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Surf Reality
Surf Reality's House of Urban Savages, also known as Surf Reality, was a 65-seat performance venue on Manhattan's Lower East Side from 1993 to 2003. A laboratory for experimental performance of all kinds, Surf Reality was known for comedy, performance art, classic burlesque, modern music, vaudeville and experimental theater. The theater also served as the home for Faceboyz Open Mic. Other acts that passed through Surf include The Upright Citizens Brigade, Todd Barry, Dave Chappelle, Maggie Estep, and Jonathan Ames. Surf Reality was noted as a venue for "alternative comedy Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe ..., along with performance art and theater pieces" where "visitors have to be buzzed in through its scrap-metal door and climb up to a loftlike second-floor space" b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state of New York. Located near the southern tip of New York State, Manhattan is based in the Eastern Time Zone and constitutes both the geographical and demographic center of the Northeast megalopolis and the urban core of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass. Over 58 million people live within 250 miles of Manhattan, which serves as New York City’s economic and administrative center, cultural identifier, and the city’s historical birthplace. Manhattan has been described as the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world, is considered a safe haven for global real estate investors, and hosts the United Nations headquarters. New York City is the headquarters of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an immigrant, working-class neighborhood, it began rapid gentrification in the mid-2000s, prompting the National Trust for Historic Preservation to place the neighborhood on their list of America's Most Endangered Places in 2008. The Lower East Side is part of Manhattan Community District 3, and its primary ZIP Code is 10002. It is patrolled by the 7th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. Boundaries The Lower East Side is roughly bounded by East 14th Street on the north, by the East River to the east, by Fulton and Franklin Streets to the south, and by Pearl Street and Broadway to the west. This more extensive definition of the neighborhood includes Chinatown, the East Village, and Little Italy. A less extensive definit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Performance Art
Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a public in a fine art context in an interdisciplinary mode. Also known as ''artistic action'', it has been developed through the years as a genre of its own in which art is presented live. It had an important and fundamental role in 20th century avant-garde art. It involves four basic elements: time, space, body, and presence of the artist, and the relation between the creator and the public. The actions, generally developed in art galleries and museums, can take place in the street, any kind of setting or space and during any time period. Its goal is to generate a reaction, sometimes with the support of improvisation and a sense of aesthetics. The themes are commonly linked to life experiences of the artist themselves, or the need of denunci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects."Burlesque" ''Oxford English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, accessed 16 February 2011 The word derives from the Italian ', which, in turn, is derived from the Italian ' – a joke, ridicule or mockery. Burlesque overlaps in meaning with caricature, parody and travesty, and, in its theatrical sense, with extravaganza, as presented during the Victorian burlesque, Victorian era. "Burlesque" has been used in English in this literary and theatrical sense since the late 17th century. It has been applied retrospectively to works of Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer and William Shakespeare, Shakespeare and to the Graeco-Roman classics.Baldick, Chris [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaudeville
Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition or light poetry, interspersed with songs or ballets. It became popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s, but the idea of vaudeville's theatre changed radically from its French antecedent. In some ways analogous to music hall from Victorian Britain, a typical North American vaudeville performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts have included popular and classical musicians, singers, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, ventriloquists, strongmen, female and male impersonators, acrobats, clowns, illustrated songs, jugglers, one-act plays or scenes from plays, athletes, lecturing celebrities, minstrels, and movies. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faceboy
Francis "Faceboy" Hall is an actor, producer, and activist working in the New York City arts community. Hall, the younger brother of poet and King Missile frontman, John S. Hall, is one of the founding members of the Art Stars. Hall has appeared in numerous stage productions and several films, including Robert Downey Sr.'s ''Too Much Sun'' and the television series 'Electra Elf'. In addition, Hall was a founding member of the Dance Liberation Front where he has worked to overturn New York City's "no dancing" cabaret laws. A poet and performer himself, Faceboy is best known as the host of the weekly Faceboyz Open Mic, which is now considered to be the longest continually running open mic in New York. He hosted 'Faceboyz Folliez', a monthly show that took place at the Bowery Poetry Club. Career 'Faceboyz Open Mic' was an open mike show held Sundays at Surf Reality on the Lower East Side, which was described as "one of the city’s most nurturing, freak-friendly weekly happenings."ht ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Upright Citizens Brigade
The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Adam McKay, Rick Roman, Horatio Sanz and Drew Franklin. Other early members included Neil Flynn, Armando Diaz, Ali Farahnakian and Rich Fulcher. In 2013, Besser, Roberts and Walsh wrote ''The Upright Citizens Brigade Comedy Improvisation Manual''. History The Upright Citizens Brigade began performing improv and sketch comedy at Kill the Poet in Chicago. Their first show was called ''Virtual Reality''. The group followed with shows titled ''UCBTV'', ''Conference on the Future of Happiness'', ''Thunderball'', ''Bucket of Truth'', ''Big Dirty Hands'', ''The Real Real World'', and ''Punch Your Friend in the Face''. In 1993, the Upright Citizens Brigade (Matt Besser, Ian Roberts, Amy Poehler, Adam McKay, Rick Roman, and Horatio Sanz) were regular guests o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Todd Barry
Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated community * Todd County, Kentucky * Todd County, Minnesota * Todd County, South Dakota * Todd Fork, a river in Ohio * Todd Township, Minnesota * Todd Township, Fulton County, Pennsylvania * Todd Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania * Todds, Ohio, an unincorporated community People * Todd (given name) * Todd (surname) Arts and entertainment * ''Todd'' (album), a 1974 album by Todd Rundgren * Todd (''Cars''), a character in ''Cars'' * Todd (''Stargate''), a recurring character in the series ''Stargate Atlantis'' * The Todd (''Scrubs''), a character on ''Scrubs'' Other uses * Todd (elm cultivar) * Todd class, a characteristic class in algebraic topology * Todd-AO, a company in film post-production * Todd Corporation, a New Zea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known for his satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006), which he starred in until quitting in the middle of production during the third season. After a hiatus, Chappelle returned to performing stand-up comedy across the U.S. By 2006, Chappelle was called the "comic genius of America" by '' Esquire'' and, in 2013, "the best" by a '' Billboard'' writer. In 2017, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked him No. 9 in their "50 Best Stand Up Comics of All Time". Chappelle has appeared in several films, including '' Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' (1993), ''The Nutty Professor'' (1996), ''Con Air'' (1997), ''You've Got Mail'' (1998), ''Blue Streak'' (1999), ''Undercover Brother'' (2002), ''Dave Chappelle's Block Party'' (2005), ''Chi-Raq'' (2015), and '' A Star Is Born'' (2018). His first lead role was in the 1998 comedy film ''Half Baked'', which he co-wrote. Chappelle a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maggie Estep
Margaret Ann "Maggie" Estep (March 20, 1963 – February 12, 2014) was an American writer and poet, best known for coming to prominence during the height of the spoken word and poetry slam performance rage. She published seven books and released two spoken word albums: '' No More Mr. Nice Girl'' and '' Love is a Dog From Hell''. Biography Margaret Ann Estep was born in 1963 in Summit, New Jersey. As a poet, she emerged in the early 1990s when grunge was the height of fashion and her "direct, aggressive and uncompromisingly modern"Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). ''Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam.'' New York City: Soft Skull Press, 66. . poetry was highly accessible. Estep appeared on Lollapalooza's third stage in 1994, and featured on MTV's ''Spoken Word Unplugged'', [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jonathan Ames
Jonathan Ames (; born March 23, 1964) is an American author who has written a number of novels and comic memoirs, and is the creator of two television series, ''Bored to Death'' (HBO) and ''Blunt Talk'' (STARZ). In the late '90s and early 2000s, he was a columnist for the ''New York Press'' for several years, and became known for self-deprecating tales of his sexual misadventures. He also has a long-time interest in boxing, appearing occasionally in the ring as "The Herring Wonder". Two of his novels have been adapted into films: '' The Extra Man'' in 2010, and ''You Were Never Really Here'' in 2017. Ames was a co-screenwriter of the former and an executive producer of the latter. Early life Raised in Oakland, New Jersey, Ames attended Indian Hills High School. Ames graduated with an English degree in 1987 from Princeton University, and where he authored his senior thesis entitled ''Eye Pity Eye: (The Collected Writings of Alexander Vine)''. He also holds a Master of Fine Arts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alternative Comedy
Alternative comedy is a term coined in the 1980s for a style of comedy that makes a conscious break with the mainstream comedic style of an era. The phrase has had different connotations in different contexts: in the UK, it was used to describe content that was an "alternative" to the mainstream of live comedy, which often involved racist and sexist material. In other contexts, it is the nature of the form that is "alternative", avoiding reliance on a standardised structure of a sequence of jokes with punch lines. Patton Oswalt has defined it as "comedy where the audience has no pre-set expectations about the crowd, and vice versa. In comedy clubs, there tends to be a certain vibe—alternative comedy explores different types of material." In an interview with ''The A.V. Club'' after his performance in the 2011 comedy-drama film ''Young Adult'', Oswalt stated: I had come up out of that whole alternative scene, which was all about, "Don’t try it, man. Just go up and wing it. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
