It’s Acadiana: Out To Lunch

Hosted ByChristiaan Mader

OUT TO LUNCH finds journalist Christiaan Mader conducting business Acadiana style: over lunch. Each week Christiaan invites guests from Acadiana's business community to join him. Beyond the foundations of the Acadiana economy - oil, cuisine, music - there is a vast network of entrepreneurs, small businesses, and even some of the country's largest companies who call Acadiana home. Out to Lunch is the cafeteria of the wider Acadiana business community. You can also hear the show on KRVS 88.7FM.

Hypno Boy Goes Bowling – Out to Lunch – It’s Acadiana

One of the knocks we frequently hear about being an entertainer in Acadiana, is that if you don’t play Cajun or Zydeco music, you’re not going to work.

If it’s true that the exception proves the rule, you’re not going to find a bigger exception to that rule than Flip Orley. Flip doesn’t play an accordion or fiddle. But he could make you play one. Flip Orley is a comic hypnotist.

Flip Orley

Flip has been entertaining audiences for 30 years. Although he lives in Acadiana, it’s possible you’ve never seen Flip’s show, or even heard of him. That’s because he’s hardly ever home. Aileen says, “I’ve been trying to find a date that Flip is in town to get him to be a guest on out to Lunch for over a year. Today, I’ve finally pulled it off.”

In her wildest imaginings, Aileen hadn’t envisaged just how off-the-rails a converation about business could go with a comic hypnotist. She soon finds out. And her other guest, Johnny Blancher, the owner of Rock’n’Bowl, only adds fuel to the fire.

Johnny Blancher

There are plenty of places to see Cajun and Zydeco music in Acadiana, and all kinds of other music as well – from rock to classical. But Rock’n’Bowl is the only venue in Lafayette – and only a few in the world – where you get to hear music accompanied by the sounds of ten-pins being knocked down. 

Rock’n’Bowl opened in downtown Lafayette in 2018. It’s a live music venue, a bowling alley, a bar, and a restaurant. All in the one place. Although on paper it sounds like these very different activities would compete, and detract from each other. But in real life it’s the opposite. At Rock’n’Bowl, bowling, live music, dancing, and eating feel like they belong together, and make for a unique night out.

Flip Orley, Johnny Blancher

Flip and Johnny hadn’t met before they sat down to lunch with Aileen. Amidst the stroies and one-liners you do actually get to find out something about the business side of being a comic hypnotist and running a music venue/bowling alley/restaurant – but on top of than that, you get a preview of what should become the Flip and Johny Show. 

Flip Orley, Johnny Blancher, Aileen Bennett

This is a unique episode of Out to Lunch Acadiana. Photos over lunch at Cafe Vermilionville by Lucius Fontenot.