When I was beginning to think about leaving New York, a few friends commented on that I had “sucked the juice” out of New York City. Meaning, I think, that I tried to take advantage of all the different things that NYC had to offer. This was aided by being a student for my first three years in town – I didn’t have a ton of free time, but I could often do random things at random parts of the day. But, I always have been someone who loved going on adventures.
Therefore, my friend Justin recommended I create a blog called WWED (What Would Erin Do), full of all the things I would attend (slash, drag him to) if I was still living in New York. As I can barely regularly update this blog, I figured I should just make it a segment and not a separate entity.
So here we go – Week 1 of my picks for NYC today and in the coming week:
1) Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival (Sept 16-18)
I was actually a small kickstarter backer for the Festival, created by Mirman, a great standup and the voice of Gene on Bob’s Burgers.
If you have time tonight or this weekend, and can still get tickets, head out to the Bellhouse in Brooklyn and laugh your face off. (Also, the Bellhouse is a quality venue, one of my favorite places I heard live music in NYC).
If I was there, I would attend:
Saturday, September 17
The Talent Show Presents: The Drunk Show
The Bell House / 9PM / $20
Hosted by Kevin Townley and Elna Baker
Featuring John Hodgman, Ira Glass, Eugene Mirman, Jen Kirkman, Jessi Klein, Leo Allen, Ptolemy Slocum and more!
Sunday, September 18
A Special Food-Themed Comedy Show For You
The Bell House / 6PM / $20
Hosted by Eugene Mirman w/ Sarah Vowell, Larry Murphy, Ron Funches, delicious food, chefs and the world’s first caviar eating contest!
Pretty Good Friends
The Bell House / 9PM / $20
With Eugene Mirman, Michael Showalter, Marc Maron, Hannibal Buress and more!
2) de Kooning: A Retrospective at MOMA
September 18, 2011–January 9, 2012
This is the first major museum exhibition devoted to the full scope of the career of Willem de Kooning, widely considered to be among the most important and prolific artists of the 20th century. Bringing together nearly 200 works from public and private collections, the exhibition will occupy the Museum’s entire sixth-floor gallery space, totaling approximately 17,000 square feet.
I always recommend going to major exhibitions early in their runs, before they get crazy. I had insane crowd experiences with both the Tim Burton and the McQueen exhibits.
I’m not very knowledgeable about de Kooning, but the retrospectives organized by MOMA are always great, informative, and a wonderful part of getting to live in NYC.
3) The Mountaintop by Katori Hall
Previews begin Thursday, September 22nd at the Jacobs theater.
Taking place on April 3, 1968, THE MOUNTAINTOP is a gripping reimagining of events the night before the assassination of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After delivering one of his most memorable speeches, an exhausted Dr. King (Samuel L. Jackson) retires to his room at the Lorraine Motel while a storm rages outside. When a mysterious stranger (Angela Bassett) arrives with some surprising news, King is forced to confront his destiny and his legacy to his people.
I was very excited to see this play, and disappointed to be missing it. A good friend of mine was involved in the West End production which one the 2010 Oliver for best play. Plus, seeing Samuel L. Jackson on stage would be pretty neat!
Go see it and tell me all about it!
General Rec:
Also, if you want a great place to see basically everything happening in NYC, I recommend checking out NewYorkology: A New York Travel Guide. I followed on twitter to see what was new and exciting each day, and the site’s calendar is very comprehensive. A great site to check out when a visitor or a local.
High Wide & Handsome 