Peekaboo Gallery’s Exoticon hosts a celebration of historical horror shows at Mayan

A few years after legendary magician Harry Houdini battled spiritualists and mediums, haunted shows began popping up across North America and beyond. Also known as ghost shows, these late-night performances began to provide people with escapist entertainment during the Great Depression. Among the main attractions of these colorfully advertised events was the promise that guests would experience spirits communicating through an otherworldly medium and that they would see spirits in the theater. Of course, it was clear to most people that there was nothing mystical about these shows – they existed to provide a sense of tongue-in-cheek wonder, thrills and laughter.

Magic acts were at the heart of these mystical-themed shows, which began at or near midnight and typically featured acts both macabre and bawdy; had fantastic advertising promising incredible sights on a scale that PT Barnum would have approved of; and which were typically followed by a screening of a horror film.

According to Mark Walker, author of “Ghostmasters,” the preeminent text on haunted shows, these performances gradually lost their audience due to a number of factors, including the advent of a new invention called television, the downsizing of theaters and rising operating costs. And while midnight movie showings are still enjoyed by a niche audience, haunted shows are all but a thing of the past.

On Thursday, Peekaboo Gallery presents a tribute/resurrection of the ghost tradition at the historic Mayan Theater. The Exotikon Super Shock Show will include a performance by world-class magician Rob Zabrecky, spooky live music by Ghouly Gal and Jimmy Psycho and the Infernal Order of the Black Flame, and burlesque performances by Emma Vauxdevil and Vita Devoid. There will also be horror cocktails, a presentation on scary shows and a gallery exhibit of vintage haunted show posters and memorabilia. The show’s promotional language (including font and punctuation) pays homage to the old haunted show commercials. Peekaboo Gallery’s website says the 21 Plus event will be “terrible!” GHOSTS FLY THROUGH THE THEATER! SKELETONS will come to life and parade on stage! MONSTERS will walk among you in the AUDIENCE! Do you have the courage to take part? We challenge you to join us!!!”

The focus of this production is Jordan Reichek. Reichek is an award-winning animation producer and director whose credits include “The Simpsons,” “The Ren & Stimpy Show,” and other popular titles. He owns and operates Peekaboo Gallery, which he calls “The Pop Culture Time Machine.”™.” He is an avid collector of vintage records, furniture, cars, posters, illustrations, comics, clothing and more; His main focuses include tiki decor and Disney ephemera.

Through Peekaboo Gallery, he has produced gallery exhibitions that he compares to “museum-like, theatrical experiences.” Last year, Reichek launched his event brand Exotikon. The brand’s first event, simply titled Exotikon, took place over three days at the now-closed Wisdome LA. And despite some hiccups, the event was quite glorious. The brand’s subsequent events, the Exotikon Satellite Christmas Show and Exotikon 2, were held at Mayan – as was the Exotikon Super Shock Show.

This reporter attended the first Exotikon event of 2023 on behalf of tiki lifestyle magazine Exotica Moderne and witnessed what may be the largest celebration of tiki culture Los Angeles has ever seen. Exotikon featured several galleries of vintage artifacts, including tikis and elaborate costumes worn by the late Yma Sumac. The event’s extensive attractions included a presentation on tiki-inspired architecture by leading tiki historian Sven Kirsten; Live music from a range of tiki musicians – including the Tikiyaki Orchestra, one of the few premier exotica bands in the world – burlesque performances by some of Southern California’s most well-known dancers; and an extraordinary tribute to Danny Balsz’s historic Monterey Park amusement park, the Tikis, which thrived in the ’60s and ’70s. This tribute included a panel discussion, a performance by the Polynesian dance troupe Dancing Fire, and the final, staged sacrifice of the virgin in a smoking volcano.

In short, Exotikon events offer high-quality, in-depth celebrations that inform and entertain attendees about their respective topics. For the Exotikon Super Shock show, lead actor Rob Zabrecky – often referred to simply as Zabrecky – has the qualifications to pay honorable homage to the almost-vanished showcase style. For the past 15 years he has been performing re-enactments of Victorian séances at the Magic Castle, and following the retirement of Leo Kostka, Zabrecky was the legendary venue’s resident medium. Specifically with regards to haunted shows, he will contribute an introduction to Mark Walker’s upcoming sequel to Ghostmasters.

“Haunted shows have been a part of my life for 25 years, and it’s all because of this place here, the Magic Castle,” Zabrecky said. “I like to think of haunted shows as an early form of immersive theater because there were these magicians who performed these sorts of séance effects. And then gorillas could be released and ghosts could emerge from the audience. It was this fleeting experience where people would be right in your face – not unlike an escape room.”

He pointed out that as haunted shows began to disappear from the cultural landscape, some theater owners realized that there was still a market for midnight entertainment, which included other types of interactive events such as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and more recently “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” belonged. “The room.”

“People will see this and throw footballs around; You talk to the screen, and that’s not much different than what those horror show actors did,” Zabrecky said. “They were on stage and working with the audience, and these things were happening in real time.”

As for the modern appeal of something like Exotikon’s show and what audiences might expect, Zabrecky pointed out that there’s always room for nostalgia. “I think it’s safe to say we’re going to take a very classic approach to this,” he said. “My character is a kind of B-movie hypnotist, an outsider who is generally a bit off. And yes, there will be necromancy; There will be some magic, some comedy and maybe all hell will break loose in all of it. I won’t say in advance how; You have to come and see it for yourself.”

Regarding Reichek and his decision to produce a spooky show for modern audiences, he said his plan “was always to do a Halloween show, which most people will call crazy because the spooky season is so saturated here in LA is.” But I looked at the spooky season stuff and the offerings and thought, ‘Yeah, but it’s all modern horror.'” He added, “What will the people who are into vintage culture do for Halloween do?” Sure, there’s Disneyland, but it’s for kids. And since one of my many collections is about vintage horror shows, I decided to go this route.”