Hi. I hope you’re hanging in there <3
If you’re joining me on this rainy Sunday morning in New York, I hope you’re warm, seated somewhere comfortable and with a cup of something that will either relax you or caffeinate you more- choose your own adventure- this morning. And if you’re outside of New York and your weather conditions differ, I still wish you the same.
April went in a flash since it was sparked by both a ton of work and a ton of time off back to back but there is some great work out there you should check out if you feel so inclined to- without further ado- here we go.
TELEVISION
If you have to watch one thing this month or are coming out hungover from the Love is Blind fiasco (I thank the gods every day that I had the sense of control to fast forward anything involving Zach, Irina, Micah and that I skipped the live reunion altogether because “I was away”)- please watch John Mulaney’s Baby J comedy special.
(Netflix image of John Mulaney)
Yes he’s… a hot mess who did divorce his wife to start seeing Olivia Wilde while he was in rehab and got her pregnant very shortly after- and on the surface for so long seemed like the perfect guy with the perfect life- but in this special he lifts that curtain to talk about his intervention. And Sarah and I realized, despite the amount of comedians we know who have been to rehab, we have never heard a set about.
The thing about Mulaney is that love him or hate him, we can all recognize that he is somewhat of a genius, and the situations he got himself into while on drugs are nothing short of insane and hilarious, and because he is also a genius writer- the ability he has to distance himself from those situations and see what is inherently hilarious about them- is really unique. As someone married to a person in comedy- it was revealing that this was the only show outside of Bo Burnham’s and Jacqueline Novak’s in 6+ years where I saw them fully lose their mind and want to rewatch it.
FILM
I am not a horror film person so Ari Aster’s previous films like Hereditary and Midsommar made me depressed and kind of left a negative mark on me but Beau is Afraid is not a horror film and feels more like Being John Malkovich meets Everything Everywhere All At Once. It’s totally bonkers and brilliant and funny and makes zero sense but if you accept to join the ride and give in you’re in for an absolute treat.
In short Beau in the film is on a long and painful journey to meet his mom but everything seems to go against him. And we all laugh because it’s truly the worst possible day ever and beyond what our imaginations could make up for him.
(Illustration of Beau is Afraid by by Kristian Hammerstad)
(Photo of Teyana Taylor in One Thousand and One by Aaron Ricketts)
In an also stressful but way less dream-like way, One Thousand and One with the insanely talented Teyana Taylor and my beloved Kim’s also equally talented love John Maria Gutierrez, takes you on a system based fuckery ride. It's beautifully shot and I have a soft spot for films where you follow characters over the course of decades (like Boyhood for example). Here, flashes (?) of news and the character’s personal experiences take us from one time period to another and I am fully in.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t remember/know Teyana prior to this film (I am old so I am not fully caught up on music) and upon basic research was caught up by her dare I say- wild?- bio.
Highlights:
She choreographed Beyoncé’s music video “Ring The Alarm” at 15 years old
At 16 she danced in Jay Z’s music video, “Blue Magic”
At 16 she also held the most epic my super sweet sixteen birthday on MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16”: she gave her invitations out in a rented ice cream truck, arrived in a Barbie box and wore a bracelet that cost $275,000.
PERFORMANCE
A lot of hit shows right now are laugh factories (shucked, white girl in danger) and honestly- I don’t hate it- and for some reason was pleasantly surprised by the joy ride that was Zadie Smith’s first play, The Wife of Willesden at BAM.
(Photo of The Wife of Willesden by Marc Brenner)
Oftentimes it feels hard to walk the tightrope of something that is both creatively innovative/of the high art category and humorous- and this adaptation of Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath hits that spot and feels really authentic to Zadie’s upbringing. Centered around a middle aged bad bitch divorcée, the show is a better Bridget Jones’ joy ride full of dance and storytelling.
Last Tuesday, I also on a whim went to see Bobbi Jene Smith’s Broken Theater at La Mama! (for their pay what you can night- $40 feels a bit steep for this one to be honest) after reading it’s really good first reviews. I came in a bit bitter because I had seen the Bobbi Jene documentary about her leaving Batsheva to be a choreographer- and mistakenly thinking that was her doing- I kind of rolled my eyes at this thought of this needing to be a documentary. So I really wasn’t sure what I would get but had a feeling it was going to be a lot of Dance Theater with a big “D”. And it kind of was but her cast felt like they put their lives on the line for this show. First of all I am not sure how she could afford such an over the top cast from the biggest dance companies in the world (Bill T., Batsheva etc…) and just even get them in the same room to rehearse. The level of physical violence involved made me a bit uncomfortable- did we deserve that much effort and risk? For the sake of what?
One performer that really stood with me was a French actress whose parisian dialect made my heart flutter because she spoke in the exact same way as people I grew up with- I can’t define it but I somehow knew from the getgo that she was familiar. Turns out Mouna Soualem is not only an extraordinary actress and dancer but also THE DAUGHTER OF MARCIA ON SUCCESSION (Hiam Abbass). And her whole family is in the biz- her dad Zinedine Soualem was in La Haine (Hiam and Zinedine are now divorced).
VISUAL ART
There are so many extraordinary exhibits at the moment.
My personal favorite was Josh Kline at The Whitney which feels like a public service and journalism. Kline’s work is deeply ingrained in environmental consciousness and the study of media and unfair labor practices. As you explore the space you will encounter wax models of employees whose jobs will likely be taken by AI suffocating in plastic bags, deep fake videos, a trailer camp following a fake natural disaster in the future and fake interviews of victims and more.
(Photo of Josh Kline’s Blue Collar series for The Whitney)
If you go to the Whitney you should obviously check out one of the most influential native artists, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith’s retrospective BUT I caution you to start on the 8th floor to see Kline’s work, then go to the 5th floor and continue with Kline’s work, take a break. And then go to see Jaune’s. The combination of both their works on one floor didn’t sit well with me, was too jarring. Do yourself this favor.
Also amazing was of course Sarah Sze’s Timelapse at the Guggenheim- my mom pointed rightfully so that this work feels very different from her previous work- more messy and reflective of the inner workings of her genius brain. It’s so genius in fact that I can’t comprehend how she managed to project the most specific videos on the tiniest pieces of paper- but just like time it keeps evolving and shifting and our experiences of it will likely be totally different.
Gego’s metal wire sculptures there are also absolutely stunning- they’re so delicate their shadows feel like pencil drawings. Just beautiful.
Want some free art shows? Here are my recs-
Iiu Susiraja and Daniel Lind-Ramos at Moma PS1. If comedy photography were a genre Iiu would reign. She photographs herself with objects in her home, displaying her body and belongings in ways that are shocking, absurd, and hilarious- in ways that put our fatphobia in its place.
(Iiu Susiraja in her own work)
Daniel Lind Ramos uses everyday objects, ingrained in both Puerto Rican traditions and natural disasters to create stunning sculptures that honor tradition while highlighting the traumatic experience of Hurricane Maria.
(Daniel Lind-Ramos at Moma PS1)
If you want to stay in Brooklyn check out the Pratt MFA show (it’s in the Pfizer building!)- I went originally to just check out my friend (who I met through Lena/Shan)’s thesis but was amazed at the other artists' work exhibiting as well. His work is at the cross section of performance and community building and involves serving his grandma’s soup to audience members within an installation that reflects his formative artistic background- but other amazing works involved some hiding whole ecosystems, suspended pottery installations and Louis Bourgeois Esque spiders.
AUDIO
Yes I help make audio (and I am proud of the latest show we did with the one and only Julia Louis Dreyfus involving amazing guests- like Jane Fonda)- but the goal of this is to highlight other people’s work.
If you have to listen to one podcast, I highly recommend- You Didn’t See Nothin’. I am really picky because of the sheer amount of audio I listen to on a daily basis and host Yohance Lacour is one of the best hosts I’ve heard in so long. His voice and his connection to the story are what make it what it is. Part investigation and part memoir it looks back at a life changing incident for him in Chicago that is a portrait of the city’s race wars in ways that unfortunately still feel too familiar to anyone living in America.
Another fascinating investigative series is the new Infamous season on Dubai Princesses who have run away from abusive and lawless lifes that are so often in the shadows of a world stage for influences around the world.
SPECIAL TREAT.
White Asparagus- Sarah and I just came back from 10 days road tripping around France and Spain and eating the best food of our lives and a pattern we didn’t expect- outside of ham- was a fatty and giant white asparagus in all the nicer restaurants we went to- accompanied with a creamy green sauce. Sounds gross but I am still having dreams about it.
(spotted garden eels from the Youtube video below)
My new favorite animal- when we were in Biarritz we had an hour to kill before dinner so we went to the world famous aquarium and spent 90% of the time there watching garden spotted eels and then desperately trying to find a way to buy some on the internet. Turns out it’s not possible right now but please keep this in mind for me if you ever come across the opportunity to do so.
Ciao ciao for now <3
THOSE EELS!!