Sheridan Opera House: Frick Frack Blackjack + Telluride Gold Kings & Lavalanche, 8/5!

02 Aug Sheridan Opera House: Frick Frack Blackjack + Telluride Gold Kings & Lavalanche, 8/5!

Telluride’s Sheridan Arts Foundation presents Frick Frack Blackjack with the Telluride Gold Kings and Lavalanche at the historic Sheridan Opera House on Friday, August 5, 2022, 8 p.m. Tickets are general admission and $25 plus a $5 ticketing fee here.

Go here for more on the Sheridan Opera House/Arts Foundation.

All funds from Frick Frack Blackjack will go toward the Sheridan Arts Foundation lighting set up that’s in need of improvement. In addition to purchasing tickets, people can make tax-deductible donations that can specifically go to this campaign. The SAF is in need of a new lighting board, which generally cost about $5,000. If any funds are left over, the SAF would also put the profits toward movers, which cost approximately $2,500.

Frick Frack Blackjack is a no cash, no limit, barter blackjack game that combines one-part comedy show with one-part interactive performance art exhibit. Players can bet anything but cash or trash. Started by Marvelous Marvin as a side project for Burning Man, Frick Frack Blackjack has turned into a nationally touring act with over 40 dealers and three regional crews.

Frick Frack explores the concept of value and how one determines it. When money is removed from the equation, the relative value of something requires a conversation, debate or some haggling which is at the center of the performance component of Frick Frack. The bet can be as big as that fancy necklace around someone’s neck or the small and lighter as the bag of potato chips or even a joke or date to amuse the crowd.

After a player makes their bet, the dealer appraises the item along with some playful trash talk or over-the-top praise and then offers an item from the Frick Frack inventory they consider of equal value. The player can accept or reject the offer. Once all bets are in, the cards are dealt and the dealer and player partake in a casino style game of blackjack with winner taking all.

The blackjack tables open at 8 p.m. in the theater with live music from the Telluride Gold Kings and Lavalanche. The Gold Kings kick things off at 8:30 p.m. Like the Beatles, the Telluride Gold Kings are four musicians. Like the Beatles, two of their members, Brian (bass, vocals) and Neal (lead guitar, vocals) reside in the industrial city, while Ashley (drums, vocals)and Steve (Rhythm guitar, vocals) hail from the working class suburbs. And like The Beatles, their performances have been known to cast their audiences into an almost feverish frenzy… So put on your dancin’ shoes!

Lavalanche takes over at 10:15 p.m.

A force of nature sliding down the mountainside, Lavalanche rocks a fiery but smooth 1960’s rhythm and blues, based around the notable Hammond B3 organ sound. With Mike Enriquez on the Hammond B3 organ, John “Sully” Sullivan on the drum set, Danny Dalessandro on the saxophone, and Tyler Simmons on the electric guitar, this quartet provides inertia to the Lavalanche. Their funky sound erupts with retro danceability, and their use of contemporary tonal modulation shapes landscapes.

The Sheridan Arts Foundation was founded in 1991 as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization to preserve the historic Sheridan Opera House as an arts and cultural resource for the Telluride community, to bring quality arts and cultural events to Telluride and to provide local and national youth with access and exposure to the arts through education. The Sheridan Arts Foundation is sponsored in part by grants from the CCAASE, Colorado Creative Industries and the Telluride Foundation.