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| Don Cherry is a popular spoof character great for B-days.. have him bring hubby a case of Canadian and rant! |
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| TP Entertainment & Productions is no Grinch to local industry suppliers |
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| Myers Costumes On Main St Newmarket has all the fixings for Celeb Makeovers like the Don Cherry apparel above! |
The idea for Wackyoke actually came to me from having seen a group of 2 guys called Krazy Karaoke several years prior at a Fox and Fiddle in Mississauga and later in Richmond Hill, which I'd thought was brilliantly innovative at the time, and the fact that the local Karaoke guy was like a bump on a log as a host. I figured anyone putting any effort at all could compete with that and I was right. I got quite a few compliments and laughs with that show and actually started a promotion for Easter Seals called 'Sing a Tune for a Twoney" wherein by paying a twoney every time you got up to sing you'd be judged and get a chance to make the finals whilst raising funds for the cause. I incorporated several bars into the mix and tied it in with the Great York Region Restaurant Race (raised $100,000) at the time. TP Entertainment had prizes like cash, recording time, and a Flare Modelling School scholarship.This was in 1994. I wide-eyed envisioned it working Canada-wide, but at that time didn't have the wear-with-all. Some Years later Canadian Idol came out....Just saying! Also a guy that rents karaoke and games for stags etc in Toronto whom I gave the Sing-a-tune- for- a- twoney idea to while attending a friends Jack & Jill, still uses it in his rental package today as a way to raise funds for the groom etc at stag and J&J parties..Thank-you!! Thank-you very much!
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| TP Entertainment handled Good Times Grand Opening having packed the place, provided the 1st band(s) and was 1st to bring karaoke , Elvis, and live entertainment nights. Live nights and karaoke remain their bread and butter in 2012.We also advised them to drop the donuts...they did. Thank -you, Thank-you very much |
The idea came to me when I got bored after being single a number of years. Who'd want me?!Ha.. and noticing the limited options for entertainment or nightclubs for patrons over 30 in the York Region area let alone singles, except the local Aurora's Greystones has anything close to catering to an older crowd in the area, but they are only open Saturday nights, usually for dancing only, and after awhile it becomes a little like the movie, "Groundhog Day' - although I must admit some pretty nice ladies can be found there on occasion dancing up a storm and there is/was a particular bartender I'm sweet on.
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| D.J. Hungarian Pepper sets up before bringing the house down with her latest dance mixes! |
But to me, I like a little more variety..for entertainment that is! Get your mind out of the gutter! Perhaps a step back into memory lane via old TV show intros etc on the screens instead of always sports and with a table of munchies as well like wings and finger foods with some 60's,70's, 80's tunes going at a level you can talk...then have it morph into a 45 minute set of live entertainment (duo / trio musical / standup / dinner theatre) which all spans 7-9 PM and finally a DJ/dance at 9:30 with the latest and some classic rock and pop tunes mixed in to try to appease the masses..Well that's exactly what I did, and it was fun for a time as I put them on once a month for a year with a regular group of about 120 people attending. The biggest problem was location / dates followed by it was hard to make any money - which in all fairness I never expected to get rich - but I did come close to losing a few nights in the beginning and you always feel like you need to add prizes and such. I actually had a live The Dating Game show complete with theme music and chose 3 bachelors and a lucky bachelorette to play and I'd do my worst Gary Newbanks impersonation!! Prizes like 2 steaks, salad fixin's, and a bottle of wine or dinners out for two etc were given out and people loved it, but was always a slight gamble and a lot of work for little return and you still had the whiners to deal with. However I did get to have some awesome entertainment and really made it an atmosphere I liked and enjoyed - and hoped the majority would too. Which they did.
I stopped doing them after some owners left a sour taste in my mouth such as ironically a Fox location who's upstairs hall room we rented who tried to continue the event like it was theirs when I packed it up and took it to another location, when he began to get too greedy, to the Upstairs at the White Rabbit on Main St. where another guy promised me the upstairs to do with whatever I wished only to renege and try to also continue it without me essentially.He still owes me $800. Both places are closed down in 2011. That's what happens when you fuck people my friends..eventually you pay the price and fucking over a guy like me (and others I'm sure) who can bring you lots of business, isn't wise. Ha! That was the sound of someone getting the last laugh.
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| People start arriving and enjoying refreshments, music, and nostalgic videos onscreen at a TPE 30Plus singles night |
Anyhow, I raise this last point because recently someone who I gave their start into paid DJ gighood, a lady DJ called Hungarian Pepper, who doubles as a special effects make-up artist, and knows all the latest dance tunes but is old enough to know the classics too, has been asking me if I'd thought about doing parties again..And then I remembered my buddy Johnny Cutrone at Deli House Catering in Newmarket, for whom I've done many a "gig" going back some years now, has a new banquet hall facility in a location which years ago was the local nightclub called Club Spotlight was - and before that even used to house live bands in then 50's and 60's - so it has some cool history and is the perfect size and set up for one of TP events - with one side great for entertainment and a 3/4 wall separating another area with smaller tables good to talk in or eat at away from the action. Next I met another buddy of a mutual acquaintance, Gary Cocking, who has played the El Mocambo recently in Toronto and is an awesome guitar player, lives locally, and might be available to be our house musician for in between times, so, hey! Maybe I'll get one going again! I am getting bored after all and 30PLUS Night aged patrons will go out in these cold months if we give them a reason too! Hell, couples would too if its done well enough! And besides...Johnny likes the idea! He also likes the idea of an party for single parents / kids next year xmas eve..a Sunday..and throw in the place to help out! What a guy!
Until Next Time!
Happy New Year from TP!
Tom Pearson
President, TPE & Productions
www.tpeproductions.com