Oswald's Speakeasy and Sideshow: French Quarter One-of-a-Kind Series
By Tara McLellan
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Harry
Anderson, magician, stand-up wise guy, proprietor of Oswald's
and Sideshow |
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It was a dark and stormy night...
As if waking from a long, deep sleep, the French Quarter is coming alive after that very famous dark and stormy night in August. Sideshow and Oswald's Speakeasy are two one-of-a-kind French Quarter destinations that offer mystery and more, a community connection and entertainment during the recovery of New Orleans. In the always mysterious French Quarter, magic is just around every corner. Sideshow and Oswald's just make it a little easier to catch.
Sideshow: The Old Curiosity Shop
Step right up and prepare to be amazed! Just off Jackson Square is perhaps the most unique shopping experience in the French Quarter. Ever seen a two-headed duck or a unicorn skull? Sideshow is a curiosity shop that evokes another age. Run by Elizabeth Anderson, Sideshow is the epitome of an old world, dark and mysterious treasure shop, the kind you might find on a twisting street in foggy London, exotic Paris, or 19th century New Orleans. So, what can you expect when you pay a visit to Sideshow? Be prepared for just about anything and everything. Deliciously devilish and fun, Sideshow has gifts and oddities for those with an adventurous spirit. "Basically this is a collection of some of my favorite stuff," says proprietress Anderson. And what a collection of stuff. Sideshow is a fascination street of spooky skulls, kitschy burlesque memorabilia, and one of the largest collections of playing cards, tarot cards, and magic tricks in town. A colorful and quirky hodge podge of oddities, it's that carnival flavor year-round that makes Sideshow the perfect fit for the French Quarter.
Oswald's Speakeasy
While Sideshow offers a riot of the colorful, a carnival act of the mysterious and unique, Oswald's Speakeasy is a like a dark, handsome stranger you meet on a shadowy street corner. It's a haven that evokes noir images, wet and foggy streets, romantic and smoky piano bars. Think Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, and even Casablanca. Run by Harry Anderson, famous for his one-man show, acting career and magic act, Oswald's Speakeasy is a bar unlike others, and, now in the post-Katrina French Quarter, a place for entertainment and community without a cover charge. "We're still waiting for life to come back full force in the French Quarter to revive my one-man show - right now it would be like whistling in the dark. But it did not make sense to do nothing," says Anderson. Oswald's new schedule offers entertainment and community events each night for locals and visitors. "We first started the town hall meetings for personal reasons - to find out what was happening. Soon it grew into a weekly Wednesday night meeting," says Anderson. "Like the town hall meeting, we also have another new feature, our magic night (Tuesdays), when visitors can be entertained by local magicians. It's an opportunity for the local magicians to work, play to an audience, trade stories, maybe make a few tips, and it gives visitors a chance to experience something a little different as well." In addition to community activities and magical entertainment, Oswald's embraces its dark, romantic side with the Zapruder Film Festival, with Thursday showings of film noir, and Friday and Saturday piano bar nights, bringing mood music to the bar. "Oswald's is one of the quieter bars in the French Quarter," says Anderson, "and that gives us the opportunity to do something a little different, like have a film showing or a piano player." It also gives the visitor the opportunity to have a different experience as well, a romantic interlude, an intimate gathering, a mysterious tete a tete, the perfect corner bar.
Sideshow
828 Chartres Street,
504-581-2012
Oswald's Speakeasy
1331 Decatur Street,
504-218-5953
Tara McLellan, a freelance writer, book author, and columnist, has been featured in Metropolitan Home Magazine, New Orleans Magazine, New Orleans Homes and Lifestyles, and St. Charles Avenue Magazine. She lives and works in the New Orleans area.
