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Fun Stuff => CHATTER => Topic started by: Barmymoo on 19 May 2010, 03:35
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In August I will be trekking up to Edinburgh to stage manage a play called Silent Cannonfire. It is a silent pirate play conducted entirely in mime with the assistance of paper signs and cardboard weapons.
Whilst it'd be great if anyone in the vicinity came to watch it, this is not what this thread is about.
This thread is about FUNDRAISING.
Although pillaging and ransacking would probably be more in the spirit of the thing, I think the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the university probably frown on funding a production through the proceeds of crime.
This evening I am going to a meeting about how we can raise funds more legitimately, and it got me thinking about a PIRATE FESTIVAL.
So I'm putting out a call for advice on what makes THE ULTIMATE PIRATE PARTY.
I'm thinking rum, I'm thinking epic treasure hunts all over the city, I'm thinking card games and sea shanties and piratey food.
What are you thinking? What would make a fantastic pirate party?
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GROG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grog)
Also, plenty of Monkey Island references so that the people who get them can have high-fives.
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Here are some drink ideas (http://www.talklikeapirate.com/drinks.html) that look interesting but I don't know enough about alcohol to know which would be nice and which would be cheap etc.
[img width= height=]http://coolest-birthday-cakes.shippony.com/images/theme/pirate/pirate-ship/pirate-cakes-24.jpg[/img]
Is cake a bit childish? Or awesome?
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I think the cake thread will contest that it is indeed awesome.
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Both. Mostly the former, by way of the latter.
If you want real authentic drinkin' then you should just buy the cheapest, nastiest rum the local is legally allowed to stock. You'll wish for death in the morning but hey, so would a pirate. Other than that I have no idea what the price of booze on your side is.
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If I know anything about authentic pirate parties then there should be rum, grog and ale in varying amounts. There should be moldy and weevil-infested biscuits and lots of rape.
Pirates weren't really as awesome as the internet would have you believe.
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But the play is about AWESOME PIRATES so we will have to improvise!
Are there piratey games? Like pin the eyepatch on the pirate? Some kind of piratical hide and seek?
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Press Ganging.
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Keel Hauling!
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Coastal plundering/burning!
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Bad Johnny Depp impersonations.
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I will come and review/preview your play for our student radio station!
This means we put it on our website and more people come. Supposedly.
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YES. That would be amazing! It runs August 15th-30th, so lots of time to persuade people it's worth seeing (and it is!).
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You know there are pirate re-enactors, right? Dudes with historically accurate pirate costumes and swords and blank-firing flintlocks who go around the country doing pirate themed living history events?
I got some contacts in the scene, if you're interested.
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That sounds amazing but also expensive :S We want to raise money to fund the play, so we're trying to do things that won't cost anything.
The current definites are as follows:
Pirate garden party event, with stand up comedians and piratical games and drinks, followed by a pirate ceilidh
Pirate treasure hunt all over the city, with a raffle for the main prize and lots of little prizes for anyone who finishes
I'm also determined to get the pirate speeding dating idea off the ground, but I haven't thought about it properly yet.
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Expensive? Re-enactment is a hobby. Re-enactors very rarely charge anything except to films and so forth, except maybe travel and putting them up somewhere. I dunno how many pirate guys there are up north.
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Pirate kissing booth! If a few
ladies wenches are willing.
Also find a few card and dice games that were popular during the time. Gambling games are easy money. So are overpriced drink and food. (But not too overpriced, because you want people to drink more!)
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Khar you are saying that there are guys who dress up in historically-accurate pirate clothing and travel around the country being pirates and they refuse to take payment because it might sully the purity of their craft?
I don't know whether to laugh, or laugh for an entirely different reason.
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It's not because it will sully the purity of their craft. It's because it's a hobby. Much in the same way amateur dramatics companies don't charge anything except to cover the cost of the hall and maybe a bit towards costumes and props. That's how pretty much all historical re-enactors work. It's a fun hobby people do in their spare time.
As for games, a good one (which is pretty fun to play once you get the hang of it) is Mia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mia_%28game%29), which people will like because it's the real life version of that game they play in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Similiarly any other form of liars dice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liar%27s_Dice) games, like Mexicali. They're good fun because you can put on pirate accents and be all "I call ye a liar ye scurvy dog!" and such. Also good are Shut the box (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shut_the_box) (if you don't want to buy a box, just use nine dominoes) and Ship, Captain, and Crew (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship,_Captain,_and_Crew), which is almost pure chance and very easy to learn. I find Hazard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazard_%28game%29), which was very popular at the time, to be a bit too complex (to say the least). As for cards, you could have Three Card Brag (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-card_brag) (which is kind of an early form of poker) and good old Blackjack. I wouldn't really dip into more historical card games than that, as they have a tendency to be mind-numbingly complicated, and that's without the ones you play on tarot decks and shit.
As for drink, you could always make up some grog and bumbo for people to try (bumbo is pirate grog made from rum, water, sugar and nutmeg, and tastes a shitload better than royal navy grog). There are also more palatable modern cocktail versions of both drinks. Spiced rum, hot water and a dash of lime cordial makes a fairly serviceable modern grog that ain't too offensive, or you can just generally play around with rum based drinks.
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Thanks! That's really helpful :) I was thinking of card games but I didn't know any. I will look into them all in more detail.
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Arrr! I have planned a PIRATICAL TREASURE HUNT EXTRAVAGANZA!
Can you take a look at the facebook event (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133437466669704#!/event.php?eid=133437466669704) and give me suggestions on how to improve it? I'm also trying to think of ways to market it to tourists and families but I'm not sure how I'd do that - any ideas beyond posters etc?
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Talk to area hotels to see if they'll put flyers in customer packets that week (as well as lobby posters). In exchange maybe they can act as treasure spots for the hunt? Gets foot traffic for them, and puts your message in a prime location leading to the event.
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We don't actually have hotels, or rather we have one which is on the very edge of town, too far to send people. This is a downright bizarre place!
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Hey look what I saw while browsing through the fringe magazine!
(http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee195/StaedlerMars/Photoon2010-06-26at1927.jpg)
I've written you into our program for reviewing!
Also, the Roxy Art House is a pretty awesome venue.
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I'd go see it based on that review!
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EVERYONE SHOULD GO AND SEE IT!
Exciting! That's awesome :) Thanks for taking a photo.