One Big Caper

Do it yourself or buy/make it? Which do you choose and why? Athena and Phelyx dive into this topic from years of experience in making and doing for art, performing and typical handyperson projects. When is it time to outsource your weaknesses and just buy it? Find out in this episode, where Athena and Phelyx are on opposite sides of the argument. 0:14 Performer math and maker life 2:56 Is it in yo...

Athena and Phelyx are back to discuss another somewhat divisive topic. They can’t fully agree on this one. That is the subject of taking things too far—at least in the creation department. Learn how the quality and craftspersonship is handled at One Big Caper and why it matters to pay attention to details and quality. Can you tell the difference? 0:48 What does it mean to go too far? 7:53 Can YOU...

Hell gigs and horror stories happen to all performers. It’s part of the business. In this seasonal episode, we share horror stories of gigs that happened at Halloween time, our favorite time of year! Athena shares a headlining burlesque snafu and Phelyx shares about the one time he didn’t get paid for a gig. Tune in to find out how they survived these hell gigs. *********** Want to learn more abou...

We’re back with another pivotal moment that changed the course of our lives as entertainers. Tune in to hear the touching story of how Phelyx got his start in entertainment and how Athena progressed from catalog costumes to costumes designed by Bob Mackie and Pete Menefee. Enjoy! 1:47 Andy Warhol Quote 3:05 Phelyx Pivotal Moment 5:18 Phelyx Juicy Bit 6:45 Athena Pivotal Moment 10:32 Athena Juicy B...

As career entertainers, we forget certain societal taboos due to our desensitization. There are a number of things performers are desensitized to in the normal course of a show run or being a life-long entertainer. It’s just part of the job. Curious what we forget is not “normal” to endure in life? Tune in and find out the three things we forget about because we are performers.  1:11 Athena Juicy...

Here at One Big Caper, we discuss how our life in Showbiz has impacted our offstage life and everything we do outside of the theatre. We decided to compile the list of topics that come up in nearly every episode as skills we developed while working in the theatre that should really be taught in everyday classrooms. Tune in to 11 Life Skills You Didn’t Learn Because You Didn't Take Theatre Cla...

Athena and Phelyx are back to discuss how their inner rebels came to be and how they are now navigating life as adults with those rebels. Rebellion is always born out of oppression, so it’s no wonder the world is quite chaotic these days. Tune in to learn more about inner rebels, the birthplace of Punk and other fringe community tales and ways that people are expressing their own rebels. Is the re...

Here at One Big Caper, the subject of the artist’s life comes up a lot. It may seem weird to some, the choices artists make in life. Why would anyone choose a life of stress, worry, and sometimes poverty, just for the sake of art? Athena and Phelyx dive into this topic from their personal experiences as career performers and share their thoughts about what is so great about being an artist. The st...

This is a hot-button topic in this household—immersive experiences. Why is it that everywhere you turn there is an immersive experience that “you have to see”? In this episode, Athena and Phelyx discuss the trend and how it is affecting the arts and showbiz in general. Tune in to see who loves it and who hates it.  0:17 Why is immersive such a hot-button topic? 5:24 Different experiences and exper...

Athena and Phelyx continue the conversation about Values from the last episode https://youtu.be/ZtTkl7n73II and share how they live their lives according to their values. If you are feeling like you need a change in your life but you aren’t sure what it is, you may just need a values check. Watch to learn how important it is to know your values and how to start prioritizing them for a happier life...

In this episode, we dig into why people travel. Is it for work, pleasure or escaping their life? Athena has some criticisms of escapism and traveling to get away from it all. Phelyx shares a Juicy Bit about a heated debate online about traveling to far off places. Tune in to discover different reasons for traveling and which category you fit into. Enjoy! 0:09 Why do you travel? 3:54 Why we travel...

We’re back with another series to appease your curiosity about the lives of career performers—Hell Gigs and Horror Stories! Athena and Phelyx plan to dish on their most terrifying gigs to date in this special series. What happens when a burlesque show goes south due to poor attendance? What does a mentalist do when his gig runs 2 hours late? Watch the episode to find out how they fared when expose...

What Makes You a Pro? Letting go of academia is one of the toughest things to master as a professional, whether you are in the arts or not. Taking that leap into mastery of your profession takes more than just a paycheck. One of the hot-button topics that Athena and Phelyx discuss at home regularly is the subject of being a professional. While professionalism has a big part in being a professional...

Being an entertainer comes with a few perks, and the higher you get on the ladder of fame, the greater the perks! In this episode, Athena and Phelyx discuss what Phelyx calls “Getting Paid in Privilege.” He coined the term to describe the perks that he has enjoyed over the years of being a career magician. And while some of these perks may not seem like a great trade for the 9-5 corporate life, so...

Art and craft runs deep in this family, which is why our family created a special night each week called Art Jam. Essentially, Art Jam is what creatives do together in lieu of game night or movie night. Listen in to hear how we started this tradition, how we kept it going for two years and how our favorite (and least favorite) sessions played out. If you start your own Art Jam, let us know! We’d l...

This is a topic discussed more than most in this household—MONEY. More specifically when money is discussed, we talk about worth, value and deciding what to charge as an entertainer. In this episode, Athena and Phelyx dish about their rates, how they came up with them and what factors need to be considered when setting your rates in the first place. This episode is not just for entertainers, but f...

What would a travel series be without the mention of the topic of security? Security Theatre is a term coined by Bruce Schneier ​​ https://www.schneier.com/tag/security-theater/ about how security at the airport is more about making people feel safe without actually effectively providing security. Athena and Phelyx dive into the topic today from their own lens as performers and dig into what metho...

Here’s a relevant topic for discussing Capers—Travel! Since this is such a huge topic in our realm, we decided to start a series for it. This particular installment has to do with How NOT to dress for travel. In other words, why does the airport look like people are on their way to a sleepover? Athena and Phelyx take great care in their appearance, no matter where they happen to be going. In this...

We’ve noticed you really enjoy our relationship videos, so we decided to do another one! This is a subject that we don’t have much personal experience in, but have heard horror stories from actual participants. Online dating seems to have become a gamified way for some to just “hook up” with people with no intention of forming a rewarding relationship. Why are we doing this? In this episode, we di...

Dressing up and going out is a huge part of the foundation of Phelyx and Athena’s relationship. Their love of fashion, being in the spotlight, and spending quality time makes this activity a big part of their capers. Not being afraid to express themselves through clothing, is a fun way to get noticed and uplift others while out on the town. In this episode, they discuss how not to dress for a date...

Another listener requested topic! It’s true. Artists are often subject to the extremes when it comes to the full spectrum of human emotions; just like the “artist stereotype” implies. The lows can be pretty dark. We believe that is because we also get the experience of really amplified highs! In this episode, we attempt to tackle the subject of dealing with depression in the performing arts. We tr...

Being an entertainer is a lot like being an athlete! In this episode Athena and Phelyx discuss good behaviors and habits and some eventually corrected bad ones to ensure we can deliver the best of ourselves to our audiences. Some things may be obvious but many habits and rituals have been developed for years. Still, other lessons came “the hard way!” 1:26 Young performer habits 4:49 Phelyx Juicy B...

One Big Caper is ONE YEAR OLD! This 30th episode is another installment in the Pivotal Moments series. Athena and Phelyx decided to celebrate a year of creating One Big Caper with story time! We begin another year of podcasting with two stories about the ending of relationships and the lessons we learned along the way, before we came together as a couple. Listen in to hear how Athena made a differ...

Since the days of Vaudeville (and long before), two things are undeniably synonymous: Showbiz and Booze. The foundation of our relationship is the former. Both of us have been on stage for most of our lives. In fact, sharing the spotlight is how we met… but many of our first dates included a drink or three. We have also each, separately experienced destroyed relationships and abandonment of human...

Have you ever been to a show where an audience member was misbehaving and caused a scene? This episode is a viewer-requested topic and it’s chock full of Juicy Bits from both Athena and Phelyx. There are so many more stories about how drunk crowds have become a disruption to shows. These are some of the ways that we have dealt with them. Enjoy! 2:45 Our personal histories with bad crowds 12:00 Phe...