You Oughta Know about tonight's Alanas Morisette tribute

I'm really excited about this Alanis Morissette tribute tonight at Joe's Pub celebrating the 17th anniversary of You Oughta Know. It's got an amazing lineup and is sure to be a lot of fun! I wasn't sure if I could make it until yesterday, and am excited about it after a week of insomnia nonstop work around the clock.

Featuring the best and brightest comedians, musicians and storytellers on the New York scene,You Oughta Know will pay wild tribute to the Canadian who changed your life when she burst onto the scene with the infamous lyric, "Every time I scratch my nails down someone else's back I hope you feel it," the one and only Alanis Morissette. Hosted and curated by Carolyn Castiglia (Comedy Central, VH1, Our Hit Parade) and Mindy Raf, aka Leibya Rogers (College Humor, VH1). Like rain on your wedding day, you'll never forget this night.

With:

Katina Corrao (Comedy Central)
Jessica Delfino (Edinburgh Fringe, Montreal Comedy Festival)
Ophira Eisenberg (host of NPR's Ask Me Another, The Moth, recently featured in the NYT)
Erin and her Cello (resident at Rockwood Music Hall, Ars Nova)
Eliot Glazer (author, My Parents Were Awesome, creator of Sh*t New Yorkers Say, editor at New York magazine's Vulture blog)
Jen Kwok (Comedy Central)
Ben Lerman (Keith and the Girl favorite)
Arthur Lewis & the Geniuses (Ars Nova, Freestyle Love Supreme)
Carla Rhodes (Glasgow Comedy Festival, residency at Arlene's Grocery)
Rachel Sklar (Huffington Post, Mediaite, Change The Ratio)
Stuckey and Murray (FUSE, MTV, Last Comic Standing)
Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan (The Electric Company, Freestyle Love Supreme)

Highly recommended comedy October 7th: "Funny Girls to the Front"

It's also my friend Samhita Mukhopadhyay's Outdated book party in Brooklyn and, of course, Yom Kippur, but if you're in NYC and want to laugh your ass off, $10 is a huge bargain for these funny ladies. And Sara Marcus's Girls to the Front is a book I highly recommend. I'll be atoning in my own way. I've been doing lots of it but have a bunch of apologies to muster up the courage to deliver. Don't think I'm gonna fast this year, but we'll see. My mistakes are often ones I repeat ad nauseam so all I can ask for in the coming year is to make new mistakes. And be ready for anything.

Funny Girls to the Front
Part of New Museum Presents

$10 Members, $12 General Public

Featuring performances by Carolyn Castiglia, Bridget Everett, Erin Markey, Larissa Velez-Jackson, and Becky Yamamoto. Hosted by Adira Amram and the Experience.

Drawing inspiration from two disparate sources—Sara Marcus’s book Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution and the Barbara Streisand movie Funny Girl (a musical comedy about a Follies star who leaves her husband after he nearly sabotages her entire career)—tonight’s program, “Funny Girls to the Front,” showcases a line-up of female artists who make music funny on their own terms. These irrepressible entertainers employ original music in provocative and hilarious ways as an integral part of their performance practices, confronting assumptions and redefining the boundaries of their chosen disciplines (comedy, cabaret, performance art, and contemporary dance) in the process.

Free candy cane cookies, plus cupcakes, blue corn chips, BBQ potato chips & more 11/18 at Comedy Sex Night

Because I'm the product of two Jewish grandmothers and don't have any kids to foist food upon...so I do it to you. And I get sucked into Trader Joe's yumminess. Plus 100 Baked by Melissa cupcakes, blue corn chips, BBQ and salt and vinegar potato chips and an outstanding lineup of comedians and writers. Lucky you, because I'll be entertained by JetBlue while you're LOLing. Please spread the word!




In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the November 18th In The Flesh event listing. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
COMEDY SEX NIGHT
November 18, 2010, 8:00 pm - 10 pm
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Our popular Comedy Sex Night returns! Featuring Marty Beckerman, Sara Benincasa, Kiri Blakeley, Kim Brittingham, Jessica Delfino, Matt Koff, Sara Schaefer and Mandy Stadtmiller, Jacquetta Szathmari and Elon James White. Plus special guests! Hosted by Carolyn Castiglia (Splurge!). 5 copies of the book Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk and 1 copy of The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex will be given away. 100 free copies of Sexis Magazine will be distributed. Free Baked by Melissa cupcakes, candy and chips will be served. This is the countdown to the final In The Flesh December 16th so don't miss a very special night!

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named
Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. The series was named Best Reading Series by New York Press in 2009. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Mike Albo, Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Julie Powell, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Daily Candy, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Marty Beckerman is the author of Generation S.L.U.T. and Dumbocracy. He has written for Playboy, Salon, and The Daily Beast.
www.martybeckerman.com



Sara Benincasa is a comedian, writer and radio talk show host. Her outspoken, sexually-charged comedy has won praise from the Chicago Tribune, CNN, The Guardian, and The New York Times, among others. Sara is the host of *Get in Bed* on Cosmo Radio, the world’s #1 brand for women, every weeknight at 8PM ET (Sirius 111/XM 162). She was a citizen journalist for the 2008 MTV Choose or Lose Street Team, part of MTV’s 2008 Emmy Award-winning Think campaign. Her political blog and video news reports can be found on MTV’s social justice and activism website, ThinkMTV. During the 2008 election, Sara created a splash with her original Sarah Palin vlogs on Huffington Post's humor site, 23/6, a web series for which she won an ECNY Award and
was nominated for a Webby for best performance. Sara was also the host of Nerve.com's Tub Talk with Sara B, a show she has revamped into Gettin' Wet with Sara Benincasa, a series in which she interviews artists in her bathtub. Sara’s solo show, Agorafabulous, is based on her experience with panic attacks and combines the sharp hilarity that's made her a hit on the web with the nutty magnetism that's made her a rising star in the alternative-comedy scene. Sara has taken Agorafabulous to theaters across the country and to LAFF, WICF, Sketchfest, and the Norwegian Storytelling Festival in Oslo. Sara is a regular blogger for Wonkette.com and the Comedy Central Indecision blog, and is currently working on a book based on her critically acclaimed solo show for William Morrow (a division of Harper Collins).
www.sarabenincasa.com



Kiri Blakeley was a writer for Forbes magazine for ten years where she covered entertainment, celebrities, fashion, lifestyle, technology, wealthy people, travel, and entrepreneurs. She has profiled celebrities such as Tyra Banks, Sandra Bullock, Padma Lakshmi, and Heidi Klum, and written about directors such as Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) and Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!). She is the author of the memoir Can't Think Straight: A Memoir of Mixed-Up Love. She has a regular column that appears on Forbes.com. She graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Two of her love letters appear in Bill Shapiro’s anthology Other People’s Love Letters.
kiriblakeley.com



Kim Brittingham is reading a chapter from her memoir Read My Hips which is forthcoming from Crown in 2011. You can learn more about her, read her blog
and get in touch at www.kimwrites.com.



Carolyn Castiglia has appeared on Comedy Central, VH1, MTV, NBC and Nick-at-Nite. She's an ECNY Award nominated stand-up and musical comedian best known for her funny freestyle, which has won her numerous championships at UCB's The BEATdown. Carolyn's voice has been heard by millions on YouTube in the Key of Awesome parodies Telephone (as Beyonce) and Bieber Fever (as Justin Bieber). KOA's Telephone parody was featured in two issues of Entertainment Weekly. Her solo show Brown Ambition premiered at Ars Nova theatre in February 2009. It went on to run Off-Broadway at 59E59 and played for a month at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Three Weeks said, "Carolyn Castiglia was the funniest female comedian I've seen at the fringe." Her writing has appeared in Life & Style magazine, MarieClaire.com, and she blogs daily for Babble, a parenting site recently voted one of Time magazine's 50 Best Websites.
carolyncastiglia.blogspot.com



Jessica Delfino has been publicly denounced by the Catholic League for her dirty folk music, praised by Thurston Moore, Michael Musto and other VIPS (or very important pens) and travels the world singing songs about vaginas. However, tonight, she will read you a totally true tale from her sexual repertoire. Visit her online at jessicadelfino.com or google her all night long.



Matt Koff is a writer/comedian who has lived in most boroughs that are not Manhattan. He is a contributing writer for the Onion News Network, as well as the Onion Sports Network television show which debuts next year on Comedy Central. He co-writes and voice acts in the barely-animated webseries 9 AM Meeting (9ammeeting.com). In his spare time, he enjoys listening to Charles Mingus records, eating pound cake, and ruminating on how his best days are likely behind him.
www.mattkoff.com



Sara Schaefer is the head blogger for Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement for Interactive Media in both 2009 and 2010. Prior to joining Late Night she was an editor for BestWeekEver.tv and hosted AOL’s on-line show, The DL. She has been featured in New York Magazine, Backstage and The New York Post, and has appeared on Vh1, E!, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. She regularly performs all over New York City.
www.saraschaefer.com



Mandy Stadtmiller is a comedian and an entertainment writer for The New York Post, the fifth largest newspaper in the country. She’s won the title of Funniest Reporter in New York and placed in the semi-finals of the Funniest Stand-Up in New York. In 2010, she went undercover as a client to hire the nation’s first legal male prostitute. Published in the Rejected anthology which Publishers Weekly noted as “remarkable” and highlighted her contribution, Stadtmiller has contributed to Playgirl, The LA Times, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and Comedy Central as a featured comedian blogger. Her TV appearances include The Insider, Howard Stern TV, The Joy Behar Show, Fuse’s Ten Great Reasons, FOX’s Good Day New York, Fox’s Red Eye, VH1’s Rockumentaries and NBC-LX.
mandystadtmiller.com



Jacquetta Szathmari is a NYC-based screenwriter and comedian. A native of extremely rural Maryland, she escaped to a Delaware boarding school where in the face of crew races and bold Laura Ashley floral prints, she developed a unique comic style. Her act is a witty, acerbic and candid commentary on race/class relations and the failures of modern society. Her one-woman show That’s funny. You didn’t sound black on the phone., based on her childhood in Coleman’s Corner, Maryland was nominated for “Best Comedy” at the 2010 Hollywood Fringe Festival and garnered praise from both LA Weekly and Backstage. Her latest project, Hey you know it, with comedian Katie Kazimir is now available on iTunes.



Elon James White, Editor in Chief of ThisWeekinBlackness.com is a Brooklyn-based comedian, writer and host of the award-winning web series This Week in Blackness, a satirical look at race, politics and pop-culture in a so-called “post-racial” America. White has been a featured commentator on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, VH1's “Black to the Future” & “The Great Debate.”His commentary on race and politics has been featured on CNN.com, Daily Kos, The Huffington Post, Giant Magazine, Alternet & The Root. Praised as "The perfect comedian for the Obama era, talking race while exploding racial stereotypes" by Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry on Politco.com & as "Precise, thought provoking and hilarious" by Daily Show creator Lizz Winstead, White continues to win accolades from critics, academia and audiences alike. White was the recipient of four 2009 Black Weblog Awards, including Best Humor Blog, Best MicroBlog (Twitter), Best Video Blog and Blog of the Year. He has been featured in The NY Observer, NY Post, Gothamist, Newsweek and Gawker and has appeared on ComedyCentral.com and Sirius Satellite Radio. White’s festival appearances include the 2010 SF Sketchfest, 2010 Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival, 2010 NC Comedy Arts Fest, 2009 LA Comedy Festival and more. He is currently on a Post-Racial College Tour and a featured contributer on Salon & Newsone.

Giveaways!


5 copies of Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk by the Association for the Betterment of Sex


1 copy of The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex by Kristen Schaal and Rich Blomquist

Carolyn Castiglia guest hosting In The Flesh Comedy Sex Night November 18th

I have good news and bad news; the good is that I'm going to be flying out to LA from November 19-21 for something very cool I will tell you about when I can. The bad news is I have to miss, yet again, Comedy Sex Night at In The Flesh. But don't let that stop you. I have the wonderful Carolyn Castiglia of Splurge! fame guest hosting and a truly rockstar lineup. Mark your calendars.


In The Flesh logo by Molly Crabapple

There is no RSVP requirement, but if you'd like to RSVP and/or spread the word on Facebook, click here for the November 18th In The Flesh event listing. See also the In The Flesh Reading Series fan page on Facebook.

IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
COMEDY SEX NIGHT
November 18, 2010, 8:00 pm - 10 pm
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Our popular Comedy Sex Night returns! Featuring Marty Beckerman, Sara Benincasa, Kiri Blakeley, Kim Brittingham, Jessica Delfino, Matt Koff, Sara Schaefer and Mandy Stadtmiller, Jacquetta Szathmari and Elon James White. Plus special guests! Hosted by Carolyn Castiglia (Splurge!). 5 copies of the book Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk and 1 copy of The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex will be given away. 100 free copies of Sexis Magazine will be distributed. Free Baked by Melissa cupcakes, candy and chips will be served. This is the countdown to the final In The Flesh December 16th so don't miss a very special night!

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named
Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. The series was named Best Reading Series by New York Press in 2009. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Mike Albo, Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Julie Powell, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Daily Candy, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, NBC New York, New York Post, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Fork in the Road, Gawker, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com, Serious Eats, Tasting Table and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Marty Beckerman is the author of Generation S.L.U.T. and Dumbocracy. He has written for Playboy, Salon, and The Daily Beast.
www.martybeckerman.com



Sara Benincasa is a comedian, writer and radio talk show host. Her outspoken, sexually-charged comedy has won praise from the Chicago Tribune, CNN, The Guardian, and The New York Times, among others. Sara is the host of *Get in Bed* on Cosmo Radio, the world’s #1 brand for women, every weeknight at 8PM ET (Sirius 111/XM 162). She was a citizen journalist for the 2008 MTV Choose or Lose Street Team, part of MTV’s 2008 Emmy Award-winning Think campaign. Her political blog and video news reports can be found on MTV’s social justice and activism website, ThinkMTV. During the 2008 election, Sara created a splash with her original Sarah Palin vlogs on Huffington Post's humor site, 23/6, a web series for which she won an ECNY Award and
was nominated for a Webby for best performance. Sara was also the host of Nerve.com's Tub Talk with Sara B, a show she has revamped into Gettin' Wet with Sara Benincasa, a series in which she interviews artists in her bathtub. Sara’s solo show, Agorafabulous, is based on her experience with panic attacks and combines the sharp hilarity that's made her a hit on the web with the nutty magnetism that's made her a rising star in the alternative-comedy scene. Sara has taken Agorafabulous to theaters across the country and to LAFF, WICF, Sketchfest, and the Norwegian Storytelling Festival in Oslo. Sara is a regular blogger for Wonkette.com and the Comedy Central Indecision blog, and is currently working on a book based on her critically acclaimed solo show for William Morrow (a division of Harper Collins).
www.sarabenincasa.com



Kiri Blakeley was a writer for Forbes magazine for ten years where she covered entertainment, celebrities, fashion, lifestyle, technology, wealthy people, travel, and entrepreneurs. She has profiled celebrities such as Tyra Banks, Sandra Bullock, Padma Lakshmi, and Heidi Klum, and written about directors such as Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) and Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!). She is the author of the memoir Can't Think Straight: A Memoir of Mixed-Up Love. She has a regular column that appears on Forbes.com. She graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Two of her love letters appear in Bill Shapiro’s anthology Other People’s Love Letters.
kiriblakeley.com



Kim Brittingham is reading a chapter from her memoir Read My Hips which is forthcoming from Crown in 2011. You can learn more about her, read her blog
and get in touch at www.kimwrites.com.



Carolyn Castiglia has appeared on Comedy Central, VH1, MTV, NBC and Nick-at-Nite. She's an ECNY Award nominated stand-up and musical comedian best known for her funny freestyle, which has won her numerous championships at UCB's The BEATdown. Carolyn's voice has been heard by millions on YouTube in the Key of Awesome parodies Telephone (as Beyonce) and Bieber Fever (as Justin Bieber). KOA's Telephone parody was featured in two issues of Entertainment Weekly. Her solo show Brown Ambition premiered at Ars Nova theatre in February 2009. It went on to run Off-Broadway at 59E59 and played for a month at the 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Three Weeks said, "Carolyn Castiglia was the funniest female comedian I've seen at the fringe." Her writing has appeared in Life & Style magazine, MarieClaire.com, and she blogs daily for Babble, a parenting site recently voted one of Time magazine's 50 Best Websites.
carolyncastiglia.blogspot.com



Jessica Delfino has been publicly denounced by the Catholic League for her dirty folk music, praised by Thurston Moore, Michael Musto and other VIPS (or very important pens) and travels the world singing songs about vaginas. However, tonight, she will read you a totally true tale from her sexual repertoire. Visit her online at jessicadelfino.com or google her all night long.



Matt Koff is a writer/comedian who has lived in most boroughs that are not Manhattan. He is a contributing writer for the Onion News Network, as well as the Onion Sports Network television show which debuts next year on Comedy Central. He co-writes and voice acts in the barely-animated webseries 9 AM Meeting (9ammeeting.com). In his spare time, he enjoys listening to Charles Mingus records, eating pound cake, and ruminating on how his best days are likely behind him.
www.mattkoff.com



Sara Schaefer is the head blogger for Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, for which she won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement for Interactive Media in both 2009 and 2010. Prior to joining Late Night she was an editor for BestWeekEver.tv and hosted AOL’s on-line show, The DL. She has been featured in New York Magazine, Backstage and The New York Post, and has appeared on Vh1, E!, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. She regularly performs all over New York City.
www.saraschaefer.com



Mandy Stadtmiller is a comedian and an entertainment writer for The New York Post, the fifth largest newspaper in the country. She’s won the title of Funniest Reporter in New York and placed in the semi-finals of the Funniest Stand-Up in New York. In 2010, she went undercover as a client to hire the nation’s first legal male prostitute. Published in the Rejected anthology which Publishers Weekly noted as “remarkable” and highlighted her contribution, Stadtmiller has contributed to Playgirl, The LA Times, The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel and Comedy Central as a featured comedian blogger. Her TV appearances include The Insider, Howard Stern TV, The Joy Behar Show, Fuse’s Ten Great Reasons, FOX’s Good Day New York, Fox’s Red Eye, VH1’s Rockumentaries and NBC-LX.
mandystadtmiller.com



Jacquetta Szathmari is a NYC-based screenwriter and comedian. A native of extremely rural Maryland, she escaped to a Delaware boarding school where in the face of crew races and bold Laura Ashley floral prints, she developed a unique comic style. Her act is a witty, acerbic and candid commentary on race/class relations and the failures of modern society. Her one-woman show That’s funny. You didn’t sound black on the phone., based on her childhood in Coleman’s Corner, Maryland was nominated for “Best Comedy” at the 2010 Hollywood Fringe Festival and garnered praise from both LA Weekly and Backstage. Her latest project, Hey you know it, with comedian Katie Kazimir is now available on iTunes.



Elon James White Bio TK

Giveaways!


5 copies of Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk by the Association for the Betterment of Sex


1 copy of The Sexy Book of Sexy Sex by Kristen Schaal and Rich Blomquist

NYC culture: free comedy, Jackie O, LSD and time travel: NYC culture at its finest

No time for anything more than links, sorry! I'm going to some of these, and even though I haven't seen them yet, I do recommend them because they sound interesting.



The finest free comedy around - my face still hurts from laughing at the first two!

Karen Finley: The Jackie Look - going tomorrow night, closing night

KAREN FINLEY, the most controversial woman in performance today, premieres her latest work THE JACKIE LOOK beginning January 30 at The Laurie Beechman Theatre. Performances have been extended through March 27, 2010.

In THE JACKIE LOOK, Karen Finley brings icon Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis back to life in this unique look at history, style, trauma, femininity and the demands of being the First Lady. Using the structure of a lecture set in the present day, Jackie, one of the most photographed woman of her day, contemplates her life in pictures. Jackie also makes use of You Tube and views online homages to her and her family. Along the way Jackie ruminates on Michelle Obama, Caroline's run for Senate, the art world, and the lasting impact of that fateful day on the grassy knoll in Dallas.

Since her first performances in the early 1980's, KAREN FINLEY has become synonymous with performance art. She is the recipient of two Obies, two Bessies, and multiple grants from the NEA and NYSCA. She has toured internationally with pieces including Make Love, George & Martha, The American Chestnut, A Certain Level of Denial and The Return of The Chocolate Smeared Woman. In 1990, Finley became an unwilling symbol for the NEA when she, along with Tim Miller, Holly Hughes & John Fleck, sued the NEA for withdrawing grants on the grounds of indecency.

THE JACKIE LOOK runs January 30 - March 27, Saturdays at 7:30pm. The Laurie Beechman Theater is located inside West Bank Cafe at 407 West 42nd Street -- at Ninth Avenue, accessible from the A,C,E,N,R,V,F,1,2,3 trains at 42nd Street. Tickets are $20, plus $15 food/drink minimum, available at 212-352-3101 or online here.



The Bike Trip

Going on the last day in NYC, March 7th. Click here to read more

The Great and Secret Show

Mike Daisey is well known for his hilarious, monologues, but he’s kept his radio career secret – until now. For the first time ever in its 114-year history, THE GREAT AND SECRET SHOW will be made available for a live studio audience in The Greene Space and to viewers at home via webcast at thegreenespace.org.

This unprecedented opportunity to witness three new live productions of the heretofore clandestine radio programme will take place on March 12th, April 16th, and May 12th at 7:00 pm.

Launched in 1896 at the dawn of radio and still transmitted via Tesla Oscillator today, the programme was designed exclusively for Masons of the 3rd Order and higher. Long assumed to be the stuff of conspiracy theories,THE GREAT AND SECRET SHOW is in fact the world’s longest continuously broadcasting radio programme. Though only heard by a small number of individuals throughout history, those Secret Masters have been the movers and shakers who have shaped the world as it is today.

THE GREAT AND SECRET SHOW features a blend of Mr. Daisey’s masterful and poignant storytelling with news and interviews with the newsmaking people of our day: bold adventurers, scientists (mad and otherwise), wayward princesses, dashing rogues, and other colorful figures of Our Society. The show covers the latest discoveries in cryptozoology, telluric currents, and advances in both steam and electrical technologies, presenting them in a manner both accessible and informative. Expect trenchant analysis, penetrating wit, and social critique both acid-tongued and whip-smart. Now, at long last, the programme beloved by the Secret Masters will be shared with the world.

When reached for comment, Mr. Daisey said, “From the depths of its black and unknown tunnels to the blinding heights of its terrible skyscrapers, New York City is the best, last bastion of civilization’s hopes and terrors. Sending my voice into its ether, night after night, in this impossible metropolis is both an honor and a privilege.”

Long-time listener Franklin Delano Roosevelt said of the programme, “THE GREAT AND SECRET SHOW is the most essential and clear-throated voice for liberty and civilization that can be heard in these dark times.”

Friday, March 12, 2010 at 07:00 PM
Duration: 2 hours
Tickets: $25

Why Splurge! should be your must-see comedy show

On Friday, I went to Carolyn Castiglia's new comedy show Splurge! at Happy Ending Lounge. And I heard a song by Shayna Ferm that I'd never heard before and am now totally in love with. For all the moms and dads and others who are into babies...

The entire show was hilarious; I laughed so hard I peed, and can't wait til the next one. I was also impressed at how many comedians were in the audience, like Roger Hailes and Seth Herzog. I used to be a very avid fan of the NYC comedy scene and want to get back into it because it feels so freaking good to laugh so hard your face hurts.

200 free cupcakes at Sex and Comedy Night this Thursday October 15th!

Yes, we are having our first guest host while I'm in San Francisco for Litquake. I promise you LOTS and LOTS of laughter! Please come out and show Carolyn and everyone else how funny sex can be!


And yes, OF COURSE, there will be free cupcakes! 200 free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa, in fact! So picture the photo above, times two, but be warned - they go fast.

In the ultra swanky, sexy former massage parlor that is Happy Ending Lounge:



IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
SEX AND COMEDY NIGHT
October 15th at 8 PM (doors at 7; we recommend arriving by 7:30 for a seat)
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Sex and Comedy Night is back with guest host Carolyn Castiglia (Last Comic Standing, Funniest Mom in America) filling in for Rachel Kramer Bussel. Featuring comedians Seth Herzog (Sweet), Dan Hirshon (Lampshades and Ottomans), Shayna Ferm, Shawn Hollenbach (Miss Fag Hag Pageant), Margot Leitman (Stripped Stories) and Mindy Raf (Best Night Ever), as well as writers Marty Beckerman (Dumbocracy) and Megan Carpentier. 200 free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Marty Beckerman, 26, is the author of Dumbocracy, Generation S.L.U.T. and Death to All Cheerleaders. He has written for Playboy, Discover, Huffington Post, New York Press, mediabistro and The Daily Beast, and has been featured by the New York Times, Gawker, MSNBC, ABCNews.com, Salon.com and National Public Radio. Christian Lander, bestselling author of Stuff White People Like, said of Dumbocracy: "Beckerman uses the deft and subtle touch of a sledgehammer. If you can read this entire book without being offended, then there is a good chance that you are illiterate. If you can read this entire book and not enjoy it, then there's a good chance you take yourself too seriously."
www.martybeckerman.com



Megan Carpentier is a freelance writer and a former editor of Jezebel.com whose work has also been published in The Daily Beast, Glamour and Ms.


chaoticmegan.blogspot.com

Carolyn Castiglia has been seen and heard nationally on VH1, MTV2, NBC's Last Comic Standing, Nick-at-Nite's Funniest Mom in America, The Maury Show, ABC World News with Charles Gibson and Sirius/XM Radio. She performs stand-up all over New York, in both alternative venues and mainstream clubs. Internationally she's appeared at the Comedy Cafe in Amsterdam and most recently at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she filmed a pilot for BBC3 with Brown Eyed Boy called Laughter Shock, showcasing the 14 edgiest International stand-ups at the Fringe. Her solo show, Brown Ambition, has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theatres and premiered at Ars Nova. Her joke writing has appeared in Time Out New York, the New York Post and The Idiot's Guide to Jokes. http://carolyncastiglia.blogspot.com


photo by Anya Garrett

Shayna Ferm performs solo, with her band and also with her sketch comedy group, Fearsome, at music and comedy venues all over NYC. Her band, "Shayna Ferm and the Upper Deckers" released their first album, Blonde, last year. She is currently working on a video project for one of her latest hits.
www.shaynaferm.com



Seth Herzog has been a professional actor since elementary school and performing stand up since the 5th grade talent show. After doing a lot of theater as a youth (and 5 summers at Stagedoor Manor), he found stand up again once he moved back to NY in 1994, and since than has a been a vital force in the thriving downtown scene. He's the creator and producer of Sweet, a long running, popular show at the Slipper Room. Sweet has hosted some of the greatest talents in the country, along with his Mom. On the big screen, Seth has appeared the films, Role Models, The Ten, The Baxter, Safe Men, In the Weeds and upcoming The Winning Season. On the small screen, Seth has been a regular pop culture pundit on VH1's Best Week Ever and All Access series for the last 5 years. Also, he's had some memorable turns on Comedy Central's "The Chappelle Show" & "Stella" as well as, CBS's Love Monkey, E! #1 Single, and AMC's Date Night.



Though incapable of doing his own laundry, Dan Hirshon is able to leave audiences in hysterics. Since taking the spotlight in Boston's Theater District several years ago Dan has performed at the Boston and Las Vegas Comedy Festivals, co-written and produced the sketch comedy album, Lampshades and Ottomans, and shared secrets about his traumatic childhood with strangers from Maine to South Africa. If you are looking to laugh or just looking for a 90-pound basket case with a Jewfro who dresses like a seventh grader, then you'll love Dan.



Shawn Hollenbach is a New York based stand-up comedian, improv actor and songwriter. You may have seen him on Logo's Gayest Week Ever or hear him occasionally on The Frank DeCaro Show on Sirus/XM's OutQ Radio. He has been featured on two episodes of Hot Gay Comics Live on here! TV and was the host of a celebrity video podcast, Busted. Shawn is the producer of Closet Cases, a Critics' Pick for Time Out NY and a Homo Must for HX Magazine. He was the creator and co-producer of the Miss Fag Hag Pageant featuring Caroline Rhea, Hedda Lettuce and Michael Musto. He also co-produces The Back Room at Comix Ochi's Lounge and The Skip and Sparkle Variety Show as Skip Lickdale with Katina Corrao. Shawn has also been on the Comedy Central at Crash Mansion Showcase and has performed with the Funny Gay Males 20th Anniversary Show at Gotham Comedy Club.
www.shawnhollenbach.com



Margot Leitman’s off beat, brutally honest, fearless comedy has earned her two ECNY “Best Female Stand Up” nominations and the “Joke of the Week” in Time Out New York. Margot now regularly appears as various characters, including the cult favorite Gynoblast on Late Night With Conan O’ Brien, in addition to appearances on VH1’s Best Week Ever, ESPN’s Cheap Seats, AMC, the Style Network, E!, Comedy Central, MTV and NBC Broadband. Most recently she can be heard as the voice of “Fox” on the new Spike TV cartoon The Team, as a featured comedian on Comedy Central.com’s Weekly Evil, and dancing in the current Mohegan Sun ad campaign. Every month she and Giulia Rozzi co-host the wildly popular, monthly, sex-themed storytelling show Stripped Stories. Margot has been featured in Glamour magazine, and the books Fifty Dates Worse Than Yours and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Jokes. She has written online for the Lifetime Network, College Humor.com, EHow.com and in print for Playgirl magazine.
www.margotleitman.com



Mindy Raf has appeared regularly on VH1's Best Night Ever, and has contributed her comedy and voiceover work for WACB, The Daily Comedy Network, and Embraceyourgrace.com. Mindy also authored a widely-read relationship column on College Humor.com that has been featured in The New Yorker and the New York Post. Mindy performs stand-up and musical comedy as well as sketch characters all over New York, in both alternative venues and mainstream clubs. Her most popular character being chick rocker/vegan activist Leibya (Labia) Rogers, who she played recently in her solo show Leibya Fair! Mindy is currently working on her first novel which is set to be published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin.
www.mindyraf.com

Sex and Comedy Night October 15th at In The Flesh Reading Series

And the final Quickies takes place Friday, October 2, 7:30-8:30. Free cupcakes, lots of great readers and the great relief for me of not trying to organize another one! They've been fun but no time and it's better to focus on building up In The Flesh. In November I have so many awesome giveaways of sex toys, a $100 Babeland gift card, 2010 Sex Blogger Calendars, and more. But first I have to make it through November - 6 events in October plus plugging sex and comedy night. WOW.

Yes, we are having our first guest host while I'm in San Francisco for Litquake. I promise you LOTS and LOTS of laughter! Please come out and show Carolyn and everyone else how funny sex can be!

And yes, OF COURSE, there will be free cupcakes!

In the ultra swanky, sexy former massage parlor that is Happy Ending Lounge:



IN THE FLESH EROTIC READING SERIES
SEX AND COMEDY NIGHT
October 15th at 8 PM (doors at 7; we recommend arriving by 7:30 for a seat)
AT HAPPY ENDING LOUNGE, 302 BROOME STREET, NYC
(B/D to Grand, J/M/Z to Bowery, F to Delancey or F/V to 2nd Avenue, http://www.happyendinglounge.com)
Between Forsyth & Eldridge. Look for the hot pink awning that says "XIE HE Health Club."
Admission: Free
Happy Ending Lounge: 212-334-9676
http://www.inthefleshreadingseries.com

Sex and Comedy Night is back with guest host Carolyn Castiglia (Last Comic Standing, Funniest Mom in America) filling in for Rachel Kramer Bussel. Featuring comedians Seth Herzog (Sweet), Dan Hirshon (Lampshades and Ottomans), Shayna Ferm, Shawn Hollenbach (Miss Fag Hag Pageant), Margot Leitman (Stripped Stories) and Mindy Raf (Best Night Ever), as well as writers Marty Beckerman (Dumbocracy) and Megan Carpentier. Free cupcakes from Baked by Melissa will be served.

In the Flesh is a monthly reading series hosted at the appropriately named Happy Ending Lounge, and features the country's best erotic writers sharing stories to get you hot and bothered, hosted and curated by acclaimed erotic writer and editor Rachel Kramer Bussel. From erotic poetry to down and dirty smut, these authors get naked on the page and will make you lust after them and their words. Since its debut in October 2005, In the Flesh has featured such authors as Laura Antoniou, Mo Beasley, Susie Bright, Lily Burana, Jessica Cutler, Mike Daisey, Stephen Elliott, Valerie Frankel, Polly Frost, Gael Greene, Andy Horwitz, Debra Hyde, Maxim Jakubowski, Emily Scarlet Kramer of CAKE, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, Edith Layton, Logan Levkoff, Suzanne Portnoy, Sofia Quintero, M.J. Rose, Lauren Sanders, Danyel Smith, Grant Stoddard, Cecilia Tan, Carol Taylor, Dana Vachon, Veronica Vera, Susan Wright, Zane and many others. The series has gotten press attention from the New York Times’s UrbanEye, Escape (Hong Kong), Flavorpill, The L Magazine, New York Magazine, New York Observer, Philadelphia City Paper, Time Out New York, Flavorwire, Gothamist, Jezebel.com, Nerve.com and Wonkette, and has been praised by Dr. Ruth.

Marty Beckerman, 26, is the author of Dumbocracy, Generation S.L.U.T. and Death to All Cheerleaders. He has written for Playboy, Discover, Huffington Post, New York Press, mediabistro and The Daily Beast, and has been featured by the New York Times, Gawker, MSNBC, ABCNews.com, Salon.com and National Public Radio. Christian Lander, bestselling author of Stuff White People Like, said of Dumbocracy: "Beckerman uses the deft and subtle touch of a sledgehammer. If you can read this entire book without being offended, then there is a good chance that you are illiterate. If you can read this entire book and not enjoy it, then there's a good chance you take yourself too seriously."
www.martybeckerman.com



Megan Carpentier is a freelance writer and a former editor of Jezebel.com whose work has also been published in The Daily Beast, Glamour and Ms.


chaoticmegan.blogspot.com

Carolyn Castiglia has been seen and heard nationally on VH1, MTV2, NBC's Last Comic Standing, Nick-at-Nite's Funniest Mom in America, The Maury Show, ABC World News with Charles Gibson and Sirius/XM Radio. She performs stand-up all over New York, in both alternative venues and mainstream clubs. Internationally she's appeared at the Comedy Cafe in Amsterdam and most recently at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she filmed a pilot for BBC3 with Brown Eyed Boy called Laughter Shock, showcasing the 14 edgiest International stand-ups at the Fringe. Her solo show, Brown Ambition, has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theatres and premiered at Ars Nova. Her joke writing has appeared in Time Out New York, the New York Post and The Idiot's Guide to Jokes. http://carolyncastiglia.blogspot.com


photo by Anya Garrett

Shayna Ferm performs solo, with her band and also with her sketch comedy group, Fearsome, at music and comedy venues all over NYC. Her band, "Shayna Ferm and the Upper Deckers" released their first album, Blonde, last year. She is currently working on a video project for one of her latest hits.
www.shaynaferm.com



Seth Herzog has been a professional actor since elementary school and performing stand up since the 5th grade talent show. After doing a lot of theater as a youth (and 5 summers at Stagedoor Manor), he found stand up again once he moved back to NY in 1994, and since than has a been a vital force in the thriving downtown scene. He's the creator and producer of Sweet, a long running, popular show at the Slipper Room. Sweet has hosted some of the greatest talents in the country, along with his Mom. On the big screen, Seth has appeared the films, Role Models, The Ten, The Baxter, Safe Men, In the Weeds and upcoming The Winning Season. On the small screen, Seth has been a regular pop culture pundit on VH1's Best Week Ever and All Access series for the last 5 years. Also, he's had some memorable turns on Comedy Central's "The Chappelle Show" & "Stella" as well as, CBS's Love Monkey, E! #1 Single, and AMC's Date Night.



Though incapable of doing his own laundry, Dan Hirshon is able to leave audiences in hysterics. Since taking the spotlight in Boston's Theater District several years ago Dan has performed at the Boston and Las Vegas Comedy Festivals, co-written and produced the sketch comedy album, Lampshades and Ottomans, and shared secrets about his traumatic childhood with strangers from Maine to South Africa. If you are looking to laugh or just looking for a 90-pound basket case with a Jewfro who dresses like a seventh grader, then you'll love Dan.



Shawn Hollenbach is a New York based stand-up comedian, improv actor and songwriter. You may have seen him on Logo's Gayest Week Ever or hear him occasionally on The Frank DeCaro Show on Sirus/XM's OutQ Radio. He has been featured on two episodes of Hot Gay Comics Live on here! TV and was the host of a celebrity video podcast, Busted. Shawn is the producer of Closet Cases, a Critics' Pick for Time Out NY and a Homo Must for HX Magazine. He was the creator and co-producer of the Miss Fag Hag Pageant featuring Caroline Rhea, Hedda Lettuce and Michael Musto. He also co-produces The Back Room at Comix Ochi's Lounge and The Skip and Sparkle Variety Show as Skip Lickdale with Katina Corrao. Shawn has also been on the Comedy Central at Crash Mansion Showcase and has performed with the Funny Gay Males 20th Anniversary Show at Gotham Comedy Club.
www.shawnhollenbach.com



Margot Leitman’s off beat, brutally honest, fearless comedy has earned her two ECNY “Best Female Stand Up” nominations and the “Joke of the Week” in Time Out New York. Margot now regularly appears as various characters, including the cult favorite Gynoblast on Late Night With Conan O’ Brien, in addition to appearances on VH1’s Best Week Ever, ESPN’s Cheap Seats, AMC, the Style Network, E!, Comedy Central, MTV and NBC Broadband. Most recently she can be heard as the voice of “Fox” on the new Spike TV cartoon The Team, as a featured comedian on Comedy Central.com’s Weekly Evil, and dancing in the current Mohegan Sun ad campaign. Every month she and Giulia Rozzi co-host the wildly popular, monthly, sex-themed storytelling show Stripped Stories. Margot has been featured in Glamour magazine, and the books Fifty Dates Worse Than Yours and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Jokes. She has written online for the Lifetime Network, College Humor.com, EHow.com and in print for Playgirl magazine.
www.margotleitman.com



Mindy Raf has appeared regularly on VH1's Best Night Ever, and has contributed her comedy and voiceover work for WACB, The Daily Comedy Network, and Embraceyourgrace.com. Mindy also authored a widely-read relationship column on College Humor.com that has been featured in The New Yorker and the New York Post. Mindy performs stand-up and musical comedy as well as sketch characters all over New York, in both alternative venues and mainstream clubs. Her most popular character being chick rocker/vegan activist Leibya (Labia) Rogers, who she played recently in her solo show Leibya Fair! Mindy is currently working on her first novel which is set to be published by Dial Books for Young Readers, a division of Penguin.
www.mindyraf.com