“I’ma slice me some Jedi ass,” was the first of many threats I’d hear walking through Washington Square Park on Saturday night, as almost 2,000 people gathered to wave around glowing plastic tubes from China. In reality, there was very little in the way of actual slicing, but Lightsaber Battle NYC 2015 was not short on imaginative enthusiasm. Fandom and cosplay abounded as New Yorkers gathered in the name of the force and issued gems such as “Chew-bacca on this,” “Your force is weak, son,” and, the crowning of insulting incitations, “You suck Jar Jar Bink dick.”
star wars
These Hacked Action Figures Make For ‘Suckadelic’ Stocking Stuffers
Black Friday is so mainstream, but what if you experience the irrepressible urge to go shopping with the rest of America? Worry not — Con Artist Collective has just what you’re looking for: Stormtroopers with beefed-up codpieces!
At Con Artist Gallery’s new show, “Action Figures: Objectified,” you can shop for aluminum-foil animals by Dean Millien or a toy version of one of Wizard Skull’s hacked animation cels, showing a swoll Ronald McDonald with French-fry pubes.
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Alas, Naughty Droid: A Night of Shakespeare and Star Wars
Get thy lightsabers ready and prithee get thee to the bookstore—where a performance of choice moments from the William Shakespeare’s Star Wars series will take place. If you’re a weirdo like me who had a childhood obsession with Princess Leia and an unlikely love for the Bard, this is the event for you. Author Ian Doescher will appear by droid-projected hologram (um, Skype), and there will be costumes and duels galore. If you’re extra-keen and thespianly inclined, emailbrooklyn@wordbookstores.com to enquire about becoming a reader.
Good Talks: World Cup Buzzkill, a ‘Live Documentary,’ and Shakespeare Star Wars
Upcoming talks and readings. Because sometimes, you just want to watch C-3P0 soliloquize in Early Modern English.
Thursday, June 26
Nathan Deuel and Friday was the Bomb
In 2008 Nathan Deuel, Village Voice and Rolling Stone editor, moved with his wife Kelly McEvers (a foreign correspondent) to Saudi Arabia. The couple’s first child had just been born when the Arab Spring erupted. McEvers was posted in Baghdad, while Deuel took his young daughter first to Istanbul and then Beirut. Friday was the Bomb: Five Years in the Middle East is Deuel’s first book, and an account of his time spent in the volatile region. Deuel will be reading from the memoir, taking questions, and signing copies.
7pm, WORD Bookstore (126 Franklin St, Greenpoint), Facebook RSVP requested but not required, FREE
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