Get Ready for the Ampersand International Arts Festival in Williamsburg, VA

Mark your calendars, art lovers! From March 17 to 23, 2025, the Ampersand International Arts Festival is set to transform Williamsburg, Virginia, into a vibrant hub of creativity and culture. This week-long celebration brings together an eclectic mix of world-class talent—think hip-hop legends, top comedians, soul-stirring musicians, and acclaimed authors—for an unforgettable experience in one of America’s most historic and charming towns.

Nestled in the heart of Virginia’s Historic Triangle, Williamsburg is more than just a backdrop for this festival. With its cobblestone streets, colonial architecture, and a palpable sense of history, it’s a destination that effortlessly blends the past with the present—a perfect stage for a festival that celebrates both tradition and innovation.(EdNote: If you keep your eyes open, you may see George Washington ambling about. If you do, greet him for me. My mom's side of the family is descended from his wife's third cousin.)

Whether you’re a local or a visitor, the Ampersand Festival offers a chance to soak in the arts while exploring a town that’s as picturesque as it is welcoming. I've been there twice and the visits were memorable. Add an arts festival and you're over the top.

Improvisational Shakespeare

Now in its 18th year, the festival has already become a regional gem, drawing over 3,000 attendees last year alone. “We are pleased to offer a truly comprehensive arts festival and bring such a broad range of creators to the community,” says Adam Stackhouse, one of the festival’s producers. And this year’s lineup? It’s nothing short of electrifying. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the spotlight programs lighting up the stage: Rev Run Spills the Beats

On March 22 at 7:00 PM, hip-hop icon Rev Run—the legendary frontman of RUN DMC—takes center stage for A Conversation with Rev Run. From selling millions of records to ushering rap into the mainstream, Rev’s journey as an artist, DJ, and preacher is one for the ages. Want to meet the man himself? Snag one of the limited VIP tickets for a post-show meet-and-greet.

The Lone Bellow’s Raucous Return

The festival kicks off with The Lone Bellow on March 18 at 8:00 PM. Known for their transcendent harmonies and high-energy live shows, this trio—Zach Williams (guitar/vocals), Kanene Donehey Pipkin (multi-instrumentalist/vocals and William & Mary Class of 2007), and Brian Elmquist (guitar/vocals)—promises a night of serious musicianship and pure joy. Their rabid fan base can attest: this is one performance you won’t want to miss.

Laughs with “Murr”

Get ready for A Night of Laughs with James “Murr” Murray on March 19 at 7:30 PM. Best known as the prank-pulling “Murr” from Impractical Jokers, this comedian, writer, and executive producer will dish out jokes, stories, and a few surprises—plus answer questions from the crowd. Bonus: Murr, also an author of suspenseful thrillers, will stick around for a book signing after the show. [EdNote: If able, I will get Murr to sign some of my books, too.]

Silent Films, Big Sounds

On March 21 at 7:30 PM, the Masters of Silent Comedy program brings classic silent films to life with the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra. Watch Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd work their magic on screen, accompanied by live ragtime tunes. It’s a delightful throwback that’ll charm audiences of all ages.

Comedy Meets Quiz Night

For a twist on trivia, catch Like Minds on March 21 at 8:00 PM. This comedy quiz show blends pub-style facts with improv hilarity, featuring Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), Asher Perlman (cartoonist for The New Yorker and writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), and William & Mary alumnae comedians Andrea Coleman and Sara Schaefer. Perlman will sign copies of his bestseller Well, This is Me afterward.

Beyond these headliners, the festival is packed with films, theater, dance performances, and author talks. Plus, the Industry Summit offers workshops, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions with special guests and William & Mary alumni—perfect for aspiring creatives looking to sharpen their skills.

Produced by AVAdventure Productions and sponsored by the City of Williamsburg, with support from Colonial Williamsburg and William & Mary, this event is a testament to the town’s commitment to the arts. Whether you’re drawn by the music, the laughs, or the stories, there’s something for everyone.

Ready to join the fun? Head to the Ampersand Festival website for the full schedule and to grab your tickets. Williamsburg is calling—and it’s bringing the arts along for the ride!

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The Ampersand International Arts Festival is taking place in Williamsburg, Virginia March 17 through 23. It's their second year and last year we had more than 2,000 people come. This year will be bigger and better, so even more people from around the country can attend.   

Mad

... as in Magazine.

Don't know what made me think of Mad magazine this morning, but once it was there and I began ruminating, it seemed worthy of a few comments.

Two months ago I wrote about the magazine Famous Monsters of Filmland. If you recall, I had to save my quarter allowance instead of spending it in order to buy the fifty cent monster mag. Mad magazine was only 25 cents then, and when the next issue came out, I was on it. My quarter was gone.

We lived a couple miles from the downtown strip in Maple Heights, a suburb on Cleveland's southeast side. There was a downtown strip called Mapletown with a movie theater and stores and once a year they held a giant rummage sale where the sidewalks were filled for blocks with junk sellers. This was the early 1960s, and it was here that I discovered one of my greatest early treasures: a box of Mad magazines selling for a penny each, nearly an entire collection of the 1950's mags, undoubtedly worth a fortune today if I'd kept 'em.

A couple years ago as my father lay dying in an intensive care unit in a Tampa-area hospital, I bought a Mad magazine to read. I reminded him of that time in Mapletown and we talked about those old Mad magazines... and I noticed, sadly, how unfunny the current version of the rag was, even though some of the topics were echoes of its former self, such as the movie satires.

I remember when the back cover fold-in was first introduced in 1964. It was an election year. Do you remember the rather pointed message of that Barry Goldwater spoof? When you folded it in, the illustration became a mushroom cloud, revealing a major attitude of the Right at the time: Better dead than red.

We were in the midst of the Cold War with the Soviets, so the wordless Spy vs. Spy series was a big hit. Both the black character and the white one were lookalikes, forever at war. As they ever destroyed one another, was the magazine making a statement about the foolishness of mutually assured destruction?

Dave Berg's "The Lighter Side of..." was a great piece of comic strip comedy. There were many issues Berg poked fun of in the sixties, from suburban life to the generation gap, office life, dating, psychiatry, fashions. According Wikipedia, Berg's pages were the most popular feature, and most anyone who read the mag knows why. I remember one cartoon where the parents are upstairs and the children in the basement are making noise so the dad screams down with an angry, exaggerated expression, "Will you keep it quiet down there!!!??" The next panel is teens in the basement, all necking, lounged over chairs, etc. The same dad (it is a couple years later) is screaming down the same stairs, "Will you make some noise down there!!??"

Don Martin's cartoons were original and hilarious, too. He made big lumpy characters with large chins or goofy faces, swollen noses in a very trademarked in style. He used to write out the sounds of things in big letters, like FWEEET, or PLA-FLOOOEY, imitating the sound a rush of air would make or a drill sound, etc. A memorable one comes to mind of a scene in a dentist's office.

Other regular features of the mag included "Scenes We'd Like to See", "A Day in the Life of..." and "You Know You're Really _____ When..." which might be, "You Know You're Really in Trouble When..." or "Skinny When..." ... And the recurring song parodies in which they change the words and say, "to the tune of..." Which I do to this day. Susie and I, for example, have a song about our first dog Sterling, to the tune of Simon & Garfunkel's Most Peculiar Man. "She was a most.... peculiar dog."

Mad was famous for inserts, too. Once they had fake book covers made so you could pretend you were reading famous "adult" books like Norman Mailer or Henry Miller. I put The Tropic of Cancer on one of my paperbacks and shocked my mother when I was about ten. I can imagine a lot of parents got similar shocks, to the amusement of their young children. Another time they had a vinyl record called "It's a Gas!" which was funky jazz interspersed with burping sounds. We laughed at the burping, not realizing that the double pun was that a burp is gas.

Of course the centerpiece of the mag was it's mascot, Alfred E. Neuman. Every cover featured our "What, me worry?" hero. And being a freckle faced kid myself, and a Newman, you might suspect that more than a few times over the years I have been teased by this dubious connection.

If you like, share your own favorite Mad memory in the comments... or send me a note I can post. Or if you prefer, one I cannot.

The One Minute Millionaire

Yesterday, I posted an article I had written about Mark Victor Hansen called Chicken Soup for the Ripped Off Person's Soul. There are some who might say my comments are mean spirited. I would like to believe the piece was written to promote understanding. One of the reasons scam artists are successful is that we are naive about their techniques, they smile a lot and we by nature desire to be trusting rather than perpetually wary.

By another name, wariness is a gift. It's called discernment. Let's not be gullible. Jesus said be wise as serpents but innocent as doves.

In an effort to substantiate my take on Hansen, and the book he was promoting/hawking that day in 2002, I have copied a review from Amazon.com about The One Minute Millionaire.

98 of 111 people found the following review helpful:
Worst Get Rich Book Ever, May 6, 2005
By
D. Logan

Let me summarize their get super-easy get rich "ideas"

1. Just invent something that everyone will buy!

2. Just write a best selling book!

3. Just spam a hundred thousand people selling a product, like an e-book that cost you nothing to make, but your time, and sell it for $1,000, and you'll get your million! They repeatedly use 1% spam response rates, though it's more like .0037% spam rates, I already know their solution, SPAM MORE! If you haven't got any spam from "Richard G Allen &/Or the one minute millionaire, you will!!!

4. Just look through the newspaper and find foreclosures on some unsuspecting little old lady, and be nice to her and help her get kicked out of her house, and you swoop in and take it, and all it's equity, paint it and sell it for twice as much!

5. Invent a toy that every kid wants, like Tickle-Me-Elmo!

6. Look for run-down houses that are worth millions and millions of dollars and haven't sold for a long long time, and ask obscenely low prices, and they'll take it, because agents have to, and since the owners are rich and don't care about money....

These are just some of the ideas that I remember from this awful book. The spam one makes me furious, they are ENCOURAGING SPAMMING!!! The other ideas are so stupid, write a best seller, invent something that every American home needs, well FREAKIN DUH! It VERY soon becomes apparent that the authors are just looking to make THEMSELVES RICH, with a catchy title, and some VERY OLD, VERY TIRED, VERY WORN OUT - OVERDONE Ideas. Like that foreclosure thing. That's older than I am. sheesh. This book has nothing creative, attempts to teach unethical and unrealistic ways of "getting rich" which they focus on spam as the way to get rich in the "one minute" time frame. Like any idiot is going to drop a grand from a spam they got 10 seconds ago. I did read this whole book, just looking for any kind of redeeming factor. None. This book is great for a laugh, and to inspire fury against the authors. I don't usually every write reviews, but this one... inspired me with disgust! This book is an entire waste of time, and I can't believe they must have had good marketers that this book is in the library, etc. I think this is the worst "get rich" book I have ever read.

All the real self help/get rich type books ALL go back to Napoleon Hill. Think and Grow Rich is his best seller. If you are looking for the "secret", start there. Read everything he has, and then read everything his disciples have written (Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, Dale Carnegie, Earl Nightengale, & Other stuff by Robert Kiyosaki & Thomas J. Stanley PhD, William D. Danko, and you will then have the correct foundation for success. Hey if you've read these and agree with me, yet feel I am missing a few good gems, please email me! I'm always looking for some more good stuff.

personal pages // creative writing // articles // spiritual light

Is my fan here?

You gotta start somewhere. The bottom is usually a good place to start because it’s all up from here.

OK, let’s see a show of hands if you want to hear eggplant jokes?

My stage name is Eddie Danger. Most likely you will never see it in lights. And it's true I am probably not that funny for most of my waking hours. I have several friends who have an incredibly comic wit and at one time I wanted to write some funny material by sending one of them my sentences to see what kinds of comeback lines they'd produce.

As you walk into Side Splitters Comedy Club in Tampa, there is a large print of Charlie Chaplin, one of America's first famous funny men. I just finished watching the film Chaplin (about his life) and his classic Modern Times. Truly, he was an awesome performer.

I read that Johnny Depp studied Chaplin's films because he'd learned that Chaplin created comedy by using the tension of contradictions. Not only did the actor wear contradictory clothes (large shoes, baggy pants with a small tight coat) he also used his eyes in a contradictory manner. He would communicate the opposite emotion with his eyes from that which was on his face or opposite of what the scene required. Depp used this to great effect in his Pirates of Caribbean blockbuster.

So for my own opening I told a joke, communicating only with my eyes. It seems inevitable to get a response. Then a follow up line about messing up the timing on the punch line. As if there had been a punch line.

I have done it a couple times before and found it effective, but this time I had a recording device in my hand and was going to play a laugh track when I got to the theoretical punch line. It was a new twist on my opening, but instead of hitting the play button, I accidentally hit record. It was an oops moment an messed up the set up for the next line, but actually made for laughs, too, because I did not get flustered, acted as if it was intentional.

Maybe next time I'll get it right.

One thing I noticed is that five minutes goes very fast. Which means you have to do fast setups and keep your little routine moving forward.

A few lines about enlightenment, idealism, the current Democratic candidates, and the introduction of my eggplant wound up the show.

Gotta run. Take care, dream big and have a great day.