A Variety Arts Weekend for the Ages!

travsd

April 29

I was invited to attend the TCM Festival a few days ago (they screened a bunch of old Vitaphones featuring the original technology) but I wisely opted to pass at the last minute, as I had (and still have) Marxfest to prepare for, and I also had the big events of this past weekend to think about, almost like doing a 5k prior to the marathon. On Saturday, April 27, Robert Prichard of Surf Reality and Radio Free Brooklyn and myself presented an All-Star bill of variety performers called Surf Coney Island out at Coney Island USA. Yesterday, April 28, was was my talk at the Queens Theatre commemorating the 1964 New York World's Fair, followed by an important planning meeting for Marxfest at the Lambs. It was basically a 39.5 hour workday with a four hour catnap in the middle, but I'm no stranger to such-like (nor, I'm sure, was anyone involved. That's show biz!) Anyway, I put together this little gallery of pix to mark the events, taken by friends (with special thanks to the indefatigable Norman Blake):

Your correspondent as host! I devised a new look for the occasion, which I believe may stick for awhile! Here was the extraordinary bill of fare:

The legendary FaceBoy (Frances Hall), commander of the longest-running open mic night in the city read stories both funny and moving.

Here he is backstage with Rev Jen. Back in the day, FaceBoy ran the open mic at Surf Reality, Jen ran hers, the Anti-Slam, at Collective Unconscious. In some subcultures that might have made them rivals, even foes, but they were pretty much best friends. It was kind of like utopia, having those options, on different nights, just a couple of blocks from each other, and the entire relationship was one of cooperation. It helps when everyone pretty much likes each other. Later when Collective moved to a former strip club in Tribeca, I took over hosting their open mic for a few months, on a sweet city grant. None of the old crowd came, though! It's not as easy as it looks. These two both seemed to possess endless wells of generosity and were so widely loved for it their open mics were invariably packed.

Sideshow Renaissance woman Lady Aye at work.

And at rest.

CIUSA's Adam Realman takes it on the tongue! He also did the razor blade and dental floss stunt -- that one always gets me!

Good friend Michele Carlo was there, and she told a terrific story about how she got together with her main squeeze Last-Up Larry, so-called because he tended to be last called in the open mic nights, which meant taking the stage in the wee hours in the morning.

The kids from Circus Luna! They actually took the stage around seven times, I think (I lost count) doing stooge bits, a great inspiration on their their boss Matt Mitler as their interruptions kept the show moving in a much more lively than I would have managed on my own as host. As you'll see in this recent post, Matt and I first performed on a bill together in 1990! He wants you to know that his independent film Cracking Up (1994) will be screening at Alamo Drafthouse on May 15, and is also available to stream on Amazon Prime. My friend Chuck Montgomery, from my 2015 show Horseplay is in it!

A few months ago I was proud to have presented a gay, Libertarian black comedian on the same bill with an Orthodox Jewish trans woman. Now I can proudly proclaim to have done a show with Faux Pas Le Fae, a left-handed, rootin', tootin' Texas trans sideshow performer in the Fakir Musafar tradition. Yee-haw! And ouch!

Mat Mitler returned in a solo turn with a Coke can that was even filthier than what Clarence Thomas did with HIS Coke can.

The reining Miss Coney Island, Aurora North stapled her bikini, but that's not nothing. I have definitely stapled my clothes together in wardrobe emergences. What make's Aurora's act special is that she staples the bikini to her BODY.

The immortal Rev Jen's act paired her with an equally deathless partner, a possessed and evil devil doll named Jennifer 3000.

Glen Heroy

The Brides (partners Aurora North and Faux Pas Le Fae) ate a li'l fire.

After the show I was ecstatic to see two old friends in the stands, Keith Nelson of the Bindlestiff Family Circus, and Viveca Gardner of Playful Productions.

It was 2am by the time I got home, but there was a spring in my step when I collapsed in bed by three. (My house is clear on the other side of Long Island from Coney -- widthwise, not lengthwise).

Next day was the 60th anniversary commemoration of the 1964 New York Worlds Fair, which took place in the Queens Theatre, located in the old New York State Pavilion from that very fair! Many thanks to Taryn Sacramone and her terrific staff, who not only filled the house for us, but helped us pull it off without a hitch! I'd venture to guess most New Yorkers rarely get to Flushing except to attend a Met's Game or a tennis match. I highly recommend picking a nice day, spending time kicking around Flushing Meadows Park, and visiting the cultural organizations that are there, including also the Queens Museum, the Queens Zoo, and the Hall of Science. I especially want to recommend the Queens Theatre's Theaterama series of programs taking place now through October to commemorate the fair.

The li'l feller in the pith helmet is me. The audience was so generous were thoughts, memories, and information. Over and above my own presentation on the history of the fair, I learned tons from the folks who had been there (most of the audience).

With me onstage for the program were four panelists, all friends and/or colleagues who had attended the fair, or even worked there, in their youths. Left to right: Deborah Kaufman, who sang there with her high school chorus; David Adamovich (a.k.a. The Great Throwdini), who had been an acrobat at the fair; Michael Townsend Wright, who attended with his cub scout den, and Dr. Pam Shelden (mother of Seth, Harpo from I'll Say She Is) who worked at the Brass Rail as a waitress. Thanks to one and all!

Finally, I wrapped the day with a Marxfest planning session at the Lambs! Some glimpses of us horsing around with new props and banners...which some of you may see in person in a couple of weeks!