering the last bits onto the event – come on in and don’t mind the flying cogs!

And we have the 99.9% finalized full event schedule at last, and it is HUGE!!  Click here to see it in all its ridiculously massive glory! 

Special Note, May 15th, 2012:  Advance ticket sales have now ended.   You can still get tickets at the door, though, so come on by, and bring your friends!  And your enemies!  And a few of your enemies’ friends!   And so on, and so forth!

In terms of our VIP events –  The Goblin Market is on Friday evening, pretty much all evening; the Absinthe Tasting is in two seatings on Saturday afternoon, and the Tea & Gourmet British Buffet is Saturday eve.    Doors open on Friday, May 18th at 5 p.m. , and the event ends on Sunday, May 20th, at 6 p.m. We can’t wait to see you all there!

We realize that our site is rather gigantic and there’s an insane amount of entertainment, which means there’s rather a lot to look at.  We do appreciate your time and patience – and we hope to see you this coming weekend!

 

 

FRANK TODARO – THE INVISIBLE WORLD

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Frank Todaro is a New York City based voice actor and host of the award winning weekly paranormal/science based radio program THE INVISIBLE WORLD.

TIW has held many hugely successful live shows at theatres around Manhattan with some exciting guests in the fields of paranormal, science and philosophy, and presented at several events and conventions, among them the Steampunk Faire at historic Speedwell in Morristown, NJ.

This weekend’s particular presentation promises period paranormal ponderances of a Steampunky theme.  Expect “true” tales of ghostly presences and other oddities of the 1800s.  Some feature past presidents, Victorian-era “airship” sightings (as most UFO sightings were deemed at the time) and new/old takes on phenomenon which may seem eerily familiar. After the presentation, look forward to a trivia contest with prizes (that fans of classic Doctor Who should appreciate!)! The multi-media fun starts at 3:45 in Boardroom B.

But the prizes start here…

THE INVISIBLE WORLD is about to celebrate its 100th episode on May 30th and is glad to welcome rocket-scientist and UFO-legend STANTON FRIEDMAN as our guest!  All past episodes are available to download, stream, or podcast for FREE at: www.theinvisibleworld.info

For more on Frank, visit: www.franktodaro.tv

Thee Bluebeard

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Thee Bluebeard is the pirate talk show host of thee most exclusive improv comedy show from Chicago. Seen across the country and on the internet and even at sea Thee Bluebeard Show is the comedy talk show where YOU, the audience, are the guests!  Ever wanted to be on stage and tell the world your story?  Ever wanted to put your best friends on stage and hear THEIR story?!  Of course you have! Look at you there, reading this while dancing in place with anticipation at the thought of being a part of it all.

All guests of Thee Bluebeard Show will receive certification of having been fantastic for 12 seconds in the spot light.  All audience members will take home the FREE Bluebeard Show Home Game.  Prizes and other amazements to be won.  Stand by mates!

Belladonna

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Belladonna is an internationally recognized tribal fusion belly dance instructor, performer and show producer. A sultry mistress of dark dance  sensuality and intensity she is widely known for her fierce style and daring sword play.  You can see her at a variety of festival and events across the globe, including her annual Raven’s Night which takes place October 20th at the Birchmere in the Washington DC area. Please visit www.BellaFuse.com for more information.

Belladonna & Ken Vegas
A rocking hot duo sure to defy your sense and tickle your fancy.  Ken Vegas is an internaltion rock star of drag, and has been featured in a variety of films and documentaries about drag kings. He is also the founder and producer of the famous DCKings, the longest running drag king troupe in the world! Belladonna is a mistress of the night and a bad-ass bellydancer. When these two meet sparks fly and no one is safe from the sex appeal!

Q-Phia Experienced Clothier & Milliner

Proud Sponsor for Belladonna

Trisanguinus Carnelevarii

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Trisanguinus Carnelevarii brings to life the legends and lore of Vampires through the ages via a blend of improvisation, theatre, and Live Action Roleplay (LARP). Originating as roaming performers at Long Island Fear Fest’s CarnEVIL, the Trisangs have branched out to bring their unique style of entertainment to local and regional Gothic-themed events such as Wicked Faire and Macabre Faire.   As part of the Cimmerian Consortium, they are working to produce original multimedia online content about creatures of legend and those who hunt them.

So as you take in the wonders of the Steampunk World’s Fair and feel as if there is something or someone following you, it just might be the Trisangs…

For more information about Trisanguinus Carnelevarii check out their Facebook page!

SPWF 2012: What is it?

Featured

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Some quick links: Buy tickets here.  Check out the Absinthe Tasting!  See a huge and growing list of performers & pleasures (largest in the steampunk event world!) here.   Our special buffet dinner & high tea is right here.  And you can contact us, too.

Have you been to a Steampunk event?
How about a Steampunk World’s Fair?

We’re not just the world’s largest Steampunk festival – we aim to be the friendliest and most welcoming one, as well!

The first Steampunk World’s Fair brought together more Steampunk entertainment, and a greater variety of it, than had ever been seen before at a Steampunk event. We’re continuing that tradition, and adding to it with a number of special events – like our outdoor Midway!

Whether you’re a Steampunk veteran, or totally new to Steampunk and curious, or anywhere in-between, you are welcome here! Whether you have the finest Steampunk gear in all of space and time, or are wearing a t-shirt and some jeans, you are welcome here! Amazing Steampunk fun is afoot – come in and enjoy it!

Quick!  Buy your advance tickets right here!  Buying now gets you significant discounts on our incredible performance lineup and VIP events!

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Also, you are most cordially invited to come find The World’s Fair on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/323705873173/.

You’ll find many, many updates on this page – take a look at our ginormous selection of delights, and please feel free to click around the website to learn more.  Don’t forget to check out our Absinthe Tasting!  

Continue reading →

Museum of Interesting Things!

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Only at the Goblin Market on Friday night of this year’s World’s Fair, the Museum of Interesting Things will be bringing delights and oddities to extend your imagination and evolve your minds! From Science to Literature, from Math to the Medieval, the Museum of Interesting Things will have just the thing to catch your fancy.

This event is exclusive to the Goblin Market on Friday night, so get your tickets right now! What is the Goblin Market you ask? Click here for all the information you’ll need.

More Steampunk, More Fun?

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2012 Steampunk World’s Fair to provide “more fun for attendees than any other Steampunk event in the world”?

Your adventure begins on May 18.  Your objective: to cram as much merriment into one weekend as possible.  You arrive at the 2012 Steampunk World’s Fair and are instantly thrust into a festival abundant with entertainers and members of “the friendliest subculture”.  A delightful chap in a top hat greets you while accordion music can be heard in the distance.  No longer tentative you join the joyful congregation.  Come Sunday victory is yours.

Steampunk is widely known as the “friendliest subculture” where all are invited to participate and exercise their imaginations.  Appropriately the main goal of the 2012 Steampunk World’s Fair is to incorporate this value into the festival itself to provide the most fun for all.  Ergo the label of “convention” has been released and replaced with “festival”.

The co-creator and chief organizer of Steampunk World’s Fair, Jeff Mach, is the driving force behind this “fun” initiative, “We chose to identify Steampunk World’s Fair as a festival for 2012 because this year is well…more festive!” says Mach.  “This year we have made it our priority to provide more fun and entertainment for steampunks and steam-families than any other steampunk event in the world.”  With the extensive lists of performers, guests, and attendees, this year will certainly be a joyous occasion for all.

Steampunk World’s Fair will run May 18-20 in Piscataway, NJ.  Tickets and VIP passes are on sale now; get yours before they sell out!

About Steampunk

Steampunk is a subculture whose members celebrate the beauty of yesterday alongside the technology of tomorrow.  Fanciful Victorian aesthetics blend seamlessly with ray guns and time machines to create a world where anything is possible.  There are no rules, just your imagination, and all are welcome on this great adventure.

About Steampunk World’s Fair

Steampunk World’s Fair, currently in its third year, is the largest Steampunk event in the world hosting thousands of attendees, guests, and performers annually.  This year will include new, fully immersive and interactive events to stir the imagination.  The festival will run May 18-20 in Piscataway, NJ.

Learn more at www.steampunkworldsfair.com.

 

A Most Unusual Meeting

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The Goblin Market Presents the Carnival Obscura & VIP Meet and Greet

Embassy Ballroom

7-10:30PM

Should you attend the Celebrity Meet and Greet this year, you may notice that the setting for it is most unusual. Instead of simply approaching your favorite authors, performers, scholars, and staff members behind tables, this year you are thrown in the middle of the boisterous bedlam of a carnival. Why is this so?

To answer this question, we must first address the very nature of the Carnival Obscura (Presented by The Goblin Market). A most interesting entity, this carnival appears intermittently and without warning, leaving its actual existence subject to speculation. As its dealings are even more furtive, the entertainments of the Carnival and the goods traded at the Goblin Market within are subject of lore and of legend. Only one thing is certain – that the Carnival Obscura, without whisper or warning, will vanish, taking with it a few unfortunate souls.

Herein lies the answer to our inquiry. On Friday night, the Carnival will enjoy the company and the energy of the celebrity guests within. Some will be wandering in attendance, as you will be, others have been “borrowed” by Management for more obscure purposes. Perhaps the celebrities borrowed will appear as exhibit booths, perhaps they shall be serving as ringmasters – others yet may be trapped in the night’s cabaret. Should these guests seem not quite as themselves, rest assured, the Carnival will return them to their normal state of affairs come the end of the evening. At least, that’s what we have been led to believe.

Jukepop Serials

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Purveyors of Fine Writing

Jukepop Serials is a new, community website for readers and authors of serial fiction. Its focus includes subgenres of Science Fiction – including Slipstream, Paranormal, Fantasy, Crime, Mystery, Thriller, Cross-genre fiction and – of course – Steampunk. Not only do the editors recognize Steampunk as a far-reaching and versatile genre, novels written and published in short installments gained popularity in the 19th century. In a way, Jukepop’s vision is bit like Steampunk re-imagining its roots – although the online format strives to benefit both authors and readers. Authors can track the specific pages that grab their audience – and also warn them if interest is waning. Additionally, readers are given “gold coins,” and encouraged to tip the stories that they find most riveting. At the end of the month, the top 30 authors will receive cash prizes.

The Jukepop Serials website did an official “soft-launch” on May 1st. While it has a wealth of information about its mission, goals, and chosen format, it is in the process of acquiring literary content. Jukepop editors are currently seeking submissions for their full launch in the fall – the 100 strongest submissions will be featured when the website goes totally live.  As Steampunk World’s Fair features many talented writers and literature enthusiasts, we’re certain that our crowd will delight in everything that Jukepop has to offer – and hopefully provide great material and helpful feedback!

Disco Dischordia Pre-Sale

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The groovy folks at Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band recently announced their rockin’ record release on our very own Marvelous Midway. We are counting down (less than two weeks!) – and if you’d like to have a brand new copy of “Disco Dischordia” ready and waiting for you, you can reserve a copy RIGHT NOW!

Band leader Rev. Handsome Chuck was kind enough to share a few details. This new album features all new material -  that means a bigger and better sound than ever before. Self-described as “funkier” and “ecclectic” than the previous album, the music has been influenced by some of the chaos of certain events. “Disco Dischordia” is exactly what it sounds like – the dance party at the end of the world. Tracks like “Upsurgence” (inspired by the Occupy Movement), “Kindly Do Not Attempt to Cloud the Issue with Facts,” and
“Pachycephalophiliaphobia” (roughly translated to “Fear of the Love of
Thickheadedness”) not only acknowledge modern discord, but attempt to
channel it into something cathartic – and we daresay – fun.

Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band is…well…not very stationary. They’re always on the move – usually with several dozens folks dancing behind them. Reserve your CD and pick it up at Registration, which is 87% more stationary than ENSMB. It will be ready and waiting when you sign in (or stop by, if you happen to be one of the lucky types getting their badges mailed out). No worries about having cash on hand OR (gods forbid) being kidnapped by airship pirates before you make it to the record release. (Which is the only excuse you’d have to miss it, right?)

Pre-sold copies of “Disco Dischordia” may be picked up at Registration at any point during the weekend

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Dukes and Dirigibles

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A fantastic new Steampunk game!

Founded by a husband-and-wife team, Backward pieS, LLC is an independent game development studio based in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA. We formed in the late Spring of 2011. We are a small company with big ideas!

Our soon-to-be-released first title, Dukes and Dirigibles, is a Steampunk-themed shoot ‘em up that takes place in huge floating arenas. Players will be challenged by vicious turrets, wiley aircraft, and fearsome airship juggernauts as they try to win the Queen’s favor. We invite everyone to visit our website and/or follow us on Twitter (@Backward_pieS) for the latest screenshots, videos, and information on our game!”

Dr. Grymm

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Dr. Grymm

Proprietor of Dr. Grymm Laboratories Lead Designer, Curator, & Steampunk Scientist

Dr. Grymm’s alter ego, Joey Marsocci has been a freelance designer of theme park attractions, toys, puppets, graphic marketing, film props, and private consignments for over 18 years. A graduate of California Institute of the Arts with a BFA in Film and Animation, Marsocci’s mix of Victorian elegance and dark science fiction styling through sculpture and design, gave him the natural advantage to design for the growing popularity of the world of Steampunk.

Dr. Grymm Laboratories currently provides custom designs of props and creatures for film production companies across the US. Dr. Grymm’s custom contraptions and sculptures have been seen in Steampunk exhibits and publications around the world, including the Steampunk Exhibit held at the Oxford University History of Science Museum in 2010.

In the Summer of 2009 Mr. Marsocci hosted and curated the first annual Steampunk Bizarre in Middletown, CT, which was an exhibit featuring the works of Dr. Grymm and some amazing local Steampunk artists. The show featured two of Dr. Grymm’s interactive “Brain Storm” Machines, and his world famous Steampunk “Eye Pod” Victrola which is currently on display along with several custom designed Steampunk contraptions as a permanent art installation at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

The popularity of the exhibit prompted the Third Annual Steampunk Bizarre, held at the Mark Twain House Museum in Hartford, CT – October 2011, featuring the art of world renowned Steampunk Artists. Dr. and Mrs. Grymm have also authored the books “1000: A Steampunk Collection” with Quarry Publishers, and “How to Draw Steampunk” by Walter Foster Publishing to be released in 2011 and is featured in the upcoming Steampunk Bible and the Art of Steampunk. Most recently, Dr. Grymm was featured on BBC America World news on a segment about the Steampunk community.

Dr. Grymm is sponsored by Turtle Sparks and Rough Hewn

Thomas A. Crowell, Esq.

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LEARN TO NAVIGATE THE LUMINIFEROUS AETHER THAT IS THE LAW: A Crash Course in Protecting And Selling Your SteamPunk Comic Book or Novel

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This dapper gent will tell you everything you need to know about publishing law!

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You’ve written a SteamPunk novel or comic book and are now ready to meet with publishers. Can you protect your comic book ideas from being purloined by publishing’s ne’er do wells? What is “work for hire” and how can it hurt or help you in seizing the Promethean spark that is your creation? And when you do entice a publisher with your mad genius, how do you avoid the multitude of unseen legal traps waiting to ensnare the unsuspecting creator who is negotiating a publishing agreement for the first time? Join entertainment attorney Thomas A. Crowell, Esq. in a one-hour quest to demystify those shadowy areas of the law that most impact creators. Arm yourself with legal grappling hooks before entering the rough and tumble world of publishing!

Thomas A. Crowell, Esq. is an entertainment attorney and author of the best-selling legal guide: “The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers.” In addition to his private practice, where he represents comic book creators and filmmakers, he also teaches film, media, and intellectual property law at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Mr. Crowell has been a legal lecturer at New York ComicCon since 2008 . For more information, see www.thomascrowell.com