(718) 260–2500 Brooklyn Paper’s essential guide to the Borough of Kings January 24–30, 2020
COMICS
All night draw
They’ve got comics with super hours!
A Crown Heights comic book store will host
an all-night comic-making marathon next weekend.
Anyone Comics will offer aspiring artists a
chance to spend 24 hours
drawing a 24-page comic
book, starting at noon on
Feb. 1 and ending at noon
the following day. The 24-
hour Comics Superbowl
is a chance for would-be
cartoonists to challenge
themselves while working
together, said the
store’s founder.
“It’s a marathon for arts
and creativity,” said Dimitrios
Fragiskatos. “And it
gives artists a networking opportunity.”
The name of the event is a nod to the big
football contest happening on Feb. 2, which is
rarely a priority for fans of superhero comics,
said Fragiskatos.
“I’ve hijacked Super Bowl weekend, since a
lot of geeks aren’t into sports, so it gives them
an excuse to sleep through the Super Bowl,”
he said.
This is the third year of the event, which draws
about a dozen participants each year from all
over New York City, said Fragiskatos.
Only a handful of sleep-deprived artists complete
a full 24-page comic in the allotted time,
but everyone can benefit from the creative kickstart,
said the shop owner.
“It trims the fat on people’s technique,” said
Fragiskatos. “A lot of artists, especially when
they’re coming up, really overthink it. But when
you have a virtual gun to your head, you’re going
to think ‘Maybe I don’t have to cross-hatch
every single corner in this panel.’ ”
Participants must buy a $10 ticket — all of
which will go to buying snacks, soda, and coffee
for the nocturnal graphic novelists, said
Fragiskatos.
The store will stay open during the marathon
comics-making sessions, so people can wander
in, shop, and check on the artists’ progress.
“We get a lot of customers, a lot of energy,”
he said. “We leave the doors open, and we’ve
definitely had a couple of drunk people coming
in at 2 am.
24-Hour Comics Superbowl at Anyone
Comics (1216 Union St. between Nostrand and
Rogers avenues in Crown Heights, www.anyonecomics.
com). Feb. 1 at noon to Feb. 2 an
noon. $10. — Bill Roundy
Two-faced: Actors in the Commedia Company perform Renaissance-style comedy while wearing the form’s signature masks at Williamsburg’s Cloud City on Jan. 25–27.
Mask for more
Williamsburg group brings 16th century comedy to modern day
By Rose Adams
Brooklyn Paper
It’s a Renaissance renaissance!
A Williamsburg comedy troupe is
updating 16th century Italian theater
for the modern era! During three performances
at Williamsburg’s Cloud City on
Jan. 25–27, members of the Commedia
Company will don masks to perform improvised
skits that often involve the audience.
Just like the centuries-old commedia
dell’arte theater form, every show has
an unpredictable edge, said the group’s
founder.
“Something I find super exciting about
the form is that you have three dimensions:
the characters, the actors, and the audience,”
said Virginia Scott, who formed
THEATER
the group in 2017.
The Renaissance art form, which swept
Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries,
starred actors wearing half-masks
to represent different archetypes, including
the lusty old man, the cowardly braggart,
the wise woman, or the buffoonish
servant — broad characters familiar to
viewers of “The Simpsons” or “Family
Guy,” said Scott.
The shows involve a lot of improvisation,
so each player can put their own spin
on a mask’s character, said Scott.
“The way that one particular actor
will play the mask will be different,”
she said.
The Commedia Company recreates the
historic style of the theater form, but uses
modern storylines — instead of arranged
marriages, it might feature online dating
— and each performance revolves around
a certain theme, including “the internet”
or “Christmas.”
The group also improvises more
than original dell’arte actors did, Scott
noted.
“We don’t know exactly what they were
doing, but they definitely did a lot more
plot than we do,” she said. “I’m just personally,
as an artist, not super interested
in plot.”
Instead of a set script, the actors use
the audience to build the story, asking
questions or redirecting a scene based on
crowd reactions, Scott said.
“We’re always playing directly to the
audience,” she said. “For each new show,
we do 20 hours of rehearsal only.”
Scott, an experienced dell’arte director
and teacher, founded the Commedia
Company with colleagues and students,
and the group has since grown to 10 members,
who perform four shows each year.
Scott said she hopes to make performances
much more regular in 2021.
“I’m hoping to build the audience over
the next year to where we can support a
new show every week,” she said.
PHILOSOPHY
Wise tails
Call it a night of natural philosophy.
An all-night idea-thon will return to Brooklyn
Public Library’s Central Branch at 7 pm
on Feb. 1 and stretch well into Feb. 2, offering
12 free hours of philosophical debates, artistic
performances, film screenings, juggling
shows, and readings. The fourth annual Night
of Philosophy and Ideas promises a diverse array
of discussions, including several speakers
who will discuss what we can learn from the
natural world.
Philosopher Mark Alizart (pictured) will deliver
an 8 pm lecture simply titled “Dogs,” which
examines our relationship with Man’s Best Friend
as more than just master and pet. Domestication
happened as much to humans as it did to
dogs, according to the scholar.
“Dogs have co-evolved with us, we’re actually
also domesticated animals,” Alizart said. “So we
should look at dogs as another face of ourselves
rather than an animal we have dominated.”
The thinker recently published a book about
canines, also titled “Dogs,” which he wrote after
his own pooch died in 2016. He found that
dogs have mostly been written about dismissively,
portrayed as hapless goofy animals that
we need to protect. In fact, their instincts are to
protect us — and they might find some of our
behavior stupid, too!
“Sometimes they probably think we’re stupid
and childish, like when we’re throwing food
away,” he said.
Alizart doesn’t look to dogs for self help, but
he does think our fluffy companions can teach
us to enjoy life.
“There’s something about them I think we
can learn from, by opening ourselves up to their
joy of life, and how you take pleasure from the
simple things.”
Later in the night, at 10 pm, a Columbia University
philosophy professor will discuss the
natural world as a living organism with its own
dignity, inspired by a pair of under-appreciated
female philosophers.
In her talk “Everything Is Alive: Weird Metaphysics
in Early Modern Thought,” Christia Mercer
will discuss the beliefs of Julian of Norwich,
from the Middle Ages, and 17th century philosopher
Anne Conway.
“Conway thinks that everything in nature
deserves dignity — even little critters,” Mercer
said.
Mercer has spoken at previous iterations of
the night-long marathon of ideas, and says she
enjoys having heated discussions during the coldest
months of the year.
“There’s something really exciting and invigorating
about it,” she said. “It’s a nice antidote
to the season.”
“A Night of Philosophy and Ideas” at the Library’s
Central Branch 10 Grand Army Plaza, at
Eastern Parkway in Prospect Heights, (718) 230-
2100, www.bklynlibrary.org. Feb 1, 7 pm-7 am.
Free. — Kevin Duggan
A ruff competition
Canine frisbee club’s toss-and-fetch contest
By Jessica Parks
Brooklyn Paper
They’re making fetch happen!
An early-morning frisbeethrowing
contest for humans
and their canine companions will
determine the borough’s top dog
when it kicks off next month. But
the K9 Frisbee Toss and Catch is
more than a chance to see how your
fuzzy friend’s frisbee skills stack up
to the other tail-waggin’ residents of
Brooklyn — it can also bring you and
your pooch closer together, according
to the founder of the Brooklyn
K9 Frisbee Club.
“With my dog, I feel like our bond
has gotten a lot better,” said Navin
Sivakumar. “When we are out and
about, she pays far more attention
to me and seems happier.”
The Club will open the “Summer
Down Under” season on Feb.
5 at 8 am at the Prospect Park Grecian
PETS
Shelter.
For five wintry weeks, dogs and
their people will compete each
Wednesday to complete the most
passes and returns in 60 seconds,
with longer throws grabbing higher
points.
Scores are submitted to the K9
Frisbee Toss and Catch League, a
worldwide registry that collects rankings
from more than 250 clubs in 18
countries.
The League allows Brooklynites
Photo by Caroline Ourso
to not only compete locally, as the
state’s only registered club but on
the international stage.
Sivakumar said that, aside from
practicing your own throwing, the key
to success is not just sparking excitement
in your pup, but also convincing
them to relinquish the frisbee.
“You want to get your dog excited
about playing with their toy and be
like ‘I like this frisbee a lot,’” Sivakumar
said. “But then you have to teach
them to give it back to you.”
New person-and-dog frisbee teams
are welcome to participate, Sivakumar
said, and the club’s dog-loving
members will help teach even the
oldest pooch some new tricks.
“It is very beginner-friendly,” he
said. “Actually, it is very everybodyfriendly.”
The League holds five five-week
frisbee seasons throughout the year
— Summer, Fall, Winter, Summer
Down Under, and Spring.
The Commedia Company at Cloud City
85 N. First St. between Wythe Avenue
and Berry Street in Williamsburg, www.
cloudcity.nyc. Jan. 25–27 at 7 pm. $12
($10 in advance).
Good boy! The Brooklyn K9 Frisbee Club opens its five-week toss
and fetch competition on Feb. 5. Photo by Steve Surfman
K9 Frisbee Toss and Catch at the
Prospect Park Grecian Shelter,
also known as the Peristyle (enter
on Parkside Avenue between Park
Circle and Parade Place in Prospect
Park South, tossandfetch.
com). Feb. 5–March 4, Wednesdays
at 8 am. $20 for the season.
Photo by Lili Doillon
/www.bklynlibrary.org
/www.any-onecomics.com
/www.any-onecomics.com
/www.any-onecomics.com
/www.cloudcity.nyc
/www.cloudcity.nyc
/www.bklynlibrary.org