— April 2005 —
The WYSIWYG Talent Show now has a Friendster profile. Be our friend, write a testimonial, and help us spread the word!
First off, humongous get-well wishes to our webmaster and graphics guru Dan, who had an appendectomy on Thursday! Feel better fast, baby!
Since Dan's got an owie in his tummy, the front page isn't updated yet. So here's the lineup for our May 17 show, "Arrested Development: I Fought the Law and the Law Won!"
* PJ Gallagher of chromewaves.org (all the way from Atlanta, holy cow!)
* Martha Burzynski of Alice Ayers
* Laren Spirer of Sweet Blog o' Mine
* Andrew J. Lederer
* soce the elemental wizard (you can see his video for "Sad and Lonely" right here)
And while you've got your calendars out...
Big ups to Blaise K. for turning us on to this show -- if you come to it, you can catch both her and me embarassing ourselves!
Cringe Reading Night
Wednesday, May 4, 8:30 pm
Freddy's Bar & Backroom
Dean & 6th Ave.
2/3 to Bergen, any train to Atlantic/Flatbush
More directions here Cost: free!
Bring written evidence of your own shameful past and share if you dare!
Also, on Sunday, May 1, 1-3 PM, Jonny Goldstein has organized a free videoblogging workshop at FluxFactory in Queens.
What you need: Bring some kind of camera that can shoot video. Bring whatever cable you need to get video off the camera into your laptop. Bring a laptop that is able to wirelessly connect to the internet that has some sort of digital video editing program on it, like i-Movie or Quicktime Pro. Bring yourself. Bring a friend! Did I mention this was free? You don't even need to have a blog, or a place to host your videos. We will hook you up.
Directions here!
A couple more things from last week's WYSIWYG stories are now online:
"Be Born Rich," an excerpt from Andy's story here.
Daniel's story, "Gummint Work: Pushing Paper from Here to Retirement," can be read in its entirety here.
And Jon's email to his soon-to-be-former coworkers about the mirror hat is here.
So Tuesday night after returning home from yet another WYSIWYG show, I found an email from Simon Houpt at the Globe and Mail. He had been to the show that night and was planning on writing about it.
I was SO excited. We've been trying to get some press interest in these shows for months now, with no luck. I don't get why not -- we sell out almost every time, we get lots and lots of repeat attenders, people have a blast both doing it and seeing it, and there's a definite novel hook in the whole concept behind the series. There are so many different reading series in New York makes it hard to get noticed, so I was thrilled that someone was finally going to cover us. I sent him a link to the about page and offered to answer any questions he might have, which he really didn't seem too interested in doing. Guess that should have tipped me off right there.
I know bad reviews are just part of the game when you're doing any sort of show, but this isn't really what this story is. I don't take issue with it because it's not positive. I take issue with it because it's mean-spirited, sloppily reported, and full of stupid, uninformed stereotypes about bloggers that are just SO 2002 -- um, excuse me, were any of us in our pajamas? And there's gratuitious, pointless jab at our audience in there as well -- calling them underemployed. Really? Did he talk to anyone in the audience about their jobs? Or did he do about as much research on that as he obviously did on the rest of the story?
Had he bothered to find out anything about the WYSIWYG shows themselves or actually interview anyone connected with them, maybe Houpt would have realized that a huge part of the shows is about community and social networking, and that bloggers are hardly the sad, solitary shut-ins he describes here. And would we be selling out shows every month if blogging were the pathetic, not-interesting-to-anyone-but-ourselves phenomenon that he paints it to be?
What do you guys think?
Since it's not linkable, the story's here:
(See the rest of this entry...)
Whoops, somehow we missed that yesterday's Gothamist interview was with ubertalented WYSIWYG alum Mike Daisey! Check it out here.
With the exception of Frank Beekman, who had to cancel but posted the story he had planned to read here, it seems that the peformers from this week's WYSIWYG aren't going to be posting what they read on their sites. You can't always count on this to happen -- that's why you gotta come to the shows!
There are, however, lots of comments out there about the evening from performers and the audience:
Aaron
Davis
Chris (no direct link I could find; something's wrong with Blogger, I think)
Rachel (also no direct link) - thanks for sending the link!
Cheryl
Carolyn
Michelle
Jon
The other Jon
Andy
Weiner Philharmonic
Thanks again to everyone who came, and to all the folks who performed!
Addendum:
Daniel's rundown of the evening and story are online here!
Tuesday, April 19, at 7:30 p.m. at
P.S. 122
150 1st Ave. at East 9th St.
Tickets: $7
With performances by:
* Elizabeth Spiers of FishbowlNY
* Daniel Radosh
* Jon Friedman of The Rejection Show
* Michelle Collins of You Can't Make It Up and Votergasm.org
* Brian Grosz of Doctor Grosz
* And WYSIWYG's very own Andy Horwitz of Andy's Chest and Culturebot.org
Sadly, Frank Beekman of The Accidental New Yorker had to cancel due to an illness in his family, but he has posted the story he would have read tonight - you can read it here.
Tickets are $7 and can be bought by calling the P.S. 122 box office at 212-477-5288 or by visiting Ticketweb, right here.
OR - even better!
This month we're offering a two-fer deal with the good folks at The Rejection Show! See WYSIWYG on the 19th & The Rejection Show on the 20th for a combined total of only $10 - saves you four bucks! Call the P.S. 122 box office at 212-477-5288 or visit Ticketweb, right here.
First off, don't forget our show this Tuesday and our special two-fer deal with The Rejection Show! More info right here.
Also, we forgot to tell y'all that the video clips (courtesy of our friend Rich Calarco) from last month's show are all online now, right here.
And last but not least, we've finally scheduled the next several shows! These are subject to change, as always, but if they do they won't change much.
June 21: "I Love a Parade! Even Gayer Tales of Extremely Gay Gayness"
July 19: "Greetings from Lake WYSIWYG: Summer Camp Stories"
August: We're taking a month off. You got a problem with that?
September 20: "First, Last, and Insecurity: The World's Worst Roommates"
October 25: "The WYSIWYGville Horror: Terrifying Tales of Terror!"
November 15: "I'm with the Band"
December 13: TBA (sumthin' Jewy for the holidays)
January 17: "America's Funniest Home Accidents"
February (date not set): WSEIII
March (date not set): "Starfuckers: Close Encounters of the Famous Kind"
Addendum: We are indeed still having a May show too -- thanks for catching my omission, Sam!
May 17: "Arrested Development: I Fought the Law and the Law Won" (lineup TBA at tomorrow night's show)
WYSIWYG alum Jonny Goldstein will speak at the Chelsea Art Museum this month as part of the Interactive Media Culture Expo.
1) April 15, Friday (tomorrow), 3PM-4PM Educational Symposium: Wearable Computing and Embedded Technologies with Michal Bril, Sonali Sridhar, Meghan Trainor, and Jonny. In addition to moderating the panel, Jonny will present the world premiere of a video created by Jeff Galusha and Tom Ainsley which documents his performance in the PowerSuit, a set of electronics embedded coveralls with which Jonny speaks to his future self in front of a live audience at Loews Theater in May of 2004.
2) April 20, Wednesday, 2PM-3PM Educational Symposium: Future Trends in Photo Blogs & Video Blogs with Jonny Goldstein, Dimitri Negroponte, and Shawn Van Every. Jonny will be talking about videoblogging in general, and specifically how he's using his videoblog to collect money from a deadbeat client.
It costs $15 to get in and that covers all the symposia that day as well as the various nifty exhibits.
Directions:
Take C or E train to W. 23 St., walk west to CAM, or take any north/south local train including C, E, 1, 9, F, V, N, R, W or 6 to the W. 23 St. stop, and take the M23 bus west to 11th Ave., walk one block south to W. 22 St. Also, the M11 bus stops on 10th Ave. at W. 21st Street.
As always, every Thursday at 9AM, until he gets paid by his former client or collapses into a defeated pool of jelly, Jonny will post a new Freelance Blues video here.
Giulia Rozzi of Giulia Is Cute and Cheap, who performed at last month's WYSIWYG ("The City That Never Shuts Up: New York Stories"), has a bunch of stuff going on these days:
MORTIFIED: adults reading real diary entries, songs, essays, and letters they wrote as teenagers. April 17th & 24th, 8pm at the Tank Theatre (42nd & 9th Ave). Produced by Giulia and creator David Nadelburg. $10, for tickets click here. Visit the Mortified site for more info and to audition for future shows.
BRUTAL HONESTY, comedy/readings/music with a theme. This month is "Something I Never Told Anyone." April 20th, 8pm at Sutra (1st Ave & 1st St). Hosted by Giulia, Lianne Stokes, and Becky Yamamoto. Interested in performing? Stop by.
STUPID FOREIGNERS, a one lady show written and performed by Giulia Rozzi. When you are dumb, different, and obsessed with food and sitcoms, who else can you blame but your immigrant parents? May 2nd, 9:30 pm at the UCB Theatre (307 W. 26th at 8th Ave). Giulia's showcasing this night and would love it if you came to support her! Reservations can be made at 212-366-9176.
One of the reasons we put this here blog up on the ol' WYSIWYG site was so we could alert you all to upcoming events featuring people who have performed at our shows. But with so many fabu people having done the 'WYG now, it quickly became well nigh impossible for me to keep up with it all. However, here's an attempt (in no particular order) at a rundown for now...
First of all, our very own producer Andy Horwitz will be performing a new piece called “Shopping for Dresses” tonight as part of P.S. 122’s annual multidisciplinary mini festival “Avant Garde Arama”, hosted by Mr. Murray Hill and also featuring performances by:
* Yvonne Meier with Gogolorez
* Tara Madsen
* Gina Varla Vettro and Billy Beyond
* Raquel Almazan
* With Musical Guest Paprika
Bob Powers and Todd Levin continue doing their high-larious "How to Kick People" shows, which you should totally check out, and they have an additional new show next week:
Bob & Todd's "Pen Pals"
Funny People reading Funny Letters
With Sam Lipsyte, David Rees, & Colleen Werthmann
Tuesday, April 12th, 8 PM at The Marquee Theater
356 Bowery (Btwn Great Jones & E 4th)
$5
Todd has a bunch of other upcoming appearances too -- so much that you oughta just go check his site right now and go see him. Oh, and Bob will also be performing at the East Side Oral Reading Series tomorrow - Sunday, April 10, 5PM at The Living Room, 154 Ludlow between Stanton and Rivington.
Carolyn Castiglia, who is expecting her first baby (congrats, mama!), has so much stuff coming up that you should probably just check her blog, but most notable in our book is that on Tuesday, April 26 she'll be hosting and co-producing Nichelle's all-female comedy show, Chicks and Giggles.
Speaking of Nichelle, she and Liza are hosting the first Blog Sheroes Meetup, "Tits, Twats and the Politics of Blogging," 7pm on April 24 at MADAM X, 94 Houston Street (between La Guardia Place and Thompson). And don't forget their new Brown Bloggers series, which just started and now has its own site!
Ukelele cuties The Hazzards will be at Galapagos this Wednesday, April 13th with Jollyship the Whizbang and Soce the Elemental Wizard. They just recently shot a new video for their song "Shut Up and Make Out," which you can get a glittery glimpse of here. Oooh, sparkly!
Chris G (aka JimmyLegs) and his band Motico have a new 7" (you know, I heard it was at LEAST eight) out, and you should keep checking the upcoming shows page on their site 'cause they book new stuff all the time.
Hottie hot Joe of Joe. My. God. fame, who performed at last month's WYSIWYG, just won a Diarist Award for Best Romantic Entry for his story, "Dance of the Sugar Plum Lesbians." Good on ya, Joe!
Multiple WYSIWYGger Doctor Grosz (he's performing at the 'WYG again this month, too) will be performing on Monday, April 11 at "Inner Monologues: Excuses" at the Apocalypse Lounge at 8pm. His band, Dogs of Winter, has been up to a lot as well, so do check out their site too!
Blaise K. of Bazima (her site's ALMOST finished being redesigned, she swears) was recently featured in a spiff article in Jewsweek and also performed at a show earlier this week that I forgot to post about or attend because I'm a dork who can't use a simple calendar. Dag!!
On Friday, April 22, Jessica Delfino and Dan Fishback will present the Cheese on Bread Variety Party at Galapagos, details TBA.
Chelsea Peretti has a ton of appearances coming up, which you can track on her upcoming events page, but the most intriguing one, IMHO, is IHEARTINTERNET, which she'll be co-hosting with Michelle Collins (she's performing at this month's 'WYG) on May 11th, 6:30 at the Apple Store in SoHo. With appearances by: Eugene Mirman, AD Miles, and Jake Fogelnest.
Jenny Francois's site has moved - she's now at AekiTuesday.com
Jonny Goldstein has been busy as all get-out, with lotsa shows (check his site) and a new series of video blogs on a topic near to many a geek's heart, "Freelance Blues!"
Ned Vizzini's reading series at Barbes continues too, next on April 14.
Phoebe Kreutz is performing at Sidewalk Cafe on Wednesday, April 13th at 11 PM as part of what she calls the "Holy Crap, That's A Lot of My Friends In One Night" night - more info in the "upcoming shows" section of her site.
It's damn near impossible to keep up with all the activities of Rachel Kramer Bussel, one of the busiest babes of blogging, so you'd best check her blog to catch up with everything she's up to. But I can tell you that she's headlining the SMUT Reading Series with Elise Miller Monday night, April 11, at 8 pm at Galapagos.
Mike Daisey's latest installment of "All Stories Are Fiction" continues through May 9 at P.S. 122. If you've caught either of Mike's WYSIWYG performances, you know what a masterful storyteller he is, so do try to make it at least once before it goes!
Mike will also be performing at the next Rejection Show on April 20 -- and don't forget that we're offering a special two-fer deal with the Rejection Show this month and that its mastermind Jon Friedman will be part of this month's WYSIWYG too!
Jeebus, that's a lot of WYSIWYGgers! See why I have a hard time keeping up with all this stuff?
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