(718) 260–2500 Brooklyn Paper’s essential guide to the Borough of Kings July 5–11, 2019
COMEDY
Just Kidding
These Kids are alright!
A Gowanus comedian will bring her sketch
comedy group to the big stage — the small screen!
Rachael Burke and her team Kids These Days will
compete on the NBC show “Bring the Funny,”
debuting on July 9, performing against standup
comedians, variety acts, and puppeteers in
front of a studio audience. Over the course of 10
episodes, the funny folk will get whittled down
to the wittiest one by the show’s judges, comedian
Kenan Thomspon, model Chrissy Teigen,
and redneck Jeff Foxworthy — all in hopes of
winning $250,000.
Burke is not concerned about the competition.
She has won two Emmys for her work as a
writer on “The Tonight Show,” and Kids These
Days contains a killer’s row of comic talent, including
writers for “The Daily Show,” and “Full
Frontal with Samantha Bee.” Each of its 10 comedians
brings a unique talent or sensibility to
the mix, including slapstick, absurdist humor,
and songwriting, said Burke.
“We’re a human version of the Muppets,”
she said. “You wouldn’t put everyone together,
but it works.”
Burke, who said she made her performing debut
in the fourth grade, has spent years honing
her craft by writing sketches, composing funny
songs, and practicing celebrity impressions. But
working with a regular troupe is a first for her —
one that she has dreamt of since college.
“I wanted to create a sketch group that pushed
me creatively, but also gave back to others by
improving people’s quality of life through comedy,”
said Burke.
She formed Kids These Days in January of
2018 from a mishmash of acquaintances, including
her best friend from college, a peer from a
sketch class, and a stranger she met while standing
in line for a comedy show. Together, the
Kids developed an accessible brand of millennial
humor, writing skits that invoke iPhone apps
and poke fun at hyper-masculine men, without
excluding people or being mean-spirited,
said Burke.
“They’re the kindest but funniest kids I knew,”
she said. “We can understand other perspectives
better by making it into comedy — funniness
helps people sympathize and understand.”
Since its first performance in February of
2018, Kids These Days has taken its sharp, contemporary
humor to festivals all over the United
States, and beat out thousands of other acts to
snag a spot on “Bring the Funny,” where the
millennial jokesters will be the show’s only
sketch group.
Tune into “Bring the Funny” on NBC on July
9 at 10 p.m., and every following Tuesday. Free.
— Rose Adams
By Rose Adams
Brooklyn Paper
Something wacky this way comes!
Several unorthodox versions of
Shakespeare’s plays will grace the
stages, parks, clubs, and spas of Brooklyn
this summer! These off-beat productions
put a modern spin on the Bard’s centuriesold
plays, using the works as inspiration
for new stories.
Brave new girl
Park Slope’s Gallery Players will put on
this season’s most traditional production,
a version of Shakespeare’s final play “The
Tempest.” In telling the story of the wizard
Prospero and his daughter Miranda,
exiles on a distant island, the Players will
use a youth chorus as the spirits who work
Prospero’s magic. And this show has a romance
appropriate for the post-Pride season,
with Miranda falling in love with a
shipwrecked princess.
Gallery Players 199 14th St. between
Fourth and Fifth avenues in Park Slope,
(212) 352–3101 wwww.galleryplayers.
com. July 13–28. Thu, Fri, and Sat; 7:30
p.m.; Sun at 3 p.m. $25 ($20 seniors).
Getting Cage-y
This group takes the Shakespeare out of
“Shakespeare in the Park!” Instead, theatrical
comedy event “Cage in the Park” will
re-enact the 1997 Nicolas Cage film “Face/
Off” — but will do it in iambic pentameter,
with a full band, and the setting moved to
ancient Rome. Created by a writer and a
producer at “The Daily Show,” this Bardadjacent
show is sure to make you laugh.
The Peristyle Grecian Shelter in Prospect
Park Parkside Avenue between Parade
Place and Park Circle in Prospect Park
South. July 14 at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Free.
House of Yea, verily
Bushwick’s famous club House of Yes
will give the Bard of Avon a modern makeover.
On July 17 and 18, the venue will host
“Shakespeare in the Club: The Dream Midsummer
’19,” an adaptation of “A Midsummer
Night’s Dream,” with a focus on sexual
consent. Loaded with original songs
and choreography, the production will critique
the lack of bodily autonomy in the
shape-shifting, potion-pushing original
play, while delivering raunchy and interactive
performances.
House of Yes 2 Wyckoff Ave. at Jefferson
Avenue in Bushwick, (646) 838–4973,
www.houseofyes.org. July 17 and 18 at 7
p.m. $15.
Spa, sirrah!
The fairies and star-crossed lovers from
Shakespeare’s summer romp will descend on
a Gowanus spa on July 24 for “A Midsummer
Night’s Steam,” where the all-female
cast will mingle with the cocktail-sipping
audience. Rather than sticking strictly to
the original script, the actresses will role
play their characters as they relax in hot
tubs and saunas, sing ballads, and read
sonnets to guests. The spa will serve light
refreshments, and attendees can enjoy full
access to its steam room, aromatherapy,
and other amenities.
CityWell Brooklyn 496 President St. between
Nevins Street and Third Avenue in
Gowanus, (347) 294–0100, www.citywellbrooklyn.
com. July 24 at 6:30 p.m. $65
($55 in advance).
Too, too solid flesh
A local theater group known for its nude
productions of Shakespeare plays will combine
segments of “The Tempest,” “The Taming
of the Shrew,” and “Hamlet” with scenes
from non-Shakespeare plays in “Mere Flesh
and Blood,” opening in August. The show
will use nudity selectively as a storytelling
tool and a body-positive statement, said the
managing director of Torn Out Media.
“Nudity, along with our gender-conscious
casting, is part of our mission to promote
body positivity by showcasing a wide range
of what human bodies can and do look like,
and how those bodies are part of the stories
that we tell,” said Diana Levy.
Prospect Park Music Pagoda (enter at
Lincoln Road and Ocean Avenune in Prospect
Lefferts Garden, www.tornouttheater.
org). Aug. 8–9 at 5:30 p.m., Aug. 10–11 at
2 p.m. Free.
ART
This new art project is flippin’ fantastic!
A pair of enormous, solar-powered, steel-andglass
enclosed flipbooks designed by teenagers
are now on display in Dumbo’s Pearl Street Triangle.
But if you want to experience the moving
pictures for yourself, you had better bring
a friend — one person needs to crank a handle
on the side of the devices to let another enjoy
the show. The team-up nature of the public art
project is a deliberate part of its design, said one
member of the group behind the devices.
“Our philosophy is collaboration,” said Cassie
Broadus-Foote, of Dumbo’s Beam Center. “So
even enjoying the flipbooks you have to do it
with two people.”
The solar cells atop each device soak up
power during the day to fuel light-emitting diodes,
so the moving papers can be viewed by
day or night.
Each of the five-foot-tall contraptions was
designed, framed, welded, and illustrated by a
dozen New York City teens, as part of a monthslong
collaboration with the Beam Center. The
teenage fellows suggested illustrations based on
their own lives and neighborhoods, including
images of a person welding, city streets, and old
apartment building. Artist Ebony Bolt designed
the actual sketches, and hundreds of community
members traced and copied the pictures,
in a project facilitated by the Dumbo Business
Improvement District.
The flipbooks, on display until the end of August,
aim to connect people through art by telling
a single story through hundreds of illustrations
— which makes the project a perfect fit for the
neighborhood, said the director of the neighhorhood’s
business improvement district.
“As a neighborhood, Dumbo harnesses the
spirit of innovation and creativity,” said Alexandria
Sica. “This project represents both, as well as
the collaborative nature of our community.”
See the Flipbooks at the Pearl Street Triangle
(Pearl Street at Water Street in Dumbo, beamcenter.
org). On display daily through August.
Free. — by Elizabeth Winn
By Aidan Graham
Brooklyn Paper
He’s got a novel approach to sequential
art!
A new kid-centric shop in
Carroll Gardens offers a new twist
on the traditional comic book shop,
using a lending library approach instead.
Loot, which opened on July 1,
allows its subscribers to check out one
comic at a time, as many times as they
want, for $30 a month, according to
the shop’s founder, in an effort to get
kids away from their screens and into
the printed page.
“The idea is that ultimately, we want
kids to be motivated to consume and
read comics,” said 38-year-old Joe Einhorn.
“Part of it is nostalgia. This was
a fun thing for people my age to do as
a youngster. At the same time, we’re
hoping to provide children with an
alternative to highly addictive video
games.”
Loot houses a library of over 3,000
issues available for rent — or for sale
at $5 each — from the biggest names
in comics, with a focus on superhero
titles from Marvel and DC, along with
a few collections of Japanese manga,
according to Einhorn.
The shop owner said he also plans
to use his second-floor space to host
workshops where Brooklyn kids can
learn the art of comic-making.
“We’re going to offer classes where
you can learn technical skills, but also
collaborate with others to make comic
books,” he said. “I think it would be
great is they end up making comics together.
Catherine Michelle Bartlett
If one girl does the writing, and
a boy does the drawing, and another
girl does the coloring. It’s collaborative,
and I think that would be a really
good experience for these kids.”
In addition to the store’s innovative
payment plan, it will offer store
Linus Gelber
credit called “loot” to heavy-reading
kids and young comics creators, which
they can apply towards the cost of the
monthly rentals.
“If they borrow 10 or more comics
in a month, they’ll earn loot — which is
like store credit,” said Einhorn. “Also,
we’ll sell the comics that kids create,
but the creator can earn 90 percent of
the profits in the form of loot.”
In an effort to keep the shop kidfriendly,
adults must be accompanied
by children, or else make a reservation
in advance.
“That’s playground rules,” said Einhorn.
“This is about making a safe
space for children, so we don’t want to
have adults coming in by themselves
whenever. It’s similar to a playground,
where there are no adults without children
allowed.”
Einhorn, who lives near his Carroll
Gardens shop, hopes that the store
will create a space where his youthful
customers can let their imaginations
run wild.
Loot (463 Court St. between Fourth
Place and Luquer Street in Carroll
Gardens, www.instagram.com/loot).
Open daily; 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
Spin zone
Dumbo BID
Wyrd
tales
Quirky takes on Shakespeare’s
classics shaking up Brooklyn
Much ado: (Clockwise from above) CityWell spa’s “A Midsummer Night’s Steam”
will include sonnet readings, singing, and a complimentary cocktail. “The Dream
Midsummer ‘19” at the House of Yes will feature dancing, singing, and aerial fairies.
“Mere Flesh and Blood” is the latest production by Torn Out Media, which has put
on various nude performances of Shakespearean plays.
Brynne Levy Neal Bennington
Check it out
Comic book lending library
opens in Carroll Gardens
Loot great: Founder Joe Einhorn recently opened his comic shop
Loot in Carroll Gardens.
Danny Ventrella / NBC
/www.tornouttheater
/www.citywell-brooklyn.com
/www.citywell-brooklyn.com
/www.citywell-brooklyn.com
/www.houseofyes.org
/loot
/www.houseofyes.org
/www.tornouttheater
/loot)