Results tagged “kgbbar”

Just how well do you know your morning snack? [Cue ominous music] Find out tonight at KGB Bar when Dan Koeppel, author of Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World, reads from his book. Koeppel’s dedication to unpeeling the history of the fruit (turns out it’s actually a berry) admirably resists puns like the one found at the beginning of this sentence, and what seems at first to be another “single item history” nonfiction food book (Potato, Salt, Beans, Caviar, Vanilla) at times brims with manic, even evangelical writing, but Koeppel has good reason: It turns out the modern banana crop is the lynchpin for more than a half dozen topical issues, everything from terrorism (including state-sponsored terrorism) to the locavore movement.

published by Random House, dubbed, "Hilarious" by Jon Stewart. He'll be reading at the KGB Bar on June 24th. Seeing him read now will be like seeing Jerry Seinfeld at an open mic or seeing The Beatles when Pete Best was the drummer. Audience members will be later be able to say, "I saw Rich in a tiny bar in NYC!" And mouths will drop in awe and eyebrows will furrow with jealousy because Rich will be, in the future, on the forefront of hilarity.

ART: Affordable art is the best kind, so good thing there's a whole fair dedicated to it. Today 70+ artists worldwide will be selling their work at prices ranging from $100 and up. Get something to cover up those bare walls and support artists all at the same time.

THEATER: The ever-diminishing returns for theater producers have conditioned many playwrights to pre-emptively cut costs by keeping their character census down. So it's nice to see Tribeca's Flea Theater making room for Mark Greenfield's new play, I.E., In Other Words. "Using highly stylized language, this Boy Meets Girl/Horatio Alger tale-gone-wild" involves thirty-three characters played by a cast of fourteen. Greenfield's sprawling canvas, which is still in previews, is stretched to accommodate "adventure, love, songs, and lots of punch lines." - John Del Signore

FESTIVAL: Today marks the start of the Blip Festival. The arts fest that explores the medium "of the 8-bit scene - musicians and artists who use low-bit videogame and computer hardware as their creative tools.

MUSIC: Ah, the night before Thanksgiving, traditionally the most drunken night of the year. Union Hall will provide a nice homey atmosphere for you to get boozed up at. There will also be three great bands to check out: The Muggabears, The Diggs and Beat Radio.

READING: Head down to that bastion of drinking and writing combined, KGB Bar, tonight to see a local combination that should be interesting - Park Slope darling Myla Goldberg () are both reading from recent and upcoming work in the cramped but congenial bar. - Krissa Corbett Cavouras

COMEDY: OMG, we get like so many creepy myspace friend requests but this one made us LOL. Actually, it’s two friend requests in one, from Braeson Herold and Alana Harrison. But they’re not just groveling for “the add”; they want us to come see their show called Fake Friends Tour! The title doesn’t really make sense, because they're not touring and whoever heard of fake friends on myspace? But the way they blog about it we think it could be hilarious, zany or, like, extremely annoying: “We are two separate solo shows that are joining forces to become the greatest night of introspective comedy EVER!!! We've got it all: dirty talk, gay jazz, celeb impressions and near death experiences! We even have a massage so shocking it will alter your posture for life! If you make us a hit, we promise to become your best fake friend FOREVER!!!” Add at your own risk. - John Del Signore

READING: KGB Bar's Non-Fiction Night is playing host to the Subway

THEATER: Shakespeare in the Park may be having its formal opening today, but at the Paradise Factory Shakespeare is Dead http://www.eastcheaprep.com/home, or so goes the title of Orran Farmer's new play starring Luke Rosen and Chelsea Lagos, which is about "what happens to love when the poetry is gone." An artistic couple -- writer and actress -- must somehow move past the death of their child so that they can continue their own lives and love. Is that possible, or will they end up just as destroyed and distant as Lord and Lady Macbeth? - Mallory Jensen

Why would we write about a DC-based literary magazine? Because it's coming to New York and taking over KGB Bar tomorrow night - stop asking so many questions. Barrelhouse will be hosting an evening of short movies and short stories, dubbed Take That Hill.

We've got a packed week of awesome events for you, so start tonight (5/10) at McNally Robinson NYC to catch Welsh author Niall Griffiths in a rare U.S. appearance, reading from his latest, Wreckage, starting at 7PM.

We know we've mentioned it before, but Gothamist can't get enough of Cringe. Not strictly a literary event, it's nonetheless amusing how literary we thought we were in our teens, which is half the comedy of Cringe, where people read from their high school diaries and journals about how totally misunderstood they were, and also their new hairdo. Cringe is happening, tonight (5/3), at Freddy's Back Room and Bar (Dean Street and 6th Ave in Brooklyn), starting at 8:30PM but it fills up really quickly, so show up early.

). The reading starts at 7PM and the suggested donation is $5.

. It starts at 7PM and is free.

Before we get to the weekly events which are sure to dazzle and amaze, Gothamist would like to note the passing of one of the great science fiction writers, Octavia Butler. Butler died after falling down the stairs outside her home this weekend, and will be sorely missed. She's the only science-fiction writer to receive a MacArthur grant, and in a field dominated by men, Butler was a woman notable not only for her strong writing but also for the strong ideas behind it. Some fans of her work and life are gathering this Friday (3/3) at KGB Bar (85 E. 4th St.) at 7PM to raise a glass in her name and read from her work, and celebrate it. All are welcome.

We know it's fashion week, but Gothamist prides itself on offering all kinds of other, more bookish delights for those not inclined to prowl the tents at Bryant Park. Kicking off this week, Symphony Space (95th and Broadway) is hosting Banned: Stories by Censored Writers and Dissidents, with work by authors from Iran and Indonesia. The show starts at 6:30PM on 2/8 and costs $25, less for members.

. Then, heading uptown to the 92nd St. Y (Lexington Ave. and 92nd St.), everyone's favorite journalist-slash-novelists Tom Wolfe and Pete Hamill are sitting down for a discussion on New York: Fact and Fiction. It starts at 8PM and will cost you $25.

We're not entirely sure how much walking for your highbrow literary art you guys are willing to do, and with the holidays coming up there's a dearth of good readings going on in the city this week anyway, but Gothamist is here to get you to your literary events through snow, sleet, hail, transit strikes, whatever! So taking all that in stride, here are a few things you'll want to mark on your calendar.

The holidays are fast approaching and if you're a book lover in the city, you're more likely to be at a store buying a book as a gift than attending a reading this week, but nonetheless, there are some stellar choices for auditory literary entertainment, we humbly digest them for you:

It's quite the red letter week for us bookish types, with the prestigious, sometimes baffling, and oft-maligned National Book Awards dinner and awards ceremony tomorrow night where trophies will be bestowed, granted, totally robbed, whatever, at the Marriott Marquis. To that end, critic A.O. Scott has an interesting article about the contradictions and complications inherent to the awards, Medal Fatigue (registration required). Garrison Keillor is the Master of Ceremonies which, frankly, is why Gothamist wishes we had tickets. If you do have a seat at the Ivory Tower's table, enjoy and report back to us lowly slobs. The odds on the fiction winner have already been calculated by New York Mag, with Gaitskill and Doctorow as the favourites to win. It's just like Belmont, really.

Todd Levin/Bob Powers