December 17, 2006

New Yipes! at 21 Grand, featuring Lauren Shufran, Kevin Killian, music by aero mic'd & videos by Wayne Smith

Preamble A. Curator David Larsen spoke.

Preamble B. Then Brent Cunnigham & Neil Alger of Hooke Press spoke.

1. Then a pair of videos by Wayne Smith.

2. Lauren Shufran braved a cold and delivered some fabulous lines: "language acts organically as pain killer."

3.0. David Larsen decorated the stage with two candelabras that were about 4 feet tall, each holding 3 candles. He then strung two strands of Xmas lights around them. It was very Charlie Brown, but cute.

3.1. aero mic'd--a laptop, guitar, drum trio--began their set with Kevin Killian recounting an American childhood in France and the annual coming of the "Christmas Owl" who it turns out was Marc Chagall; this for me was the evening's highlight. aero mic'd's set then turned new musicy for a spell (in a good way), then ended more poppy (ie. 4/4 beat) with added vocalizations by Anne McGuire.

4. Kevin Killian read from his book of amazon.com reviews --called Selected Amazon Reviews--as well as from several serial poems. He is a very charming reader, not in that creepy Tristan Tzara "charming and delicious" way, but in the way that when he reads lines about having butterflies around his crotch you don't feel creeped out, and the room laughs.

5. A final video by Wayne Smith.

6. The walk from 21 Grand to 11th Street and Broadway to catch the #82 bus that included overhearing a woman on her cellphone talking about bullet casings around her house, a shooting at the #51 bus stop on 14th Street & Broadway which caused police to cordon off an entire downtown city block, then a half hour wait for the #82 bus driver to return to the bus after checking out the crime scene.

Add these two to my pile mentioned two posts ago:
Lauren Shufran, Burrow (Hooke, 2006) 48 pages. $10.
Kevin Killian, Selected Amazon Reviews (Hooke, 2006). $10.