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Performance Picks: Patti Smith Drag, A Disappearing Band, and More

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(image via Queer as in F$ck You / Facebook)

THURSDAY

Queer as in Fuck You Presents Just Kids
Thursday, May 30 at Otto’s Shrunken Head, 10:30 pm: $10

Though technically Pride month doesn’t kick off till June, there’s no reason you shouldn’t enjoy some good old fashioned queer performance before then (and, of course, during Pride month too). Tonight, it’s the return of Vylette Tendency’s punk drag showcase Queer as in Fuck You, taking up residence at East Village bar for tiki weirdos, Otto’s Shrunken Head. This time, they’re paying tribute to the OG punk poet, Patti Smith. Grab a drink, park yourself in the back room, and have a queer old time watching performances by C’était BonTemps, Ash Blight, Chris of Hur, and winner of this year’s Brooklyn Nightlife Award for Drag King of the Year, God Complex. More →

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Performance Picks: Queer + Trans Stories, Violence in Nebraska

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WEDNESDAY

(image via Junior Mint / Facebook)

In Living Color!
Weekly on Wednesdays at UpNorth, 9 pm: FREE

There are so many drag shows in the city, they can be hard to keep track of. When a show happens every week, it can create a comfortable consistency; you always know it’s going to be there. The newest weekly sensation to hit Bushwick is In Living Color, a free evening of drag and burlesque hosted by effervescent drag performer Junior Mint, who may be new on the scene but has so much talent and vibrant presence that you’d never know it. Every Wednesday, she hosts a crop of multitalented local performers for your entertainment, while you sip drinks and dine on vegetarian food from the bar. This week features Rara Darling, Thee Suburbia, and Tink, with gogo dancing and kittening by Foxy Belle Afriq. More →

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Performance Picks: Your New Favourite Queer Comedy Show and More

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FRIDAY

(flyer courtesy of Tessa Skara)

The Favourites
Friday, April 12 at Club Cumming, 8 pm: FREE

Most people with an awareness of pop culture have at least heard of The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos’s recent feature film that facilitated, among other things, a frequent (and queer) call for actress Rachel Weisz to take control of them in every which way. With The Favourites, a new queer comedy show from Tessa Skara and Jes Tom, perhaps you’ll find a new object of affection to request bodily harm from. Described as “part safe space, part dyke party, part comics to watch showcase at a liberal arts college,” the kickoff show features Becca Blackwell, Kiko Soirée, Mila Myles, Spike Einbinder, Jess Salomon, and Eman El-Husseini—plus, of course, some obligatory Weisz fawning. More →

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Performance Picks: Cannabis Comedy, Grimm Burlesque Tales, and More

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THURSDAY

(image via Brown Privilege Comedy / Facebook)

Brown Privilege Comedy
Thursday, March 21 at Friends and Lovers, 8:30 pm: FREE (donation suggested)

The 39th edition of Saurin Choksi and DJ Sareen’s Brown Privilege Comedy returns to Crown Heights bar Friends and Lovers tonight. As always, the show spotlights some of the best comedians of color the city has to offer, with nary a token white person to be found. This time, they’re bringing along Gibran Saleem, Aminah Imani, Ayanna Dookie, Kevin Iso, and Alex English. After all the jokes have concluded, stick around—DJ Sareen takes the stage and the show becomes a dance party. More →

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Performance Picks: Immersive Comedy, Intergenerational Queer Performance

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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 →

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Performance Picks: Demystifying Sex, Activist Storytelling, Adolescent Witchcraft

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WEDNESDAY

(image via HERE Arts Center)

The Sex Myth: A Devised Play
August 16-20 at HERE Arts Center, 8:30 pm (Sunday at 4 pm): $35

I don’t think it’s hyperbole to state that most of America had either an awful sex ed or none at all. Sure, you can take to the internet in all its glory to learn a thing or two, but formal sex education programs are notoriously lacking. This has created a hush-hush attitude around carnal matters, which leads to shame, misinformation, sensationalism, and a whole host of other not-so-great stuff. A new devised show, The Sex Myth, uses real stories and experiences to expand conceptions of what is “normal” in bedrooms and bodies alike.

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Performance Picks: Magicians, Flashlight Ghost Stories, and Queer Debauchery

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WEDNESDAY

(flyer courtesy of Patrick Terry)

Wondershow
Wednesday, August 2 at House of Yes, 8 pm: $20

Ok. I know what you’re thinking. You want to see a magic show, but you don’t know where to go. Well, as it turns out there is one happening tonight. While you ooh and ahh over my magnificent mind-reading skills, Wondershow is gearing up to show you mind-bending tricks at the Bushwick venue with some of the bendiest bodies I’ve ever seen, House of Yes.

Wondershow is hosted by magician and mentalist Eric Walton. I would explain his work by relating it to someone else’s, but the event description calls him “incomparable,” and I don’t want a magic spell to be cast on me if I disobey. The show also features mind reader Eric Dittelman (of America’s Got Talent), knife-thrower The Great Throwdini, “Western variety arts” master Chris McDaniel, and ballerina/burlesque performer Aurora Black. For those ageless or nostalgic folk mourning the loss of the early 20th century burlesque and vaudeville shows that used to be so commonplace in areas like Midtown, surely you’ll be in for a treat.

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Pride-ful Shows, Political Theater, and More Performance Picks

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THURSDAY

(image via Clubbed Thumb)

What The Constitution Means To Me
June 21-July 1 at The Wild Project, 8 pm: $25

With this piece by playwright and actor Heidi Schreck directed by Oliver Butler, Clubbed Thumb continues their annual Summerworks series of new plays. Fittingly, so far they have all dealt with sociopolitical or governmental issues in ways that have been a bit more overt than the typical downtown theater offering. Such is a sign of the times. Schreck’s What The Constitution Means To Me appears to be no exception.

The play is about someone also named Heidi who finds a unique way to make money in 1989, which is giving speeches about the Constitution. Only, she is told her orations are not personal enough, which leads to an exploration into the women of her past (who seem to have consistently attracted “violent men”) and how the Ninth Amendment may have had more of an impact than she thought on them. More →

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Indoor Comedy Shows, A Multitude of Taylors, and More Performance Picks

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THURSDAY

(image via LAWL / Eventbrite)

LAWL
Thursday, May 25 at New Women Space, 7 pm: $5

It is good to laugh, and there are allegedly real scientific statistics to back up such a claim. In fact, I just found something literally called the Laugher Online University, and you know what, I have a lot of questions about it.  But why spend your time on weird websites when you can venture into the real world and get some actual laughter?

You’re in luck— Thursday night is LAWL (Ladies and Womyn Laughing), Arti Gollapudi’s comedy night showcasing women, trans, and gender non-conforming funny folk. Gollapudi is no stranger to curating spaces prioritizing these groups, as she is also a co-founder of the Comedy Cunt Collective. Tonight at LAWL, you can see jokes n’ silly stories by Sue Smith, Shannon Odell, and Wanjiko Eke. And if I’ve made you too curious about this University of Laughter, you can always just look it up on your phone in between acts or something. More →

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Light-Soaked Galleries, Meditative Street Ads, and More Art Exhibitions

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(image via Foley Gallery)

Subtext II: Meditations
Opening Wednesday, May 17 at Foley Gallery, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through June 25.

I would remark on the humor inherent in exhibiting artist Wyatt Gallery’s name, who is indeed showing artwork in a gallery, but it seems he’s already got that covered. As soon as you visit his website, the very large and very green phrase “a person, not a place” is followed, literally, by a trademark symbol. So, guys… he gets it.

For this show, Gallery is displaying a series of works using foundational material quite truly ripped off of the city streets, in that they are portions of the endlessly-stacked-and-glued mountains that are NYC street advertising and flyering. He transformed these found object compilations into “UV cured photographic plates,” making them even more abstract in the process. Interestingly, Gallery sees these dirty, aged poster creations as relevant to his practice of mindfulness and meditation. So next time you’re saddled with a 20-minute train wait, maybe you should try deep breathing while staring at the many advertisements on the walls. Perhaps inner peace will crawl out from in between the pages.

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