Actress and Comedian Livia Scott hosts this monthly variety show, where dead celebrities are brought back to life and stellar guest performances contribute to the experience of Livia’s Castle of Enchantment at the UCB Theater East.

I attended Livia’s Castle of Enchantment on Tuesday, April 24, and was pleasantly taken on a whirlwind as Livia morphed into the dead celebrity of the evening: Mike Wallace. Livia’s portrayal as Mike Wallace was as respectful as it was funny and had the crowd laughing throughout the show, highlighting her skills in stand-up, improv, and impersonation.

Livia (ahem … Mike Wallace) was joined by three special guests: Mike Milazzo, Bamboo Silva, and Seaton Smith. These acts were woven throughout the show, giving each performer a space in which to shine, while being incorporated into the total experience of the evening’s enchantment.

Seaton Smith did a riotous comedy set, enthralling the audience with his edgy humor, thoughts, and observations.  Mike Milazzo and Bamboo Silva rocked the theater with solo acts, and then collaborated in an improvisational jam that had the audience shouting with excitement and electric applause. As Livia said, “the ferociously heartbreaking guitarist + Bronx beatboxer beyond Thunderdome = together they’re unlike anything you’ve ever seen.”

Overall, Livia’s Castle of Enchantment is a fun, organic variety show. Each month brings a new dead celebrity host via Livia and amazing guest acts to round out the experience. The show starts by 7:30 and lasts about an hour. At only $5, you won’t want to miss this kind of enchantment.

More about Livia Scott:

Livia is an actress, comedian and character powerhouse who’s appeared on Law & Order, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, the Comedy Central series Honesty, the upcoming feature film Snatched as Andrew McCarthy’s nurse and she pulls a Peter Sellers by playing about 7 different roles in National Lampoon’s Dirty Movie directed by Christopher Meloni.

She’s an ensemble player in The Shushan Channel by writers from The Daily Show With Jon Stewart with guest appearances by Will Forte, Scott Adsit, Rachel Dratch, John Oliver and Joel McHale, and MEAT, the critically acclaimed all-female sketch phenomenon hailed as “One of the nation’s best groups” by THE ONION.

Livia also writes for MIRTH Magazine, hosts the celebrated variety experience Livia’s Castle Of Enchantment at UCB and is a double ECNY Award nominee for Best Emerging Comic of the Year and Best Solo Show for Goodnight, OJ, her adaptation of real letters written to OJ Simpson which ran for a year at UCB and was directed by Baron Vaughn.

She’s been featured in The New York Times, Backstage, The New York Post, The NY Daily News and The Apiary.

Livia won the 2011 Channy Award for Best Villain in a Web Series & the 2010 Channy Award for Best Actress.  She was recently named “One Of Our Favorite 53 Female Comedians” along with Tina Fey, Amy Poehler & Sarah Silverman by THE HUFFINGTON POST.

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Monologues! Comedy! Improv! Ukulele music!

Friday, Sept. 2nd, 7-9pm

–> Bowery Poetry Club <–

Hosted by award-winning playwright Monica Bauer (Outstanding New Script, MITF 2008; nominee writing for Best Solo Show, Planet Connections 2010; finalist, Heideman Award).

Performers include:

• playwright Monica Bauer performing the Breast Pride Movement from the Diet Monologues
• John Fico performing a monologue from his critically acclaimed performance in Made for Each Other
• Duncan Pflaster, master of the Broadway Ukulele
• and others!

–> Open Mic sign up at 7 pm <–

Admission $8 (includes one free raffle ticket for a $100 Amazon.com Gift Certificate that will be raffled off that evening!)

Related Posts:

• BALLS! – Come See What Goes On In The Minds Of Men
• Last Looks At The Happiest Medium In 3-D – Pull Your Glasses Out
• Made For Each Other – ‘Til Death (Or Something Like It) Do Us Part (Planet Connections 2010)
• The Taint Of Equality, Or I Want Your Sex – 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 Planet Connections Festivity)
• The 2012 National Newborn Festival Is Almost Here!

Saving Tania's Privates (photo by Joe Jankovsky)

Theatre magic doesn’t happen every day or in every show. Those instances when time stops and you are transported from every day life into the world of a writer or a performer are happening right now at the FRIGID New York festival in a basement theater called Under St. Marks. The mastermind behind all this power brought to the stage is Tania Katan with Saving Tania’s Privates. A personal, witty, no-nonsense recount of a Jewish lesbian’s challenge with cancer since the age of 21.

Saving Tania's Privates featuring Tania Katan (Photo by Josiah Epstein)

The play starts with an invasive TSA airport pat down by a male security officer; Tania suggests the female security officer must be uncomfortable with the fact that she looks like a boy and has no breasts. Thus we are automatically introduced to the subject at hand and how it will be handled in the next 58min (give or take). Along the way we meet Tania’s bf gay, her colorful parents, her lump-spotting girlfriends, and the doctors and nurses who have affected her life over the course of a decade. Her  body has her living like she’s running a 10k marathon, with constant check ups,  training,  running and stopping to grasp air.  Each person in her life has given her a different perspective and obstacle as to how to live her life while always maintaining herself triumphant against a pesky body. I would hate to take away from the wonderful discoveries in this piece, so I will refrain from describing too much of what I hope you will go experience on your own.

Theatre has always welcomed stories of bravery, survival and struggle with dis-ease. There is a delicate balance between using the theatrical medium as a way of therapy while still conveying a message, and luckily Ms. Katan has created a raw personal comedy dealing with a serious subject matter with gusto and zero sentimentalism. She is here for the craft, not to replace the shrink’s couch. A lot of this success has to do with her crisp script and knack for storytelling. She has given us permission to laugh at her trials as we view before us not a cancer survivor, but a woman who has decided to grab life by the horns and ride that smelly  bull – and oh how wonderful it feels when you can stay on top even if only for small intervals. This is the magic of the play, this is the strength of Ms Katan.

Bravo Ms. Katan, bravo! If you only have a chance to see one show at the FRIGID this year, make Saving Tania’s Privates the one – you wont regret it. While you’re at it order her memoir My One-Night Stand With Cancer, I have!

~~~

FRIGID New York Festival 2011 will run February 23-March 6 at The Kraine Theater & The Red Room (85 East 4th Street between 2nd Ave and Bowery) and UNDER St. Marks (94 St. Marks Place between 1sr Ave and Ave A). Tickets ($10-$16) may be purchased online at www.FRIGIDnewyork.info or by calling Smarttix at 212-868-4444. All shows runs 60 minutes long or less.

Related Posts:

• FRIGID New York Festival 2011 – Five Questions For: Saving Tania’s Privates
• Pretty-n-Papi, The Pickle To My Fluff? (FRIGID New York 2011)
• Inside Straight: The Twisty Path Of Personal Investigation In A Modern Age (FRIGID New York 2011)
• I Love You (We’re F*#ked) (FRIGID New York 2011)
• ONEymoon – Is ONE Enough? (FRIGID New York 2011)

If you haven’t already had a chance to check out Groundling alum  Holly Mandel’s IMPROVOLUTION! now’s a great time to 1) give yourself a great night of improv 2) support people who really need it during a time of need.  Because This Friday, Jan 29 @ 8pm Improvolution will be holding their next Improv Lovefest which will not only be a night of long form improv but also be a FUNDRAISER FOR HAITI where 100% of the money collected will be donated to the American Red Cross to help their efforts there … a TRUE Lovefest!

For more information, check out http://www.improvolution.org

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• Open Mic Night And Post-Irene PARTY!
• Scarlet Woman, Noirtastic Femmes (FRIGID New York 2011)

Deck The Hallmans!

Let’s face it, the holiday season is all about getting family together.  And as much as we’d all like to think that that’s a good thing, the truth is that when family members are forced to spend hours on end in the same house it can often spell chaos – which is the main thrust of The Brick’s production of Deck The Hallmans! (improvised by the ensemble and directed by Audrey Crabtree).

Too many generations mingling with too many lifestyles which are sometimes in direct conflict with each other; old traditions that aren’t cherished anymore, versus old heirlooms that are given too much value; hidden agendas nestled in among the good wishes and feigned merriment, all wrapped up with a nice bow.  Throw in a little improv, some choreographed punches, and the Hallmans find themselves thoroughly Decked.

I liked the loose improv of this show, which begins with Dave the security guy (Played by Director Audrey Crabtree) thoroughly policing the crowd.  Ms. Crabtree has great ironic timing and, when asking the crowd for nuggets that will become seeds of the story (such as names of childhood pets, issues you have with your parents, or ideas for where the family last may have gotten together) she has a way of getting a laugh from the most pedestrian of answers.  Naturally comic and comically natural she keeps the plot moving along and adds just the right touch between scenes as we spend what almost seems like Christmas Eve played out in real time.

The family consists of blissfully quaint dad Bob Hallman (Robert Honeywell) who invites the rest of his family to “come into my office” whenever he thinks they need a heart to heart, his wife Carol (Moira Stone – who displays shades of SNL vet Mary Gross) a devoted housewife who dithers about cooking her “slow food”,  the twins Chris and Chrissy played simultaneously (with the switch of a hat) by Lauri Berritta, eccentric Aunt Lily (Alyssa Simon) who does experimental theatre and wafts into the room like a hipster version of Vera Charles.  Add to this a curmudgeonly old Grandma (Iracel Rivero) , her male nurse (Jonathan Kaplan), Laverne the frisky neighbor (Donetta Riley), a blowhard uncle (Lynn Berg) and eventually a crazy ex wife (also Audrey Crabtree) and there’s enough here to keep the night moving along with plenty to riff off of.

Interspersed throughout the night are Adam Swiderski’s choreographed fights, some of which play out comically well, some of which are cartoonish (but intentionally so) and some of which are a bit of a stretch.  Still, the mood remains in tact throughout, and aside from a few glitches (As this is an improv show I had the feeling something went wrong as the cast displayed various stages of boredom waiting for dinner to be done … and no one knew where to pick it up.  Still, this was more a missed opportunity rather than a solid misstep) it was fun to watch the cast incorporate the audience’s ideas.  The final fight which had the entire cast at each other throats is reminiscent of a live-action version of some day dreams we’ve all no doubt had at the holiday dinner-table.  All in all Deck the Hallmans! is a satisfying pre-holiday gear up to the petty arguments and full blown fights that, no doubt, will grace some homes this season.

~ ~ ~

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• Open Mic Night And Post-Irene PARTY!
• The Healing Power Of Laughter … Improvolution’s Lovefest Donates To Haiti
• It’s A Lovefest

The next Improv Jam will be with IMPROVOLUTION’S finest!

A night of improvised games, scenes, long form, instant characters, experimental theater…and more fun fun fun!

Starring:
Holly Mandel * Anthony Minto  * Darrin Giglio * Orli Ben-Dor * Radhika Vaz  *  TJ Kenneally  *  Paul Pinizzotto  *  David Frenkiel  *  Barry Sacker  *  Mike Drummey

Directed by: Holly Mandel

Related Posts:

• The Healing Power Of Laughter … Improvolution’s Lovefest Donates To Haiti
• LOL:The End – Beginning And End (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• The Terrible Manpain Of Umberto MacDougal: The Total Package Of Manpain (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
• Open Mic Night And Post-Irene PARTY!
• Scarlet Woman, Noirtastic Femmes (FRIGID New York 2011)