THAT OLD BLACK MAGIC AT THE HOLLYWOOD FRINGE

Big Guns Big Tobacco Presents That Old Black Magic at Hollywood Fringe Festival

Neither segregation nor a relative lack of talent will stop The Amazing Daisy and Sweet Bojanski Brown from taking 1950s segregated Sin City by storm.

HOLLYWOOD, May 15, 2014 – New York based production house Big Guns Big Tobacco debuts new version of That Old Black Magic at the Theatre Asylum in Los Angeles from June 14 to June 29 during the 2014 Hollywood Fringe Festival. The play features Jacquetta Szathmari in the role of the hapless illusionist The Amazing Daisy playing opposite the critically acclaimed actress and director Kila Kitu as awkward burlesquer Sweet Bojanski Brown. With expert comic timing these two talents portray a pair of alarmingly untalented African-American women struggling to get booked at the Moulin Rouge, Las Vegas’ first integrated casino.

Set in 1955, That Old Black Magic is a story of two heroines who develop a deep bond over their similar and seemingly impossible dreams. Sweet BJ performs for the audience with the grace of a wounded elephant, and Daisy is about as magical as a box of Lucky Charms. Will the two women blossom into the stars they believe themselves to be, or will they forever remain amateur performers with delusions of grandeur?

That Old Black Magic is a comedic showcase of dodgy illusions and historically accurate, but politically insensitive burlesque. With show stopping numbers chronicling the freeing of the slaves and bumbling sleight-of-hand That Old Black Magic transcends racial stereotypes to present a comical story about unremarkable people doing remarkable things. The piece is set in the world of a segregated America, but focuses on two peculiar souls trying to roll a hard six against unfavorable odds.

Running Time: 55 minutes
Location/Dates: Theatre Asylum (Lab) 6320 Santa Monica Blvd. LA, CA 90038
Sat. 6/14 at 5:30PM Wed. 6/18 at 8:30PM Fri. 6/20 at 10:00PM
Sun. 6/22 at 2:30 PM Sat. 6/28 at Midnight

About the Hollywood Fringe Festival
The Hollywood Fringe Festival is an annual, open-access, community-derived event celebrating freedom of expression and collaboration in the performing arts community.
Participation in the Hollywood Fringe is completely open and uncensored. This free-for-all approach underlines the festival’s mission to be a platform for artists without the barrier of a curative body. By opening the gates to anyone with a vision, the festival is able to exhibit the most diverse and cutting-edge points-of-view the world has to offer. Additionally, by creating an environment where artists must self-produce their work, the Fringe motivates its participants to cultivate a spirit of entrepreneurialism in the arts.

Media Contact: Jacquetta Szathmari
917-435-3287 [email protected]
www.biggunsbigtobacco.com/TOBM
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About Big Guns Big Tobacco
Big Guns Big Tobacco (BGBT) is a New York based production company helmed by comic performer, writer, and producer Jacquetta Szathmari. In addition to producing the Festival of the Offensive, BGBT is responsible for producing That’s Funny. You Didn’t Sound Black on the Phone. as well as solo version of That Old Black Magic at the Hollywood Fringe. BGBT is also producer of the Regular Black Women podcast and co-producer of the Hey You Know It podcast. BGBT has produced shows at numerous NYC comedy clubs including the monthly Balls Out variety show at the Bowery Poetry Club.

About Jacquetta Szathmari
Jacquetta Szathmari’s sharp-tongued comedy has been called “crackingly smart, funny, philosophical, and often politically incorrect” by the LA Weekly. Her one-woman show That’s Funny. You Didn’t Sound Black on the Phone. was a Backstage Critic’s Pick and a 2010 Hollywood Fringe Festival Best Comedy Nominee. Her writing has been featured in the New York Times Best Seller “How to Be Black” by Baratunde Thurston as well as “Don’t Bring Home a White Boy” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Karen Hunter. Szathmari has hosted and performed in comedy clubs all over NYC including the New York Comedy Club, the PIT, and UCB. She is the founder and artistic director for The Festival of the Offensive, which is dedicated to showcasing live performance that pushes the envelope. You can find her podcasts Hey You Know It and Regular Black Women on iTunes. For more info visit biggunsbigtobacco.com or @jacquetta

About Kila Kitu
A critically-acclaimed actress & director with stage credits across the country, Kila was once introduced by Bob Mondello (NPR-All Things Considered) to actor Derek Jacobi as “the future of classical theater.” She views each role as an opportunity to explore and delve deep to find the ties that bind humanity across gender, nationality race or creed. Stage credits include Playing Juliet/Casting Othello (Folger Shakespeare), Tree (Ensemble Studio Theater L.A.), Lear (Washington Shakespeare Company), Harry and the Thief (Katselas Theater), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Company of Angels), Black Women: State of the Union (Company of Angels). Film/TV credits include Frasier (with Kelsey Grammer), The Shield (with Glenn Close), Them (Tricia Helfer). Kila is also a founding producer of NAACP-nominated Black Women: State of the Union, now working on its third stage production and second film. For more info, visit KilaKitu.org or chat her up @KilaK