Line #52 UsefulNotes/GreatDickensChristmasFair


1	[[quoteright:233:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2133-Dickens-Fair-Day-1-2011-12-10_2290.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:233:[[Music/JethroTull Let's go living in the past...]]]]
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4	A long-running, immersive San Francisco [[WarReenactors reenactment event]] dreamed up by the same people who pioneered the modern Renaissance Fair. The Dickens Fair turns a [[http://www.cowpalace.com/ landmark warehouse]] into Christmas Eve in 19th century London over the weekends in between Thanksgiving and Christmas. As the name suggests, Creator/CharlesDickens and his literary creations (particularly from Literature/AChristmasCarol) are featured heavily, but there are also plenty of other sights, sounds and even smells offered in terms of food, crafts, and entertainment. It's basically for people who feel that [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance Ren Faires]] are a little too far in the past, but [=ComicCon=]/{{Cosplay}} events are equally too modern/futuristic. That qualifies the Fair as either a tourist trap, or the most fun you can have with too many clothes on...
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6	Learn more about the Fair [[http://www.dickensfair.com here]].
7
8	----
9	!! The Great Charles Dickens Christmas Fair provides examples of:
10
11	* TheAlcoholic: [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-cJ25K76/0/L/2648-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2011-12-11-L.jpg "Edgar Allen Poe"]] not only [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-J2HhPr6/0/L/2649-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2011-12-11-L.jpg plays piano]] at Mad Sal's [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-nN54Phb/0/L/2655-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2011-12-11-L.jpg for drinks]], he's [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-HDJ24nz/0/L/2701-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2011-12-11-L.jpg dragged onstage]] and [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-BdKtNVL/0/L/2710-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2011-12-11-L.jpg forced to sing a silly song]] to [[TrappedByGamblingDebts pay for his bar/floozy tab]].
12	* BecomingTheMask: If you find yourself in conversation with, say, "Literature/DavidCopperfield" or "Creator/HGWells", it is a point of pride that they will ''never'' break character, come hell or high water. This frequently holds true if you are online or IRL friends with the performer in question.
13	* UsefulNotes/BritishAccents: Part and parcel with BecomingTheMask. See also (and contrast with) OohMeAccentsSlipping.
14	* {{Burlesque}}: The adults-only "Naughty French Postcards Revue" and their bare-breasted "Tableaux Vivant."
15	** The revues at Mad Sal's -- particularly the [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-TfqWMFn/0/L/2953-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2011-12-11-L.jpg end-of-the-weekend "blowouts"]] -- are PG-13 examples of same. Especially when the Flying Morgan Sisters are onstage, [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2012-Day-2/i-j7sBP8q/0/L/1199-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2012-12-16-L.jpg doing their...uh...thing]].
16	* CelebrityImpersonator: Dickens, Creator/EdgarAllanPoe, UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria, etc.
17	* ChorusGirls:
18	** Many Fair goers will tell you flat-out that they attend solely for the performances of [[http://www.cancanbijou.com Le Cancan Bijou]]. [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-vXS5x48/0/L/2008-Dickens-Fair-Day-1-2011-12-10-L.jpg Being a]] [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2012/i-6pW7SjS/0/L/0565-Dickens-Fair-Day-1-2012-12-15-L.jpg cancan]] [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2012-Day-2/i-XwTwhtt/0/L/0516-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2012-12-16-L.jpg troupe]], expect examples of ShowSomeLeg, StockingFiller, MsFanservice, and ZettaiRyouiki (Grade A). Also PublicDomainSoundtrack (they perform to the [[StandardSnippet traditional]] [[Music/TheCancanSong Offenbach "Infernal Galop"]]).
19	** If you were to poll the Fair's photographers between 2008 and 2011, most would agree that dancer [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-xdSQqsz/0/L/2085-Dickens-Fair-Day-1-2011-12-10-L.jpg "Vaudie Va-Boom"]] was the EnsembleDarkhorse of Le Cancan Bijou.
20	** At the 2012 Fair, newly-added Mad Sal's ''chanteuse'' [[RefugeInAudacity "Miss Winnie Woopsie]] [[DoubleEntendre Tappertit"]] offered up [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2012/i-vnzN3gx/0/L/0326-Dickens-Fair-Day-1-2012-12-15-L.jpg an impressive solo cancan]] to the English music-hall standard "Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Aye."
21	* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2013-Day-2/i-ndgsGMp/0/L/1701-Dickens_Fair-2013-12-15-L.jpg ''Figgy LaFontaine,'']] shown here conversing with her stuffed pigeon. She's a bit...''off.'' Her musical performances are MoodWhiplash taken up to eleven, as she slingshots between StepfordSmiler and RageBreakingPoint. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKAfaiEM3Ow Take a look...]]
22	%%* CostumeDrama[=/=]CostumePorn[=/=]GorgeousPeriodDress
23	* CultureEqualsCostume: Street urchins don't dress like the Royal Family, and vice versa.
24	* DancesAndBalls: Fezziwig's Warehouse is literally just this, albeit the working/middle-class version of it.
25	* DanceOfRomance: This is the entire reason why Fezziwig's Warehouse exists in both the Fair as a whole and in its place in the plotline of Literature/AChristmasCarol, as it is where The Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge to see his younger self fall in love with and then get his heart broken by his sweetheart Belle.
26	* DarkerAndEdgier:
27	** Actor/musician [[http://www.leepresson.com Lee Presson]] encountered this when he first approached the Fair's organizers with the idea of playing Creator/EdgarAllanPoe. Asked if the author of "The Tell-Tale Heart" might be a bit...''dark'' for a Christmas-themed event, Presson retorted "Have you ''READ'' some of Dickens' stuff?" They saw his point, and he's been Poe-ing it up ever since.
28	** Also, [[https://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2014-Day-2/i-3jwf5x9/0/L/2417-Dickens_Fair-2014-11-29-L.jpg Nancy's murder at the hands of Bill Sikes]] qualifies. That it happens within the PG-13 (and otherwise comically ribald) confines of Mad Sal's joint makes it no less disturbing. The 2014 Fair turned the scene up to eleven with [[https://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2014-Day-2/i-mjGdmvz/0/L/2443-Dickens_Fair-2014-11-29-L.jpg Bet the pickpocket discovering Nancy's body]] and Sal herself vowing revenge. (It wound up being ''too'' effective: the following year, the Fair's organizers requested [[NobodyCanDie the entire death scene be scrapped...]])
29	* DeadpanSnarker: The "Chairman Obadiah Feltrup" character at Mad Sal's Revue:
30	-->'''Chairman:''' "Now, there's one thing at Mad Sal's that is strictly forbidden..."\
31	'''Fellow cast member:''' "Sobriety?"\
32	'''Chairman:''' "All right, ''two'' things that are strictly forbidden..."\
33	'''Audience member:''' "What about promiscuity?"\
34	'''Chairman:''' "That's ''encouraged.''"
35	* DenOfIniquity: Mad Sal's Dockside Alehouse. Might also qualify as TheCityNarrows and NotSoSafeHarbor.
36	* TheDrunkenSailor: [[http://www.seadogs.org/ Paddy West's band]] sings classic sea shanties, as well as [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-SCQfbjW/0/L/2306-Dickens-Fair-Day-1-2011-12-10-L.jpg shilling their own "brand" of booze]]. Also an example of SeadogBeard.
37	* ElegantGothicLolita: Younger female guests who want to dress up - but ''don't'' want to go the full hoopskirt-and-bonnet route - often chose this as a costuming Plan B.
38	%%* YeGoodeOldeDays
39	* HawaiianShirtedTourist: The roughly 50% of the audience NOT in period garb.
40	* HollywoodHistory[=/=]NostalgiaAintLikeItUsedToBe: It's a perfect recreation of VictorianLondon! [[WretchedHive Except without, y'know, the crime. And the tuberculosis. And the stench from the River Thames...]]
41	* ICantDance: ''Do not'' try to use this as an excuse to not join the festivities at Fezziwig's Warehouse, especially if you are male and under thirty years old. The ladies of the Warehouse will take this as a personal challenge, and really you're going to end up joining in whether you like it or not.
42	* IncrediblyLamePun: Poe assuring Mad Sal "I had every intention of paying my bar tab...but [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2012-Day-2/i-sjjpKrd/0/L/1140-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2012-12-16-L.jpg I seem to be a little short.]]" See also TheAlcoholic.
43	* LargeAndInCharge: [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-T7knkXg/0/L/2049-Dickens-Fair-Day-1-2011-12-10-L.jpg Mad Sal]]. (Also Queen Victoria.)
44	* LargeHam: The Dickens villains (Scrooge, Bill Sikes, Fagin) happily crank this trope up to Creator/BrianBlessed levels.
45	* LegCling: [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2012-Day-2/i-xVZMTfH/0/L/0456-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2012-12-16-L.jpg This "seaside holiday" number.]] And yes, the young lady is wearing a [[Film/{{Jaws}} shark fin]] on her head. Doubles as FanDisservice for the gent's beachwear.
46	* LifeOfTheParty: This is {{canon}} about Mr. Fezziwig and is played to full effect in Fezziwig's Warehouse at the Fair:
47	** ''But if they had been twice as many -- ah, four times -- old Fezziwig would have been a match for them, and so would Mrs Fezziwig. As to her, she was worthy to be his partner in every sense of the term. If that's not high praise, tell me higher, and I'll use it. A positive light appeared to issue from Fezziwig's calves. They shone in every part of the dance like moons. You couldn't have predicted, at any given time, what would have become of them next. And when old Fezziwig and Mrs Fezziwig had gone all through the dance; advance and retire, both hands to your partner, bow and curtsey, corkscrew, thread-the-needle, and back again to your place; Fezziwig cut -- cut so deftly, that he appeared to wink with his legs, and came upon his feet again without a stagger.'' (Chapter 2, Literature/AChristmasCarol)
48	* LoveableRogue:
49	** Just about any male character at Mad Sal's. [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2012/i-vLtmmxP/0/L/0779-Dickens-Fair-Day-1-2012-12-15-L.jpg This cad]], for example.
50	** For the Literature/OliverTwist fans, [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2012-Day-2/i-gGscktX/0/L/0787-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2012-12-16-L.jpg Fagin]] is a borderline case. [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-gcnjxGg/0/L/2301-Dickens-Fair-Day-1-2011-12-10-L.jpg Bill Sikes]], on the other hand, ''completely'' averts the trope.
51	* TheNeedForMead: Along with bangers 'n' mash and fish 'n' chips, real mead is available in the food courts.
52	* NoFourthWall: Many of the songs at Mad Sal's are audience participation numbers. The performers are quick to remind the crowd that the wall is missing -- and those who ''DON'T'' join in will be gleefully singled out.
53	* OfCorsetHurts[=/=]OfCorsetsSexy: The Dark Gardens corset shop, with its front windows featuring live models, rivals Mad Sal's as a popular destination for visitors and photographers alike. Dancers from Le Cancan Bijou not only [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2012/i-3HC4v53/0/L/0063-Dickens-Fair-Day-1-2012-12-15-L.jpg double as window models]], but wear corsets ([[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2012-Day-2/i-6stwdJ7/0/L/1359-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2012-12-16-L.jpg and not much else]]) during the end-of-the-night blowouts at Mad Sal's.
54	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Averted surprisingly well, considering there's a large cast of Northern Californians portraying gentry and Cockney alike.
55	* {{Opera}}: The Royal Light Opera Gala offer a daily dose of the stuff, primarily Creator/GilbertAndSullivan (no surprise there), and with the expected doses of LargeHam and IncrediblyLongNote.
56	* OurGhostsAreDifferent:
57	** Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past/Present/Future, obviously.
58	** Also, Nancy from Literature/OliverTwist used to return as a ghost to scare the crap out of Bill Sikes (until the management played the NobodyCanDie card).
59	* {{Pantomime}}[=/=]Theatre/PunchAndJudy: Where you park the kids who aren't ready for Mad Sal's...
60	* ThePatriarch: Arguably, [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-LRx3Ktf/0/L/2502-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2011-12-11-L.jpg Charles Dickens himself]].
61	* ThePianoPlayer: [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-MWXS4rF/0/L/2961-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2011-12-11-L.jpg This lucky bastard...]]
62	* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Dickens performers tend to be the Venn diagram intersection of [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance Renaissance Fair participants]], general-purpose [[WarReenactors historical reenactors]], [[AmateurCast community theater regulars]], [[{{Cosplay}} cosplay practitioners]], and [[{{Burlesque}} neo-burlesque crazies]]. This is not necessarily a bad thing.
63	* SantaClaus: What part of ''Christmas'' Fair did you not get?
64	%%* TheScrooge[=/=]JacobMarleyApparel: Well, duh...
65	* SpoiledBrat: [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2011/i-PQxxwSN/0/L/2030-Dickens-Fair-Day-1-2011-12-10-L.jpg Miss Kitty Purswell]], and later [[https://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2014-Day-1/i-fKFBzLB/A Miss Drucilla Darling]]. Their signature song is "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cOteOeUSRM Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow-Wow]]".
66	* SteamPunk: Not only is there a walking steam man, but daily lectures are given on real steam technology at the Adventurer's Club. (Did you know Charles Babbage designed a real computer a hundred years before the information era began?)
67	* StreetPerformer
68	* StreetUrchin: [[http://stiffshots.smugmug.com/Events/Historical-Reenactment/Dickens-Fair-2012-Day-2/i-fSQ9gH9/0/L/0794-Dickens-Fair-Day-2-2012-12-16-L.jpg Fagin's gang of pickpockets.]] The young lady on the right also qualifies as an AffectionatePickpocket.
69	* TrueMeaningOfChristmas: And not just because of Literature/AChristmasCarol being a major part of the Fair's DNA. It may be one of the few places where performers and attendees regularly wish each other "Happy Christmas!" without the slightest trace of irony.
70	* VictorianLondon: Arguably TheThemeParkVersion.

Context UsefulNotes / GreatDickensChristmasFair