Still haven’t decided which character to dress up as?  Don’t have time to read the books?  Fret not!  Our staff has some choice characters for you to portray that will surely wow the attendees of this week’s premier!

First, we highly recommend that you read the books.  They are fast reads (as you might expect from a childrens’ book) and could likely be finished in 4 hours each.  However, if you simply can’t be bothered with all that homework and you only have time to put together an outfit, here are some great lesser-known characters costume ideas complete with acting notes.

Man in white paper suit reading a newspaper.  He’s on the looking glass train with Alice and as such subscribes to the process of doing things in reverse (ie ride the train before purchasing a ticket).

The White Knight is a great costume for an elderly or kind person.  Whilst assisting Alice in an exceptionally chivalrous fashion he constantly talks of mildly useless things he’s invented (think Chindogu) and is very clumsy (consider some tumbling).

From the Wonderland book we have: Mouse, Duck, Dodo, Lory, Eaglet, Crab w/daughter, and several birds.  All these animals fell into Alice’s pool of tears and are trying to dry off by playing race-like games that satirize civilized life or telling sad tales.  Really you could come as just about any animal and claim to be with this group.

Flowers: Tiger-Lily, Rose, Daisies, Larkspur, Violet.  A great group costume, these pretty ones address a subject en-mass judging the poor soul while intermittently chiding one another.

The various insects of the looking glass universe make for great ideas as well, especially since you can invent your own.  The three mentioned are Rocking Horse Fly, Snap Dragon Fly, and Bread & Butter Fly.  Come up with your own pun-ny bug to fit your costumery’s constraints.  Perhaps make a few and mount them on springy things so they flutter about you or rest on your shoulder.

The Duchess and her Cook are also fun characters.   The Cook is ill-tempered, throws things, and reeks of black pepper which causes everyone to sneeze.  The Duchess is well-dressed, likes to cozy up with an arm around someone and does more than just agree with everything anyone says by extrapolating on the point in a very make it up as you go along way that ends up with some lame moral.

Finally, if you want to be one of the popular characters but still want it to seem original you can combine costumes by being Gonzo as the Mad Hatter or Brooke Shields as Alice.  See pictures below.

These ideas should get you at least headed in the right direction.  We want to hear about your experiences at the premier.  Email us with your words and pictures

With the mass migration through the looking glass for the new Alice In Wonderland movie only a week away, it’s time to venture down the rabbit hole together in search of the perfect premiere ensemble … Eat Me!

While the Playa may be our own personal Wonderland, there is no denying the tremendous appeal of Lewis Carroll’s transcendentally absurd universe.  The original Disney movie has been with us since 1951 and we suspect that few BRCitizens have escaped the distinctly psychedelic influence of Walt’s masterful re-envisioning.

As an homage to the imaginative geniuses that have stepped to this concept, many of us will be dressing the part of our favorite Alice characters for this coming weekend’s debut.  We incite you now to join us in this underground spectacle with your own interpretation of this ever so burnerly theme.

Mimicking the well known portrayals of Alice, the White Rabbit, and other characters as previously or currently defined will definitely fit the bill.  Bear in mind, however, that those visual geniuses are all drawing from the same source: Lewis’s novels.  You can empower yourself by giving new life to the words with your own unique interpretation.

Consider fusing the Mad Hatter with a steamier Oz vibe, or putting the Tweedles in a blender with candy-kid rave accessories.  Hybridizing tried and true characters with these modern sub-genres could yield some surprisingly pleasant results.

In a different direction, normalizing the characters into an everyday personae turns the concept of a costume on it’s ear and could lead to a potentially profound performance.  For example, the caterpillar could be a hippie dude wearing tie dye (and has obviously been smoking something) who launches into conversational tangents along the lines of, “But like, seriously man like who are we anyway you know, I mean who am I?  Who are you?  I mean really when you get right down to it you know …”

We hope to hear from you about your adventures through the cinematic looking glass.  Include some pictures so we can feature your antics in the upcoming series of blog posts celebrating the latest incarnation of the curiouser and curiouser world of Alice.  Email addy is just to the right, oh and if you please, Drink Me!

Is the NFL Super-Bowl your idea of a good time?  If not, perhaps you should consider spicing up the most bean-dip saturated Sunday of the year with a paradigm shifting pun that requires big, heavy, balls.

Over TWENTY super heroes and super villains assembled for this year’s 4th annual “Cease Fire” bowling-based battle-royale between the super heroes and super villains of our fair Truckee Meadows .  Both rival factions were represented and the costumes/character concepts remarkably well executed.

In attendance were such marvels as Cosmic Orgasm, The Striped Crusader, Lady Bacon, Tie Dye Guy, Super Nurse, Lemon Drop, Superlative Girl, as well as their nefarious foes: The Eraser,  Mistress Ring-Worm, Rain Man, The Pet, Pretty Horny, Mathematicus, Latexra, and Melancholy Baby.  Various henchmen and sidekicks were also present.

The concepts and costumes of the participants were intentionally light-hearted and really, the only thing super about them was their super-silliness. We suspect this is the main reason for the event’s rising popularity and continued success.

Some serious thinking outside the box is required to generate a silly character concept.  Take Lemon Drop for instance.  She is the protectress of Lemmon Valley who’s special attack combo is, “Paper-cut, lemon-juice!”.  Her war-cry of, “Who’s ready for some fresh squeezed Justice?” could be heard echoing across the lanes as she brandished her lemon shaped bottle with citrus-scented authority.

On the other side of the wedding aisle in this marriage of extremes we have a villainous concept like The Eraser who’s dueling chalkboard erasers strike fear in the hearts of even the most courageous.  He makes his escape from bank robberies in a cloud of chalk-dust (generated by banging the erasers together) and derides his opponents with taunts of, “So, I see you have been foolish enough to wear dark colored clothing!” before leaving chalk marks all over their outfit.

The payoff for an execution of such sheer ridiculousity is exhilarating, especially when done en masse and in synergistic rebellion to one of the most popular fixtures of American culture.  As SUPERlative Girl so eloquently exclaimed, “SuperBowling is the best idea ever!” And for once, she was not exaggerating.

*SUPER Special thanks to David James Kerr for his excellent photo-documentation.  All pictures are by him.