Overheard in New York...

A father was talking to his child and asked, "Son, do you wanna go to Times Square tonight?" The boy, who was about five years-old, countered with, "Why?" "To see the ball drop at midnight!" the dad exclaimed. To which, the boy said, "Nah..." Meanwhile, the mom was listening to their their 4 year-old daughter, who said, "I am so happy to be going home; when we get there, I am gonna hug the walls!" Oh, to be four again...

Happy New Year's Eve, Everyone!

The Dream Giver

I just read The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson with David and Heather Kopp.
www.thedreamgiver.com It's the tale of "Ordinary" and his journey of pursuing his real dream. One of the anecdotes Wilkinson presents is that of having coffee with a colleague who is skeptical of the idea that everyone has a dream. To prove his point, he asked the waitress if she had a dream. Indeed, she did -- to become a nurse. Wilkinson asked what was stopping her. "Childcare," she replied. He then said that he believed that there was someone in her life who could help her with her dream, someone who might look after her children for free. He probed further and asked, "Who might that person be?" The woman said, "My mom just retired! She wouldn't mind looking after them while I was in school!" The book is inspirational and its main point is that we are all truly dreamers with something special to contribute to this world...

Trip to Bountiful - the New Stage Play!

Okay, is it just me, or is there a theme of, "Everything old is new again..." in our midst? Not that this is a bad thing -- especially when considering the current production of Horton Foote's melancholy Trip to Bountiful at the Signature Theater: Peter Norton Space in New York.

The fine cast is headed up by Lois Smith in nothing short of a marathon, tour de force performance. Hallie Foote, Devon Abner and Meghan Andrews more than hold their own to round out the main players.

Bring the tissues and prepare to meditate on the meaning of family, coping with harsh realities, progress, and what it means to be a woman of no means...

Meghan Andrews is the kind, young woman who helps shepard Smith for part of her journey, and can also be heard singing pitch perfectly in the beautiful, doleful hymns during scene shifts.
If serious, bleak and elegiac is your idea of a good time, and oddly enough, for me, it is, then do what ya can to beg, borrow or steal a ticket to this heartbreaker...

The Producers - the New Movie!

I never saw the first The Producers movie, but now I wanna... The new film version of the Mel Brooks classic has an odd feel -- retro/modern... Or maybe the remake of The Producers might have been something Busby Berkeley made if he had a crack problem... But I do mean this in a good way. Susan Stroman's deft direction and creative flourishes bring this period piece to life. Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane and Uma Thurman were all thoroughly entertaining. I never knew that Uma Thruman had such a nice singing voice. Great, fun movie!

Shakira Rocks!

I walked by Shakira in the airport. She was not wearing much make-up, in jeans, a blue shirt, and a different shade of blue, t-shirt over that. Shakira is one of those stars that is somehow prettier in person. She had stopped to let some young fans have their photo taken with her. I liked her before, like her more now... Happy Holidays, y'all!

NYCD RULES!

Merry Christmas Everybody! I have been gone, but not lost forever... The in-store appearance at NYCD was memorable. Tony Sachs and Rob (what is your last name, Rob?) were incredibly gracious and kind. Julia and Vong were awesome, as per usual. Ed was very sweet and carried my guitar! Best audience ever. I am very grateful and honored to have played such a great and legendary store! Thank you, Tony, Rob, all at NYCD - those who were sweet enough to schlep up to the Upper West Side and to Christine for originally telling Tony about me in the first place! Also, King Kongian thanks to Mr. Sachs for the nice sign! We love the Sachs font! Please buy lots of CDs/DVDs from NYCD! And sign up to receive their bulletins!
http://www.nycdonline.com

NYCD! Here We Come! This Thurs. Dec. 8 at 7 PM!

BIG HUGE thanks to Tony Sachs, Sal Nunziato for having us back! Also monster thanks to special guest musicians sitting in: Julia Cho, Eddy Martinez lone vein and Vong Pak!

I stole this from NYCD's fine website...
www.nycdonline.com

UPCOMING IN-STORE PERFORMANCES!

On THURSDAY, DEC. 8 at 7 PM, the super-talented songwriter/performer/witticist (is that a word?) FLORENCE YOO will be performing songs from her album "INDELIBLE."
Half hour set!

And on SATURDAY, DEC. 10 at 3 PM, renowned bassist (he's worked with Roxy Music, Sparks, and Milk N' Cookies) and former NYCD employee SAL MAIDA, along with brilliant vocalist LISA BURNS, will be here, singing and playing songs from her excellent album "UNADORNED," new tunes from their soon-to-be-released "NEW RANDY," and perhaps a cover or two, if you're lucky!

COME ON BY! FREE LIVE MUSIC BY TALENTED ARTISTS! WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE?! 173 WEST 81 ST, BETWEEN COLUMBUS & AMSTERDAM! SEE YOU THERE!

YES, WE HAVE CHRISTMAS CDs!

No Name... in Prime Time!

I'm running late. It's been 3 days since the Saturday night festivities at Eric Vetter's fine show at the Common Basis Theater, and no post show wrap-up from me, till now... In internet time, I think 3 days is like 3 weeks... It's so speedy here on the cyberhighway of virtual life...

And even though I ain't Catholic, why do I always feel like I'm confessing something?

It was a very entertaining show -- especially for those who like old-time comedy, including Bob Greenberg's version of "Who's On First?" and Eric Vetter milking (in a very good way) every one word response in his sketch with a fellow Living Legends Radio Theater player! Catch their Christmas Show on Dec. 17th, at the Common Basis Theater, 750 8th Ave., bet. 46th and 47th Sts., 5h FL in New York City!

Stand-up comedian, Leighann Lord rocked so hard. Her set was super smart and hilarious. Who could ask for anything more? Check out her blog at leighannlord.blogspot.com

Catch her Souled Out Comedy show this Thursday, Dec. 8th at 9 PM @NY Improv, 318 W. 53rd St. between 8th and 9th Aves. on the island also known as Manhattan...

Ethereal, folky music by singer/songwriter Kathy Zimmer was a nice cap on the evening! www.kathyzimmermusic.com

The Knuckleheads theknuckleheads.net did their funny and entertaining Christmas Knucklehead thing! Oh, what fun!

And last but not least, a belated Happy Birthday Barry!

Oh, wait, and thanks for having me back, Eric, Barry, Shani and crew!

Calling Dr. Florence...

Last night I was waiting in line to see the new play, Ban Republican Marriage by David Reve. A woman in front of me noticed she had a cut on her hand. It was bleeding. I offered her a band-aid and a moist wipe. Her daughter asked me, "Are you a doctor?" I answered, "No, I'm neurotic."

Speaking of such matters, I sent out a mass e-mail message with type-os in it. Why am I so worthless and weak? I shoulda checked it before I pulled the trigger... Ack! Next time...

Ban Republican Marriage made me think a few things: there are a darn lot of good actors in New York, including the playwright himself, David Watkins, who played the president; this piece seems to be a cousin of last year's production of I'm Gonna Kill The President by Hieronymous Bang at P.S. 122; well-writtten, this work seems to take its inspiration from the Marx Brothers and Shakespeare... The reporters were played by Gilda Konrad and Janet Rosen who headed up the stellar bonus round of stand-up comedy immediately after the play!

Caught Joe McGinty's www.loserslounge.com excellent Losers Lounge Tribute to Roxy Music at Joe's Pub. Our pal, Wendy Ip www.wendyip.com was joking about her uncle and singing the hell out of, appropriatley enough, Dance Away, which she indeed, did! Royce Peterson www.moitheband.com, in rock star regalia -- a red velvet smoking jacket, ala Hugh Hefner, and a cut off gold lame and black tie sang a great rendition of More Than This. Julia Greenberg was pitch perfect. Joe McGinty was awesome as the maestro/mc/and as a singer himself! I gotta say -- I was truly impressed by all of the performers, and at times, even the drummer was makin' those skins sing!

On a totally unrelated matter, is it just me, or is Tim Kang an Asian American version of Jeremy Piven...? And is it just me, or isn't Tim Kang hilarious in that Dunkin' Donuts commercial with the white dude with the corn rows?

TONIGHT!

from FUNNY MAN, ERIC VETTER! thanks for having me back, eric! god bless you!

NYC's BEST DAMN COMEDY/VARIETY SHOW
HAS A SHOW TONIGHT FOR THOSE WITH EARLY BEDTIMES!!

THIS WEEK, WE PRESENT: "No Name... IN PRIME TIME!"

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3rd @ 8:00 pm:
"VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE"

AN EVENING SHOWCASING THE VARIETY OF NO NAME WITH SOME
OF OUR FAVORITE ACTS, HOSTED BY LEE ALAN BARRETT.
GUESTS INCLUDE: FLORENCE YOO
http://www.cdbaby.com/florenceyoo03 , LEIGHANN LORD www.leighannlord.blogspot.com,
THE KNUCKLEHEADS www.knuckleheads.net , BOB GREENBERG, KATHY ZIMMER www.kathyzimmermusic.com, LIVING LEGENDS RADIO THEATRE, & MORE.

@ THE COMMON BASIS THEATRE
750 8th AVE. (BETWEEN 46th & 47th STS.) 5th FLOOR

SHOWTIME: 8:00 pm (Doors open @ 7:30 pm)
**ADMISSION is $5.00
**SPECIAL TO OUR MAILING LIST:
IF YOU SAY "SWORDFISH" AT THE DOOR, ADMISSION IS FREE!!

YOU MAY SEE THESE PERFORMERS AT ANOTHER SHOW.YOU WILL NOT SEE THEM AT A BETTER SHOW.

CHECK US OUT ON THE WEB: http://www.NoNameNYC.com

The PIT Rocks!

Big, huge thanks to the Peoples Improv Theater and the super funny, and gracious Jen Nails www.jennails.com for letting the likes of me back up on their fine stage on Tuesday night! Mondo thanks to Autumn Burgess for her kind tech assistance! Tim Ellis regaled us with his amusing rants about eggs and vaginas... which somehow all seemed to make sense...

I was in a post performance haze -- so I have no idea who I talked to right after -- was it Autumn? Sarah? Jen? Tim's hilarious wife, Michelle? If the funny, nice person who said this to me reads this -- will ya please let me know? Someone made the comment that Tim did a bit where he was apologizing and then there I was, truly apologizing during my set because my guitar was going wildly out of tune because I had just broken a string before I left my house -- which made for a theme for the night! Ha!

Hot tips of the day: Wednesdays @ 8 PM at the Peoples Improv Theater www.thepit-nyc.com, catch funny improv groups, The Faculty and Big Black Car for free! Improv sketches with folks making out, pretending to fornicate... I never realized how much I was missing out on. I think I better re-think this solo performer thing...

Kate Rigg rules! Absolutely, positively radical...
www.katerigg.com

I saw the new film, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. It was surprisingly scary. A few plot points were thin, but it was highly entertaining. Wendy Ip www.wendyip.com observed that one of the games depicted was somewhat sick, and that this was not a film for the little ones... Overall, good, mindless fun for older kids of all ages...