Homeless had never been there. I hadn't been there in many moons (that equals a couple of years). The weather had been getting silly and it was time to hit up a real Friday night freak show.
So I figured, why not take the trip out to H Street in NE and check out the Palace?
If you live close to Washington DC and you haven't been to Palace of Wonders (or POW as the kids call it) you're missing out on a truly twisted saloon in the heart of the district.
It is essentially a Vaudevillian carnival side-show style bar. It was once owned by Jeremy Pollock and Bernie Bernstrom of Tonic (my current part-time employers). They threw a kick-ass Tonic Holiday Party at POW once upon a time. The twist was that this "holiday party" was at the end of January.
These fools dug out all of the Christmas decorations, costumes, and music that had been out only a month before. It was as if you had walked into Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas.
This night we caught the Lucky Daredevil Thrillshow with Tyler Fyre, Thrill Kill Jill, and company. They're maniacs. Bonus win.
I had mostly seen the show before thanks to that Tonic Holiday party. I could tell that they had switched up some of their act. This show was heavy with audience participation and big on spectacle. Tyler does many things to WOW/repulse the audience.
One of his bread and butter shenanigans is a bit where he sticks a condom-wrapped screwdriver into his nose. He did that. Furthermore, moreover and therefore he proceeded to move it in and out of his nostril! He even went so far as to pull the screwdriver out of his nose, leaving the condom flaccidly in place, allowing him to use it like a floss. Like he was flossing his sinuses. True story.
It was fucking hilarious.
We were blessed with a few slinky burlesque acts throughout the show. Thrill Kill Jill and Peek-a-Boo Point (great names). The stripteases were done pretty tastefully and basically added another level of old-school showbiz to the production.
The show continued with a comical ukulele act here and there. I bet this guy is pretty burned out from people trying and compare him to Tiny Tim. I mean it's the first thing I thought about.
Eventually, Thrillshow went into a short intermission. Homeless Rob and I took the opportunity to reload on booze.
When Tyler Fyre returned, we got to see the most hell-raising part of the Lucky Daredevil Thrillshow - Tyler Fyre's pyrotechnics!
This was where Tyler Fyre was truly impressive. Or truly crazy.
First, he ate fire. I can't say that I've seen anyone else eat fire other than Tyler. But he made love to it with his mouth.
Then, the real fireworks happened. As the climax to the show, Tyler took a swig of a little bottle and began shooting fireballs from his mouth.
It was friccckkken awesome. Homeless Rob liked loved it. And he thinks everything is over-rated!
We had a great time at Palace. I imagine I'll make my way out there again sometime soon. There's quite a few establishments I've yet to explore on H street. What a great bar here in DC. If you got a free Friday night, take a trip out to 12th and H in NE DC and check this freakshow out!
Love me some fire BALLS!
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