ALBUM RELEASE SHOW: LIAM MCENEANEY’S “WORKING CLASS FANCY” | In an era when the means to chime in on everything from food to relationships is as easy as accessing the keyboard on your phone, there’s still plenty of room — and, when done well, a pressing need — for the sharp observations and precise analysis of a road-tested stand-up comedian. Even in a profession whose ranks are swelled by idiosyncratic thinkers with a gift for gab and the ability to repeatedly nail the absurdity of everyday folly, Liam McEneaney is an odd duck; the rare bird who’s as much fun to listen to as he is to laugh at.
This quality is on ample display throughout the NYC native’s latest comedy album, “Working Class Fancy” — whose 26 tracks address sad sack blue collar concerns like junk food and public transportation within an ever-shifting landscape of surreal storytelling. The result is material that’s meticulously constructed but free of pretention, and injected with a prime directive of human decency that repeatedly veers into the direction of the cheap laugh, then pivots to one of recognition. You may not inhabit the same beefy and bearded frame as McEneaney, but it’s easy to identify (or at least sympathize) with the constant insecurities, frequent befuddlement, and occasional rage of an aging, newly single guy taking an “honest look at where I am in life.”
Released by the Comedy Dynamics label and available on multiple platforms as of May 20, “Working Class Fancy” is a one-take, real-time set recorded in January of this year, before a sold-out crowd at Brooklyn’s Bell House. Much of the album finds the writer/performer in the crosshairs of his own social and cultural criticisms — as McEneaney witnesses a downscale holiday tableau at a 24-hour Dunkin’ Donuts located much too close to his apartment; advises a friend on how to propose marriage in a crack house; and tries in vain to grasp the mindset of anyone who’d stop short of finishing their cake (i.e., “the antidote to loneliness”). Just as his material about dating and breaking up doesn’t have a whiff of misogyny, the self-deprecating stuff is more about being cognizant of room for improvement rather than being helpless in the face of insurmountable flaws. Then there’s plenty of material that’s just plain left-field loopy, best exemplified by his weary, gravel-voiced crooning of an imagined Tom Waits song that crystalizes the essence of what it’s like to ride a bus in Hollywood. Like the cake McEneaney covets, it’s a layered treat you’ll find hard to resist.
Free. Tues., May 24, 7pm at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe (126 Crosby St., btw. Prince & Houston Sts.). For artist info, visit heyitsliam.com, where you can access his popular “Tell Your Friends” podcast.
BETWEEN STOPS: AN EXHIBITION OF SUBWAY PORTRAIT SKETCHES | Having worked as a photographer and illustrator for the publishing, banking, airline and life insurance industries throughout the 1980s, Robin Kappy left that career to become a psychotherapist. Decades later, in the pursuit of fine art, the longtime Penn South resident brought with her a commercial advertiser’s quicksilver draftsmanship and an educated listener’s ability to capture the essence of her subject.
“Between Stops: An Exhibition of Subway Portrait Sketches” is a contemplative collection of nearly 50 pencil drawings that were created, as the title suggests, while commuters waited for their next train. Seen mostly from the neck up, often with eyes closed and facing the ground, they don’t seem particularly concerned with the consequences of missing that next ride — nor does Kappy care to depict any elements of the hectic underground environment. “Between Stops,” then, becomes more about preserving a moment of transition than investigating the why or where of one’s final destination.
Free. Opening reception Thurs., May 19, 6–9pm. Then, through June 4, by appointment and Saturday afternoons, at Chelsea Classical Studio (526 W. 26th St., btw. 10th & 11th Aves.; Suite #415). While at the gallery on Saturday afternoons during the exhibit, Kappy will be offering quick portrait sketches for sale, to those willing to pose. Visit robinkappy.blogspot.com and chelseaclassicalstudio.com.
THE 21ST ANNUAL LOWER EAST SIDE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS | “Smorgasbord” doesn’t come even remotely close to describing the epic scope, creative depth, funky vibe, celebratory spirit and mind-expanding material swimming around the annual three-day mulligan stew that is the Lower East Side Festival of the Arts. Host venue Theater for the New City (TNC) chose this year’s theme — “Art Knows No Walls or Barriers” — not only as a cheeky bird-flip to anti-immigration fervor, but as a tribute to the neighborhood’s status as a place where energizing forces from Irving Berlin to The Ramones have created work that’s been exported to, and embraced by, all corners of the globe.
For three days — and nights, and wee small hours of the morning — free reign will be given to dozens and dozens of local theater and dance companies, actors, singers, musicians, performers, poets, auteurs, painters, sculptors, filmmakers, and other unconventional entertainers who defy description (which is actually a pretty good blanket description of every act and action you’ll come across).
Among those already booked: NYC cabaret darling KT Sullivan interprets the American Songbook; after a screening, “Manchurian Candidate” composer David Amram reminisces about the beat origins the 1959 film “Pull My Daisy,” which he scored; works by playwrights including Eduardo Machado, Lissa Moira, Barbara Kahn and Robert Homeyer; East Village-appropriate handmade clothing, arts and crafts from local vendors; a youth-focused program with talent from local schools; a poetry summit that’s less about slamming and more about jamming; an exhibit which fills the TNC lobby with painting, photography, sculpture, and collage work from local artists (opening reception May 25, 5:30–8pm); and performances from Folksbiene National Yiddish Theater, Tammy Faye, bubble master John Grimaldi, comedian Reno, Chinese dance star Ashley Liang; four-octave phenom Phoebe Legere; folksinger/activist Judy Gorman; plus (and they really mean it) many, many more.
Free. Fri., May 27, 6pm–2am; Sat., May 28, 12pm–2am; Sun., May 29, 6pm–1am. At, and around, Theater for the New City (155 First Ave., btw. E. Ninth & E. 10th Sts.). For the calendar of events, visit theaterforthenewcity.net or call 212-254-1109.
FORGIVENESS — PART I: FORGIVING THE PERSONAL | Gurus, gods, mothers and memes recommend it as a key ingredient to enlightenment (to say nothing of a good night’s sleep) — but putting the trespasses of others behind you is easier said than done. This multi-media movement and music piece, by social impact arts organization B3W Performance Group, began during a seven-month period in 2015, when Artistic Director Emily Berry traveled the world to conduct community workshops based on the protocols of The Forgiveness Project, a secular organization which encourages forgiveness as a means to end cycles of conflict. Based on personal accounts documented by Berry, tenets from the Dalai Lama’s “The Wisdom of Forgiveness,” group discussions, improv, and journalism on the part of the B3W collective, this performance will “unravel the consequences and the expressions of multiple viewpoints and stories of forgiving, providing the audience an opportunity to witness personal struggles and stories of forgiveness that will lay a path for both personal and societal healing.”
Fri., May 20 & Sat., May 21 at 7:30pm; Sun., May 22 at 3pm. At BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center (199 Chambers St., btw. Greenwich & West Sts.). For tickets ($25 general, $15 students/seniors), call 212-220-1460 or visit tribecapac.org. Also visit b3w.org and theforgivenessproject.com.
–BY SCOTT STIFFLER
