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DARQUE MAGICK
written by Jenelle Riley

It's like Magic... with a K.

- Photos -     - Video -     - Audio -

PHOTOS, VIDEO & AUDIO
Photos by C.M. Gonzalez
unless otherwise noted

EPISODE ONE (1/20/07)


Mysterio (Troy Vincent), Master of Magic!


And his assistant, Cassandra
the Super-Hot (Andrea Walker)!

An excerpt from Mysterio's magic show.
- Videography by Aaron Francis -


Mysterio's other assistant,
Betsy Darque (Carrie Wiita),
cleans up after the show.


The amazing Mystere (Joe Fria)!


He totally made a table float in the air!
HOW DID HE DO THAT?
Pay no attention to Tom (Jon Monastero).


The crowd (Jaime Robledo & an unseen-here Jenelle Riley)
goes wild.  "He totally magicked the SHIT out of that table!"


Goddamn, these fans (including a
seen-here Jenelle Riley) are hardcore.


Betsy wants to perform.


Tom prevents Betsy from learning her family's dark secret -
the Darques can do REAL magic, due to a deal with the devil.


Unfortunately, Betsy has no stage presence whatsoever.
And the crowds just won't accept a female magician anyway.
("Hey, that dude's got boobs!")


Betsy and Tom nearly share a kiss,
but she's called away by her bosses.


Alone, bereft and flowerless.

EPISODE TWO (1/27/07)


Betsy, lost and alone in the woods after
being chased off by a hostile crowd
who thought she was a witch.


She meets a real witch (Jenifer Hamel),
who tells her of her dark inheritance.


"IS THIS YOUR CARD?"
The witch coerces Betsy to accept
her destiny - and seek revenge.

EPISODE THREE (2/3/07)


Betsy's new look.
- Photo on right by Peter Alton -


Master of Darkness, Adoy (Michael Rayner).  See his unholy abilities!

The photos above weren't enough?  See the startling video evidence!
- Videography by Aaron Francis -


Mystere's found a new assistant... his wife, Sarah (Jenelle Riley).  See video below.

- Videography by Aaron Francis -


A very magical fellow named Charles (David Minkin)
applies to be Mystere's new assistant.  It doesn't
go well, as you can see in the video below.

- Videography by Aaron Francis -


Betsy takes her revenge on Mysterio!
Will she crush his heart with black magic?
 Or will Tom warm Betsy's heart in time?

EPISODE FOUR (2/10/07)


Cassandra is angry when Mysterio
tells Betsy to take her instead.
- Photo by Peter Alton -


Tom's love stays Betsy's hand... for now.
- Photo by Angela Carper -


Betsy awakens in the woods to find she has company.
- Photo by Angela Carper -


It is the great illusionist, Eisenheimenstein (Henry Dittman)...
- Photo by Peter Alton -


...and his band of rejected circus freaks:  Stan, the man who's an inch
too short to be a giant (Joe Jordan), the man who was the world's
strongest man (Scott Leggett) before the invention of steroids and
weight lifting, and Fritz (Michael Lanahan), the self-loathing Jew.
- Photo by Angela Carper -


And so, with an obligatory cry of
"One of us!  One of us!", Betsy is accepted
into their group.  Gobble-gobble, gobble-gobble.
- Still from video by Mila Pesko -

EPISODE FIVE (2/17/07)


Mysterio, whose audiences have been abandoning
him, stages the ultimate show: his own death...
caused by Tom, who wants to get the Book of Shadows from
Mysterio in order to free Betsy from her family's curse.
- Photo by Peter Alton -


A grieving Cassandra is comforted
by Dr. Lodge (Fleur Phillips)


Unwanted comfort from Bob the janitor (Joe Hendrix)


Mysterio arisen - as a brain-hungry zombie!
(Thanks to Tom, who unwittingly read a passage from
the Book of Shadows while sitting on his corpse.)


Tom is captured by the sideshow non-freaks!

EPISODE SIX (2/24/07)

Mysterio's undead, but the show must go on.
- Videography by Aaron Francis -


Zombie Mysterio is a better magician than Live Mysterio ever was!


Creepy dummy Slim (Pat Towne)
foretells doom for everyone.


A reunited Tom and Betsy resolve
to escape - without using dark powers.


Stan hopes his wife (Sara Morrison) will make him look taller.


Betsy's had about enough of Eisenwhatsisname.


Kip (Pixel) warns that something's coming!


Betsy and Tom's escape attempt is foiled when
they all end up SURROUNDED BY ZOMBIES!

EPISODE SEVEN (3/24/07)


Al (Bob DeRosa) and Steve (Douglas Clayton) appear
for a brief and irrelevant "Little Miss Sunshine" parody.


Jenelle has a Harvey Korman moment, thanks to Joe Fria.


Anthony Backman plays Mysterio in flashback (as narrated by Mystere).


Paul Plunkett plays Tom in flashback.


So we've caught up with the story and
zombies are chowing down on everyone.


But Zombie Mysterio is happy he's a good magician now and he
invites Betsy back into his show and everybody's happy and then
they all do the "Thriller" dance for no reason and that's THE END.


Except it's not the end, because Mystere has been
abandoned by his wife.  How will he cope on his own?

EPISODE EIGHT (4/7/07)
"The Double Date"


Okay, so the story went on much longer than the author ever thought
it would, so now we follow the adventures of a divorced Mystere,
his roommates, and their wacky adventures on the singles scene!

Click on the picture to watch this scene!

"It's Mystere!" Theme Song
music written & performed by Gary Stockdale
lyrics by Jenelle Riley


Swinging neighbor Lawrence (Anthony Backman) and
Mystere's roommate Troy (Peter Alton) have got a
couple of chicks (Heather Hopkins as "Kelly" and
Franci Montgomery as "Callie") at their pad, ready to go!


Recalling previous occasions
on which comedy ensued.
Click on the picture to watch this scene!


Nosy Mr. Furley Mr. Norman (Paul Plunkett) is upset there are girls
in the apartment, until Mystere hypnotizes them into dancing for him.


Old friend Stan drops by with some mail -
it's... A WEDDING INVITATION!

BONUS VIDEO:  Joe Fria totally blows his lines, almost covers, and then cracks up.

EPISODE NINE (4/14/07)
"Out on the Town"


Mystere is thrown into a funk when he finds
that Betsy and Tom are getting married,
and romances his French mop, Meeeeechelle.
Click on the picture to watch this scene!


A maudlin Mystere reflects on the good old times.
- Photos by C.M. Gonzalez and Peter Alton -

From Episode Nine (4-14-07)

Down at the Royal Dalmatian, Mystere quickly strikes out with all of
these babes.  (L-R: Laura Napoli, Vanessa Perkins & Kimberly Atkinson)
Click on the picture to watch this scene!


Mystere is shocked to find Betsy there.


Mystere meets Betsy's friends, Cindy,
the World's Worst Anorexic (Stacey Jackson),
and Selma, the Smart Blonde (Emily Kosloski)...


...and Sascha (Jaime Andrews), with whom
he finds love at first sight.  They plan to
steal away - but first, she needs to tell
her friend that she's leaving.


Uh oh.  Said friend is Mystere's ex...

EPISODE TEN (4/21/07)
"The Conversation"


Kevin Prince, the Prince of Brooklyn (Bryan Krasner)
and his way-too-hot-for-him wife, Eden (Jennifer Ruckman)


Mystere tries to call Sascha on the phone, but
he's so nervous all that comes out is gibberish.


Nosy Mr. Norman (Michael Lanahan) arrives and
calls Betsy, to show Mystere how it's done.
Click on the picture to watch this scene!


An overheard conversation - Mystere practicing
asking Sascha out with Troy - leads to Mr. Norman
imparting some misinformation to Sascha.
Click on the picture to hear this scene!


As Troy attempts to wrestle the phone away from Mystere - who is planning
on calling his ex-wife - the others get their misinformation confirmed.
What a wacky misunderstanding.  Classic Mystere!

The whole situation is in NO WAY reminiscent of this particular incident.

EPISODE ELEVEN (4/28/07)
"The Forbidden Affair"


Sarah's first night with her new
girlfriend, Jenny (Lara Everly).


Mystere wants Sarah back.


Troy, who seems to follow Mystere everywhere, tries
to help Mystere get all Lloyd Dobler on Sarah's ass.


Mr. Norman tries to help by bringing by a book of old photos,
but this trip down memory lane ain't a-gonna work.

EPISODE TWELVE (5/26/07)
"Lost on the Island"


Joe (Sam Lloyd) is Lost, a CastAway stranded on an uncharted
desert isle with only his pal Spalding (Himself) for company.


Mystere crashes onto the island with no idea
how he got there. The last thing he remembers
is that he was on his way to Disneyland.
Click on the picture to hear why
Mystere wanted to go to Disneyland.


Joe explains about the Others.  He had to eat them all.


Lonely times on the Island.
Click on the picture to watch this scene!


Spalding warns Mystere to be wary of Joe.


Rescued...  by a Disney tour guide (Andrew Bentler) and
Troy (Peter Alton).  Turns out they're on Tom Sawyer
Island at Disneyland.  Mystere got drunk on mint juleps
at the Caribbean Cafe, and Joe's just a crazy person.


And look!  Sascha's here!  But why?


It turns out that Joe's her father.  And Joe warns Mystere to
keep his hands off his daughter.  Another wacky conundrum!

EPISODE THIRTEEN (6/2/07)
"Office Politics"


John (Bruno Oliver) and his boss, Peter (David LM McIntyre)
on the morning of a very important client meeting.


New employee Mystere has been messing with the copier.


Everpresent roommate Troy helps him with his
arduous stapling job.  Swingline, sweet chariot...


Mr. Norman takes Troy's place when Troy has to
go to a Dungeons & Dragons game, and he eggs
Mystere on to make a prank call to John.
Click on the picture to hear the hi-larious prank!


When the Japanese clients arrive, Mr. Norman and Mystere have a number
of very bad ideas for Japanese bank names. Though deeply offended, they award John
the contract anyway 'cause Mystere reminds them of Kabuki theater.  Or something.

EPISODE FOURTEEN (6/9/07)
"The First Date"


Jeeves (Troy Blendell) gleefully rejects another
applicant for membership in the Mystic Fortress.


Mystere is on his first date with Sascha, but he
has trouble talking to her.  The scheme depicted
above goes about as well as you'd expect.


Magician/Waiter John (John Lovick) tries to horn in.


Mystere bests John in a magic competition,
and Sascha swoons into his magical arms.
But in order to gain membership at the Mystic
Fortress, he'll also have to best their top act...


...BETSY DARQUE!

EPISODE FIFTEEN (6/16/07)
"Love on the Rocks"


Having been bested by Betsy in an absolutely spectacular
magic-on-magic battle between episodes, Mystere is
depressed, feeling he was humiliated in front of Sascha,
and he tries to take refuge in the tunes on his IPod.


Mystere asked Mr. Norman to bring him a movie,
but he brought over the wrong one entirely.
Click on the picture to hear this scene!


Troy and Mr. Norman (who has grown a goatee
"for the ladies") watch the film themselves... they've
heard that Christian Bale takes off his shirt in it.
Not that they're gay or anything.


Sarah's attempt to cheer up Mystere - quite nice of her, since
it turns out Mystere knocked her up just before they split -
is subject to yet another Wacky Misunderstanding.
Click on the picture to watch this scene!

EPISODE SEVENTEEN (6/23/07)
"Father Knows Best"


Sarah attends Lamazze class for single mothers, led by Tammy.
Tammy's from California, but her energy resides in Wichita.
(L-R: Heather Hopkins, Laura Napoli, Supatra Hanna, Kathi Copeland & Jenelle Riley)


Mystere, Sarah's baby daddy, insists on helping.
After all, as the sonogram shows, it really IS his child.


No, really... it is.


Mr. Norman and Troy show up to hit on the single mothers.
("Artificially inseminated!  How desperate do you have to be to make it with a robot?")


A moving round of "Cat's in the Cradle."


"Uh oh... this is how we got into this wacky predicament to begin with!"


When the women agree they wish their babies were out of them already,
Mystere obliges with a wave of his hand and a "BABY, EMERGE!"


He even induces labor in Tammy... who isn't pregnant.
NOW do you believe he's the greatest magician ever?

EPISODE SEVENTEEN (6/30/07)
"Special Delivery"


Dr. Cottage (Michelle Martin) attends to Sarah,
who has been having contractions.


Mystere shows up - as to Troy and Mr. Norman - having torn
themselves away from the Ryan Gosling convention (GosCon '07).
Click on the picture to watch this scene!


Intruding on a private moment.


Mr. Norman hits on Dr. Cottage.
Click on the picture to watch this scene!


Intruding on a private moment.


Mystere's daughter is born.  There's a strong family
resemblance.  Though the baby seems a lot more tanned
after nine months in the womb than Mystere ever gets.


Old friend Stan - now living in San Francisco - drops by one last (?) time,
to deliver a message: Sarah and Jenny have taken off for the Bahamas.
It's just three men and a baby now...

CLICK HERE FOR EPISODES 18 ONWARDS