August 2, 2020 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
Month xx–xx, 2019
LOCAL
CLASSIFIEDS
PAGE 7
Performance
space launches
rooftop stand-up
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Brooklynites looking for a
laugh can now fi nd twice-weekly
standup comedy shows on the rooftop
of The Tiny Cupboard in Bushwick!
“Rooftop Stand-Up Comedy
Brooklyn: Six Feet Apart Edition”
brings socially-distant fun for comedy
lovers and cooped-up comics
alike, said the space’s founders.
“We’re changing the vibe a little
bit, but we’re still preserving
the intimacy,” said Matt Rosenblum,
who founded The Tiny Cupboard
along with his partner, Amy
Wong. “It still doesn’t feel corporate,
it feels like you’re hanging
out, and it’s pretty intimate.”
The north Brooklyn duo had to
cancel the venue’s signature closequarters
shows — but later decided
to relaunch in-person events by
taking advantage of their rooftop,
hauling seats and a sound system
to the top of the building.
One regular comedian and
show producer on the roof said
that she was delighted to perform
in front of people, and that audiences
have been eager to be in
stitches again.
“The audience is so ready to
be out of their house, doing things
again,” said Malorie Bryant, who
performs and hosts a weekly show
called Mad Love Comedy.
The shows run Fridays and Saturdays
with two sets each evening,
and the Bushwick artists plan to
add dates on Thursdays too due to
popular demand.
“We either sell out or near-sell
out the shows this weekend and
last weekend,” Rosenblum said.
“We’re thinking of adding Thursdays.”
“Rooftop Stand-Up Comedy
Brooklyn: Six Feet Apart Edition”
at The Tiny Cupboard 1717 Bwy.,
at Cooper Street in Bushwick,
www.thetinycupboard.com Fridays
at 7 pm and 8 pm, Saturdays
at 7 pm and 8:30 pm. $7 per set.
Masks required.
Locals install fl owers and 187 portraits of Black people who died while fi ghting racial injustices. Photo by Joyce Kam
Honoring the dead
Williamsburg memorial pays tribute to Black lives lost to racial injustice
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
A new memorial at the Williamsburg
waterfront pays homage
to almost 200 Black people
who have been killed by police or
have died fi ghting against racial
injustice.
North Brooklynites installed
the tribute — titled “Say Their
Names” — at the 50 Kent Ave. popup
park on July 25. The memorial,
which features 187 portraits of
Black people who have been killed
advocating for racial justice or by
police violence, aims to honor the
victims and raise awareness of
how many people have been lost
beyond those who have made national
headlines, according to the
effort’s organizer.
“There’s defi nitely a handful
of names that have gotten national
attention, but there are so
many more lives that were taken
through violence and police brutality,
so many lives that went under
the radar,” said Joyce Kam.
“People are becoming aware that
it’s not just George Floyd, Breonna
Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery.”
The commemorative installation
features pictures ranging
from 1960s civil rights leaders like
Malcolm X, all the way to recent
high-profi le victims of police killings
like Taylor and Floyd, whose
deaths spawned global protests
against police brutality and racism
within law enforcement.
The Williamsburg resident
and a group of friends hung the
photos printed by Californian
fi rm Richard Photo Lab and fl owers
donated by several Brooklyn
and Manhattan fl orists at the
fence of the temporarily-reopened
lawn between N. 11th and N. 12th
space Saturday morning.
She hopes it will further spur
discussions and raise awareness
in the neighborhood of injustices
against Black people.
“I mainly want to keep the momentum
going of people talking
about fi ghting against injustice. I
think people are seeing the vast
amount of lives being lost and
the biggest response I’ve gotten
is ‘Wow I don’t know the majority
of these names,’” she said. “It’s
planting that seed for people to do
their own research.”
Kam, a local wedding photographer,
was inspired by a similar
shrine set up by Joy Proctor
— a wedding planner and friend
of Kam’s — in Portland, Oregon,
and the idea has since spread to
places like Santa Barbara, California,
Seattle, Washington, and
Dallas, Texas.
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