Comedy Mike Birbiglia and Mates of State Sing a Song About Oatmeal
Last night Mike Birbiglia had a show over at Town Hall, and unlike normal stand-up comics who would invite a decidedly less talented comic to go on as the opener, he had the Mates of State. If none of you are familiar with them, just think of the indie pop-duo you vaguely remember from high-school and you’ll be all set. Anyway, if the viewer was unfamiliar with Birbigs, as they call him on da streetz (and by “da streetz” I mean twitter), they might have thought it was weird when an awkward looking “olive-garden Italian” guy came onstage.
In fact, there are probably a few things people need to be prepared for if they’re going to see this guy. The first is that you have to understand that even though he’s a guy who’s pretty hip with all us awkward humor-lovin’, This American Life watchin’, whitewashed hipsters, if you go see him perform, you’re going to be sitting next to people who resemble your grandparents. That’s just the way it is. But if you’re the type of person who would find that juxtaposition comically awkward, then Mike Birbiglia is probably one of your favorite stand-up comics. You know how some comics will include some kind of universally pleasing anecdote about their life just so people will clap about it and he can go into a vein of relevant comedy, like “So anyway, I just got married…” or “So anyway, I’m a cancer survivor…”? Well Mike Birbiglia is the kind of guy who would instead say, “So anyway, I ironed my pants tonight…” and it elicits pretty much the same response.
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Movies Not Films Never Pay for a Movie Again
Never Pay for a Movie Again
Seeing wide-release movies in Manhattan is generally a degrading and frustrating experience. Paying $12.50 to pile into the Regal Union Square, squeeze into a cramped seat, and end up with a lap covered with grease-splattered Cheezy Pretzel Bitez (I’ve been a victim. The shlemiel tripped. Nary an apology) is less than ideal. We’ve rounded up the best ways to score free passes to advance movie screenings in NYC—it’ll ease the multiplex pain, you’ll be ahead of the movie curve, and your wallet will thank you.
New York Observer: Free Reels
The Observer provides an ideal effort-to-free-stuff ratio: as soon as you sign up for the mailing list, you’re automatically notified for each upcoming screening. Fire off an email request for tickets, and you’re good to go. Free Reels caters more toward the indie-film crowd. Expect films like Away We Go, Whatever Works, or the latest Michael Moore flick.
NYCFreeMovieScreenings
Avoid signing up for the weekly newsletter—the real way for get passes is constant checking of their listings, which are updated pretty often. Films tend to be on the more mainstream/lowbrow side—I’ve snagged passes for Zombieland, Paranormal Activity, and The Fourth Kind, to name a few.
Friday, November 6, 2009 12:00 - by Jake Moore
Movies Winter Movie Preview
Winter Movie Preview
In the midst of Fall, it can be quite difficult to find a good movie to see — studios have already released most of their Fall movies, and holiday/awards season movies don’t come out for another month at least. You can still catch some good ones before you run home for winter break, though, and they are:
Up in the Air – George Clooney stars in this existential movie about a disaffected corporate reaper with no human connections. It’s only going to be in limited release in LA and New York, so you should take advantage of the city (yeah, how many times have you heard that one) and go see it. If anything, it will make you feel better about your social life once you realize you have more friends than the main character.
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus – Terry Gilliam’s latest directorial project looks like it was made on an extended acid trip. In other words, it looks amazing. It’s the last movie Heath Ledger was working on when he died, and has a star-laden cast, so it’s going to get a lot of attention solely for those reasons. But I’ve heard from people who saw the movie in advance that the story is really great, too. (Unfortunately, the film’s press division has placed an embargo on all advance reviews, so you can’t actually read about how awesome it is until after it comes out.)
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Ricky Gervais Finds the Innuendo in Everything
Ricky Gervais Finds the Innuendo in Everything
There are few things that will compel me to travel above 14th street, but when I heard that Ricky Gervais, creator of The Office and the star of the UK version, was performing uptown, I quickly realized that I had no choice.
The show started with opening act Todd Barry, perhaps most well known (at least by me) as guest starring in Flight of the Conchords as Todd, the bongo playing “third Conchord”. I thought he was terribly annoying in the show, so I wasn’t expecting much. However, his set was excellent and covered a spectrum of mundane yet hilarious topics including Tom’s of Maine deodorant, Californian’s Mexican food snobbery, and Spanish prostitutes in Barcelona.
Thursday, November 5, 2009 13:43 - by Samantha Moore
NYU Web Shows Have Come to Take Over Your Bandwidth
NYU Web Shows Have Come to Take Over Your Bandwidth
Could it be that NYU is on the cusp of a potentially booming Web Series industry? It certainly seems that way.
This past Tuesday night Craig DiFolco, the creative mind behind iChannel, came and spoke to my Producing Essentials class about new media. He told us about the best web series and about the emerging web series industry that is slowly but surely becoming profitable.
Here are some of the best web shows, many of which have NYUers involved.
1. iChannel is a web series that was posted on YouTube in November 2006. The cult hit is described as “a guy wakes up in his apartment to realize his life is being filmed across the world wide web.” Michael Izquierdo, the main actor who plays “I,” is a NYU acting alum. Craig describes it as “The Truman Show” for the web.
Thursday, November 5, 2009 11:55 - by Natan Edelsburg
NYU "Celebs" Under the Arch Wants to Make Your Reality TV Dreams Come True
Under the Arch Wants to Make Your Reality TV Dreams Come True
We know the primary reason you came to NYU was for a shot at getting on The City, MTV’s sad excuse for a Hills NYC remake. Well, burgeoning reality stars, your time as come! According to a New York Post article and a Wall Street Journal blog from last week, Under The Arch, a web series started in October 2006 by NYUer Sean Patrick Murray, is hosting an “open call” for the second season of the show they describe as “nine NYU students living their dream.”
If you think you have a special enough life at NYU to make us watch the second season, head on over to David Barton Gym (yes that’s the new gym on Astor Place that looks like a nightclub for yoga lovers) from November 16-20. The trailer they released is pretty good. Murray’s honesty with his project, which MTV has rarely been with its pop-realities, was best described in this quote from WSJ:
Wednesday, November 4, 2009 11:19 - by Natan EdelsburgAlthough he strives for realism, Murray says that there is an unavoidable element of artifice that goes with the show, so that the cameras know where to be to record what’s going on. “We’ll get together once a week and talk about the stories we want to tell in the same way that anyone who creates a play or movie does,” he says.
free music Tuesday Track: “Ambling Alp” by Yeasayer
Tuesday Track: “Ambling Alp” by Yeasayer
I’d been hearing so many good things about Yeasayer this week , and when I finally listened to the track everyone’s been talking about, “Ambling Alp”, their first single of sophomore album Odd Blood, I realized what everyone was flipping out over it. Yeasayer was one of those bands I heard when I first came to NYU. Everyone thought they were the second coming of the Christ. So, while I thought they were a little vague and sloppy for my tastes, I dutifully downloaded “2080″ and “Sunrise” and pretended to like them until I really did like them. But listening to this new single, I can see that Yeasayer have grown into something far more pleasing and mature. This single still has their signature psychadelic-electro backing mixed with tribal beats, but instead of the vocals taking a backseat like they did previously, they are at the forefront. Chris Keating’s folksy lyrics shine beautifully and add a richness and depth to their sound that I felt was lacking in previous efforts. You can download the track here.
Photo from Flickr user If979883 under the Creative Commons License
book club Books That Are More Interesting Than Your Calculus Textbook
Books That Are More Interesting Than Your Calculus Textbook
Considering the sheer amount of book nerds that comprise the NYU Local staff, it’s surprising how little book coverage we do. We’d like to change that by bringing you a few good book recommendations every month. We know that you’re all probably too busy recovering from midterms to bother reading anything that isn’t strictly required for class — but if you happen to find yourself with some free time on your hands, consider neglecting statistics to pick up one of the following books.
Netherland: Joseph O’Neill
Review by Kenneth Hsu
As the City section editor, I feel obliged to recommend O’Neill’s uber-introspective novel, often referred to as a modern Great Gatsby. Granted, I’m not much of a fiction reader, but I was recommended the novel multiple times since the story almost entirely takes place in — you guessed it — New York City. The novel’s plot appears simple: the romantically-troubld Dutch narrator works in post-9/11 Wall Street and befriends a sketchy Caribbean man through cricket, apparently his only passion in life. Through their relationship, O’Neill reaches far (sometimes too far) into abstract themes: fatherhood, youth, America! In sum: a perfect mellow read, especially for New York City lovers. (Also, President Obama told the New York Times he’s read it, so you know it’s good.)
Thursday, October 29, 2009 11:09 - by Keyana Stevens
Slave to the Internet Remember to Wish Your BFF the Internet a Happy Birthday
Remember to Wish Your BFF the Internet a Happy Birthday
According to Mashable, “On October 29, 1969, the first two nodes of ARPANET were interconnected between UCLA’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and SRI International (SRI) in Menlo Park, California.” In normal person speak? It’s the internet’s 40th birthday!
This is a momentous occasion. Let us take this time to revel in the wonder of this day with some beautiful things the internet hath wrought:
- The fun of “warning” a friend on AIM in middle school.
- The grave importance of keeping your AIM profile up to date with the latest Blink 182 quotes and initials of your best friends.
- The creation of “memes” which have given us more trite bullshit to discuss during awkward elevator rides.
- Your 8th grade Xanga that got you grounded because “stuff” is not a clever code word for “Smirnoff Ice.”
- The increased societal acceptance of unparalleled narcissism.
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Slave to the Internet Historical Preservation, Internet Style
Historical Preservation, Internet Style
I have a hard time living in the 
present, and often spend hours thinking about how I will look back on everything happening now when I’m older and have grandchildren huddled about my hologram wheelchair in my robot house. I never said it was a realistic fantasy. Anyway, one of the things I think most about is dial-up internet and floppy disks and trying to make my own anime website when I was 10 on Geocities.
In a very timely fashion (Geocities is shutting down forever this month, and nerds everywhere are crying into their Domo-kun pillows), a new project has been born out of the Interwebs to immortalize these forgotten formats and fonts. Internet Archaeology, founded by a dude named Ryder Ripps, aims to preserve the spirit of the Internet we all grew up with by archiving old websites and such. Continue…
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 14:25 - by Kaela Jensen
