This past Sunday I went to the MoCCA Arts Festvial in the Puck Building. Such a cool event. I saw some familiar faces - the Dumbrella guys, the good folks at Top Shelf, and the power couple of the NY comix scene - Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer.
I left my apartment this evening and saw a crowd of people with umbrellas standing on the corner, watching a perfermonance by two people wrapped in cellophane. Someone actaully told me that this has been a regular occurance on that corner for a while now, but I forget who it is that's behind this street show.
I was actually on my way to the Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater to see a show called Shut Up! I Hate You! It's sort of a pop culture/current events round table hosted by Scott Brown (a hilarious guy that I used to work with) and Anthony King. The two of them also co-wrote Gutenberg! The Musical! which I think is simply brilliant. Hmm, I just noticed that they seem to like show titles with multiple exclamtion points...
Anyway, I had never seen Shut Up! before but it sounded like the kind of thing I would enjoy. It was very, very funny. It's hard to be specific, because it was pretty free-form. They showed video clips and then the panel - consisting of the two hosts plus Jason Mantzoukas, John Mulaney, Rebecca Drysdale and Josh Tyrangiel (Managing Editor of Time.com) - would comment, discuss, make jokes, do impersonations, go on wild tangents, crack up, interrupt each other, etc and it was thoroughly entertaining. The next time they do this will be end of August, I'll have to go check it out again.
After the show I ran into Charlie Todd (his weekly improv smackdown show, Cage Match, was up next). I happened to be wearing my Improv Everywhere shirt, and he seemed to approve of that.
On Saturday I went to the Mermaid Parade at Coney Island. For nearly 7 years I have been saying that I would go. And finally I did! It was a beautiful day for it, not too hot. I got there two hours late, but the parade was still going on. When I first got to the boardwalk, I ran into two guys who I had played poker with the night before! Pretty weird, considering how crowded it was.
There were some really amazing costumes there, I have to say!
Update: I loaded up a bunch more photos. See my complete Mermaid Parade photoset here.
Tonight I went to BAM to see Chasing Ghosts, another Sundance film that I didn't get to see out in Park City. The film was really good: a documentary about video game champions from the '80s (think "Dogtown and Z-boys" with Pac-man). But I was kind of tired and not in a great mood. After about 40 minutes I started feeling like it was too long. If it had been an hour-long special on TV, it would have been perfect for me at that time.
When I left BAM, I saw JJ Lask riding up on a bike. His film, On the Road with Judas, was screening next. That's one that Rohanna and I actually did see when we were out at Sundance. Kevin Corrigan, one of the stars of the film, came walking along after JJ. Without realizing what I was doing, I waved "hi" at Kevin, like a complete dork. He gave me a confused look, like "do I know you?" and I quickly just kept walking. What the hell? I never do that!
The only way I can explain this is that, when I saw JJ, I wanted to say hi to him. Because, see, we did actually talk to him at the screening. And Rohanna's roommate works for him, and was an extra in the film. So I guess you could say I'm two degrees from JJ Lask. But then he zipped by so quickly on his bike and my brain fixed on the next person it recognized, who happened to be Kevin, and transferred the greeting to him. Yeah, that sounds like a plausible theory.
Anyway, Kevin probably doesn't remember it, but I did have my picture taken with him at the film's premiere, back in January.
Tonight I went to see The Pipettes at the Highline Ballroom. I got their CD last fall, on a trip to London. They're just now releasing the EP here. They were pretty damn bubbly and fun.
Part-way through the show I noticed that their drummer is Joe Van Moyland, who plays the composer Thomas Tallis on Showtime's The Tudors. That was a little surreal.
And a few that deserve honorable mention:
Over at BAM they're showing a series of films that played at Sundance this year. This is great because it means I get to see some of the films I wanted to see, but didn't get the chance. The opening night film was Son of Ranbow, which got a lot of good buzz when it screened in Park City.
Director Garth Jennings was also quite charming and funny. That's him at right, greeting people at the reception after the screening. At one point, as I tried to make my way across the very crowded party, I realized I was walking aside Wes Anderson.
