Marital burnout is no laughing matter...and yet: Sara Juli

Sara Juli in her show, Burnt-Out Wife, at Dixon Place
(photo: Nick Pierce)

Burnt-Out Wife
Sara Juli
Dixon Place
February 21-28

What a set! Designer Pamela Moulton's vision for Burnt-Out Wife, a solo performance by multi-talented Sara Juli, is lying in wait for the Dixon Place audience. And I say that advisedly, for this set is a monster, an eyesore. A cotton-candy-pink bathroom complete with polka dot toilet seat cover, a filmy pin-up girl robe with hot pink feather boa trim; and a wall splotched with wound-like flowers crafted, with childlike imperfection, out of who knows what. You gaze and wonder what Juli has in store for her unsuspecting visitors.

Burnt-Out Wife is everything that set suggests--and more. "I wanna get married...that's why I was born," sings Nellie McKay in the wry, melancholic song that ushers in this brilliant performance. Juli appears, giving the left-up toilet seat a certain look that immediately invokes the mate at fault and aiming another look at two baby dolls strewn about the floor. But if you think that tells you everything you'll need to know about Juli's project, think again.

Written by Juli, the performance draws clarity and vitality from her background in dance and stand-up comedy, and she shows ease and confidence in both genres. Marital burnout might not be first on your list of the funniest things in life, but Juli is really funny without straining and really fresh. She looks like a woman waking up to realize she's an Amazon and one with a future in performance art. She's physically strong--as you'll discover if she shakes your hand in a firm grip or strikes poses to represent the misalignment between her desires and her husband's--stronger than you might suspect from the weary look she gives the world most of the time. And she's smart as a whip, more than holding her own with the unseen spouse and her wackadoodle surroundings as she slyly, steadily lays waste to heteronormative conventions. In fact--through the magic touch of Moulton, costume designer Carol Farrell, sound designer Ryan McDonald and lighting designer David Ferri--she turns her hideous bathroom into a throne room worthy of pissed-as-hell royalty.

The surprises, joys and rewards of this show are many, and I will not spoil them for you as I hope you'll make your way to Dixon Place tonight for the final performance. But hurry! Last night's show was packed with happy people laughing their heads off.

Burnt-Out Wife concludes this evening with a show at 7pm. For information and tickets, click here.

Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street, Manhattan
(map/directions)


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DISCLAIMER: In addition to my work on InfiniteBody, I serve as Senior Curatorial Director of Gibney. The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views, strategies or opinions of Gibney.

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In an octopus's garden at Performance Space New York

Performance Space New York
introduced its new Octopus series
with an afternoon of performance
curated by Gillian Walsh.

Octopus: Inverted Jester
Organized by Gillian Walsh
Presented by Performance Space New York
Saturday, December 8, 2018

Performance Space New York has a cooler way for us to think about activated networks--not spider webs this time but, instead, an octopus with arms stretching, flexing, rippling and sensing in multiple directions, each of these arms a nimble outpost of the central brain. Wouldn't you like to have what is, essentially, nine brains with which to navigate this mad, mad world?

For the first of Performance Space New York's four, artist-curated Octopus programs, dance artist Gillian Walsh ran with this concept and produced a smart show entitled Inverted Jester, a name that, for me, immediately called up the image of that jester's many-tentacled fool's cap as another octopus-like thing in our universe. And sure as can be, Walsh's many-tentacled program also invoked the historic role of jester as provocative wiseass.

We had Davon Rainey, in barely-there sparkles and stilettos, lip syncing Björk ("Bachelorette") and Nina Simone ("I Loves You, Porgy"), both songs supercharged by the blend of race and gender in one glamorous, sinewy body. It was enough of an exacting performance at a comfortable distance from Rainey's audience, but when he strode into the aisle between seats, a viewer could clearly see, close up, the intelligent complexity of his body, especially his face, in every moment and movement.

Sophia Cleary's website describes her as "a genreless, childless & interdisciplinary artist working with jokes, video, dance, music, and more," and I thank Walsh for making sure I can add Cleary's intense, aggressive weirdness to my long list of experiences in life. Our paths might not have crossed otherwise. Like electric coils wrapping ever more tightly around your sensibilities, her humor demands, and it dares, and then it delivers an unbelievable, nightmarish lap dance to someone you know.

The last Octopus arm I saw--I couldn't stay for Cherry Iocovozzi and Silver Cousler--was Lorelei Ramirez's stand-up act plus her Joy of Painting-style demo. For the latter, just imagine if the late Bob Ross had not been Bob Ross but, rather, a queer Latinx with a laptop loaded with Adobe Illustrator and a mind loaded with a sneaky kind of scary. As her website reveals, "my mother thinks I am possessed and I have accepted this as my only beautiful truth." Mom might know what she's talking about. I had to leave after Ramirez to go feed my cat and get a bite to eat before an evening show elsewhere, but I came away with a serious case of Adobe Illustrator-envy--that Brush Library!!--and I am not at all a visual artist.

Performance Space New York's Octopus is potentially fun and worth checking out if you like taking a chance on something unexpected. Future editions, all at 4pm include:

Saturday, February 23—organized by the Ethyl Eichelberger Committee
Saturday, March 23—organized by Richard Kennedy
Saturday, June 1—organized by Charlotte Brathwaite

For program details and ticketing for each show, click here.

Performance Space New York
150 First Avenue (between 9th and 10th Streets), Manhattan
(map/directions)

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DISCLAIMER: In addition to my work on InfiniteBody, I serve as Senior Curatorial Director of Gibney. The postings on this site are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views, strategies or opinions of Gibney.

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Bob Smith, 59

Bob Smith, Groundbreaking Gay Comedian, Is Dead at 59
by Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times, January 25, 2018

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Shelley Berman, 92

Shelley Berman, Stand-Up Comic Who Skewered Modern Life, Dies at 92
by Peter Keepnews, The New York Times, September 1, 2017

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Kevin Meaney, 60

Kevin Meaney, Veteran Stand-Up Comedian and Actor, Dies at 60
by Eli Rosenberg, The New York Times, October 22, 2016

Garry Shandling, 66

Garry Shandling, Star of Groundbreaking Sitcoms, Dies at 66
by Peter Keepnews, The New York Times, March 24, 2016

These days, we need some (funny) standup people! Free!

Need a laugh or two...or three?

OMG, why wouldn't you?

Free Standup Festival 2015
September 5-11

Various locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens--from The Knitting Factory to Creek and the Cave

Co-producers Joe Gerics and Andrew Bayroff promise "some of the top comics seen on Late Night with David Letterman, Craig Ferguson, Comedy Central, Inside Amy Schumer, Last Comic Standing, and much more!"

And did I mention that it's all free?

Check out the full calendar of events here.

Harris Wittels, 30

Harris Wittels, Television Comedy Writer, Is Dead at 30
by Nelson D. Schwartz, The New York Times, February 19, 2015

Wanda Sykes interviewed by Judy Gold at 92Y

Wanda Sykes
(photo: Malcolm Jason Low)

If the delightful, Emmy-winning Wanda Sykes were to be offered Jon Stewart's Daily Show, would she take it?

After all, wouldn't it be great to have a woman--and, way better still, an out, activist lesbian of color--running with the late-night wolves?

Wanda Sykes
(photo: Eva Yaa Asantewaa)

With Judy Gold at right, Wanda Sykes greets fans at 92Y.
(photo: Malcolm Jason Low)

The Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams, touted all over social media as a top choice, has recently asserted that she does not want this challenge. A nation--well, a nation of women of color--might well turn their lonely eyes to Sykes who, for a short time, did host her own late-night talk show on Fox.

She's not saying yes. But she's not exactly saying no. At least, during her 92Y conversation last night with Emmy-winning colleague Judy Gold, she seemed to keep a fan's hope alive.

"How can you follow Jon Stewart? He was so good," Sykes first responded to the question. "Who knows?"

After citing family priorities, though, she added, "But if they asked me, how could you not?"

Pay attention to that last sentence. "But If they asked me" is far from a casual line with this particular talent. As Sykes outlined her pathway in the entertainment business--as multifaceted comedy writer and performer--it became clear that she's consistently approached and invited by folks like Chris Rock and Larry David who know she's right for their projects. Listening carefully to Sykes's history, Gold noted, with a flicker of envy and shade, that Sykes seems to never have had to audition for a part. The industry knows her worth. Even the Obamas know her worth, tapping her in 2009 to be the featured entertainer at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner--a first for a Black woman or anyone queer.

Gratitude is a big operating principle for Sykes, as it should be, given the blossoming of her career, love life and family life as wife to Alex and co-mom to their twins. If truth be told here, Sykes has got to be one of the luckiest people in showbiz.

Although it might be inscribed "in the US Constitution," as the two comics joked, that late-night talk shows have to hosted by white men, surely it's time for a new amendment to that constitution.

Visit Wanda Sykes's Web site here, and Gold's site here.

Keep up with happenings at 92Y by clicking here.

Joan Rivers, 81

Joan Rivers, a Comedian for Whom Nothing Was Too Soon or Too Sacred, Dies at 81
by Robert McFadden, The New York Times, September 4, 2014

FringeNYC benefits: "La Donna Improvvisata"

Lisa Flanagan (photo: Michael Kroll)

La Donna Improvvisata

Improvised by Lisa Flanagan

Improvised Music by Frank Spitznagel

Directed by T.J. Mannix

"A witch!" cries a man to my rear, without hesitation, choosing one of fifteen possible operatic roles. "A condescending witch," another audience member quickly elaborates. Similarly, four specific musical notes are selected my fellow viewers. 

And so begins an hour of opera improvised, from start to triumphant finish, by soprano Lisa Flanagan and pianist Frank Spitznagel. It might sound like a gimmick--and one with no guarantee of success--but it turns out to be one of FringeNYC 2014's most innovative theatrical formats. 

When you see La Donna Improvvisata this Friday or Sunday, it will be completely different. Spitznagel's thunderous, threatening opening from this afternoon will be replaced by something new. Casually-dressed and ponytailed Flanagan will embody a different central archetype--perhaps Sorcerer or Maiden, Soldier or Temptress--crafting a plot that arcs from problem to resolution with a whole lot of song and physical action in between. She will move from character to character, mood to mood, cleverly rhyming lyrics on the fly. She will do this with nothing but her agile imagination and a trio of plain black boxes for a set.

This woman's opera auditions must be interesting. (Er...what's that she's singing?) If her voice gets a little tiring after about a half-hour or so, her chipper, sunny smile and undeniable gutsiness maintain their appeal. And that melodic, Broadway-ish number she whipped up late in today's show--call it "Quiet Little Street," perhaps--could be a viable thing. Lisa, I hope you remember what you made up there. It's good.

Remaining shows:

Friday, August 22, 7:30pm

Sunday, August 24, 3:30pm

Buy tickets for this and other FringeNYC shows.

The White Box

440 Lafayette St, 3rd Floor (Astor Place and East 4th Street), Manhattan

(map/directions)

For all things FringeNYC, click below.

New York International Fringe Festival

David Brenner, 78

David Brenner, Favorite on ‘Tonight Show,’ Dies at 78
by Emma G. Fitzsimmons, The New York Times, March 15, 2014

Paul Colby, 96

Paul Colby, Owner of Club That Helped the Rise of Greenwich Village, Dies at 96
by Douglas Martin, The New York Times, February 10, 2014

"HOT" fun in the summertime

Keeping this short and sweet: Get your butts over to Dixon Place's HOT! Festival tonight for the closeout of The Loudest Show on Earth (10pm). I don't know if any tickets remain--likely not--but you have my permission to mug someone for theirs.

Loud and hilarious, potty-mouthed Lea DeLaria--who now bills herself as "the fisting consultant for Orange is the New Black"--and motor-mouthed Maggie Cassella rarely slacken the pace in this tight, roughly hour-long gallop through the personal and the political. Again, let me keep it simple: What have you and your best friends been talking and thinking about lately? Okay. You'll find all of that right here but wilder and wackier than you could ever have imagined.

But beyond the stand-ups and character sketches, there's also delicious music. So good to hear DeLaria swing and swoop her way through "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" again and to subvert her own presentational subversion with a sweet rendition of "I Enjoy Being A Girl" while looking like the second coming of Fiorello La Guardia. And later Cassella steps up to the challenge of translating DeLaria's fierce scat singing into English--yeah, right--cracking DeLaria up in the process.

Also repeating tonight on the HOT! bill: Sacha Yanow's solo performance, The Prince at 7pm.

Yanow depicts the prince as a prisoner of her own bedroom--"a fantastical palace...deep in the well of loneliness"--charmingly rendered in her own drawings, which create the set and props. Innocence and sophistication, raw vulnerability and the strength of creative imagination interact in this intimate piece about learning to take a chance on the world and yourself. Yanow has a great face for performance: Under a set of over-determined eyebrows--dashes of black face paint--and madly sculpted hair, she can fix us with a gaze of sad, pleading eyes or a flash of delight. She's a good physical comic with attention to detail and timing.

For program and ticket information about these and other HOT! shows, click here.

Dixon Place
161A Chrystie Street (between Rivington and Delancey), Manhattan
(directions)