by Kevin Flinn | Oct 29, 2020 | Buzz, November 2020
Liquor salesman turned chalk artist Austin Bagwell takes his creativity to the sidewalk
Think back to this past spring—you’re taking a fresh-air break from endless Zoom meetings or online classes and as you step onto your sidewalk, you find Elsa from “Frozen” or the cast of “Sesame Street” under your feet. If you’re a Wendell resident, those fanciful characters were brought to life in chalk by Austin Bagwell, owner of AB Chalk Designs.
Bagwell’s career in chalk began in earnest in 2013, when he created a chalk welcome sign for his wedding at the Stockroom in downtown Raleigh. Not long after, the NC State alum was creating chalk murals for weddings on a near-weekly basis and decided to hang out a shingle, create a website and make AB Chalk Designs a legit side hustle.
“Creativity has always been in my family,” Bagwell says, noting that his mother majored in art and his sister works as a graphic designer. “I doodled a lot and drew a lot, and then this opportunity came up.”
Even while creating up to 60 chalk designs a year for weddings, Bagwell worked full-time in liquor and spirit sales. The Gastonia native had been working for Charleston-based Dixie Vodka for about a year when the pandemic hit, but when the brand downsized a third of its workforce, his creative outlet became his main gig.
Bagwell turned to his 3-year-old daughter Olivia for inspiration. He chalked a hopscotch board on the sidewalk in front of his house, complete with Poppy and Branch from “Trolls” peeking out from behind. His wife Katie suggested he post a picture to the Wendell Falls neighborhood Facebook group, and the likes poured in (as did the commissions). Soon Bagwell was brightening sidewalks all over the neighborhood, drawing everything from Barbie to David Bowie. “The support was overwhelming,” he says.
But it’s not just the neighborhood that’s shown its appreciation of Bagwell’s work—he’s chalked designs all over the Triangle and even as far away as Greenville, where he drew a kangaroo with boxing gloves for an Outback Steakhouse franchise that was looking to drum up takeout and curbside business.
Birthdays and anniversaries saw Minnie Mouse and NC State’s Mr. Wuf while Easter bunnies dominated the month of April. May the 4th featured Baby Yoda and June brought high school and graduation announcements. All told, Bagwell has created nearly 200 chalk-art drawings since the pandemic began.
The chalk game is not without its difficulties, however, as supply-and-demand problems plagued some of Bagwell’s early efforts. Crayola’s 16-pack of colored chalk, which he says used to go for six or seven bucks on Amazon, was suddenly priced at $40. “I drove all over,” Bagwell says, but after getting stiffed on a pre-purchased pickup order at Walmart, he turned to his neighbors. A few social media posts helped with supply issues, and Bagwell says he even drove to Clayton to pick up a few pieces of much-needed black chalk from someone who heard about his plight.
Having lived in Wendell Falls since the fall of 2016, Bagwell recognized the unique intersection of timing and place, as the master-planned community has families and children galore. Working from home kept folks in and near their houses, while a mild North Carolina spring allowed them numerous opportunities to get outside. Family walks turned into games of find-the-chalk-design and neighborhood social media feeds proliferated with his hand-drawn cartoon characters and college mascots. “In our neighborhood, people are out walking every day, they’re exercising,” he says. “They see me drawing, they see it on social media. It’s awesome.”
As for Bagwell’s next move? “I think it’ll stick around,” he says of the sidewalk chalk gig. “It’s a nice alternative to yard signs, and as sports and weddings start up again, people will be looking for a unique way to celebrate, something more personalized.”
by Kevin Flinn | May 14, 2018 | Do, May 2018
Raleigh’s first-ever comedy festival kicks off this month.
If laughter is truly the best medicine, Raleigh’s comedy fans have their check-ups scheduled for the end of the month when the inaugural Oak City Comedy Festival hits town from May 22-26.
Produced and hosted by three local comedians—Shari Diaz, Matt White and Vinny Valdivia—each night of the festival offers a mix of stand-up, improv and sketch comedy, as well as nightly opportunities for locals to perform at open mics.
Like the Hopscotch Festival in downtown Raleigh each September, the Oak City Comedy Festival utilizes a wide range of venues, from traditional comedy settings such as Goodnights and Comedy Worx to more music-centric places, including Kings and the Pour House, and even the brand-spanking-new Alamo Drafthouse Cinema.
Festival co-founder White says that the time is right for this kind of event. “There are so many artists in Raleigh, especially local comedians who practice their craft at Goodnights Comedy Club and independent showcases that local comics produce all around Raleigh,” he says. “A comedy festival will give the community a sense of what’s really going on in the comedy scene.”
The schedule offers early and late shows, so fans can see multiple shows each night, and since the venues are clustered in and around downtown, it’s not difficult to navigate from one show to another. Plus, show start times are staggered, so seeing more than one show each night is doable for those inclined.
White and his team are excited to bring in a diverse group of comedians from all over the country. “Some are up-and-comers, and most have TV credits and impressive resumes that feature big time comedians they’ve worked with,” he says.
Festival headliners include Andrew Schultz (May 26th, Neptunes), Andy Woodhull (May 24th, Imurj), Mia Jackson (May 23rd, Alamo Drafthouse), Mike Mello (May 23rd, Watts & Ward), J. Bliss (May 24th, Imurj) and Mark Kendall (May 26th, Comedy Worx).
All events are free the first night. For the rest of the festival, tickets range from $5 to $15. Tickets are available online at oakcitycomedyfestival.com or at the venues.
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by Kevin Flinn | Mar 5, 2018 | Do, March 2018
I heard them before I saw them, heard them laughing as I climbed the staircase to the third floor of Goodnights Comedy Club. They weren’t laughing at a joke from a nationally touring comic in the main room or even at a punchline from an amateur at the open mic in the downstairs bar.
They were laughing with each other, a group of a dozen men and women of all ages, from all walks of life, comprising the Standup 101 class. They were bartenders, lawyers, teachers—all eager to learn the craft of comedy.
Geared to people interested in doing stand-up, but who don’t necessarily know how to get started, the class attracts students who “tend to have a good sense of humor and are generally open-minded,” said co-instructor Matt White.
Local comics White and Brent Blakeney have taught the class since 2016. They promise students will learn comedy basics, how to craft ideas into jokes, and the best way to structure and edit comedy routines.
Students eagerly scribbled down White’s musings and Blakeney’s suggestions for YouTube clips to watch and podcasts to download as homework. The evening’s focus was on writing a joke—or at least beginning to write a joke—that could eventually evolve into a bit or even a full stand-up routine.
Each student chose a premise to pitch to the group, from the lessons learned from a five-hour stint in jail to the pros and cons of starting a fraternity for toddlers. Feedback was effusive and fast-paced as we workshopped each others’ ideas and laughed. Laughed a lot.
It was easy to see both instructors as stand-up comics, though that’s not to say they used the class as a sounding board for their own ideas. Instead, the pair had an easy rapport with the group, offering observations without imposing their comedic will on green potential comedians writing their first jokes.
Genuine, constructive critiques pushed the students to arrive at the best possible versions of their premises. When one would-be comic shunned his pages of already-written notes, White urged him to choose an idea he hadn’t yet done. “That’s not the process,” he said.
The student thought for a minute and pitched a new idea that quickly took shape as he talked his way through it. By the end of the evening, he was furiously scribbling, giddily filling up notebook pages.
“It’s gotta be personal,” said White, “because you have more vested in it.”
A woman with braces pitched an idea about famous singers with lisps after explaining that, since she got braces, she couldn’t sing in the car like she used to. A 10-minute roundtable about which singers and songs would work best for her joke had us in stitches again. “See?” said White. “Everything can become comedy.”
Blakeney added that students should look to the mundane as material: “Anything you can see that’s absurd in life—use that.”
As I watched their confidence blossom, I thought, even if some of these folks never tell their jokes on a stage, the interaction they had in the class made it all worthwhile.
I asked White about that—how many students continue doing stand-up after the six-week course? “You get out of it what you put into it,” he replied. “There’s a lot of potential that comes out of the class. Some people move onto the Standup 130 class [with focus on improv and writing], which tends to weed out the hobbyists. But stand-up is a beast and can be extremely intimidating. [You] have to accept that and adapt to the lifestyle before [you] can really get into it.”
I left with the wheels in my head turning on the premise of my own joke, lamenting that I wouldn’t be back the following Wednesday to continue fine-tuning it.
The six-week course ends with a graduation-of-sorts showcase at Goodnights, where friends and family are invited to hear the class perform its full-fledged stand-up routines. I know I’ll be there. I’ll hear them again and, I guarantee, I’ll be laughing.
by Kevin Flinn | Feb 28, 2018 | Do, March 2018
UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN living off the grid for the past decade, you’ve no doubt witnessed the proliferation of craft breweries across North Carolina, with explosive growth in the Triangle especially. According to the NC Craft Brewers Guild, the Old North State now boasts the most craft breweries in the South, with nearly 250 breweries and brewpubs.
However, the number of new brewery openings has slowed nationwide, from a peak of nearly 800 debuts in 2014 to about 700 in 2016, according to Dave Tollefson of NC Beer Guys, an all-in-one website that features beer news, maps and event listings. North Carolina’s market is no exception to the trend. Tollefsen says the economics of opening a craft brewery are the main reason why we’re seeing fewer new ones. “Early on, it was recommended that a [brewery] system should be no less than 10 barrels,” Tollefson says. (For reference, a barrel of beer is 31 gallons). “Lately, a lot of breweries are opening with two to fi ve barrel systems so the upfront cost isn’t as much and they look to grow and expand later, as needed.”
Fullsteam Brewery founder Sean Lilly Wilson says raising money for the concept of a craft brewery isn’t as easy as it might sound. “Real estate is getting more expensive, labor and input costs are rising and mega brewers are buying up small breweries in an attempt to maintain market share and relevance,” Wilson says. “It’s a competitive market, to say the least.” So, while opening a small-volume brewery may be in the brewers’ best interest, it could make recouping initial funding that much more diffi cult for investors.
Just because rapid expansion has slowed in the Triangle doesn’t mean brewing isn’t alive and well, though. Fullsteam saw 40 percent volume growth last year and is rapidly hitting capacity, according to Wilson. He says the collaborative spirit that defi nes the locavore movement helps breweries defi ne their industry, with established folks helping newcomers fi nd their footing. It’s a ‘we’re-all-in-this-together’ mentality that fosters collaboration over competition. When Kristie Nystedt started Raleigh Brewing Company in 2013, there were already three large breweries in Raleigh. Nystedt, the first woman to start a brewery in North Carolina, says they all “responded positively to our opening and absolutely set the stage for the enhanced community, culture and great taste that craft breweries create.” Glenn Cutler of NC Beer Guys says it’s the “farm-to-fork, buy lo- cal and healthy living movements of more recent years that have encouraged locals to support local businesses and seek locally sourced food and beverages,” most notably craft beer. Fullsteam has embraced this ethos with its “plow-to-pint” mentality that promotes new ways of thinking about entrepreneurship in the “post-tobacco South.” Wilson credits the state’s abundance of mid-sized cities, “growing urban areas with people who want locally made products and services.”
The newest entry into the local brewing game, just-inside-the-Belt-line’s Funguys Brewing, takes full advantage of the Triangle’s reputation for adventurous, knowledgeable, and thirsty customers, ones who will ideally return week after week. “A brewery normally can’t have the same four beers on tap all year and expect that to make consumers not want to try the new brewery down the street,” says Funguys co-founder Nick Brango. “That really takes a creative mind to keep something new and exciting on tap all the time. So, we feel the Triangle is in this perfect crossroads of having a wealth of ed- ucated consumers, who are eager for more quality beer, and breweries—like us—that are ready to experiment for the betterment of the craft.” New craft breweries may not be opening at the same clip they were a few years ago, but there’s defi nitely change afoot in the current market. Because of the symbiosis between breweries and food trucks, Tollefson envisions more breweries investing in kitchens and off ering full menus. “Food trucks became a staple at breweries to get food into patrons’ hands [but] breweries are destinations and they want to have patrons stay a bit, so the lure now is food.” Funguys’ Brango says that the entrepreneurial spirit, coupled with an emphasis on local ingredients and products, will keep craft breweries sustainable. “Breweries are getting better at knowing what keeps beer fans coming back,” he says.
by Kevin Flinn | Oct 30, 2017 | Do, November 2017
Worldwide sales of private-use drones have doubled in the last year-and-a- half, and the number of amateur and professional photographers employing this new technology has spiked accordingly. Travis Jack, owner of Wake Forest-based Flyboy Photo and Media, attributes the industry’s prodigious growth to easy access to good quality and small, affordable drones.
“Drone capabilities are growing while prices on decent, entry-level ones keep going down,” Jack explains. It’s like how a new smartphone, computer or TV model inevitably drops in price a few months or years down the road. “Five years ago, [Flyboy] was using a $30,000 rig to do what we can do with $5,500 right now.”
While the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has no stipulations on flying drones for fun, if you were to enlist a drone for business purposes—say, aerial photography—you’d need to be at least 16 years old, have earned your Remote Pilot Airman Certificate and passed federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) vetting. The FAA also has weight regulations for your drone, as well as location requirements and operating rules.
The industry’s expansion has created a market for qualified businesses and courses that teach private citizens how to fly drones, from Flyboy and similar companies to one-day workshops at Wake Tech and N.C. State. Once you’ve been trained, the sky’s the proverbial limit. (Kinda.)
It’s not as easy as simply strapping an iPhone to your new toy, however. Flying a drone does not a skilled shutterbug make.
To Jack, the drone itself is a tool, “a flying tripod.” His business is photography-first, with the drone serving as a means to get the camera in the air.
“People learn rather quickly that flying [a drone] does not make someone even a marginal photographer,” Jack says. “If you’re not a photographer first, you probably won’t become one overnight just because you spend a couple grand on a drone.”
As drones become more affordable and increasingly easy to operate, the market opens up to more and more amateur flyers. Jack, who trains drone pilots, calls flying the easy part but he’s also quick to note that an inexperienced pilot can still crash if he’s reckless or careless. He says it generally takes drone newbies three to four hours.
“They leave with fairly high levels of confidence in their new skill set,” he says.
At what point do we hit peak drone, though?
Granted, the ever-changing FAA regulations have kept some would-be drone pilots grounded, but Jack foresees continued industry growth in the future. Growth may not be at the same clip as over the past few years, but considering the falling costs of drone ownership, it certainly looks like they’re here to stay.
“Two years ago, you couldn’t walk into the Apple store, or Best Buy—or even Costco—and get a drone,” Jack says. “But today they have them in stock everywhere.”
