June 9, 2002

Today is the day to let me kn-kn-kn-know wh-what's your fan-ta-see!

I saw Elvis Costello again this weekend. This was the fourth time for me: The first was in Washington DC with Burt Bachrach, then in Virginia at Wolftrap with Steve Nieve on the Lonely World Tour, then a few months ago at the House of Blues (and won free tickets, thank you very much), and now this time, again, with the Imposters, at the Chicago Theater. It was great, and I didn't even mind all those weird guys who dress like Elvis (for what reason, I don't know. Like Elvis is going to spot them in the audience and say, "Hey! You look like me! Why don't you come up here and sing "Allison" with me?")

You may find this a bit excessive. You may roll your eyes when you know that Elvis is returning to Chicago and I intend to go.

"When will you stop going to Elvis Costello concerts?" you may ask.

When one of the following happens:
-Elvis sees me in the audience and decides that we should hang out aftewards, telling me how intelligent and cute I am in equal measures
-Elvis writes a song about me
-Elvis hears of my writing and decides that the next film he will appear in, I will write
-Elvis finally changes the name of the song "Sulky Girl" to "Zulkey Girl"
-Elvis spots me in the office and says, "Hey! You look great! Why don't you come up here and sing "Allison" with me?"

Anyway, I also have a cool announcement for you all today, but just let me just be lazy and give you the press release. Before you ask--"What does this have to do with me?" Well, probably nothing. But more importantly, it has to do with me: Young Christopher Hickman will be reading some of my work. In public! Also, plenty of other shinig stars will be in attendance an be represented. So if you will be in New York on June 24, make sure to stop by and represent.

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Housing Works Used Book Cafe presents
IRVING MANILA'S WEB HUMOR: LIVE
An Evening of Comedy Culled from the Internet
Performed Live!!! For Your Delectation

One Performance Only!!! Monday, June 24 at 6:30 PM
At Housing Works Used Book Cafe, 126 Crosby Street
* * *
Housing Works Used Book Cafe is pleased to announce the Third Annual Irving Manila's Web Humor: Live, an evening of comedy culled from the Internet and performed live by some of New York's finest comedians. CHRISTOPHER HICKMAN, author of SPRING BEANS FOR AUNT FLOSSIE, has personally selected a smattering of the Internet's best humor writing, to be read by some of New York's leading comic personalities. The performance at HOUSING WORKS USED BOOK CAFÉ, at 126 Crosby Street, is MONDAY, June 24, 2002, at 6:30 p.m. THIS EVENING IS FREE! Seating is limited!

Irving Manila (1914-2001) made his fortunes in the gorse industry, but his true love was the arts. In the last years of his life, he became particularly fond of the comedy-writing prowess displayed in various sites on the World Wide Web. A fervent fan, he sought to introduce the public to this wealth of comic invention. Arguably, the Internet is where the most subversive, incisive, and edgy wit is available to the public. It is Manila's belief that our generation's National Lampoon (or, if you're a citizen of the U.K., Monty Python) has strewn evidence of its comic prowess across the Net. Sites such as McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The Onion, Modern Humorist and Sweet Fancy Moses have left their mark on comedy's collective unconscious. Mr. Manila's WEB HUMOR: LIVE is in its third edition, but its purpose is steady: to illuminate the many comic voices of the Internet for the uninitiated. Swiftian satire, the sting of Lenny Bruce, the drollness of Wilde, the verbal dexterity of Perelman - while other media struggle to send a single punch line home, the Internet fairly explodes with humor.

CHRISTOPHER HICKMAN, curator for and director of this evening's entertainment, was a founding member of the premier sketch comedy group Mr. JumpyPants, and his sketch work has been featured in such venues as PS NBC, the Westbeth Theater, Primary Stages, Baby Jupiter and Access Theater. MR. HICKMAN's original long-form sketch play SPRING BEANS FOR AUNT FLOSSIE, which cast a satirical eye at the New York theater world, was performed to great acclaim at KGB's Red Room Theater in March of 1999. Of the show, TIME OUT NEW YORK said: "Spring Beans [is] so hilarious. Beans playwright Christopher Hickman has created something that will appeal to theater buffs, comedy fans and everyone in between." His scathing look at American politics, POLITICS AS USUAL, was produced last summer at the Westbeth Theater. He also mounted a sketch show, BREAD BAKING PANCAKE MAKING, at PS NBC last summer. All these shows were finalists for the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen.

This evening will feature comedy from such web sites as Sweet Fancy Moses, Haypenny, The Freedonian, Opium Magazine, Pindeldyboz, and Dezmin. The writers toil in cities across the United States, from Los Angeles to Brooklyn, Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale.

The sole performance is Monday, June 24; the show begins promptly at 6:30 p.m. Admission is FREE. Housing Works Used Book Cafe is located at 126 Crosby Street, between Houston and Prince Streets, in New York City. Take the S, F, V, or 6 line to Broadway-Lafayette, or the N-R to Prince Street. Housing Works is at 126 Crosby Street between Houston and Prince Streets. For more information about the show, and about other events and exhibitions at the Housing Works Used Book Café, call 212-334-3324.