Lucha VaVOOM promises to give guests an electrifying night of Mexican masked wrestling, burlesque, and comedy. From the low-rider car parade escorting the performers to an overly ambitious crowd who take every opportunity to join in on the fun. Founded in 2002 by Rita DâAlbert and Liz Fairbairn, the show now in its 15th year is held inside Downtownâs iconic Mayan Theater, all come together to make one fun, surreal, glam-bam spectacle of raucous entertainment.
Enter the local luminaries and guest hosts the likes of Drew Carey and Jack Black coupled with the finest handpicked burlesque acts from around the world. While the crowd sits in awe from a variety of unique stripteases, aerial acts, daredevil roller-skate girls, and Guinness-World-Record-holding hula-hoop hotties, the wrestlers prepare to kick some serious ass. The audience prepares to intoxicate themselves and the bouncers prepare to move the front row spectators out of the way before some poor luchador whose just been thrown out of the ring lands on top of them.
Each Lucha Vavoom show is different with a Juxtapose of good vs. evil, sex vs. fun and reality vs. fantasy, so its best just to let your inhibitions go and learn to expect the unexpected. And at no time settle into a feeling of being safe. Lucha VaVoom has all the specter and hidden dangers of an Indiana Jones movie, complete with Downtownâs very own Mayan temple.
ROCK N ROLL BEGINNINGS
Both Rita and Liz come from a rock nâ roll background with some theatrics thrown in to keep things entertaining.
âWe fell in love with Lucha Libre because it is completely wild, fun and funny. It reminded us of how we used to feel going to see bands. Things were so sanitized and corporate. Mexican wrestling felt dangerous like rock n roll used to. Bringing in the comics and dancers weâve been working with over the years brought it all together and it became Lucha VaVOOM.â
Since, the Los Angeles-based performance troupe has performed in Amsterdam, Calgary, Toronto, San Francisco, New York,
Chicago, Seattle, Portland, and Philadelphia, among many other cities and call Los Angelesâ Mayan Theater home and has been voted âBest Burlesque Showâ more times than they can count.
The upcoming Halloween celebration will feature an array of beast, aka Mexican-style Lucha libre wrestlers including the high-flying Stuka Jr., hand-picked by Lucha VaVOOM from the professional Mexican wrestling promotions team CMLL; Lucha VaVOOMâs newly minted champion Liâl Cholo, evil doctors Medico Asesino and Dr. Maldad, Crazy Chickens, Cannibals, Matt Classic and Matt Classic Jr., sleazy Joey Ryan, Hairy Monsters and Dama Fina, Minis. And maybe the worst bits of Dirty Sanchez?
Bringing beauty to the stage, Aerial/burlesque/dance performances including immortal performances by flying vampire bat Veronica Yune, zombie madness by Kristina Nekyia, the dancing doll, Lux Lacroix, and the hauntingly familiar L.A. Roller Girls.
Comedy relief will be provided by Blaine Capatch and Jeff Davis will deliver their insanely off-the-cuff commentary.
The upcoming Mayan Theatre and Riverside Municipal Auditorium show will feature their own unique flavor. DâAlbert said that, âFor LA, we have PEACHES performing, as well as the scratch nâ sniff cards, which is a nod to one of my favorite movies, John Watersâ POLYESTER.
In Riverside, which weâre just getting started, we have KITTEN DEVILLE and MOANA SANTANA in addition to all of the great wrestling. For all the shows, Liz & I are really excited to bring back our favorite high-flying luchador from Mexico City, STUKA. He is truly unbelievable!â
Lucha VaVoom is for anyone who can âcan cut loose and go crazyâ according to co-founder Rita DâAlbert. This welcoming atmosphere starts backstage, DâAlbert said that,
âThe performers always blow me away. But at the same time, backstage is amazing for the same reason. We work with the best people, who happen to also be the nicest people. Itâs so important to us that everyone be nice. We are so lucky that this is our life, so itâs gotta be a pleasure for me and everyone else. We love each otherâs company and canât wait until the next one to all come together as a group again.â
Lucha VAVOOM returns to Los Angeles Wednesday, October 25 and Thursday, October 26 at The Mayan Theater. The following night, Friday, October 27, it moves to Riverside Municipal Auditorium. Doors open at 7:00 pm and show starts at 8:00 pm. LA shows are 21+ and the Riverside show is 18+. For more information visit www.luchavavoom.com
