Bizarre Bushwick

Arts & Culture, news No Comments

Performance Picks: Autobiographical Bodies, Black Burlesque, and More

By

THURSDAY

(image via Union Hall / Facebook)

Yourself, Your Body
Thursday, April 4 at Union Hall, 9:30 pm: $10

Arti Gollapudi, who we interviewed back in 2017 about her aggressively inclusive Comedy Cunt Collective, has been quite busy lately. One of her many endeavors include the recurring show Yourself, Your Body, a comedy show (produced by Amanda Justice, also of Comedy Cunt Collective) perhaps unsurprisingly about how bodies and brains alike can be, well, extremely weird. Anyone with a human body (and maybe some without) knows there’s a lot to be mined from this topic. This time around, the funny folks waxing humorously about this weirdness include Rachel Sennott, Rebecca O’Neal, Drew Anderson, Mia Myles, Amanda Justice, and guest co-host Maya Deshmukh. More →

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Arts & Culture, news No Comments

Performance Picks: Electro-Opera, Kinky Dungeon, Experimental Comedy

By

FRIDAY

(image via The Kitchen / Facebook)

Improvement (Don Leaves Linda)
February 7-9 and 13-16 at The Kitchen, 8 pm: $25 

One of the most common ways people encounter opera is when very old compositions from well-known classical greats like Mozart are revived. This opera at The Kitchen is also a revival of sorts, but a more modern one: it has “newly reconstructed” a work from 1985 by late experimental composer Robert Ashley, staging it with a chorus of live vocalists and an “electronic orchestra.” The opera centers less around the Don in the title, but around a woman named Linda. She embarks upon many types of ventures spanning many locations and historical periods throughout the opera, all with varying degrees of success—something that should spark some level of familiarity in us all. More →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Arts & Culture, news No Comments

Comedic Techno, Talking Rakes, and More Performance Picks

By

THURSDAY

(photo by Patrick Arias, image via Facebook)

Queer As In Fuck You: Is It Halloween Yet?
Thursday, October 11 at Otto’s Shrunken Head, 10 pm: $5-10 suggested donation

No, it’s not technically Halloween yet (just a few more weeks!) but being in attendance at Vylette Tendency’s punk drag show Queer As In Fuck You (guest hosted this time by devilish drag demon God Complex) might make you forget that, as you’ll be surrounded with spooky, creative looks and costumes far as the eye can see. While most alternative drag takes place in Brooklyn nowadays, this show did win the Brooklyn Nightlife Award honor of “Best Reason To Leave Brooklyn,” so you know it’s worth making the trek to 14th and B for tiki drinks, alt vibes, and performances by Ms. Ter, Angelica Sundae, Mini Horrorwitz, and Richard Dicocko. More →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Arts & Culture, news No Comments

Performance Picks: A Queer Eye Parody, Bushwig’s Return, and More

By

THURSDAY

(photo: Rachel Nicholson, via Facebook)

Athena
Now through September 16 at JACK, 8 pm (some shows at 3 pm and 7 pm): $18-25

You can probably divide people into three categories regarding competitive athletics they engaged with growing up: more mainstream sports-doers who partook in football, basketball, and the like; people who vehemently did no sports at all; and those drawn to more niche offerings, like martial arts or fencing. The latter grouping is the star of Gracie Gardner’s play Athena, which is being revived for a brief run following a sharply successful debut at Clinton Hill space JACK in February. Presented by The Hearth, which “tells the stories of women,” the play surrounds two teenage girl fencers training for the Junior Olympics. Though such a task undoubtedly requires the duo to spend quite a lot of time around each other, “friends” they do not seem to be. While this situation seems stressful to go through personally, it surely will be interesting to spectate upon. More →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Arts & Culture, news No Comments

Drag Brunch, Radical Latinxs, And More Performance Picks

By

THURSDAY

Awilda Rodríguez Lora. Performance of La Mujer Maravilla: INDIA$ m.e. at the Brooklyn Museum, 2016. (Photo: Daryl E. Tillman) (image via Brooklyn Museum / Facebook)

Cuerpxs Radicales: Radical Bodies In Performance
Thursday, July 5 (plus July 12 and 19) at Brooklyn Museum, 7 pm: FREE with museum admission ($10-16)

While the bulk of the buzz surrounding the Brooklyn Museum lately has surrounded the acclaimed and ever-popular exhibit David Bowie Is, that’s not the only thing that’s happening at the art space. Another exhibition currently on view is Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985. In addition to the exhibition, there’s been a consistent array of programming to accompany it. This Thursday marks the beginning of a weekly showcase spotlighting contemporary female and gender non-conforming Latinx artists and performers working in any discipline from performance and music to literature and visual art and more. This week features Ela and Alina Troyano, Awilda Rodríguez Lora, Sonia Guiñansaca, and STEFA*. More →

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Arts & Culture, news No Comments

Performance Picks: Pride, Daddies, Teenage Richards

By

THURSDAY

(image via The Public Theater)

Teenage Dick
Now through July 15 at The Public Theater, 7:30 pm (weekend matinees at 1:30 pm): $50+

As I’ve discussed several times before, wacky Shakespeare adaptations are a dime a dozen. Normally, this manifests in the form of doing something other than the expected set design, costume design, or casting, while leaving the original script—and sometimes other age-old practices—intact. Mike Lew’s Teenage Dick, presented by the Ma-Yi Theater Company in association with The Public Theater, does something different. It portrays Richard III (“the most famous disabled character of all time”) as a high school junior with cerebral palsy who is determined to become class president, and will do whatever it takes to get there. Given that most productions of Richard III feature an able-bodied actor in the titular role even when breaking with tradition in other parts of the staging (yes I’ve written about this topic before), this play’s focus on both authentic casting and disability is a breath of fresh air. More →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Arts & Culture, news No Comments

Performance Picks: Immersive Comedy, Intergenerational Queer Performance

By

FRIDAY

(flyer via BEEF show / Facebook)

Post Verbal: Pride
Friday, June 8 at Bizarre Bushwick, 10 pm: $5-10

The passionate queerdos that comprise burlesque/drag collective BEEFSquad have cooked up yet another performance creation for you, just in time for pride. So, rather than bowing to the forces of rainbow-tinged capitalism as more and more brands trumpet just how proud they are of everyone (while really also saying, by the way, you should buy their stuff), perhaps consider supporting local independent queer performers instead. A BEEF show is always full of surprises, from the salacious to the scary, and Friday night’s show hosted by C’etait Bontemps and Angelica Frankenstein should be no different. More →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Arts & Culture, news No Comments

Performance Picks: Wrestling With Friendship, Oddly Satisfying Content, and More

By

THURSDAY

(image via Bushwick Starr)

Singlet
May 16-June 3 at The Bushwick Starr, 8 pm: $20-25

Singlet, the new show from the singular (get it, singular sounds like “singlet”) mind of performance and cabaret artist Erin Markey is about wrestling, yes, but it is also about so much more. That’s not a metaphor or anything; this show about friendship and rivalry takes its inspiration from everyone’s favorite performative form of consensual violence involving spandex and rings, but also Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, Precious Moments collectible dolls, Jean Genet’s The Maids (aka one of the plays everyone directed scenes from in theater school to be edgy), couples counseling podcasts, and a myriad more references I may never fully comprehend, tbh. Markey will be performing alongside frequent collaborator Emily Davis, and I wouldn’t be surprised if tickets sell out soon, so as the teens say, hop to it.

More →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Arts & Culture, news No Comments

Performance Picks: Queer Anniversary, Modern Dance, This Alien Nation

By

WEDNESDAY

(art by Payton Turner, image via This Alien Nation / Facebook)

This Alien Nation
Wednesday, May 9 at Joe’s Pub, 7 pm: $20 advance, $25 doors

It would take a lot of willful ignorance not to see that living as an immigrant in Trump’s America (or even in Obama’s) can be an experience fraught with anxiety, fear, and a sense of disappointment in a large portion of humanity. But for all the cruel, discriminatory people out there, there are others who make a point of giving immigrants a platform to tell their own stories and maybe even get paid for it. Sofija Stefanovic’s This Alien Nation is one such show, providing a monthly space for some of their “favorite outsiders” to show an audience whatever it is they do best. This month, guest hosted by Abeer Hoque, features storyteller Mansoor Basha, poet and drag performer Wo Chan, comedian Ana Fabrega, journalist and author Aatish Taseer, performer and filmmaker Angel Yau, and musician Amalia Watty. More →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
Arts & Culture, news No Comments

A Very Fragrant V-Day, Noise + Drag, and More Performance Picks

By

WEDNESDAY

(flyer via Secret Project Robot / Facebook)

Valentine’s Day with SSION
Wednesday, February 14 at Secret Project Robot, 8 pm: $15

If you somehow haven’t made Valentine’s Day plans yet (and yes, I count staying home and groveling as ‘plans’), consider attending this sensorial sensation of a show at Secret Project Robot tonight. In addition to serving as home for the high-energy SSION’s first Brooklyn performance, you can also expect a hefty spritz of performance art, installations, and even perfume. The multi-talented Ziemba will not only be performing some new “boudoir songs” from her soon-to-be-released album ARDIS (which, might I say, doubles as a “feminist sci-fi fragrant musical”), she has also created a new fragrance specifically for tonight. On top of all that, Ziemba and SSION will be joined by performance art vixens Caitlin Baucom and Pauli Cakes, and they’ll be doing their thing in an installation created by Monica Mirabile that was once likened to a “modern Brooklyn dollhouse.” Plus, if you wear Valentine’s colors, you could score a free beverage. So, open your heart (and your nose) and get to SPR. More →

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1 2 3 4