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Freaker's Ball draws unusual ghouls

Photo from Billy C. Wirtz

Returning as the Freaker's Ball musical host is Daytona-based rockabilly singer and boogie-woogie piano player the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz.

By WALT BELCHER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 21, 2009

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Don't go to the 30th annual Freaker's Ball Friday night expecting to see store-bought costumes or run-of-the mill werewolves, vampires and ghouls.

This pre-Halloween event celebrates the most creative costumes that customers of Skipper's Smokehouse can dream up, said owner Tom White.

"I am always amazed at the effort that people put into this," he said. "They go all out to try to top each other every year. It's a lot of fun to see people let their imaginations run wild."

The Freaker's Ball was one of the first events ever held at the funky seafood restaurant and concert venue on Skipper Road in North Tampa. "We started it only one month after we bought the place," White said.

The ball usually draws several hundred people in costume. You don't have to wear one to attend. "Some people come out just to see what other people have created," White said.

Returning as the musical host is Daytona-based rockabilly singer and boogie-woogie piano player the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz.

This year's theme is "myths and legends." These can be grounded in historic fact, works of literature and film, or original flights of fancy.

Roman and Egyptian gods, hobbits, Harry Potter creatures and folk tale characters such as Paul Bunyan are fair game.

White said Skipper's general manager Bonnie O'Connor and the staff have transformed the outdoor Skipperdome into a sort of Garden of Eden where O'Connor plans to preside as the snake-headed Medusa.

Prizes will be awarded for the best and most original outfits — or for whatever the secret judges like, White said.

One of last year's winners was a guy dressed as fictional NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby from the Will Ferrell movie "Talladega Nights." He came wearing a helmet and race car driver outfit and was inside a mock race car built over two grocery store shopping carts.

Other memorable winners last year included a man and a woman who each came dressed as "one night stands."

"Both of them were dressed as bedroom nightstands compete with drawers and even table lamps," said White. "The funny thing is they didn't know each other and they came up with the same idea."

White expects there will be a few Barack Obamas in the crowd and other political figures. Last year, there were a couple of Sarah Palins, a Bill Clinton and a John McCain.

Some people are inspired by current events. There were people dressed as foreclosed homes and bank bailouts last year. The winning group dressed as the entire Addams Family.

Wirtz, musical satirist and leader of his own First Church of Polyester Worship, got his "preaching credentials" in a 1979 mail-order certificate from the First Universal Christian Kingdom of Kentucky. He will perform some of his novelty songs, such as "Honky Tonk Hermaphrodite" and "Mennonite Surf Party."

Also performing will be The Legendary J.C.'s (Joint Chiefs), an eight-piece R&B band from Orlando.
"The highlight of the evening is the costume parade late in the evening just before we award the prizes," White said.

Admission is $10. The event begins at 8 p.m. Friday at Skipper's Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa. For information, go to skipperssmokehouse.com.

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (81) 259-7654