MaxFunPal Mike Daisey, last heard on our Live in NYC show a year and a half or so ago, has a brand new show. Given the title, "How Theater Failed America," I'm guessing it has less severed limbs and blood-soaked snow than the story he told on our air, but it still sounds pretty great to me. I saw Mike, (who I have decided is the official Monologuist of MaximumFun.org), perform in LA a month or so ago, and he was just as hilarious and electrifying as he was in New York.
Here's the details:
LIMITED ENGAGEMENT Starts May 16th--Six Weeks Only Fridays and Saturdays @ 7:30pm, Sundays @ 7:00pm BARROW STREET THEATRE 27 Barrow Street @ 7th Ave. South Tickets: telecharge.com or 212.239.6200
I'm not going to reprint all of Mike's rave reviews, so let's go with a favorite, from the New York Times: "A sardonic rebuke to the corporate types who hold American theater hostage and a powerful sense of the wonder of theater. The entire room was quietly rapt...a remarkable performer."
And guess what?
Mike's extended a special offer for MaxFunsters... use this direct link to the online box office, and use the code MDHTFA and you can get twenty dollar tickets to the show. That's a hell of a price. And you can call 212-947-8844, use the same code, and get the same sweet sweet deal.
(Above photo: Mike at TSOYA Live, shot by Anya Garrett)
The third in our series of podcasts from our January live show at SF Sketchfest.
Danny Hoch is a multiple Obie award-winning playwright and actor, and the founder of the Hip-Hop Theater Festival. His newest show, "Takin Over," is currently in its premiere run at Berkeley Rep in Berkeley, California. The show examines the gentrification of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, using character monologues from a variety of community members. It is way, way better than that lame description makes it sound. Hoch talked about being a native New Yorker, how he feels when he's looking at the organic produce in Whole Foods, and how all the women he meets in New York seem to have come to the city from somewhere else to "find themselves."
I was lucky enough to have actor and writer Danny Hoch on my live show in San Francisco. It won't be podcast until tommorow, but it's in the top ten of all-time TSOYA interviews, at least for me. His newest show, "Takin' Over," deals with gentrification in Brooklyn, and is currently running at Berkeley Rep in the long-since gentrified Berkeley, California.
There's precious little of the new show available online, but his last major one man show, "Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop" was made into a film. The movie was financed by Rawkus Records, who were planning to use the film as promotion for an accompanying soundtrack album. Unfortunately, the label folded before the album could be released, and the film was thrown into limbo.
Eventually Danny and his associates managed to get the movie into DVD release, and thank goodness they did. Like Luis Valdez' "Zoot Suit," the film lives in the liminalities between staged performance and real life. Each character monologue is seen performed live in a theater, in public, in a prison and in the fictional world of the piece. The technique balances the needs of the show with the needs of the piece's inherent theatricality beautifully. It's one of my favorite films of all time. I cry several times every time I watch it. And laugh a lot, too.
Above, I've pasted a scene from the film, in which Hoch portrays a street vendor and hip-hop afficionado in Cuba. Unlike pretty much any other hip-hop art concerning Cuba I've ever seen, it's insightful, balanced and humane, not just Castroist agitprop. Of course, those qualities are typical of Hoch's work. Indeed, perhaps the most sympathetic character in "Jails, Hospitals & Hip-Hop" is a prison guard, the frontline soldier of the prison industrial complex.
Anyway, enjoy the above, check out the interview tommorow, make plans to see Danny's show if you're in the Yay Area, and cop that disc if you're elsewhere.
We continue our journey into The Sound of Young America's vast audio archive with this program from The Sound of Young America Clasics.
On this week’s show Real Vs. Fake, magician and actor Ricky Jay talks about his career and his book ‘Extraordinary Exhibitions’. San Francisco radio personality and stand-up comic Brian Copeland also guests. He shares details of his one man show and what it was like growing up in the most racist suburb of America.
Ricky Jay is an artist, actor and author. He is an expert on the history of magic, oddball and unusual entertainment. He can throw a playing card into the rind of a watermelon from ten paces – impressive!
“Not A Genuine Black Man” is the longest running solo show in San Francisco history. Brian Copeland, writer and star of the one man comedy show, spills the beans on what the show is all about.
Please share your thoughts on the show in the comments section!
Cynthia Hopkins is a singer, songwriter and multi-media theatrical performer. The New York Times wrote of her most recent show, Must Don't Whip Um: "a triumph of disciplined thinking, narrative fluidity and musical accomplishment. Ms. Hopkins' voice is both so delicate and emotionally forceful - part Natalie Merchant, part Madeline Peryroux - that it leaves you wondering why she has ever bothered to do anything else but deploy it." Special thanks to WNYC this week for sharing their studios with us. Please share your thoughts on this program on our forum! Download This Show (MP3) Subscribe in iTunes Review the show in iTunes Please Donate to Support the Show
Listen to This Week's Show Online
Please allow our low-bandwidth server a little time after you click "play"
We continue our journey into The Sound of Young America's vast audio archive with this program from The Sound of Young America Classics.
Our guests: Sway & King Tech are the hosts of The World Famous Wakeup Show, a hip hop radio program syndicated worldwide. They've also released three albums as a rap duo: Concrete Jungle, This or That, and their latest, Back 2 Basics.
We also talk with actor, writer, director, and performance artist Danny Hoch. Danny has produced and performed three critically-acclaimed one-man-shows, including the brilliant Jails, Hospitals, and Hip-Hop and is also the founder of the Hip Hop Theater Festival.
Please share your thoughts on the show in the comments section!
One of my personal favorite sketch groups in the country, The Cody Rivers Show, is performing a fundraiser for Sketchfest Seattle tommorow night (Tuesday). Sketchfest Seattle is the oldest sketch comedy festival in the country, and they're really great folks who run a great festival, which we were proud to sponsor last year.
The Cody Rivers Show are a two-man group who perform a wild combination of sketch, dance, mime, theater, and other crap that is way better than that description sounds. Maybe the most fun thing you can see on the sketch comedy circuit.
THE SKINNY Tuesday, May 22 Doors open at 7pm. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Theatre Off Jackson at 409 7th Ave. S Levels of Admission - Giggler at $20, Chuckler at $30 (comes with 10 raffle tickets), or LOL at $100 (comes with 10 raffle tickets, reserved seats, recognition in festival program) Advanced tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com More info at www.sketchfest.org
A portion of fundraiser proceeds will go to our partner organization, Gilda's Club Seattle. Named after beloved sketch comedienne Gilda Radner, Gilda's Club provides support to those affected by cancer as a supplement to medical care.
By Carol Beggy & Mark Shanahan, Globe Staff | April 24, 2007
Celebrated storyteller Mike Daisey had barely begun his 90-minute monologue at the American Repertory Theatre when much of the audience stood up and walked out. One of the put-upon patrons even picked up a glass of water used as an on stage prop and poured it over Daisey's papers. The problem? The posse, 87 students and staff visiting Thursday from Norco High School in Southern California, objected to Daisey's dirty language. (They left during a particularly profane riff about Paris Hilton.) Daisey, who's posted the episode on YouTube, invited the aggrieved audience members to talk to him, but they bolted. "None of you have the guts to stay here and talk to me," said Daisey. "Saying [expletive] is the least racy thing I do, so I'm a little flabbergasted." Daisey's handwritten outline -- he doesn't work from a script -- was soaked, but salvageable. "If a patron in an art museum objected to a painting and slashed it, we'd be clear that that's a criminal act," the ART's artistic director, Gideon Lester, fumed yesterday. Seems the school group did inquire about the content of the show, called "Invincible Summer," and was told it includes profanity and adult subject matter. They decided to buy tickets anyway. Daisey has since talked to Cindy Lee, Norco's activities director, and received a halfhearted apology. "They keep saying it was a 'security issue' . . . They had to get their children out because of these words," he said. "It's ludicrous." The show runs through Sunday.
Here's some original reporting from the Boston Globe on the incident. Like my pal Hodgman, I apologize for spreading the rumor that it was a Christian school group. Turns out it was a *public* school group, which is even worse.
I just got an email from our friend Mike Daisey. Turns out, by coincidence, that they were taping the show the night of the walk-out. Above, you can see what happened -- apparently they were objecting to the word "fuck" being said in front of high-school students? Hard to tell, because none of them will talk to Mike as they file out of the theater.
In the video above, you can see not only the walk-out, but Mike's perplexity, then anger, then regrouping. As a special bonus, you can see a bit of Mike's great show.
Note to protesters: this was a shitty protest.
(Post-action report on our blog here, Mike's description here).
Mike Daisey show interrupted by anti-art terrorists...
You may remember monologuist Mike Daisey from our live show in New York City late last year, when he told an amazing story about his childhood in Maine. Mike is an extremely nice guy, a gifted performer, and a thoughtful man. Last night, his show was interrupted by a choreographed mass walkout.
I'm still dealing with all the ramifications, but here's what it felt like from my end: I am performing the show to a packed house, when suddenly the lights start coming up in the house as a flood of people start walking down the aisles--they looked like a flock of birds who'd been startled, the way they all moved so quickly, and at the same moment...it was shocking, to see them surging down the aisles. The show halted as they fled, and at this moment a member of their group strode up to the table, stood looking down on me and poured water all over the outline, drenching everything in a kind of anti-baptism.
If you live in the Boston area, I think the best way to respond to this kind of madness is to go to his show. If you're on the fence, try reading this rapturous review in the Boston Globe. Mike will be at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge through May 8th. It's worth your time.
Our own Kasper Hauser are performing live in Los Angeles on Tuesday the 24th (my birthday!), and the show is absolutely free!
They'll be at the Comedy Central Stage, 6539 Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood. Tickets are free but you must call (323) 960-5519 for reservations. Show's at 8, don't be late!
This week on The Sound of Young America, our theme is Making Friends with Black People.
Our first guest, Nick Adams, is the author of a book by that name, and a standup comedian. His book tackles inter-race relations with a comic edge. We talk about the N-word, being black at liberal arts college, and much more. Nick's about to do a book tour for his book, which will take him to LA & the Bay Area.
Our second guest, Calvin Levels, is a Tony-nominated actor, currently touring the nation with his one-man show James Baldwin: Down From the Mountaintop. Calvin talks with us about Baldwin's life, how he balanced his dual identities as a black American and a gay American, and more. Calvin will be performing in Santa Cruz March 17th as part of UCSC Arts & Lectures.
This week's Sound of Young America is a probing look at all things moustachioed, including but not limited to: Boston Blackie, Zorro, and your television.
Our first guest is Andy Daly. Andy's been a castmember of Mad TV, Crossballs, and he's currently a correspondent on "The Showbiz Show with David Spade." We talked about the strange creative process at Mad TV, and how hard it is to do something about it. Also, Andy's invented something called Moustache TV, which is a parlor game which involves putting moustaches on your television. He really makes and sells it himself. Richard Montoya is 1/3 of Culture Clash, about whom I blogged last week. They've got a new show coming up at Berkeley Rep called "Zorro in Hell." Besides the stage work, Richard will also be seen in the upcoming Jack Black vehicle "Nacho Libre," from the writer of "School of Rock" and the director of "Napoleon Dynamite."
Also, a sketch from Los Angeles' Diani & Devine, and a plug for our upcoming vidcast of unseen Monty Python footage. Yes, unseen Monty Python footage.
