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CHARLES-RYAN BARBER
Free Wi-Fi Since 1994
Catering & Private Parties
Mon-Sun 11:30am-Until • Plenty of Parking
1080 Baxter St. • 706-850-5858
www.gnatslancling.net
HAHAHAHAHAHA
effie’s club follies - slap strip comedic burlesque
Saturday, 8/15. new earth music hall
(formerly dub blur)
see-events section for details.
FP: How do you improve your show?
HC: ...She [Elise] videotapes me so I get to review it
sometimes, when she does come out there. But also instant
review—if people laugh at certain lines... so every time I do a
show it gets a little bit better.
FP: You mentioned that.one of your inspirations to keep
going was the fact that one of your favorite street magicians,
CelUni, had a stroke recently.
HC: Right... I'm a smoker, I'm a drinker—I don't know when
I'm going to die. It might be soon, you know? I don't know the
health history of my family or anything else—I was adopted—
so I might die in two months... so I decided that I wanted to
go ahead and do this in case I did die in a car accident two
months from now. Why die as the best vacuum salesman in
the world? I'd rather die as an okay magician on the streets,
personally.
FP: Did you go to college?
HC: I went to a little bit of college. I took two snowboard
ing classes and a math class and I decided it wasn't for me.
Because I would see all my friends graduate and then they'd
get their degree, be so in debt, or they'd change their mind
about what they wanted
to be. Or they'd be wait
ing tables—with a college
degree... I don't want to do
that. I don't want somebody
else to say whether I should
stay or go. What happens
when I'm 50 years old and
somebody's like, "We're down
sizing"? There's no downsiz
ing on the street. So, I want
to get a good enough show
that... I don't have to be a
slave to anybody else, really.
FP: Do you have aspira
tions to be a David Blaine-
type, big-time magician? Or do
you want to spend your entire
career on the street?
HC: Crazily enough,
yeah—I have no aspirations;
I never want to be famous. I
want to be successful; I don't
want to be famous at all.
'Cause every famous person I
see... they're miserable. •
FP: Are you religious?
HC: I am spiritual in the
sense that I do believe that
karma is real That's the easiest way to say it without offend
ing anybody.
FP: What kind of food do you like?
HC: Spicy. Spicy, spicy, spicy. I ate jalapenos for breakfast.
I've had habanera milkshakes, it's ridiculous how...
FP: This is for real? No bullshit?
HC: Yeah, no bullshit.
Elise: He takes mint chocolate chip ice cream, sticks it in a
blender with habanera peppers, and there's his milkshake.
HC: It actually is really good, because it's cold and hot at
the same time. It's like Dairy Queen.
' FP: What kind of music are you into?
HC: I love The Bastard Suns. I love punk rock; I love stuff
with energy. I love stuff that basically moves you... some old
Shawn Mullins, some of his older stuff will talk about people in
the street making money—basically anything that will give me
goosebumps or move me is what I listen to...
I can throw you all under the table with my freestyle raps.
Which is crazy because I'm a little white boy that does street
magic. r.- /
Jeff Gore
just thinking I'm homeless or a beggar... But the reason why
I do believe in this, and why I feel no guilt, and why I think
it really is a great thing that I'm doing is that it is the most
honest form of entertainment. Because, when was the last time
you saw a movie, you paid your five dollars or whatever, you
left and were like, "That movie was horrible"? People see my
show first, and I pass the hat at the end. So, if they enjoyed
it, they tip me; if they didn't enjoy it, they walk on. TheyVe
welcome to leave at any time.
FP: What made you decide to quit your career in sales?
HC: ...Why do I want to work 80 hours a week so I can just
sleep at my house? Nobody wants to see the Grand Canyon in
a wheelchair. So, I can do that now, and I can bring the show ’
wherever I want and do it whenever I wish... I'm never on
time, as you can telL It was a big stress when I would drive an
hour to work and be like Tm running late." And I felt my hairs
falling out because of that... on the streets, I show up when I
want to, I do what I want to, I leave when I want to... I think
it's true freedom. And that's what I'm going for.
FP: So, you think you're happier now than at any other point
in your life?
HC: I do think that, absolutely. I want to devote my life to
this; this is what I want my life to be.
After seeing 27-year-old Harley Chapeau unfurl his portable
stage and perform magic tricks for a bunch of drunk people
alongside College Avenue, you would never think that he has
a spacious condo and a BMW back in Duluth, GA. Don't get
the wrong impression—the magic didn't pay for these luxu
ries, nor does he want them anymore. Those are the relics of
a half-decade stint in sales. In fact, Harley was the top sales
man at a vacuum cleaner company when he quit to pursue his
dream of traveling the world and perfecting his street magic •
act. Nowadays, he comes out to Athens at least one night per
week with giant coins, decks of cards and mouse traps in tow.
Accompanied by his girlfriend Elise—invaluable emotional sup
port, says Harley—he spoke with me about what led him to
this point in his life/
Flagpole: When did you get interested in magic?
Harley Chapeau: From when I was a little kid—maybe
seven years old... I used to go to Florida and go into the magic
shop—I'd either buy the magic trick or the dirty diaper gag.
FP: How do you start a typical show?
HC: ...Basically I'll lay down my rope and I'll announce
that I'm about to do a show. And some people will walk by
LIVE MUSIC
Wed. Aug 12 • DAVID PRINCE
Thurs. Aug 13 • BUTTERMILK REVIVAL
Fri. Aug 14 - TJ MIMBS
Sat. Aug 15. • BLAKE WHITWORTH
Beach Casual Food & Attitude
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1 lit!
ALL YOU GAN EAT CRAB LEGS
EVERY TUESDAY S 19.95
LOW COUNTRY
THURSDAY
Oysters Half Shell, Steamed
(by the dozen or half)
Peel N Eat Shrimp by the ib.»
Pried Catfish
Bluegrass music 5pm*9pm
Every Thursday!
Hi®!
‘ •
I 1 *
AUGUST 12,2009 • FLAGPOLE.COM 47