CROWN HEIGHTS — Now’s your chance to run away and join the circus.
On Labor Day weekend, a group of friends and musicians will turn a Crown Heights print shop into the “Beezy Douglas Carnivale,” a carnival-themed concert, comedy show and variety act with games, snacks, drinks and prizes throughout.
The evening will have an old-time circus feel, said Brian “Beezy” Douglas, an amateur musician and the organizer of the event, with a “Feats of Strength” tournament in which attendees thumb wrestle, a performance by banjo player and yodeler Curtis Eller and many other diversions. Acts will include a magician, balloon artist, a bearded lady and even "Satan" himself — played by Douglas’s friend, who will mingle with the carnival crowd.
“He’s a very normal guy off-stage, but he’s very good at maintaining a character,” he said.
Douglas put on a “carnivale” once before when he lived in a “quasi-legal warehouse” in Bushwick four years ago, he said. Since then, he married and had two children, just recently getting back into playing music with those who came to the first carnivale — and others he’s met through the years.
“I love how many people are now close or even loose friends because of this,” he said. “The show ended up being this great way to get all of them in the same place.”
Other performers will include Charley Crockett, a blues guitar player from Texas, and Deb Zep, a folk songwriter and Douglas’ wife, who he first met when he heard her sing at an open mic night.
“I do play in the show a little bit, but of all the acts, my wife included, I really don’t feel like I’m in the same league as them,” he said.
The circus will begin at 8 p.m. on Saturday, August 30 at Shoestring Press, a print shop and artists' work space on Classon Avenue and Bergen Street. Admission is free with a $10 suggested donation.
