Todd Barry at MHOW in 2010 (more by Chris Gersbeck)

Comedy variety show Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen [Schaal] continues to hit Park Slope/Gowanus club Littlefield every Monday. Tonight's lineup includes Todd Barry, Rob Cantrell, Leibya Rogers, and musical guest Adira Amram and The Experience who performs at Hot Tub this whole month. Tickets are still available for tonight (6/13), 6/20, and 6/27.

If you want to go June 27th, you should probably act quick because the "very special musical guest" on that one (as it was listed before today) has been revealed as Ted Leo. The bill also includes comedy superstar Wyatt Cenac, so it's a great one all around. Ted also plays a free headlining show on July 9 at South Street Seaport. Ted recently performed a new song in 'Room 205' which you can listen to at their site.

Todd Barry, who is on tonight's Littlefield show, also plays a headlining show at Maxwell's on July 31 with Ted Alexandro. Tickets are on sale. Todd also plays at this month's Mr. Coconuts Comedy show at Union Hall (6/21). The new monthly comedy show (which I think started in May) is hosted by Gabe Delahaye and the June bill also includes Gabe Liedman, Jessi Klein and more. Tickets are on sale.

Adira Amram is part of the very musical Amram family, much of which just played Bruar Falls. Adira's sister Alana (their father is composer David Amram), the force behind Alana Amram and the Rough Gems, is releasing Snow Shadows: Songs of Vince Martin on June 21. Vince Martin is a NYC folk singer who got his start in the late '50s recording with The Tarriers and with Fred Neil in the '60s. Martin was more recently discovered by Thurston Moore who he has since performed with. Alana stumbled upon him on her own though. She told WNYC:

I got pretty heavy into Greenwich Village, urban, folk musicians who I felt that I could really relate to a lot of their stories. I ended up moving down to New York City and here I am, kinda this country kid isolated, trying to find my way. And I'm playing in a bunch of rock and roll bands, everything's loud and crazy. And then I discover Fred Neil. He did that song "Everybody's Talkin' At Me," the theme from Midnight Cowboy. That led me to finding Karen Daulton who eventually led to Vince Martin. Now, he's my really good buddy and I'm really lucky to get access...to this cannon of songs that have been lost and kind of hidden.

Alana was scheduled to play Maxwell's tonight (6/13) with Carrie Rodriguez but that show is cancelled. She does have other upcoming local shows though. Those include a country folk Northside showcase on June 16 at Teddy's Bar with Carrie Ashley, June 30 at Union Pool, the Clearwater Festival, and August 18 at Union Hall with Frankpine and Doc Marshalls. Tickets for the Union Hall show are on sale.

Listen to two songs off Alana's new album below...

Continue reading "Alana Amram covered Vince Martin, Adira Amram playing Hot Tub ++ special guest Ted Leo, Todd Barry gigs & much more"

"[Demetri] Martin, along with one of his writers, Michael Koman, whom he'd met while working on Late Night With Conan O'Brien, and an editor, Bryan Shelton, was cutting together an episode of his forthcoming show, Important Things With Demetri Martin. They needed to get the episode down to 22 minutes for its premiere on Comedy Central on February 11. They'd been at this process, on various episodes, for weeks. (When Flight 1549 went down in the Hudson River, Martin didn't know about it until he saw the plane being towed along in the river outside the building's window.) As a result, the editing suite had the slightly stale air of a missile-firing silo in which the men, bleary-eyed, have been locked together for too long, hands on the firing keys, ready to launch."
[NY Magazine]

Demetri Martin is kicking ass lately. The very-soon to be TV star quickly sold out his upcoming NYC shows at Bowery Ballroom and Music Hall of Williamsburg. That of course hasn't stopped him from taking part in the culture that is NYC comedy which by that I mean making non-stop free appearances at venues like the soon-to-be-closed Sound Fix, UCB, and Pianos. Catch him tonight, for free, at Pianos - before the Ferraby Lionheart show. Details below...

Continue reading "Demetri Martin's new TV show & a free NYC comedy show "

photos by Eric M. Townsend

Nick Diamonds/Thorburn of Islands put together a NY Cares benefit at Knitting Factory in NYC. It happened back on December 8th. The three floor event featured experimental music, art and someone on LSD in a cage on the bottom floor (Old Office), comedy (Eugene Mirman, Dave Hill, Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav, God's Pottery, Jessie Klein, etc...) followed by Street Carnage (Gavin McInnes showing funny pictures and telling really dirty stories about them) on the second flooor (Tap Bar), and music (Conrad Keely, Leona Naess, Marnie Stern, Despot and Nick Diamonds) and comedy (Eugene Mirman and Fred Armisen) on the main stage. More pictures below...

Continue reading "the rest of the NY Cares Benefit pics (David Cross, Nick Diamonds, Fred Armisen, Street Carnage...)"