DATE: FEBRUARY 21, 2012
FROM: TODD BRODGINSKI/MITCH SCHNEIDER/AARON FETERL
THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS SHOW ON EARTH:
LUCHA VaVOOM
SET FOR TWO LOS ANGELES CINCO DE MAYO SHOWS
FRIDAY, MAY 4 AND SATURDAY, MAY 5
AT MAYAN THEATER
SIMULTANEOUS CINCO DE CHICAGO
SHOW SET FOR MAY 5
AT PARK WEST
DREW CAREY, ERIC IDLE AND GABBRIEL ‘FLUFFY’ IGLESIAS TURN OUT AT
SOLD-OUT ‘LUCHA IS FOR LOVERS’ VALENTINE’S DAY SHOWS
May is LUCHA VaVOOM month.
Continuing their 10-year tradition of celebrating Cinco de Mayo in grand fashion, LUCHA VaVOOM will for the first time have a two-night Cinco de Mayo celebration at Los Angeles’ Mayan Theater: Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5. The mind-blowing, gloriously unhinged and acclaimed Mexican masked wrestling/burlesque/comedy ensemble–who deliver The Most Outrageous Show on Earth–will also have a simultaneous Cinco de Chicago performance at Park West as they did last year. Tickets are currently on sale.
For the upcoming Cinco de Mayo shows, the troupe have teamed up with the Mayan Theater to host two all-night affairs, including a post-Lucha dance party until 2:00 AM, which they’re promising will be their most electrifying Cinco de Mayan ever as they’ll amp things up to new levels of insanity at these must-be-seen-to-be-believed shows in celebration of the Mexican holiday.
The May performances are part of LUCHA VaVOOM’s year-long 10th anniversary celebration, with more shows to be announced. At last week’s three sold-out shows in Los Angeles at the Mayan Theater celebrating Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14, 15, 16), guest emcee DREW CAREY joined in the fun, ERIC IDLE (Monty Python) and COMEDIAN GABRIEL “FLUFFY” IGLESIAS were in the crowd and UFC Heavyweight champion JOSH “THE WARMASTER” BARNETT was seen hanging out with the luchadores.
LUCHA VaVOOM’s Cinco De Mayo shows are non-stop events that will be comprised of three action-packed wrestling matches and lusty burlesque ladies: The Wau Wau Sisters!!!, Karis, Lucy Fur, Carolina Cerisola in Los Angeles and Michelle L’Amour, Trixie & the Evil Hate Monkey, Lux LaCroix, Peekaboo Pointe in Chicago. Wrestlers in Chicago include Cassandro, Sicodelico, Jr. and Samuray del Sol.
Attendees can also look forward to the following: strolling mariachis, a Polite In Public donkey photo booth, Aztec and folklorico dancers, a lowrider parade (in Los Angeles), giant Zumba dance (in Chicago), tamales, and–as is traditional with the holiday–lots of tequila courtesy of their friends at El Jimador.
Founded in Los Angeles in 2002 by Rita D’Albert and Liz Fairbairn, Lucha VaVOOM is good vs. evil played out in quick, exhibition-style, one-fall Lucha Libre matches for maximum enjoyment and action. The Los Angeles Times has said, “Far-out flamboyance always prevails at Lucha VaVOOM, a spectacle of Mexican freestyle wrestling with an L.A. twist (7/09/06)” and the Calgary Herald recently called their first-ever Canadian shows “Filthy, dirty fun (1/27/12).”
Arguably more rock than rock and more punk than punk, Lucha VaVOOM has created a Los Angeles tradition: from the low-rider car parade escorting the performers as the crowd enters the iconic Mayan Theater, to the local luminaries they attract (Drew Carey, Jack Black and Fred Armisen), to Burlesque (which was revived right here in Los Angeles), to Lucha Libre, where masked heroic wrestlers, in character-driven style, flip, fly and amaze. It all comes together to make one fun, surreal, glam-bam spectacle of raucous entertainment. You could say it’s a wrestling show for people that don’t like wrestling (and those that do).
At Lucha VaVOOM, they like a little sexo with their violencia. In between matches, the finest handpicked burlesque acts from around the world wow the crowds with their unique striptease skills, including raucous aerial acts, pogo-stick peelers and hula-hoop hotties.
Ticket information:
Tickets are currently on sale
Tickets are available online and at these locations:
$35 General Admission tickets are available:
www.ticketweb.com
WACKO: 4633 Hollywood Blvd, Los Feliz
BRAT: 1938 14th Street, Santa Monica
GARAGE PIZZA: 100 ½ West 7th Street, Downtown Los Angeles
–Link to photo gallery at LA Weekly.com (from the Feb 2011 Mayan shows):
http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/lucha-va-voom-kinky-valentine-show-32551686/
–Here’s a sampling of what the press had to say about last year’s shows:
“The finest purveyors of sexo y violencia in the land…“
Daniel Siegal, Brand X/ThisisBrandX.com, 5/5/11
“Over the course of human history, many incredible triumphs have been created out of the pairing of two seemingly unrelated things. Moving images and sound. Needle and thread. Lennon and McCartney. Chocolate and peanut butter. And such is the case with the combination of Mexican wrestling (lucha libre) and burlesque dancing. That is what Lucha VaVoom is all about: sexo y violencia…”
Zach Hines, The Campus Circle, 5/4/11
“…a raucous and irreverent extravaganza of burlesque, comedy and classic Mexican luchadore wrestling…The evening had the feel of an unhinged circus, as an increasingly rowdy crowd (which included “Cheech and Chong” legend Cheech Marin), watched the rudos (the “bad guy” wrestlers) take on the tecnicos (the “good” guys) in bouts that were equal parts comedic jest and brilliantly choreographed feats of costumed athleticism.”
Katie Bain, Huffingtonpost.com, August 19, 2011
“Promising “A Super Sexo Y Violencia Fiesta,” the Lucha VaVOOM Cinco De Mayo Spectacular at the Park West in Lincoln Park did not disappoint. Helmed by a pair of wisecracking emcees seated behind a professional wrestling ring, the event attracted a packed house, many of whom were clad in their fave grappler’s signature masks. And throughout the night, when the emcees chanted “Lucha!” the educated crowd exploded with “VAVOOM!!”
John Thomas, Time Out Chicago, 5/6/11
And some previous critical acclaim:
“Lucha VaVoom has a big future.”
Time Magazine
“… It’s enough to make even the most jaded Hollywood insider jump up and yell ‘Smackdown.’”
Rolling Stone
“Lucha VaVoom is the most exciting, bonkers show I’ve seen in ages.”
The FACE (U.K.)
“A madcap mix of Mexican wrestling, comedy, and vintage burlesque. I love, love, love it.”
Vanity Fair
“With this perfectly balance evening of sex, comedy & comicbook violence, the populace of earth deserves nothing less than a global tour. Everyone needs a little Lucha VaVoom in their life.”
Bizarre (U.K.)
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