Comedy on Thursday night was great. It was a tiny venue, on a street that made us think of a combination of New Orleans and Sydney's Kings Cross, down in a cellar-type space. There were only about 100 people in the audience, with five acts and a compere to amuse us. And we were very amused indeed. Unfortunately I made the apparently unforgivable error of finding the last act unfunny. I wasn't laughing and the guy saw me (hard to be missed in a venue that size); he therefore made me a target, in a nasty rather than amusing fashion, which wasn't particularly pleasant. I think some comedy is based on undermining people, exploiting prejudice, etc; other comedy is about finding the humour in situations we can all relate to, without necessarily making anyone the butt ... misanthropy vs solidarity? Anyway, enough of my musings on that.
Yesterday we headed up to the MOMA. Much of the contemporary work left me unmoved, but it was just incredible to see the works by Van Gogh, Andrew Wyeth, Monet, Rothko, etc. I could have stood in front of Starry Night for a lot longer than I did.
And the design section was incredible also. I loved the current exhibition about the development of the modern kitchen. Another section that fascinated me was the architectural models, drawings and videos of developments in various underprivileged areas - amazing to see the imagination and art that goes into creating better urban (and rural) environments.
By the time we'd stopped buying things in the Design Store (yay, half my Xmas shopping done already!), it was getting late, so I didn't get to my yoga class. We only had time to peek at the bottom end of Central Park before heading back to the apartment to drop off our bags before heading out again.
Knicks vs Washington Wizards at Madison Square Garden was last night's treat. I'm not what you'd call a sporty person, but it was brilliant. The noise, the acts, the sheer velocity of the game and the passion of the crowd - wonderful. And the game was close right up until the last quarter, with the Knicks eventually winning resoundingly. Great result. We also benefited from a guy behind us who narrated the whole game. loudly - perhaps if we were local we would have found it irritating, but he was very lucid and explained quite a few things I didn't understnd ...
I haven't time to recount today's adventures as Andrew has to post on his blog - in 12 hours time he'll be just about to get on the Staten Island ferry to the start of the run ...
How I amuse myself when I should be working
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Echo, echo, echo...9 years ago
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Under the greenwood tree9 years ago
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6 comments:
You might not be too sporty (neither am I) but you're def. a good sport if you can still have such a positive assessment of a comedy night after being made the butt of the joke simply to satisfy the comic's ego. I have to admit that this possibility is an ongoing deterrent for me -- I'm not particularly shy or sensitive, but I really don't want to be singled out for a laugh in front of a crowd.
Best wishes to your husband in his marathon run! and to you in your continued marathon shopping. . .
Mater: I certainly didn't feel like a good sport at the time - the guy was really pretty vicious and I felt quite humiliated; as you say, it was about his ego. I'm not one for faking amusement I don't feel, and I didn't really like his brand of humour ... live and learn, I guess. But live comedy is fabulous - bigger venues get you away from those attacks :)
Andrew thanks you for your wishes - he's getting way nervous now, so we're going out to eat carbs and then get an early night! My marathon shopping may actually begin while he's running.
Sounds like a great time! If you have a chance, check out the Frick Collection museum...it's a wonderfully eclectic collection of art housed and shown in a Gilded Age mansion. Good luck to your husband in the marathon!!
Thanks Pseu - you're the second person to really recommend the Frick, so it's a definite on our list.
Spouse didn't do the time he was hoping for, but it was a beautiful day and he says he felt privileged to run the NYC Marathon.
Hi Tiff:
I'm chuffed that you were struck by the industrial design section of MOMA, because I too remember being taken by that exhibit--particulaly the polished steel coffeeware and the mosquito helicopter dangling from the ceiling.
As for the comedy club occurrence, I had a similar experience in Edinburgh of all places, following some pretty lame scatalogical humor; since then I've always sought out the areas well away from the stage.
Enjoy the rest of your trip.
You'll have to send me some of your photos when you get them organized.
Hi Mark! I will definitely send photos - or put some on Facebook - but we haven't actually taken that many. Too busy taking in the sights to remember to take photos. I went to Zabar's today on your recommendation - WOW.
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