Rising Stars: Meet The Secret Circus

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chanel Samson.

Hi Chanel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today? 
We were cofounded in England about 10 years ago by Chanel Samson and Eve Howlet. 

When Chanel came back to America, they immediately started producing the Los Angeles Circus. We had started in the iconic LA Queer bar, Akbar, with about 75 people in attendance and a mix of burlesque dancers, drag performers, sideshow, singers, and a DJ! We quickly became too big for our britches and moved venues to Vocal Warehouse which was managed by our friend Joey! The new space allowed us to expand and was our home until the pandemic. We went dormant outside of two virtual events and fundraising for the Okra Project. When the pandemic ended, Bar10 asked us to make their venue our new home, which was wonderful! Suddenly, we had 300 people coming to our events and a whole new community of gender-bending rebels. We had a year-long residency and elevated our production to the level of talent and warmth that is associated with it today! Unfortunately, Bar10 shut down due to unforeseen circumstances. Now, we are starting new in the Majic Factory DTLA! We hope to become a traveling circus and bring our open-minded and mind-bending shows to everyone. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road at all, and every venue that we have been in has introduced new and different experiences. 

The vocal warehouse required us to be resourceful because they didn’t have things like a bar or AV staff, so that fell on the backs of the production crew, our friends who would help us with the event, and Chanel’s dad Barry, who was an AV technician and also our lifeline. He was willing to support us while we were all learning new tasks to make sure that event in itself could run smoothly. 

At Bar10, it felt like we had so much space to grow, so we pushed ourselves thinking about what could be achieved out of the production quality of our events and performances! With that being said, that also requires more leg work and networking, to find people we could introduce to our community that can mesh well with our vibe and what we want to give as an establishment. Learning new skills like advertising and social media marketing, content creation. As we got bigger, we as staff worked producing this event for minimal profits and sometimes paying out of pocket to produce the quality of event that we wanted. 

Many venues have shut down or raised their prices in the past few years, so finding a new venue has been difficult. The uncertainty always leaves the question, “Will this be the last circus we produce, or will we continue to push to see the next one.” I think that the crew shares the sentiment that if we continue to push, we also get to see the people who come every time to love on our performers and our vendors, and that is what has us push so hard. 

Even so, the obstacles that we have faced are shouldered together in every aspect. The producers, the production team, and performers always band together to see what we can to do continue the dream and continue building the safe space for our queer artist community. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In addition to ringleader, Chanel is also a musician, writer, and filmmaker. They are proudest of their visual album “Wake Up” by Chanel & the Circus, streaming on Revry TV. They’re moving into musical theater next with their show “All the Boys I Blocked.” No matter which turn their career takes, the circus is always there, reminding them that community is the foundation and to keep pushing the envelope of what is possible. 

What sets The Secret Circus apart from other events is our aptitude to create safe spaces! We partnered with the LGBT Center of LA and wrote that we “are queer variety show that celebrates individuality and inclusivity… beyond the spectacle, the Circus embodies a profound sense of unity and offers a haven where diverse identities flourish.” Our ability to create this safety stems from our personal philosophy of emotional intelligence and deep awareness of the diverse experiences of our crowd, our performers, and our producers alike! 

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
One of our Producers and Social Media Manager Byrd Brown Stanton, will answer this question: 

I think this answer requires a lot of understanding of duality. It would be easy to define success as the awareness and the steps taken towards a task. You make a goal to work out or play piano. You get to the gym on day one, and you only do one exercise or only do cardio. That’s a success as you set the objective, you make it to the space, and you do something, anything. Next time, you add one more exercise, and so on and so forth. You are successful at cultivating the gym lifestyle, and so on and so forth. 

But on the contrary, I would also find someone who spends every day of their life very happy successful. In that way success is found not through action but instead intention and the state of heart and mind. 

Pricing:

• Early bird $10
• Online Tickets $15
• Door is $20

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesecretcircusla?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesecretcircusla
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWSHwk2CP7IpOJZG4NJ-6dw
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3hXXv2noAETM90hqUoZ5Te?si=ONkpgKRPTf2-MLTQYEdlTQ
• Next Event: https://fanimal.com/fanimal-event/the-secret-circus-roaring-20s-552621440401593073

Image Credits
Priten Vora
@masterppv