PERFORMING IN NYC
I love performing around NYC. Almost every night, it's a new adventure in a new space. Some spaces are grungy dives in basements, packed with smartly dressed, disaffected college students. Other spaces are polished lounges with two drink minimums and costly door covers. Then there are even other, stranger spaces -- roof tops, sidewalks, boats, grave yards, park benches, hotel rooms, subway cars and more, where I have the opportunity to perform for people who want to be entertained as well as people who don't want to be spoken to or looked at in any capacity.
There used to be a show in a laundry mat in the Lower East Side, Suds and Yuks or something, it was called. What will be the next odd show spot? A pool? A jacuzzi? A hot dog cart?
Performing in the subway can be rewarding. I haven't done it for awhile because it's scary sometimes, and I heard that you breathe in iron dust from the subways if you're down there for too long. Not to mention I even more recently heard that the wooden benches have bed bugs on them. And even worse, they're made out of rainforest wood. (For some reason it's really cheap to buy? And supposedly NYC is one of the biggest users of rainforest wood!!??)
Last night, I performed twice. I performed at a comedy club uptown called Stand Up NY in a show, "Music Is A Joke" where I got voted off the show after 4 weeks of hanging in there. After that show, I went to the Bowery Poetry Club, one of my favorite spots. That place is great for performing because it has great sound, a knowledgeable dedicated tech person and tech set up, including a large video screen that can play DVDs, etc., a big, nice stage, a large backstage, a piano on the stage, and all the other things any performer may fancy.
On Wednesday, I'll perform my Jessica Delfino Dirty Folk Rock Show Episode 2 (live re-run) at Glasslands. I've never performed there before, but it's in Brooklyn. It's a lovely cave-like space with a loft thing where audience members can get a bird's eye view of what is happening. The last time I was there, I saw a macaroni and cheese competition.
Performing in NYC is more fun than performing anywhere else in the world. But I'd rather perform once a week in Idaho then never perform at all!
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