Cool NYC goings on this week

I'll post a full trip report sometime this week, including photos. 3 days in the woods of Silverton, Washington, with my guy and his family and doggies and children. And food, but of course! For now I will say that though they are not Jewish, the feasts reminded me of my family (in a good way). It was super relaxing, in no small part because I did not speak on the phone or go on the Internet for 3 days!

So, without further ado, some cool happenings this week:

Monday, July 28th

Wasp Cove!!! It is one of the funniest things going on in NYC imo. Also, in October episode 104 is called "The Abortion." This show is beyond campy, hilarious 80's soap opera drama insanity. Bigger version of poster here.



WASP COVE
Episode 103: Eenie, Meeny, Miny...MADNESS

In This Month's Episode:
Donna is admitted into the sanitarium under the care of Dr. Salvatore
Verrazano, a tempestuous Sicilian psychiatrist. Daryl tries to seduce
Rip anew, and Daryl's son Wes finally has his way with Sloane. Sexually.

Monday, July 28th @ 8 PM
(Tonight! Holy Cats!)
at Comix
353 West 14th Street
b/n 8th & 9th Avenues NYC
212-352 2716
http://comixny.com for tickets
Tickets $15 in advance $20 at the door
http://waspcove.tumblr.com/

Starring:
Chris Caniglia, Megan Stern, Rachel Shukert, Ryan Karels, Julie Klausner, Jodi Lennon, and David Rakoff

With Special Guests:
Anthony Atamanuik (30 Rock)
Gary Rudoren (Comedy By The Numbers)
Eli Newell (UCB)
Tammy Lang (Tammy Faye Starlite)

Written & Created by Rachel Shukert & Julie Klausner
Directed by Peter Cook

Tuesday, July 29th



Julie Atlas Muz is an amazing burlesque performer. She's been a mermaid at The Coral Room, and I've seen her do everything from a reverse striptease to a mock cocaine number while naked. She is gorgeous and intense and fierce and smart and packs all these qualities and more into her performances. Check out this hot photo of her as a boxer, and, be still my heart, her doing burlesque with cupcakes (see way more of Stacie Joy's Julie Atlas Muz photos here)

DOC & JAM Productions Bring You:
WANTED! Wild Bandits of Burlesque
Tuesday, July 29th (and Every Last Tuesday of the Month)
Show at 11pm; Live music with the Second Fiddles at 9 pm
Rodeo Bar
375 3rd Avenue at 27th Street
New York , NY
NEVER A COVER
(2 drink minimum)
Subway: 6 train to 28th Street

July's saloon/salon features Jennifer Miller, Trixie Little & The Evil Hate Monkey, Julie Atlas Muz, Dr. Lukki, and is hosted by Bradford Scobie as Cousin Rooster.

Wednesday, July 30th



Jennette Fulda, author of Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir and Pasta Queen blogger will be in town! (She'll be here cause she's going on CBS's The Early Show on Thursday, July 31st.) I loved her book so much (review TK) and you can listen to a podcast with her at Seal Press. I also highly highly recommend visiting her site for Half-Assed for insights into her publishing process. This was a weight loss memoir with more than just an "I lost weight and you can too!" angle. And she lost 192 pounds! Not only didn't she reveal which diet she was on, but she also took a broader cultural and political analysis and also stood up for fat people, even as she grappled with her own fat. I can't help but think that that's in part because it was published by feminist publisher Seal Press. I'm not saying there aren't other feminist-inspired weight loss memoirs out there, but I think she does a good job of looking at the culture around fat, food, exercise and body image around her and how that did and didn't influence her life, rather than just "and then I started running and the weight came off" or whatever. I've read, oh, a lot of weight loss memoirs and I think like any genre there can tend to be a sameness to them (read Maia Szalavitz's criticism of David Carr and addiction memoirs at Mother Jones), so anything that breaks out of that is quite welcome. Plus, Fulda's story lives on via her blogs. Here's what she says about Wednesday:

After much deliberation (aka a 9-minute phone call), we've decided to host a meet up at Swizz, a wine and fondue bar at 310 West 53rd St. between 8th and 9th Avenues. We'll be hanging around, dipping bread in cheese or chocolate, on Wednesday, July 30th from 7:30pm EST to probably 8:30 or 9:00ish. If you are around, feel free to drop in, say hi, have a drink, or snack on some cheese.

This is a "bring your own book" signing, meaning that if you want a copy of Half-Assed signed to you, you should buy a book at your retailer of choice and bring it yourself. I'll have a couple of copies available on hand to sell for $15.95, but I can't guarantee they'll last. If you want to reserve a copy, contact me at halfofme (at) pastaqueen [dot] com and I'll give you instructions on how to do so.

You can contact Swizz for directions at 212-810-4444 or visit their web site at 1291swizz.com. I hope to see you there! If you plan on coming, please RSVP in the comments so I can give the restaurant an idea of how many people will be attending.

Stuff Very White People Like

I saw the first episode of WASP Cove and omg, it was hilarious. We were sitting in Comix, right in front of the stage, yet transported back to the heights of 80's ridiculousness. The best part imo was the live commercials, including one for Douche Me Not, captured above. Just wow. Plus it's written by Rachel Shukert and Julie Klausner, who play their respective roles to the hilt.

The next one's on Monday - I Highly recommend it, details at the bottom of this post.

Here's a description of the show from offoffonline:

Glamour. Passion. Betrayal. Caviar. Incest. Soup served at room temperature. These are just a few of the things that made television great. In the late 1980\'s, legendary producer Shmulik Adding, (the most Jewish person on the planet until a team of Hungarian scientists created the entity known as \"Alan Greenspan\" in 1926), taught America all it knows about the glamorous world of back-stabbing gentiles with his never-seen prime time soap opera, Wasp Cove. Now, live on stage, The Breathe Network presents the lost episodes of the ground-breaking dramatic tour-de-force starring estranged sisters Daryl Van Hampton (Julie Klausner) and Donna Kettering (Rachel Shukert), one a high-powered fashion designer, the other a vulnerable Connecticut housewife.

And a bit from Nate Sloan's writeup in New York Press:

“Rachel and I had discovered Dynasty over the holidays, a show that is somehow more insane than anybody ever realized when it was actually on the air,” says Klausner. “People who write sketch comedy who think their premises and characters are so fucked up just got served by Aaron Spelling 25 years ago. To make anything more bananas than the original series seemed like a fun challenge. It’s also worth noting that Rachel and I are huge Jews, and we always found it funny how Dynasty is basically Aaron Spelling’s love letter to WASP culture—between the gin and the sniping and the square-jawed shiksa goddesses pushing cold veal aspic around on their plates. To think, all this from a man who couldn’t be more Jewish if his first name was Rabbi.”

Wasp Cove 2: "Lights! Camera! Fashion!"

“Sloane, go to an undisclosed location while I confront my estranged sister.”

Wasp Cove is back!

And Episode Two is a work of art.

‘Lights! Camera! Fashion!’

Sloane’s first fashion shoot ends in tears as Donna falls off the wagon.Meanwhile, Rip flashes back to the swinging 1960’s, when Daryl was in his heart and in his bed.

Directed by Michael Schiralli
Featuring special guests Eric Drysdale, Miriam Tolan, Neal Medlyn, Andrew Andrew, David Ilku, Eli Newell, and Michael Schulman as Truman Capote.
Starring Chris Caniglia, Megan Stern, Rachel Shukert, Ryan Karels, Julie Klausner, Jodi Lennon, and David Rakoff Written & Created by Rachel Shukert & Julie Klausner


Monday, June 16th

8 PM at Comix

353 West 14th Street b/n 8th & 9th Avenues

212-352 2716

http://comixny.com for tickets

Tickets $15 in advance $20 at the door


(see full size image here)