You Get A Spoon! w/ Aparna Nancherla, Alexandra Schwartz, Nora Fox and Ethan Philbrick
Another fun night at Under St Marks for the September edition of You Get A Spoon! a monthly variety show and audience prize giveaway. (You can see more details and buy tickets for future shows online here)
Aparna Nancherla
Alexandra Schwartz
Alexandra Schwartz read from a new fiction piece she's working on and recommended:
1) The movie Obvious Child
2) The Reply All podcast
3) Extra large paper flowers from PanAmerican Phoenix
Nora Fox and Ethan Philbrick
Nora Fox and Ethan Philbrick played songs and recommended:
1) Bionic Barbie
2) Sailboats
3) A ball of mozzarella (preferably bought by Nora's mom)
4) A jar of crunchy Jif Peanut Butter (bought shamefully late at night and eaten from the jar)
5) Indecision
Of course, we ended, as we always do, with my passionate endorsement of the Tovolo Silicone Mixing Spoon in Candy Apple color. This month, the winner of the spoon was David West. Thanks to everybody who came out!
The next YOU GET A SPOON! is on Sunday, November 15 at 7 p.m. at Under St Marks (94 St Marks Pl in Manhattan).
Information and tickets: http://www.horsetrade.info/event/3bf6735e6870605b54cdeac298006105
3 Things: Overweight Kids, Ortberg Aliens, and Community Schools
Hi friends,
If you're new to these emails, welcome! Every Saturday, I send out a short email with three great things. If you feel like you haven't gotten these emails in a while, try checking to make sure this email is a trusted address so they aren't getting filtered to spam. For live shows, I've got a bunch featured below and a complete list on my website. Feel free to spread the word about these emails! Anyone can sign up for the mailing list online and/or check out the archive with all past emails here.
SHOW UPDATE:
NYC: TODAY! It's Saturday, September 19, which means that at 4:30 p.m, You're the Expert is at The Bell House with Jo Firestone and 30 Rock's Scott Adsit.Details/tickets here
Tomorrow (9/20), You Get A Spoon! is back at Under St Marks with a reading by Alexandra Schwartz (The New Yorker), music from Nora Fox and Ethan Philbrick, and stories/jokes from Aparna Nancherla (Conan, Comedy Central). Plus so many audience prizes. Get tickets here!
Boston: Sunday 9/27 You're the Expert in Boston featuring Jo Firestone, Josh Sharp, and more. Later that same night, stand up and free snacks at Taste Test Comedy.Details here!
San Francisco: You're the Expert is at the Bay Area Science Festival on Friday, October 23 at the Castro Theatre. Details/tickets here
You can see my full schedule for September up on the website now.
Ok, on to this week's list!
1 Thing I Think Is Great:
Elna Baker brings such empathy and compassion to her writing about herself and others, but she also always manages to make it funny and charming as well. She's one of my absolute favorite storytellers. Her latest piece is about how to talk to your kids about self-esteem and staying healthy, but even if you don't have kids (I don't) it's a fascinating and revealing personal essay. If you do have kids, I imagine it's even more relevant. Either way, it's a great read and the rare piece of writing on the internet that will leave you with more sympathy for the people around you. Helping Your Child with Body Image: Advice from a Formerly Overweight Kid
[Also, if you want to see Elna live and you live in Massachusetts, she and I are doing a show together with poet Sarah Kay on October 1 at Johnny D's in Somerville. It's almost sold out but I believe there are a few tickets left. You can check here]
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
Speaking of human bodies, they're all pretty weird, huh? That's what makes Mallory Ortberg's latest piece for The Toast so hilarious. Mallory's writing never stops making me laugh. I feel like she has a superpower for seeing what's funny about every part of the world. This particular piece is excerpts from a romance novel "written by an alien pretending not to be horrified by the human body." Everything in here is great, but here are some of my favorite lines:
"Everything was just a mess."
"Various parts inched forward, then retracted, rather as turtles do."
"Together they put all of their clothes in a pile on the floor, where the dog lives."
Read the whole thing here: Mallory Ortberg on The Toast
1 Interesting Thing:
When I was teaching fifth grade, I found out partway through one year that a student's family had recently become homeless. Everything - the missing homework, the falling asleep in class, the acting out - suddenly clicked into place. Places like Mott Haven Academy Charter School are inspiring new ways to walk that delicate line between understanding what's happening outside of class and making school a safe escape where learning comes first.
Two thirds of the elementary students at Mott Haven Academy Charter School are in the child welfare system. Needless to say, it's challenging to learn in school when there's so much stress going on at home. But Haven Academy is pioneering effective ways to make students cope. "The entire setting at Haven Academy is geared towards making kids feel safe enough to learn. The school is housed in a bright and colorful new building, every classroom has two teachers, and classes never have more than 26 students. Art, music, or dance is offered every day. There are two social workers - a behavioral specialist and an outreach worker." The teachers and staff also spend a lot of time thinking about a culture where acting out is addressed without students being sent out of class. It's a beautiful and thought provoking way to think about education. When Home is Tough, Making Kids Feel Good at School
[If you're interested in getting deeper into this, one of my favorite books about teaching isChoice Words, which is all about how the way we talk to kids and the words we choose help form their internal conceptions of themselves.]
Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/
Have a great weekend,
Chris
3 Things: Will Guzzardi, Bachelor Parties, and Colbert-Biden
Hi friends,
If you're new to these emails, welcome! Every Saturday, I send out a short email with three great things. If you feel like you haven't gotten these emails in a while, try checking to make sure this email is a trusted address so they aren't getting filtered to spam. For live shows, I've got a bunch featured below and a complete list on my website. Feel free to spread the word about these emails! Anyone can sign up for the mailing list online and/or check out the archive with all past emails here.
SHOW UPDATE:
NYC: Next Saturday (9/19) at 4:30 p.m, You're the Expert is at The Bell House with Jo Firestone and 30 Rock's Scott Adsit. Details/tickets here Then, on Sunday (9/20), You Get A Spoon! is back at Under St Marks with a reading by Alexandra Schwartz (The New Yorker), music from Nora Fox and Ethan Philbrick, and so many audience prizes. Get tickets here!
San Francisco: The Bay Area Science Festival just announced our You're the Expert taping on Friday, October 23 at the Castro Theatre! At 1400 seats, this will be our biggest show ever. I'd love to have you there. Details/tickets here
DC: Wednesday's Taste Test Comedy is officially sold out, but I'll be back onThursday, October 8. Mark your calendars!
Harrisonburg, VA: This Thursday (9/17), I'm hosting a FREE You're the Expert show at the Court Square Theater. Come see me, Maeve Higgins, Anna Drezen, Nick Vatterott, and a professor from James Madison University. Details on the free show here.
Boston: Sunday 9/27 You're the Expert in Boston featuring Jo Firestone, Josh Sharp, and more. Later that same night, stand up and free snacks at Taste Test Comedy.Details here!
You can see my full schedule for September up on the website now.
Ok, on to this week's list!
1 Thing I Think Is Great:
Will Guzzardi is a young, rising political star in Illinois. He's smart, honest, and unafraid to say what's right. Predictably, that has made many career politicians very angry at him. Will ran for state representative as a complete unknown against one of the most powerful political families in Chicago. The fact that he actually won shocked just about everyone, Will included. Maybe it's because Will is one of my best friends from college, but even the trailer from a new documentary that's being made about him brought tears to my eyes. I could not be prouder to say that I know him. Politics can be incredibly dispiriting, but Will gives me faith and reminds me that ultimately, caring about and holding our local representatives accountable can make a bigger impact than any one presidential race. The 39th: One Community Against Chicago's Political Machine
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
"Tired of the same old bachelor-party experience, with strippers, binge drinking, and blackjack? Want something unique for your best friend? Are you rich? Then surprise him with a specialized Bachelor Party Package from Boutique Bachelor!" Ben Bernstein's humor piece in the New Yorker is so funny and clever and wonderful. I didn't think that I would ever want a bachelor party, but after reading this, I'm convinced. I'm leaning towards "The Neurotic" but "The Public Defender" also sounds pretty good. Boutique Bachelor Parties
1 Interesting Thing:
Stephen Colbert took over the Late Show this week and what was quickly the most striking and interesting change that he brought to late night was his willingness to be serious. It's hard to think of any other comedian who could have had this frank emotional conversation with Vice President Biden. I found it surprising, enlightening, and very moving, which are not words I thought I'd use about a late night talk show in 2015. If you haven't already seen it, watch it for yourself, because it's pretty remarkable. Vice President Joe Biden Interview
Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/
Have a great weekend,
Chris
