Still standing: “Last Comic” vet Claudia Cogan is among the gaggle of gay (and open-minded) humorists on the next “Homo Comicus” bill.
HOMO COMICUS
Host Bob Montgomery’s long-running showcase of queer, questioning and lavender-friendly stand-up comedy comes — to Gotham Comedy Club — on the first Wednesday of every month. So don’t feel left out just because you missed the ultra-out Pride edition of “Homo Comicus.” Yes, it’s true, you’ve blown that June opportunity to catch “funny that way” comics Curt Upton and Janine Brito. But they’ll likely be back doing their “Homo” thing soon enough (a soft touch with high standards, Montgomery always books those who kill for repeat offenses). Next up, however, a fresh crop of cock-sure comics will get their Yankee Doodles on — in a star-spangled July 3 celebration…of July 4! Erin Foley (from “Chelsea Lately”), Claudia Cogan (from NBC’s “Last Comic Standing”) and Justin Sayre (creator/host of the hit Downtown show “The Meeting”) are on the bill. Don’t forget to drink up, as you go down…to Gotham!
Wed., July 3, at 7:30pm. At Gotham Comedy Club (208 W. 23rd St., btw. Seventh & Eighth Aves.) $20 cover, 2-beverage minimum. For reservations, call 212-367-9000. Visit homocomicus.com.
BLUESTOCKINGS BOOKSTORE
Dudes in drag, dykes on bikes and queer contingents of every conceivable configuration make their way down Fifth Avenue (in parade form, at least) but once a year. But just below Houston, Bluestockings Bookstore has your rainbow back covered on a regular basis. Now celebrating its 14th year of literature, feminism, activism and community, the ultra-inclusive Safer Space hosts social justice, cultural criticism and queer identity events nearly every night of the week.
Once a month (along with events like the Feminist Book Club and the Dyke Knitting Circle), Bluestockings is home to a Women’s/Trans’ Poetry Jam & Open Mike. This month’s edition takes place on Tues., June 25, at 7pm (the start time of most Bluestockings events). Vittoria Repetto — “the hardest working guinea butch dyke poet on the Lower East Side” — hosts, inviting you to deliver up to eight minutes of your own poetry, prose, songs and spoken word. The featured writers are LuLu LoLo (who will perform excerpts from two of her plays) and Tammy Remington (reading her new story “Giving Ground”). Visit vittoriarepetto.wordpress.com for more info.
“L is for Lion” author Annie Lanzillotto reads at Bluestockings (June 26) and Housing Works Bookstore Cafe (June 27).
On Wed., June 26, lesbian storyteller and performance artist Annie Lanzillotto (along with special guests) will read from “L is for Lion: An Italian Bronx Butch Freedom Memoir.” Born into a “brutal but humorous” Italian family, the 1960s tomboy makes the great leap from the stoops of her home borough to cross-dressing on the streets of Egypt and haunting the 1980s NYC gay club scene — with stops along the way to explore, absorb and endure the “wide world of immigration, cancer treatment, mental illness, gender dynamics, drug addiction, domestic violence and a vast array of Italian American characters.” Lanzillotto, who certainly gets around, will migrate from Bluestockings to Housing Works Bookstore Cafe for another reading on Thurs., June 27.
At Bluestockings Bookstore (172 Allen St., at Stanton St.). Suggested donation: $5 (nobody is turned away for lack of funds, and the space is wheelchair accessible). For more info, visit bluestockings.com or call 212-777-6028. Join them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter (@bluestockings).
PRIDE WEEK READING AT HOUSING WORKS BOOKSTORE CAFE
The Housing Works mission, to end homelessness and AIDS, is made possible in part by the proceeds from a dozen funky (in the best sense of the word) thrift shops located, among other places, in the Village, Soho, Tribeca and Chelsea. But apart from racking up sales (from the sales rack) to fund the provision of lifesaving services to those in need, the organization recognizes the need for brick and mortar community. That’s where the volunteer-run Housing Works Bookstore Cafe comes into play. In addition to providing a great place to meet friends, relax and shop, “the best book, movie and music selection in New York City” has great live events (including author readings and in-store concerts).
A swashbuckler, with swish: Gil Cole reads from “Fortune’s Bastard or Love’s Pains Recounted,” June 27, at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe.
On June 27, the Pride Week Reading features Charlie Vasquez, Gil Cole and “L is for Lion” author Annie Lanzillotto (hot off her June 26 Bluestockings Bookstore appearance). Vasquez’s latest collection of poetry, “Hustler Rave XXX,” examines the lives of the boys of the night — and the generous older men who patronize them, in every sense of the word (by providing financial support, while objectifying their bodies). Gil Cole will read from “Fortune’s Bastard or Love’s Pains Recounted.” Published by local imprint Chelsea Station Editions, the Shakespeare-inspired novel puts a gay spin on the swashbuckling romance/adventure genre, with a palpable whiff of the pain and suffering endured by a Lifetime movie lead. Lusting for broader horizons (and other men), young Antonio flees the religious hysteria of Renaissance Florence and eventually becomes a notable merchant of Venice (after traversing the Mediterranean as a pirate, an itinerant actor and a fugitive).
Free. Thurs., June 27, at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe (126 Crosby St., btw. Houston & Prince Sts.). For info, call 212-334-3324 or visit housingworks.org.
Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt’s “Twinky as a Gypsy Maiden (Self Portrait)” (1967-69. Foil, printed material, linoleum, glitter, cellophane, staples, acrylic paint, found objects and other media. 10 x 8 x 5 inches).
Ecce Homo: Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt and the Art of Rebellion
If every sister who swore she threw a brick at Stonewall were standing in her truth (as Suze Orman likes to say), they’d still be cleaning the debris from Christopher Street. He’s not claiming to have gone all Ignatz on the fuzz that night, but Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt was definitely part of the 1969 rebellion — as evidenced by the late Fred W. McDarrah’s photo (which is part of the exhibit at Pavel Zoubok Gallery).
“Ecce Homo” pays tribute to the ripple effects of contributions made by Lanigan-Schmidt — but not for his role in LGBT rights (the Obamas already covered that base, when the artist was invited to the White House, along with other Stonewall veterans). Subtitled “The Art of Rebellion,” the exhibit celebrates Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt as well as those whose aesthetic bears his imprint (including Nayland Blake, Arch Connelly, Tony Feher, Oliver Herring, Christian Holstad, Greer Lankton, Hunter Reynolds and Christopher Tanner).
Fred W. McDarrah (1926-2007): “Celebration After Riots Outside Stonewall Inn, Nelly (Betsy Mae Koolo), Chris (Drag Queen Chris), Roger Davis, Michelle and Tommy Lanigan-Schmidt.” (RC Print, 1969. 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches).
Foil, glitter, cellophane and found objects are among the building blocks of Lanigan-Schmidt’s work — but despite this kitschy collage treatment, the use of religious iconography imbues the tragic suffering of his subjects with a transcendent dignity. As Pontius Pilate said when he presented a bound, beaten and crowned-with-thorns Jesus Christ to a mob of angry onlookers just prior to the Crucifixion: “Ecce Homo.” In other words, “Behold the man!”
Through July 19, at Pavel Zoubok Gallery (531 W. 26th St., btw.10th & 11th Aves.). Hours: Tues.-Sat., 10am-6pm. For info, call 212-675-7490 or visit pavelzoubok.com.
