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Laboriously crafted and delightfully insane pirate puppet
rock operas, catchy nautical electro pop, and mindblowing
cheap stage effects. Somewhere between a band and a theater
group, with none of the hangups of either, Jollyship the Whiz-Bang
is an internationally irresistable 8 person multimedia force
of nature!
Jollyship the Whiz-Bang was conceived in 2002 by Nick Jones
and Raja Azar. The origin of the group really began with a
song, Pyrate Love, performed while the two were working
for the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. The warm response
to this ballad of rape and murder became the central premise
for an expanding musical and theatrical universe. A mission
was forged to create a massive live musical pirate puppet
sea saga, to be performed in sequential episodes developed
and presented over the course of many years. 4 years later,
this has yielded 6 full length multimedia productions (or
“episodes”) linked
sequentially, and hours of bizarre musical material, characterized
by whimsical themes, an eclectic rock sound, and unconvincing
“period” dialogue between dubiously lovable seafaring
puppets.
Jollyship the Whiz-Bang has garnered praise
in Time Out New York, New York Press, The FADER,
and VICE. They have toured the U.S., Canada,
Ireland, and have recently finished a residency in Bangkok
for the Hoontown Puppet Festival. In 2005, they released their
first album, Songs
to Drown By, and recorded a DVD (forthcoming) adapting
Crabquistador, the latest episode of their saga.
The puppetship currently bears an 8 person crew, which includes
a fulltime light and video designer and 3 puppeteers. Puppet
narrative aside, Jollyship the Whiz-Bang functions primarily
as a band, and performs in traditional band venues, living
a traditional, self-destructive band lifestyle. The last muster
of crewmembers had Keith Fredrickson on lead
guitar, Dan Kutcher on bass, Nick
Jones on lead vocals, rhythm guitar, and puppets,
Mr. Skeevy on keyboards, accordion, and puppets,
Tim Hoey on drums, Devon Ludlow and
Katie McClenahan on backing vocals and lead
puppets, and Kris Anton doing video design
and giving technical support.
HEY OFFICEWORKERS!
Visit Jollyship on Myspace. . .
myspace.com
jollyshipthewhizbang
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