1.What is it that you do? We are a performance group called The Spice Boys. Which is a pirate themed parody boy band.
2. Where are you located? Two of us are located in Las Vegas, two in Kansas City and one in Houston.
3. What got you interested in starting out in this business? Our director (Sage) and his family have been doing Renaissance festivals as performers and vendors for 15-20 years
4. When did you start performing? In general or at renaissance fests? Sage started in 2010, Black Pepper in 2011, and then Parsley, Rosemary and Thyme started in 2023.
5. What was your local faire or home faire? The Kansas City Renaissance Festival
7. What advice do you have to give to others that are just starting out in this business? Or how to stay in this business? Sage actually runs a theatrical agency with a specialization in Renfest. One piece of advice for starting out is to understand what is a realistic outcome of your time and research the common practices of vendors or performers. A lot of people will come into Renfest from other performance venues and not know the nuances or standard practices. Which can undercut established acts and get your shop/show taken advantage of by festivals.
8. How do you handle thefts or copying of your works? Luckily, we have not had much in the way of thefts or copying of work.
9. Are you doing any online sales or virtual performances? Yes we have an online merchandise store! No virtual performances at this time, but we do have a YouTube channel.
10. Why Renaissance Faires or theme? What is it that made you so interested in this period? Sage has been going to renaissance festivals since he was four years old.
11. Describe your first experience with us or your best experience (could be worst experience if you want to share that) Experience with Renfest in general? I (Sage) remember being knighted as a young child after slaying the dragon at my home festival. And the worker knighted me in the name of the three Yu-Gi-Oh (Trademarked) characters on my T-shirt.
12. In five years (or less) my goal is to: Make The Spice Boys a renfest circuit sensation.
13. At faire, what was your garb/attire your usual go to? Usually pirate, but I also have a killer Viking outfit. – Sage
14. What makes your act/wares unique or different? The Spice Boys is a Renfest first. There has never been another show that does what we do. We put on a fully choreographed boy band show in the style of a pirate Renfest group.
Sage runs a shop (@moodyartisan) where he carves jewelry and runes out of deer antler. So far, no one has copied his style of ring making.
15. What makes you stand out? We have a bright and iconic costume design as well as a loud recognizable show.
16. What was your very first experience at a renaissance festival? What education or training if any do you have that led to what you do? My very first experience was when I dressed up as Robin Hood. I believe I was 4 years old – Sage. Sage studied vocal performance and acting in college. All five of us have been theatrical performers for years.
17. What would you say to a new person looking to try out? Understand what is a realistic outcome of your time and research the common practices of vendors or performers.
18. What is your go to for food at faire? You can name a food vendor or if you are a food vendor, what is your most sold item? At TRF my favorite food vendor is The Skull, they have amazing shrimp tacos as well as other quality hot sandwiches. Other than that, I’d probably go with loaded fries. – Sage
19. What’s your idea for the future of faires? It would be great if there was a set standard for renaissance festival performers that was recognized and practiced by the festivals.
20. Plug your website or fan page here (or both)
https://linktr.ee/theespiceboys
https://www.thespiceboys.bandcamp.com/album/golden-age-of-sexy-ep
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Author’s Note: Thanks to the Spice Boys who wanted to be featured on this week’s blog. Again, this is a promotional site, so please do your research before you hire them for your show. I will be requesting interviews after next week as I have a few more folks that wanted to respond the first round. All photos were provided by the performers and I was not notified of any photographer(s).
