Tag Archives: Halloween

Comedy, Gypsy Jazz, Dorkbots and more!

I hope everyone had a marvelous Halloween! Mine was quite amazing and I will tell you much more about it shortly! If you’re extra curious you can check out the pictures I’ve already posted on Flickr!

The Dorkbots are back tonight; they will be doing all sorts of nefarious things with electricity at Location One. Check out my detailed review of one of their previous performances to get an idea of what you’re in for!

If you’ve been following me on Twitter, or checking the sidebar, you’ve already heard about the Clothing Swap today at the House of Yes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs free concert on Friday!

This week is also the Tenth Anniversary Django Reinhardt NY Festival:

Immortalized in numerous Woody Allen soundtracks, such as Sweet and Lowdown (1999), Reinhardt was one of the first prominent European jazz musicians and revolutionized popular jazz in the ’30s, composing countless songs that became standards including “Minor Swing” and “Belleville.”

On Friday at the Morgan Library you can enjoy one of my favorite French films- Ridicule. This sumptuous costume drama is just absurd enough to be highly enjoyable and just historically accurate enough to help you understand the French Revolution.

Ridicule

Ridicule

The big festival this weekend is the New York City Comedy Festival; stars like Ricky Gervais and Tracy Morgan will be playing to enormous crowds.

If you didn’t manage to get tickets to any of those big acts you may want to consider a much tastier event taking over the city this weekend: Cook Eat Drink Live is “a three-day modern food and wine event at The Tunnel & La.Venue (608 West 28th Street), featuring a large sampling of ultra-premium gourmet foods and spirits, plus appearances from some of the city’s premier chefs.” Even the flyer is yummy:

cookeatdrinklive

This Saturday is the first Saturday of November and you know what that means- First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum! Brooklyn Based says this is the month to go:

The evening centers around the museum’s new exhibition Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present. Performing at the free extravaganza, between 5pm and 8:15pm, are Grass Widow (lo-fi indie), the Beets (garage rock), and Brooklyn’s own Crystal Stilts (psychobilly surf punk). Then at 9pm, DJ Evil Dee kicks off the First Saturday dance party, spinning sounds inspired by the exhibit’s featured artists. The night also offers talks on the photography on display, including panels with the exhibit’s curator, Gail Buckland, and two of its photographers, Bob Gruen and Justin Borucki.

I’m also very excited about another concert happening in Brooklyn Saturday night; Emanuel and the Fear are playing at 3rd Ward as part of their Multiverse Playground event! I’ve written rave reviews of their performances in the past and I’m especially excited about this show since Das Racist and Comedy Central’s Kurt Metzger will also be taking the stage!

Ok, that’s all for the moment, stay tuned for more great upcoming events and be sure to follow me on Twitter for the latest updates!

Halloween Listings

I’m skipping ahead a bit this week and just laying out some of your options for the holiday, and what options there are!

For some family fun during the day, learn all about the ghosts of The Tenement Museum; costumed storytellers will be stationed throughout the museum and there will be cider, donuts and caramel apples!

Don’t forget the biggest annual Halloween event- the Halloween Parade! I always try to make it down there and I’ve also marched in the parade on several occasions. Here’s a pic of last year’s madness:

Halloween Parade 2008

The Annual Smack Fetish Ball will be full of people who wear latex far more often than once a year. Don’t be scared, they’re about as normal as the average New Yorker.

smack

Dances of Vice is throwing an Edward Gorey-themed bash, featuring

the murder ballads of special musical guests THE SCARRING PARTY, sensational crime scenes performed by resident rapscallions COMPANY XIV, fashions by that ruffled ruffian PUREVILE!, CORNELIUS performing on the theremin, and the musical pandemonium of Ben Ickies’ 24-piece chamber rock orchestra, THIS AMBITIOUS ORCHESTRA. Specialty cocktail menu presented by your charming bartender CHRX! Artists FYODOR PAVLOV and LAWRENCE GULLO will be offering hand-drawn Gorey portraits to our dwindling guests, photographer STEVEN ROSEN will be offering specialty antiquated portraits, and PUREVILE! and COR-LEONIS will be vending handmade jewelry, candles and accoutrements!

G and I may have to make a stop at “The Greatest Halloween Party Ever” since free pierogies are involved. Check out the trailer for more reasons to attend:

If you’re looking for a swinging Halloween, check out the battle of the bands at Grand Harmony Palace. George Gee and Jump Jivin’ Wailers will try to out-swing Lt. Jim and the Blue Saracens; be there or be square baby!

For a different sort of dancing, a bit later in the night, check out the Mile High dance party at Pianos– evil style!

evil mile high

For the hipsters who want to stay close to home (read: Williamsburg) there’s really only one party worth considering- The Last Masquerade:

Three vast spaces in the dark heart of Brooklyn have been re-imagined for this all-night adventure. Over three dozen artists and performers will infuse these forgotten structures with a pre-apocalyptic fairy-tale built on music, mischief and a heavy dose of the unexpected.  First is “The Chapel”, a 114 year old brick and iron fortress with 26ft ceilings draped with art and intrigue; then “The Sanctuary”, with five areas of performance, lounges and dance floors spread across three floors; and finally “The Ever After” a beautifully warm loft and open air terrace with music and performance continuing past dawn.

For those of you willing to head a little deeper into Brooklyn, I invite you to join me at Gemini & Scorpio‘s Masquerade Macabre. I’ve been helping Miss Scorpio with some of the set-up and I can assure you this party is going to be phenomenal.

G&S Halloween

I’m going to stop there for fear of overwhelming you but The Village Voice has more comprehensive listings if none of those parties strike your fancy. Happy Halloween! Follow me on twitter for the party play by play!

Dumplings, Marshmallows and Floggers on a Boat

I’m still reeling from being hit in the head by one of Miss Saturn’s hula hoops (more on that later) but there are some events I simply must pass on!

First off, don’t forget about the Marshmallow Civil War I mentioned yesterday, and be sure to check out my review of The Jaguar Club if you want to see a concert tonight.

If you want to start dancing early today you’re in luck; New Release is throwing a ‘Mister Saturday Night Daytime Loft Party‘ starting at 3pm:

Bloody marys and mimosas are on the menu; our friend Fiore Tedesco from The Brooklyn Laundry is making egg tacos and other brunch snacks; and you can bring your little ones and your dogs. We love it when they come. Residents Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin will be laying down the disco, house and such; and our special guest is Moodymann, a Motor City legend. We’ve heard him drop everything from boogie to grime to techno, but no matter what he plays it’s always super funky and super fun.

If you want less dancing and more eating this afternoon you should check out the Dumpling Festival! There will be hundreds of dumplings from around the world so if you missed the Dumpling Crawl I wrote about recently this is your chance to make up for it!

Tonight you can take Halloween to a new level by setting sail on a fetish cruise. When the Baroness is involved you’d better believe the play stations will be HOT. Note: Do not go on this cruise if you will be uncomfortable viewing and/or participating in public flogging, suspension and latex fashion shows.

fetish cruise

For a more literary Saturday night you can celebrate the opening of another independent bookstore in Brooklyn- The Greenlight Bookstore!

The long-awaited 2,000-square-foot space has everything literati (and wannabes) could want, including a huge kids’ section, French and Spanish editions, graphic novels galore, and tons of NY-centric titles.

Tonight is also the Zombiecon! If you feel confident in your ability to drink beer with a fake knife sticking out of your throat, then this is the event for you!

For more fun on boats this weekend you can clamor aboard the Steamship Lilac on Sunday to experience Oktobership– the party comes complete with circus performers, theater troupes and live bands (talk about rocking the boat!)!

oktobership

If you’d rather stay on dry land head over to P.S.1 where they’re opening their fall exhibits in style:

Join us for an opening day celebration of four new exhibitions: 1969, a large-scale presentation of works produced in the year 1969 drawn from all of the collecting areas of The Museum of Modern Art; Robert Bergman: Selected Portraits, twenty-four gripping portraits of individuals the photographer captured during his travels through the American Rust Belt; Between Spaces, a group exhibition organized by the junior curatorial staff for the second time in P.S.1 history; and On-site 2: Chitra Ganesh, a vivid new wall installation by the Brooklyn-based artist in P.S.1’s lobby. Special DJ set by AJ Slim playing rare 1960s funk, soul, rock, afrobeat, and latin. Experience the Afterparty by MOS, winners of the 2009 Young Architects Program in the courtyard. On view through October 26.

That’s all for the moment; stay tuned for additions and follow me on twitter for the latest from The Big Red Apple!

Trapeze Artists, Hobbits and much more!

I’ve already mentioned that you can judge the new Met for yourself this weekend, and be part of history at the 10 year anniversary party of NonsenseNYC; and of course you can peek behind closed doors at all sorts of venues during Open House New York. In addition to all that madness there are many more events to consider.

This weekend you have two opportunities to see The Lord of the Rings as you’ve never seen it before:

Howard Shore’s Original Academy Award®-winning score performed live to the epic motion picture by the 21st Century Orchestra, The Collegiate Chorale and Brooklyn Youth Chorus conducted by Ludwig Wicki.

Can you imagine that incredible score performed live while the movie is screened on an enormous screen? If not buy your tickets now and experience it in person.

Lord of the Rings at Radio City Music Hall

Lord of the Rings at Radio City Music Hall

For those of you who read my review of The Golden Pasties and have been lusting for burlesque ever since, the show to go to this weekend is Killer Queen Burlesque at Joe’s Pub.

Burlesque stars Anita Cookie and Clams Casino and emcee Neil O’Fortune, the minds behind The Costello Show: A Burlesque Tribute to the Other Elvis, KISS THIS: Burlesque Rock City and more, return to the Joe’s Pub stage with Killer Queen Burlesque!  A burlesque tribute to the music of Queen, Killer Queen Burlesque made it’s debut in early 2008 and has been their most-requested show ever since.  Now it returns with an all new, all-star cast: a night of funny, campy, sexy performances combining striptease with live music and comedy, all unified by Queen’s unstoppable lineup of beloved hits.

I’ve already mentioned the crazy vertical 3-ring circus happening at The Trapeze School of New York this weekend; here’s a trailer to give you a taste:

At the Brooklyn Skillshare this weekend you can learn such useful skills as butter making and how to infuse your own vodka. There is also a free lunch involved; I can only imagine the water-cooler talk potential (so, what did you do this weekend? I learned to make butter!).

The Mile High Dance Party is back for a second week at Pianos; I had a blast last week and I would highly recommend swinging by after other goings on Saturday night. Check out their awesome flyer for this week:

mile high

Get into the Halloween spirit early this October with a trip to Greenwood Cemetery, for extra spookiness check out Angels and Accordions– a very ummm… unique site specific work you have to see to believe.

Finally, quick heads up for next week, in celebration of the release of Where the Wild Things Are, there are a range of events happening in the city; it’s billed as Wild Things Week and it’s going to be (ahem) wild!

That’s all for the moment; have a great weekend and be sure to follow The Big Red Apple on Twitter for the latest news!