Tag Archive | Comedy

The Imbible, an Intoxicating New Theater Experience!

Apr17

Imbible Title Card
All Photos By Gail

Do you like drinking? I sure do. If you enjoy drinking and you also like going to the theater, maybe you have wished that there was a play where the actors brought cocktails right to your seat for you to enjoy during the show. That would be insane, right? What a great idea! Well, what if I told you that this is not just a beautiful, utopian dream, but that it is already happening right now? Yes, it is true, and this magical event happens at New World Stages in midtown. The show is called The Imbible: a Spirited History of Drinking, and the cherry on the cake is that it all takes place in a bar!

Imbible Signage

Imbible Table

When you arrive at the theater, head down stairs, veer off to the left, and you will be escorted to your seat in the Green Room lounge. Water and a free bowl of fresh popcorn will be brought to your table for you to snack on while you wait for the show to begin. The Imbible was created by world-renowned mixologist Anthony Caporale, who looks a little bit like actor Joe Manganello, whose photo I have just hyperlinked, for your reference.

Host Anthony Caporale

By infusing Anthony’s knowledge of the cocktail, his charming personality, and an in-depth but also hilarious look at the history of alcohol, with music and a lighthearted, vaudevillian vibe, The Imbible becomes a singularly unique, immersive theater experience that you will not want to miss. Plus: getting wasted is included in the price of the show!

Imbible Cast
Allessandra Migliaccio, Luke Schaffer and Ruthellen Cheney also Star in The Imbible

As Anthony takes you on an intoxicating and utterly fascinating historical  journey, a singing trio called The Backwaiters, made up of a Cocktail Waitress, Liquor Runner, and Bar Back, assist him with demonstrations and perform Acapella versions of familiar tunes, whose lyrics have been modified to be about drinking and alcohol. Fun! To coincide with the story about how beer was (probably) invented, after a farmer left a basket of wheat out in the rain (all stories are re-enacted by The Backwaiters), you will be served your first cocktail of the evening, which is called a Shandy, comprised of 8 ounces of Coney Island Overpass IPA and 4 ounces of Ginger Ale. Very refreshing!

Imbible Cast Chemistry

As the performers ‘distill’ alcohol’s 10,000-year global history over the course of  2 hours, Anthony pours through beverage history, the science of alcohol, and its economic and political impact on our cultural development, all while brewing beer, distilling spirits, and singing with The Backwaiters. Trust me that you will leave the Green Room educated, entertained, and buzzing with spirit!

Imbible Cast Chemists

You are going to learn all about the process of Distillation! Fascinating!

Dates of Prohibition

And you will learn all about Prohibition. Did you know that it lasted thirteen years? Oh, the humanity!

End of Prohibiton Headline

But Prohibition finally ended and it was time to enjoy another drink!

Lilac Creamsicle Old Fashioned

Your second cocktail of the evening will be some variation of an Old Fashioned, which is always made with Bourbon and Bitters with some kind of sweet flavoring, and served on the rocks. At the performance I attended, it was a Lilac Creamsicle Old Fashioned, and it was delicious!

Casks

My favorite parts of the show were when the audience got to learn something about the medical uses of alcohol through the ages, and how sometimes the medical experimentation resulted in the creation of a favorite cocktail recipe, such as the Gin and Tonic. You see, in the 1800s, daily rations of Gin and Tonic Water (which contains Quinine) were given to British soldiers to protect them against the symptoms of Malaria. They added limes to make the concoction more palatable, and the G & T (my personal favorite drink) was born!

Gin and Tonic

This Gin and Tonic, the third and final cocktail of the evening, was made with Bombay Sapphire Gin and was among the most excellent versions of this drink I have had to date!

I didn’t know exactly what to expect when we sat down in the Green Room for this show, but I can say that The Imbible exceeded my expectations and is a show I will never forget. I would recommend trying to get into the 5 PM performance on Saturday so that you can catch a decent buzz and then go talk about how much fun the show was while you enjoy a delicous dinner! For being hilarious, educational and a fantastic entertainment value, The Worley Gig gives The Imbible Five out of Five Stars!

Tickets for The Imbible Start at $79, but you can follow This Link to get $10 per Ticket Discount on Your Order! Three Craft Cocktails (and free Popcorn) are included, and all Seats are Great! Showtimes are Monday, Thursday and Friday at 8:00 PM, and Saturday at 5:00 and 8:00 PM. Run Time is  2 Hours, which includes a 15 minute intermission/ bathroom break. New World Stages is Located at 340 West 50th Street Between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown Manhattan. Visit This Link For More Information!

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DVD Review: Darnell Dawkins, Mouth Guitar Legend

Jun24

Darnell Dawkins DVD Cover
Ross Patterson Stars As Darnell Dawkins

If the cast of Saturday Night Live set out to make a feature-length skit that aspired to be the This is Spinal Tap of the Woodstock generation, they might come up with something similar to Darnell Dawkins: Mouth Guitar Legend. This fairly clever and rather historically accurate (as satires go) ultra-indie Mocumentary traces the remarkable story of “mouth-guitar” legend Darnell Dawkins (played by Ross Patterson, who also wrote the script).

The story goes that Dawkins was a childhood friend of Jimi Hendrix (played by comedian R. Ernie Silva), who ended up filling in for the legendary guitarist at Woodstock after Hendrix missed his flight. Sadly, Dawkins’ disapproving father suppressed much of the filmed footage of Darnell’s performance career from public release – until now. The confusing thing is that, while Dawkins is described as a “Mouth Guitar” legend, he does not actually play the instrument with his mouth (as Hendrix famously did) but, rather, he made the sounds of the guitar with his mouth. So, no guitar playing is actually involved, and “mouth guitar” is somewhat like air guitar, in a way. While it’s probably funnier to not be entirely clear on this until you see the film, I think I am okay with this degree of a spoiler, since it’s easy to figure out pretty early on, and it makes the film’s tagline, “He only spoke with his mouth” seem worth a few extra laughs.

Considering the slim budget on which the film appears to have been made, the filmmakers pulled together a cast with a remarkable number of recognizable faces, including Ray Wise (Laura Palmer’s Dad from Twin Peaks) as Darnell’s Dad, Christine Lakin as Wilhemina, Darnell’s muse, William R. Mapother (Lost, who is also Tom Cruise’s Cousin!), Michael Raymond-James (Rene from True Blood), Curtis Armstrong (Booger from Revenge of The Nerds) and Veteran B Movie Actor Richard Riehle.

Darnell Dawkins Jimi Hendrix
Darnell Dawkins with Jimi Hendrix

Darnell Dawkins: Mouth Guitar Legend, which could be compared to a bare bones budget version Walk Hard, is not a genius film or anything, but it’s pretty funny (funnier than Walk Hard, to be honest) and especially endearing if you’ve seen the Woodstock concert film and know your stuff when it comes to classic sixties acts such as Hendrix, The Jefferson Airplane and other bands of that time. It’s a film that would be fun to watch with a small group of like-minded friends at a house party where you are perhaps drinking and smoking a bit too much and just want to be silly. I enjoyed it.

The disc can be purchased for under $12 on Amazon.com and it’s worth that price just to have it around the house so you can whip it out when your friends who like this kind of film are over and say, “Hey, check out this crazy thing!” Also there’s lots of nudity (read: naked chicks) in it, if that’s something that interests you. Run Time: 87 Minutes.

The Worley Gig Gives Darnell Dawkins: Mouth Guitar Legend 3 out of 5 Stars

Kenny Scharf Sculpture Squirtz on Display at The Standard

Mar15

Kenny Scharf Squirtz at the Standard
The Artist with his Sculpture (Image by Photographer Chris Mosier Courtesy of Paul Kasmin Gallery)

Paul Kasmin Gallery is pleased to announce Squirtz, on view at The Plaza at The Standard, High Line from March 15 – April 1, 2013. Following its debut at The Standard High Line, Squirtz will continue to be on view April 4 – May 4, 2013 as part of Kenny Scharf Kolors at Paul Kasmin Gallery, 515 West 27th Street.

Titled Squirtz, the work is a two-sided, 8-foot tall, sculpture that is 6-feet deep from nose-to-nose. Utilizing Scharf’s repertoire of symbolic imagery over the last thirty years, one face of Squirtz is awestruck, in shock, and the other wears a slapstick grin—a portrayal of the ancient Greek theatrical trope of tragedy and comedy. Painted with glossy enamel, similar to car paint, Squirtz brings to light Scharf’s endeavor to overcome the barriers of elitist art by using the materials of commercial manufacture.

Craig Ferguson at Radio City Music Hall

Oct8

Radio City Craig Ferguson Marquee
All Photos By Jamie Moroni

I love comedian Craig Ferguson as the host of CBS’s The Late Late Show, but can rarely stay up late enough to watch it, so I was excited to have the chance to see Craig do Stand up at NYC’s best performance venue, Radio City Music Hall. Ferguson is so off the wall and charming, so I suspected he would put on a pretty good show, and I was not disappointed.

Craig Ferguson with Dancers
Ferguson is Ushered onto the Stage by a group of Rockette-Like Dancers

What stood out most for me was that Craig’s jokes are some of the most original bits I’ve heard in a stand up routine. I hadn’t heard any of them before, either on his talk show or via YouTube clips, so everything was totally fresh and hilarious.

While a bit in which Craig debated the correct pronunciation of the word “Clitoris” went on kind of longer than it needed to, he did manage to incorporate a distinctive and highly memorable hand gesture culled from that routine (you’ll recognize it if you see his act) into bits about Warren Beatty and possibly others as well. Hysterical! My friend, Jamie and I continued to make that gesture to each other while we hung out after the show! We were laughing so hard for well over an hour, and you know how you can hardly ever recall specific bits from a show like this after you leave the theater, because it moves so fast, but many jokes — such as his bit about Actors going to Rehab and a Drew Carry Joke that took him the entire length of the set to finish telling — stood out. Craig is awesome and I would see him again.

Craig Ferguson Suit

We also enjoyed the opening act, Josh Robert Thompson, who you will recognize as the voice of Craig’s Late Late Show gay robot skeleton Side Kick, Geoff Peterson. Thompson does spot on Morgan Freeman impersonation and his ability to actually transform his face into that of a young Robert Deniro for his “Happy Birthday to Me” bit was just amazing.

Must See Movie: Get Him to The Greek!

Jun2

There’s a pivotal scene near the beginning of Get Him to The Greek where main character, A & R Rep Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) sits in a pitch meeting with his fellow record label flacks. His boss, label head Sergio Roma (Sean “P Diddy” Combs) is badgering the staff to come up with any new ideas that will infuse a desperately needed revenue stream into their flailing faction of the troubled music business. Aaron’s idea is to stage a comeback concert at LA’s Greek Theater for Rock musician Aldous Snow (Russell Brand), whose career has taken a nose dive since the release of African Child – an audacious, PC misstep of an album that turns out to be a wildly offensive, commercial and critical bomb. Aaron proposes that a simulcast pay-per-view special, re-release of Snow’s back album catalog and a live DVD of the concert will generate millions of dollars in cash for the label and give disappointed music fans what they’re most hungry for. “There aren’t any Rock Stars anymore,” Aaron argues. “Aldous Snow is a Rock Star!” And, man, is he ever right on about that. Real Rock Stars went the way of the Dinosaur long ago, and watching a movie featuring a handsome and charismatic actor who not only can play a believable decadent Rock Star but also make him hilarious and lovable, and who can fucking sing and perform? That’s almost too much to ask for. That alone is reason enough to see Get Him to The Greek: because Russell Brand is a fucking Rock Star, and this role is going to make him one hot commodity.

When Sergio green lights the Greek Theater concert idea, Aaron is charged with the awesome responsibility of retrieving the very much off the wagon Aldous from London and getting him back to Los Angeles within 72 hours and in time for the concert. What follows is a true comedy of errors, with Aaron navigating Aldous through a dense mind field of every possible licentious temptation, none of which Aldous has the willpower (or desire) to resist. Since the character of Aldous Snow was introduced to audiences in the 2008 hit, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, everyone is going to ask, “Is this movie anything like Forgetting Sarah Marshall?” Let me dash your hopes right now and confess that no, no it isn’t. Sarah Marshall was a basically a romantic comedy with a few fart jokes thrown in. Get Him To The Greek is a completely different type of movie: an all out, hard R-rated raunch-fest that is nevertheless beyond hilarious.  It just happens to have one of the same characters as the film it spins off from (here, Jonah Hill plays a different character than the Aldous Snow-worshipping cabana boy he played in Sarah Marshall). Hill, who has proven himself to be a gifted comedic actor, is great as Aaron, Diddy is impressive as Sergio (and he has some of the film’s funniest lines) and if you’ve read his outrageous autobiography, My Booky Wook, you will immediately recognize that Brand is playing his pre-rehab self to perfection. Among the excellent supporting cast are Mad Men’s Elizabeth Moss as Aaron’s girlfriend Daphne and Rose Byrne as Snow’s ex-girlfriend and fellow pop star Jackie Q. There are also many very funny cameos by stars like Meredith Viera and Lars Ulrich playing themselves. And the music can go head to head with the greatest hits of Spinal Tap. Rock & Roll!

Get Him to the Greek, Directed by Nicholas Stoller, hits theaters everywhere on Friday June 4, 2010

NYC's Best Hard Rock Band, Z02, Scores Its Own IFC Comedy Series!

Aug25

Attention hard rock fans: a hilarious new show called Z-Rock debuted last night on IFC.com and I already know I’m going to be watching it for the next ten weeks! Z-Rock stars the amazing Brooklyn based hard rock trio, Z02, who I’ve been fortunate to see live a couple times. Considering the fact that I hate almost everything, I must tell you this show is just as awesome and entertaining as the band is ass-kicking. The basic premise of Z-Rock tells a “real life” story of a rock band that has to play kids’ birthday parties during the day to make a living. Last night’s episode featured an appearance by ‘80s Hair Metal casualty, Sebastian Bach, playing himself as a dad who’d brought his kids to a party that Z02 were booked to play. Hilarity ensues, of course, but man, I gotta ask, have Bach’s former pretty boy looks taken the Bullet train to Hell or what? The guy looks like he barely survived a co-starring role in Fight Club. Ow! Previews of upcoming episodes indicate they’ve got all sorts of other special guests lined up for future adventures in rock and, oh yeah, besides Z02’s great fun music there’s lots of nudity and swearing and stuff, so you’ve got many reasons to tune in to IFC on Sunday’s at 11:30 PM for the next few months!