A revolving cast of some of the best improvisers improvise a play inspired in the moment by the guest musician.

Wednesday, Sept 10, 2014, 8pm. With musical guest DOUG GILLARD!

(GUIDED BY VOICES, NADA SURF, DEATH OF SAMANTHA, LIFEGUARDS, GEM, BAMBI KINO, SALLY CREWE, MASCOTT)

Union Hall 702 Union Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn, right off of 5th Ave. - TICKETS $10.

IMPROVISERS:

Jon Bander (Magnet)
Matt Higgins (Centralia, Burn Manhattan)
Shannon Manning (Second City, IO, UCB, “Conan”)
Chris Mills (PIT)
Louie Pearlman (“Billy on the Street”, Story Pirates, Spidey Project)
Mary Regan(UCB, Magnet, PIT)
Micah Sherman (The Baldwins, The Scene-PIT)
Betsy Todd (UCB, Magnet, “Battle of the Bozos”)

Plus an introduction by CATIE LAZARUS (Employee of the Month Show) who will hold forth on the topic of beauty, love, and/or truth!

All this, plus drinks and a hang before and afterwards…for $10.
Advanced tickets available and recommended!

JOIN THE FACEBOOK EVENT!

More about Doug Gillard:

Doug Gillard is a guitarist and songwriter who has performed with bands and artists such as  Guided by Voices, Nada Surf, Richard Buckner, Death Of Samantha, Gem, Cobra Verde,Children’s Crusade, Starvation Army, My Dad is Dead, The Mice, Bill Fox, Sally Crewe, Mascott, Anders and Kendall, Gramercy Arms, The Oranges Band, and as a solo artist.

This year he released the album “Parade On” (Nine Mile Records) to great reviews. Gillard has also scored several independent films, including American Cannibal. Gillard presently lives in New York and is a member of Nada Surf.

Get his new album at iTunes or band camp!

More about Catie Lazarus:

CATIE LAZARUS is a writer and hosts the podcast EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH, which features a live monthly taping at Joe’s Pub, where she is an Artist-in-Resident. ECNY awarded her “Best Comedy Writer” and Lewis Black described her as, “More Brilliant Than She’ll Ever Know.” Lazarus writes a column for Out Magazine and has contributed drivel to The New York Times Magazine, Slate, The Daily Beast, Bust, Cosmo, Sesame Workshop, Tribeca Film Festival, Gawker, Funny or Die, Sundance, and numerous anthologies. She also does storytelling and voice overs.  Lazarus is a member of the WGA and involved with The Moth, Just Vision, Azahar Foundation, and UCB. She received her MA and BA from Wesleyan. Please do not hold any of these institutions liable as a result.

JUNE 14 @ 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM 

The Birds and Stone Theatre

A revolving cast of some of the best improvisers improvise a play inspired in the moment by the guest musician.

NEXT SHOW: Friday, May 16  8pm at Standard Toykraft with Guest Musician Dave Foster (Bubble) with Rembert Block!

Improvisers:

Adam Feingold (UCB)
Ed Illades (IO Chicago)
Shannon Manning (Second City, IO, UCB, “Conan”)
Monique Moses (PIT, Story Pirates)
Louie Pearlman (“Billy on the Street”, Story Pirates, Spidey Project)
Tom Purcell (“Colbert Report”)
Mary Regan (UCB, Magnet, PIT)
Rylan Venegas (Magnet)
more!

Plus an introduction by JAMI ATTENBERG (Author The Middlesteins) who will hold forth on the topic of beauty, love, and/or truth!

All this, plus drinks and a hang before and afterwards…for $10.
Advanced tickets available. 

Friday, May 16, 2014 8pm at Standard Toykraft 722 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, New York. L to Graham or G to Metropolitan.

JOIN THE FACEBOOK EVENT

More about Dave Foster (Bubble)

“In the late ’70s, Television was among New York’s most exciting new wave bands. So when former Television bassist Fred Smith co-produces a CD, one is anxious to check it out. Smith co-produced Bish Bash, Bubble’s first full-length album, with two members of the New York band (singer Dave Foster and drummer Tom DeVito), and while his participation grab’s one’s attention, it is Bubble’s solid songwriting that ultimately keeps it. Although Smith does his part to make the album sound as good as it does, Bubble doesn’t need a former Television member to be validated. The songs are memorable, and none of them sound anything like Television. Bish Bash is retro, but not in a new wave sense. Rather, the songs on this CD have a strong late ’60s/early ’70s flavor. The Byrds, Big Star, Badfinger, and late-period Beatles are obvious influences, as are John Lennon’s early ’70s solo recordings. Bish Bash contains a few aggressive rockers (“Tell Me What You Want” and “Rainy Day”), but most of the material is reflective and dreamy rather than aggressive. Regrettably, Bubble didn’t do nearly as much recording as it should have in the 1990s; the band formed in 1994 and recorded an EP in 1995, and it wasn’t until this 2000 release that Bubble finally got around to providing a full-length album. This appealing, if less than groundbreaking, effort makes one hope that Bubble will spend a lot more time in the studio in the future.” 4 out of 5 stars, Alex Henderson, All Music Guide

A revolving cast of some of the best improvisers come to improvise a play inspired in the moment by the guest musician.

NEXT SHOW: Saturday, October 19, 2013 at 8pm at Standard Toykraft

722 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, New York. L to Graham or G to Metropolitan.

Musical Guest: STRANGER CAT
(Cat Martino and Sven Britt).

Improvisers:

Matt Higgins (Centralia, Burn Manhattan)
Dan Hodapp (PIT, UCB)
Ed Illades (IO Chicago)
Shannon Manning (Second City, IO, UCB, “Conan”)
Doug Moe (“Doug Moe is a Bad Dad,” UCB’s MOTHER, “30 Rock,” “Conan”)
Louie Pearlman (“Billy on the Street”, Story Pirates, Spidey Project)
Alexis Saarela ( C. Monster, Taco Supreme)
Rylan Venegas (Magnet)

Plus an introduction by LIAM MCENEANEY who will hold forth on the topic of beauty, love, and/or truth.

On October 1ST, ASpecialThing Records released Liam McEneaney’s debut album, “Comedian.”
Liam has appeared on Comedy Central, Showtime’s “Caroline Rhea & Friends,” Vh1’s “Best Week Ever,” and his concert film, “Tell Your Friends! The Concert Film!”
He has toured as a headliner across North America and throughout Europe.
He’s also made multiple appearances on top podcasts including WTF with Marc Maron, Keith & The Girl, Put Your Hands Together!, The Steven Brody Stevens Festival of Friendship, Myq Kaplan’s Hang Out With Me, and many more.

More about STRANGER CAT:

Raised in the urban sprawl, Stranger Cat was born out of a respite in the wilderness. As most stories go, she was seeking a noiseless place for musing, but found instead a sentient beast stalking through the woods, be it animal, alien, or deity; she memorized its sound.

Stranger Cat is the new project from Cat Martino. Her penchant for loop effects was inspired by homebound isolation from a debilitating neuromuscular affliction several years ago that mysteriously could not be diagnosed. Isolated to her bedroom for the better part of a year, a simple microphone and loop pedal became her new choir. Now restored to health, she celebrates her freedom of movement by creating lush layers with voice, synthesizers, and electronics that gamut ethereal, soulful, and turbulent chaos, inspired by the body in motion.

Cat retreated from Brooklyn, NY to winter in the Sierra Foothills and wrote and recorded new songs. Simple melodies or beats morphed into powerful walls of sound to melt in through snowstorms, howling winds, or stark silence nestled by gargantuan oaks and the infinite starry dome.
Joined by co-collaborator Sven Britt for a week, they traded recording each other on casios, synths, guitars, drum machines, branches and spoons.

Often a cat would come to the door to listen, meowing to be let in. When it appeared daily they called it Stranger Cat, observing its alien supernatural powers, as she’d heard tell of the Foothills’ history of UFO sightings and ghost haunts. One day they let Stranger Cat in. The plump feline ate all the kitty food and left.

The Brooklyn native was Sufjan Stevens’ right hand woman for Age of Adz andAll Delighted People records and world tour, and will co-release a Flexi-Disc with Stevens on Joyful Noise Records Fall 2013 they co-wrote/produced. Cat sings on the new Son Lux record Lanterns, recorded/toured with Sharon Van Etten circa Epic, appeared with The Shins on SNL and Williamsburg Park, played in Passion Pit at Governor’s Ball. She has opened tours in US or EU for Indians, Night Beds, Rufus Wainwright, Marissa Nadler, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Patrick Watson and more. She also really likes to jam and create with many of her brilliant creative friends you may never have heard of but will hopefully soon!

Featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered (video by our friend Deborah Johnson!)

All this, plus drinks and a hang before and afterwards…for $10. (Donations welcome!)

Saturday, October 19, 2013 at 8pm at Standard Toykraft 722 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, New York. L to Graham or G to Metropolitan.

JOIN THE FACEBOOK EVENT! http://www.facebook.com/events/530325383717856/

BLT Press Release OCT 2013

A revolving cast of some of the best improvisers come to improvise a play inspired in the moment by the guest musician. That’s Beauty Love Truth!

NEXT SHOW: Saturday, June 8, 2013 at 8pm with musical guest COMMON PRAYER (feat. Jason Sebastian Russo/Tara Autovino)

[Read the Q&A by Kaitlin Fontana here!]

CourtPie Photography

and this amazing cast of improvisers:

Cast for June 8, 2013 show.

Kaitlin Fontana (the PIT’s BODYHEAT, the Magnet Theater’s Breakfast for Dinner, Buckshot N Benny)
Matt Higgins (Centralia, Burn Manhattan)
Shannon Manning (Second City, IO, UCB, “Conan”)
Doug Moe (“Doug Moe is a Bad Dad,” UCB’s MOTHER, “30 Rock,” “Conan”)
Louie Pearlman (“Billy on the Street”, Story Pirates, Spidey Project)
Andy Schneeflock  (Story Pirates, 4Squares Improv, “Robocamp” “Boardwalk Empire”)
Lauren Ashley Smith (Story Pirates, Featherweight)
Sean Taylor (Magnet Junior Varsity, Spotlight, Pizza Month, Variety Underground)

Maggie Serota (photo by Mindy Tucker)

Plus an introduction by Maggie Serota (Low Times podcast, The Onion AV Club, Radar, NY Press, Philadelphia Weekly)

All this, plus drinks and a hang before and afterwards…for $10. (Donations welcome!)

Standard Toykraft 722 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, New York. L to Graham or G to Metropolitan.

 

BEAUTY LOVE TRUTH Press Release June 8, 2013

And LOOKIT:

IMPROV FOR POETS AND GENIUSES. An improv workshop for everybody.