This is the FCB Podcast Network. This is Fascist Past with Victoria Henley. Hi everyone, It's Victoria Henley here with backstage pass. We have returned to the Amazing Pirate's Voyage show in the beautiful Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I am here with Lamar Wilson, the fearsome Pirate of the Sea, Edward Teach Blackbeard. How are you, Lamar ah doing well? Doing well? Well? We all know why you landed the gig. I mean you, you are the best. So we interviewed you about this time last year in character is black Beard? Now I want to get to know you. How did you become Blackbeard? What was that journey like for you? It's a really funny story. I gave the reader's digest version of it and go for it. I was it was said seven years ago, almost seven years ago in January, and I was probably at the lowest point in my life. I was homeless, it was jobless, I had no money. I was living in my car, I was living in sheds, I was living on sofas, and I had a very good friend of mine in Dallas. When I went back to Dallas, tried to get back up on my feet, let me stay with her and kept me fed, and I didn't even feed myself. I mean, it was awful and out of nowhere. In December, my friend had got me a subscription to Backstage, and so I thought, and I was so depressed because everything that happened to me. I mean, it's just one thing after another, and I just nothing would go. And I had saved all these submissions. I'll be honest with you, I was ready to pull the pen. I was done because nothing was working. I had lost that last little bit hope and the fun and New Year's happened and I made a New Year's resolution and I said, all right, I'm gonna give it one more shot. I'm gonna put all of these submissions out and let's see what comes back before I decide to say enough is enough. You know, it's got to be something. And so that was my new Year's resolution. I put all these things out. Pirates Voyage was one of them, and it was like on a Monday morning a couple of weeks later, like towards the end of January. It's like two three weeks after I submitted into it. The entertainment director called me and he remembered me from a time he had hired me at Disney when he worked at Disney back in nineteen ninety five. I think so, I mean years. But something clicked with him and he remembered me when we got talking and he was asking me about the Lumberjack Show and Pigeon fors and was asking me about this show. And I was like, you know what, I'm in a really good place right now to be portable because I literally only had two garbage bags full of clothes that didn't even fit anymore because I had lost oh why forty two is what forty twenty sixty pounds? I lost like sixty pounds. Yeah, And I went from get to forty one stayed at one eighty. Anyway, I got the call, and of course I'm in my pajamas and I'm sitting in this room and I'm drinking coffee. You know, my you know, woe was made in the phone rang and he was like, ah, this is Randolph but see I and I'd like to talk to you or it's a Dolly Parker company. I was like, and I said, well, is this a good time? I guess sir. You actually caught me right as I was coming out of a protection meeting. How are you so? One thing led to another. He called me back and asked me if I wanted the job, and he goes, hang on a second, I can hear somebody in the background talking. I said, when is that and he goes, Oh, that's Dolly Parton. What that's all we're laying down tracks for the show. I was like, oh, look like that. Wow, So long story short. I got here and I got here March eighteenth, twenty seventeen. It was only a six month contract and they liked me so much they want me to stay for the Christmas show. I opened the Christmas show that year, which made the fella who was here not real happy. He was let go later that year and I kind of filled in and I have been here ever since. You know. I asked for full time, you know, the number one guy working five days a week, and they gave it to me back in twenty nineteen, and I didn't do it whatever since Wow, it's a good gig. Yeah, what an incredible story too. I mean, that's just you can't lose hope. You can't lose that inspiration because you don't know what's around the corner, what's you never know. I love that and you never would. And this is obviously a role you were born to play. And when you look around, you have entertained thousands of people, not millions of okay, millions, yeah, I mean you look at the kids and the kids at heart, and everybody's having such a great time. I saw fans interacting with you. Oh it's my birthday, Blackbeard. What's your favorite fan interaction moment? Do you have really a standout? And it happens all the time. My favorite part of the show is going through the audience. But at any point in times, we started these meet and greets. Now, so I get to have a little bit more reaction with the kids. But and I've said this since I got here, you can see the menim and you look into a child's eyes, and children are so full of wonder and their eyes get all big, and you see it. You see that second when a dream is born. And I recognize it because that's what happened to me. That's why I'm an actor. I was seven years old, I so Star Wars, lost my freaking mind, went home my mom, Mom, I'm gonna be a Jedi. Maybe that he says, silly, honey, those are real actors. So I was like, that's what I'm doing now. I was seven years old. I'll never forget that conversation. And so it's really special to see the kids. It's so real to them, and you want to make it a good immersive experience because I remember, I still remember. I remember when I met Darth Vader. I knew it wasn't the guy from the movie, but he was in the mall, in the mask, and it was so cool. And that's what these is real. You can't you can't put a price on it. Man, People say, you know, you're just in accurate. The hell do you do for anything? You know what? I make memories for people, for these kids, for their parents, I do something that I give them some wee all of us. We give them something that they'll never forget, and they'll take that with them the rest of your life, their lives, and who knows, maybe we'll inspire them to do something else. Of course, I've had some teenagers come in and they're in gymnastics and they want to do acrobatics, and I was like, well, just keep it up. Our babies are seventeen eighteen years old when I start, So that's the best part, you know, just watching, watching the eyes light up and watching you know, because there's magic to these kids. Yeah, that's what's special. Well, that's I think P. T. Barnham said there's no nobler art than making other people happy, and that's what you do here. So that's really incredible that you do all of that. I mean the show, there's so much going on. There's a full meal and it is delicious, by the way. You don't want to miss that, the acrobatics, the mermaids, the seals are sea lions, right, I made that mistake last time, salting the sea lion Oregon. That's true. That's true at least, So tell us a little bit. When we come we book our tickets to the show, what can we expect? Wow, you can expect. You can expect an hour and a half of Pirate's Mermaids, a four course meal you're going to see. The best way I can describe it, it's like going to a Broadway show in Vegas. I love that, like a certain to slay, acrobatic going on with it on water with Pirates, with something that sounds like a Disney musical playing on a soundtrack. It's fantastic. There are so many acrobatics, there's such a you know, there's a little love storyline going on. There are Davy Jones, which comes out so great. That's one of my favorite scenes with the smoke on the water and Davy Jones and the skeletons. There's just so much. But you can come out here and expect to be entertained, expect to be well fed, and expect to see a little bit magic when you come out. Absolutely. I mean that's I couldn't have said it better myself. Now, we have the Christmas show coming up that opens about a month from our recording date, early November, right, So tell us, in character as black Beard, we have to do that, give us our pitch. What can we expect for the Christmas show? Will? It is Christmas time at Firous Voyage and you're not talking to to the Blackbeard anymore. This Captain Scrooge to you, and I don't like Christmas bah humba pirates, oh with Christmas cheer, jumping about wanting to eat plain in the water. Hamber Well, that's what I say. Until a ghost comes and says, screw, let me introduce you the way the things should be, and much like a Christmas Carol. It's a very similar story with a ghost that come and visit Scrooge, and Scrooge sees the error of his ways and his heart is filled with love and the Christmas spirit fills him with joy. And we have a contest because I'm going to give all of my hidden treasure away that's hidden in Buccaneer Bay to the winning crew because it's Christmas. There we go. You got me hooked. You got to come see the Christmas show. So that's a great thing about Pirates Voyage. There are so many If you love the show, you can come back for Christmas. Now, how do we keep up? How do we follow along on social media with you and with Pirates. Well you can see on Facebook, Twitter or X as it's called. Now, Oh sorry, went back at the voice there going to X. Should I do this in voice or not? Hey? Voice? I mean come back here, let's do it. You can go on to Facebook where look up Pirates Voyage on Facebook. You can go to Instagram Pirates Voyage. But the best way he can see everything that's going on on both of our properties is when here in Mertall Beach and the one up in Pigeon Forge. They do not do a Christmas show however, but you can go to www dot Pirates Voyage dot com. You will search either Mertle Beach or Pigeon Forge for your tickets and that'll take you right to the screen. You have some VIP options. We have something new this year that I think people are going to think is very special. We have a Sea Lion experience where people can come out and meet Salty the Sea Lion before the show and learn a little bit from our animal trainers before we come up and see us and the two me and the two captains up top. That is so special, that's amazing. Well, you don't want to miss out on that and take it for me. These tickets, these seats fill up fast, so make sure you go online book your tickets. We're going to post all of those links also how to follow and connect with Lamar as well. Lamar, thank you so much for spending time with us. Thank you, yes, and thank you to the entire Pirates Voyage team and you are listeners for always joining in. We'll catch you next time on Backstage Pass. This has been a presentation of the FCB podcast network, where Real Talk lives Visitors online at FCB podcasts, dot com, m HM,
