White Mischief steampunk variety night returns to London, May 23

Toby Slater sez,

White Mischief is a steampunk / neo-Victorian themed clubnight in London that, several times a year, takes over 1900s former cinema Scala. The upcoming show is on Saturday May 23, 9pm-4am.

Using art directors who have worked with theatre producers like Punchdrunk the various rooms are set-dressed; the theme for this coming show is "Journey To The Centre Of The Earth" so there will be an underground sea, a cavern featuring giant mushrooms, and a performance from electroluminescent creatures (by way of UV-lit aerialists).

Live music includes UK steampunk scenesters The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing; The Correspondents, who blend vintage jazz and swing with hip hop; and White Mischief's hosts Tough Love.

In between the bands are all manner of vaudeville acts including Edwin Flay (a Burning Man veteran who will be performing an aerial escapeology routine and a bullet catch, all in Victorian garb); The Fitzrovia Radio Hour, who broadcast a radio show live from the past; and a juggler who uses real chainsaws.

But partygoers are just as likely to encounter shows and costumed characters in the stairwells or lobby, thanks to sideshows such as Archibald Floss (a Victorian freakshow), roving accordion-led band the Bohemianauts, or Amundsen and Slade's Sonic Sideshow. The Sonic Sideshow revolves around Jules Verne-esque leather suits which can either be worn by the audience members or by the hosts. The suits can sample sound live from the audience or from a laptop sound bank. By touching one another, the suit-wearers can interact to create new sound pieces, even transferring loops and samples from one suit to the other.

Some of the UK steampunk scene's biggest aficionados have already bought their tickets so expect to see lots of brass goggles, fancy rayguns and explorer outfits. Dressing up is never compulsory but at previous shows there have been some wonderful steampunk costumes.

WHITE MISCHIEF: "Journey To The Centre Of The Earth" (Thanks, Tobias!)

• [sonipitts]

  Gah! Steampunk! Wharrgarbl!!!

  There. That’s out of the way.

  *wanders off whistling, stage left*

• [Anonymous]

  The Correspondents, who blend vintage jazz and swing with hip hop

  This sounds absolutely delicious and I want a listen but I’m pretty mortified that the only website I can find on them is a MySpace.

• [Trilby]

  Personally, I prefer the Modern Times Club, which is like this but for the 1920/30s (Art Deco, etc). And everyone there tends to be immaculately dressed. There’s no formal dress code, but if you roll up in your belted chinos and popped collars you may get a rather frosty reception. The result being that it’s perfect evening dress.

• [greensteam]

  To #s1,2,7 – it’s harmless fun, creative and not offending anyone, why is it a problem for you? Any culture that gets people to value technology, real, imaginary, imaginable, old, odd or new, is a good thing in my book, since nearly every other culture seems to ignore it.
  The effort that has clearly gone into the making of most peoples outfits is amazing. I guess you may not approve of cosplay, reenactment, trekkies etc etc either but all good fun. What is life without some quirkiness anyway?

• [RingMod76]

  1) Dr “stmpnk”, pls crwl nt scldd crnr nd d qtly. gt trd f y bt 2 wks ftr y frst shwd p.

  2) How can it really be Journey to the Center of the Earth without Rick Wakeman, about 40 synthesizers and the London Symphony Orchestra? Oh, and don’t forget the dry ice smoke.

• [WhiteMischief]

  Trilby, thanks for your comment, but The Modern Times Club has not been in operation for three years. However, you might be pleased to discover that Johnny Vercoutre, the founder of The Modern Times Club, is DJing at the forthcoming May 23 White Mischief show.

• [Anonymous]

  For a “steampunk” event, it seems that only 10% of the folks in the photos (entertainers notwithstanding) are even in proper garb for the evening.

  Everyone else seems to be in nothing more than popped collar club clothes.

  *yawn*

• [WhiteMischief]

  Ringmod78, have to bow to your keen tastes! If I’d known about the Rick Wakeman album then clearly we would have gone all out to book him for the revival show he so clearly needs. Seriously. My knowledge of the great Wakeman’s solo material stalls around The Myths And Legends of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table. (Thinking about it, that’s not a bad idea for a themed party either…)

• [okir]

  Why is it called White Mischief?