Messy Comedy, Final Macaulay, Royal Karaoke, and More Performance Picks

WEDNESDAY

Ground Floor Live
Wednesday, June 7 at Brooklyn Bazaar, 9 pm: FREE

Ground Floor Comedy, an online space for comedic videos and newsletter listing IRL comedy shows in Brooklyn and beyond, will be putting on their first live show tonight at Greenpoint’s Brooklyn Bazaar. There’ll be sketch, improv, and other absurdities from a silly group of comics and performers, many of which will be familiar faces if you’ve ever been to the Annoyance or new weekly series RUDE at South 4th Bar.

The whole affair is guest hosted by Mo Fry Pasic and Tim Platt, who always bring a special something to shows. If you come early at 8pm, there will be a “meat themed variety show” to spotlight new voices in the comedy scene, and I love a good themed show.

THURSDAY

Nightwood: An Evening of Drag Kings
Thursday, June 8 at Secret Project Robot, 8 pm: $5

Firstly, I should state the delightful fact that this show is named for a “whimsical, gothic lesbian narrative from 1936” written by Djuna Barnes, which is a type of narrative I think we should definitely focus on producing more of. But the show itself isn’t about this novel, it’s about drag kings. Yes, kings.

Rather than just lip sync numbers, each king will be given the option of performing music, stand-up, poetry, dance, or the classic lip-sync. And of course, performing masculinity and queerness in the process. A whopping 11 kings will be gracing the lineup, but only one will ultimately be crowned the winner. Sound familiar?

FRIDAY

The Art of Luv (Part 5): Swipe Right / Roké Cupid
Continues now through June 10 at the Bushwick Starr, 8 pm: $20

Online dating has become so engrained in our culture that it is hard to escape it, even in the media we consume. The latest artistic exploration of swiping n’ chatting comes from the Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble, a group of theatrically offbeat and spiritually-inclined folk making multimedia-rich work that takes a more metaphysical look at the things that make us human.

This is part of ROKE’s “multi-part, multi-year, multi-disciplinary series” The Art Of Luv, delving into the many (mostly incredibly strange and stressful) ways we inhabit romance in the 21st century. It’s a hexing combination of sacred love songs, poetry, kaleidoscopes, spirituality, and text taking from actual online dating profiles, plus an additional dose of online scams and instructional dating guides. And hey, maybe while you’re at a show about online dating you’ll meet a real person to date. Or not, I have no idea.

SATURDAY

The Messy Show
Saturday, June 10 at secret outdoor location, 7 pm: $7

If you find “good, clean fun” to be overrated, perhaps you’d be interested in the latest edition of The Messy Show, an anything-goes comedy night presented by sketch group SOAP and their pals. The only rule for this slimy show is that all the acts have to make a mess of some kind. So, maybe don’t wear your Sunday best. At least you won’t be stuck in a weird-smelling room after all the madness has concluded, as this show will go down in the great outdoors. By which I mean, a Williamsburg backyard.

A variety of creative minds and boundary pushers will be bringing their mess to this Saturday slime-a-thon. Okay, I only said that because it was a nice alliteration– I don’t know if there will actually be slime. In any case, expect all kinds of stuff from performers like Philip Markle, Danny Groh, Sophie Zucker and Ian Lockwood, and more. And if you miss this one, SOAP is planning two whole others, so stay tuned and bring a poncho.

SUNDAY

The Macaulay Culkin Show Summer Comedy Festival 2017
Sunday, June 11 at Shea Stadium, 8 pm: $5

Those living under a rock may be dismayed to learn that even after a very hearty Kickstarter campaign, Shea Stadium’s aspirations to continue operating in their space on Meadow Street will soon be quashed by the building’s landlords, who want to turn it into some kind of nightclub. Sigh.

But fear not, there will be one last chance to soak in the DIY vibes of Shea. It’s none other than the heralded Macaulay Culkin Show, a comedy show hosted by Brett Davis and Sally Burtnick that has found a home in Shea since 2013. This is their annual summer festival, packing dozens of comedians into one night (each comic does a 5-minute set, for those who shudder at the thought of a show that goes on forever). It’s seriously packed full of talented weirdos like Jo Firestone, Joe Pera, Mary Houlihan, Patti Harrison, Three Busy Debras, Joel Kim Booster, Cole Escola, Sam Taggart, and more. I could go on, but you might as well attend the show. I’ll be there.