Boxing Metropolis

Camp Firewood

2009-12-03T17:56:00.002-05:00

Put a few new songs up on the Camp Firewood site recently. Some wintry music for your winter (or, if you're in New York City, not-quite-winter) days.

Reggie Watts

2009-12-03T15:12:00.002-05:00

Is one of the most incredible performers around right now. You should see him if you haven't already. Here's his website.

His most recent recording, "Christmas is for Fucking," makes me laugh, but doesn't do his live show justice. He'll improvise the most absurd, captivating beat-box/vocal menagerie thing you've ever seen. It's wild. Every time I see him he gets better...

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

2009-11-26T10:43:00.001-05:00

Adsit and Gausus

2009-11-18T13:00:00.005-05:00

I need to geek out a moment here and talk about Adsit & Gausus. They're two people - Scott Adsit from 30 Rock and Christina Gausus - two veteran improvisers with some pretty palpable sexual tension (they've made out or boned in two out of the three shows I've seen) and a lot of training and they're fearless and so amazing to watch, always. The whole thing is about simplicity - they just do long, subtle scenes with drama and a bit of comedy, and they never pander to us or themselves. And the scenes never hinge on one pattern or one joke, it's just about them, doing this scene, figuring out who the people are together. When patterns emerge, you only notice because they're real, and you believe them, and it's never forced. Their show is so close to good theater in that way, making everything about the connection between them, starting with nothing except the way they're looking at each other, sizing themselves up at the top of the show.

But then they just blow your mind with the way they set up the last twenty minutes. At the last show I saw, this past Monday, they started with a scene of two people standing at a girl's doorstep after a bad date. By the end of the show, after many other scenes, all of which they intertwine in some way by the end, believably, always, they replayed the doorstep scene with a completely different ending, switching characters, changing it completely, but never having any doubt between them that this was the way it was going now. It's understanding and chemistry and comedy at its smartest and most moving.

So hey - go see them in December at UCB. Also Scott Adsit looks a lot like Peter Boyle.

The Marketing Guys Really Don't Want You to Know Tobey Maguire is a Psychopath in this Movie

2009-11-15T23:47:00.006-05:00

Hey guys look it's the trailer for 'Brothers.' I've been seeing posters all over the city and had no idea what the movie is about. Now I know it is a heartfelt romantic dramedy between Jake Gyllenhaal and Natalie Portman and that song by the Fray and her two chil---- Oh SHIT! Wait! Tobey Maguire is a crazy Manchurian Candidate-fucked-up zombie and he's coming to kill everyone and his eyes are exploding out of his FACE and--- Oh, wait. Phew. A U2 song. Oh, Sweet sigh of relief! Yeah, I think everything's gonna be alllllllllllllright.

G-Chatting with Friends

2009-11-10T00:52:00.001-05:00

Jocelyn: oh my face is bleeding
i'll see you later

me: oh good

Jocelyn: ok

Mine.

2009-11-09T10:52:00.003-05:00

I'm in a play that opens this weekend. I play some songs and mess with some relationships and make some jokes and try not to be awkward. The other actors are wonderful and it should be a lovely little show...

BUY TICKETS! - Discount code MYFRND9 for $15 Tix.

Slant Theater Project's website

Bekah Brunstetter's website

Shrimp Shack Shooters

2009-11-05T18:56:00.006-05:00

There's something sad and eerily beautiful about wandering a beach town during the colder months of fall. While the lobster/shrimp/crab/general-seafood shacks are boarded up, there's some fine-ass foliage and a quiet hush and a wood-burning smell.

I'm here in Cape Cod doing a show called The Consequences (by Kyle Jarrow and Nathan Leigh) and we've got the entire Wellfleet Theatre building to ourselves, which has been kind of amazing. Also they put us up in a big, old rustic house where we can cook big dinners and make plans to watch shitty, leftover VHS tapes that have been stranded over the years.

It's nice to get outta NYC for a bit.

I like some songs these days

2009-11-01T23:22:00.005-05:00

If you've been reading Boxing Metropolis for a long time (and google analytics tells me 2.63 of you have!) you might say, "Hey Lucas - what happened to all the songs you used to post on here? There used to be a weekly feature with songs you like." To which I would respond, "Maybe I'm busier now and don't have as much time, did you ever think of that?" To which you would reply, "Jesus, calm down, it's not that big a deal," to which I would say, "I'm sorry, I overreacted." And then we'd drink McFlurries and enjoy this post where I list a few songs I like right now.

Surfer Blood - Floating Vibes
Extremely young and precocious Floridians (pictured above) who record their catchy, riff-laden songs on breaks from classes. Their debut album will be out in January.

The Dodos - Small Deaths
One of my favorite albums from last year was the Dodos' "Visiter." Their new one doesn't blow me away, but there's a couple true gems - this opening track included.

Joe Pug - Hymn 101
I'm performing a bunch of Joe Pug songs for a play I'm doing this month and have had to listen to him nonstop, but this one still sticks with me every time I hear it. The man's got a voice on him like no other guy in his mid-twenties I've ever heard and he can surely spin a yarn or two...

2009-10-30T11:06:00.004-04:00

Has everyone seen this? Is this something everyone has seen? I'm late to the party. This is brilliant.

They locked their friend, tripping on acid, in a bathroom, and recorded what he said. UPDATE: They did not lock their friend in the bathroom. Apparently it's just Dan Deacon speaking "absurdist poetry," and he's not on any kind of narcotics.

Rise against the demon monoculture

2009-10-27T23:44:00.002-04:00

I interviewed the Reverend Billy, a performance artist running for mayor of New York. Though he definitely has no chance of winning, everything he said made sense, and his thoughts on community and neighborhoods and taking the power away from phantom "planners" who have no stake in the areas they're building and re-building were really spot on. I liked him a lot.

Weekend of Wonderment

2009-10-25T22:59:00.010-04:00

Had an absolute blast at the PIT's Sketchprov extravaganza this past weekend...amazingly talented, nice, wonderful people everywhere, and just a general great energy at the PIT all around. So much fun, and so glad to be a part of it. And to win $1000. That was also fun. Because money makes the world go round, and is the sole reason that I do any of this. Here's Keith Huang's Apiary post on it.

On a more incredible and world-changing note, my good friends at 350.org made history this past Saturday with their day o' climate action. This amazing slide show from the NY Times says it all. And this video! 20,000 people marching in fuckin' Ethiopia! Amazing. So great to see them all and celebrate.

Also I ate a phenomenal bowl of Grape Nuts!!!!!

And then also tonight.

2009-10-23T11:24:00.002-04:00

Swords won last night! Come see us in the second round of the Sketchprov competition tonight at 10pm!

The PIT's website.

Tonight in New York

2009-10-22T10:12:00.004-04:00

Some fun things happening tonight for those in the citayyy. At 7pm catch my two-person improv group, Swords, in the Sketchprov Competition at the PIT. Tons of sketch and improv groups are competing for a big cash prize with lots of judges and fun stuff happening in between....so come on out if you're here.

Then later on, at 10, I'll be hosting Showgasm - Ars Nova's variety show as "The Drunk Girl Outside the Bar at 3 A.m." and I'll be wearing a slutty top and singing songs on the piano. So you may or may not want to miss that one.

Hope to see you!

Glamour Shot

2009-10-20T13:07:00.003-04:00

Advice to Bono: when writing an Op-Ed column for the NY Times, pick a photo that isn't this one.

2009-10-20T10:02:00.002-04:00

Sorry. I can't resist anything Bowerbirds.

Paul L. Bloom

2009-10-14T14:56:00.003-04:00

My friend Ester's father passed away this week in Chevy Chase, MD. She's made this website in his name.

Bloom once served under President Carter as a lawyer in the Department of Energy, investigating wrongdoing from big oil. One day before Carter left office and passed the presidency to Reagan, Mr. Bloom made a decision. From his NY Times obituary:

"One of Mr. Bloom’s last acts as the Carter administration was ending was to give four charities $1 million each from $4 million in unexpected refunds from a major oil company. The Reagan administration complained that he had given away taxpayers’ money, but he maintained he had given the money to those who could best reach poor people with heating needs."

Amen.

Imagination Land

2009-10-13T12:22:00.006-04:00

"At a time when many retailers are still cutting back or approaching strategic shifts with extreme caution, Disney is going the other way, getting more aggressive and putting into motion an expensive and ambitious floor-to-ceiling reboot of its 340 stores in the United States and Europe...Theaters will allow children to watch film clips of their own selection, participate in karaoke contests or chat live with Disney Channel stars via satellite. Computer chips embedded in packaging will activate hidden features. Walk by a 'magic mirror' while holding a Princess tiara, for instance, and Cinderella might appear and say something to you..."
- NY Times

Yes, these will be the stores of the future. Think a thought vaguely related to the movie Aladdin and Aladdin himself, voiced by Scott Weiner, will emerge from a carefully set trap door in full Aladdin garb, ready to serve your whims. Do you like to dance? So does Monique Coleman, one of the other people in High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Just say the word dance and a clone-copy appears in hologram directly in front of your face, ready to teach you a few hip moves! Are you hungry? Just rub your stomach slightly. The tiny brooms from Fantasia are made of M&M and coated in chocolate syrup and presented to you by a butler dressed as the teapot from Beauty and the Beast. The teapot will feed you until you can't eat anymore! Did you just make a pirate voice, sort of? Get ready for swashbuckling fun as a Johnny Depp impersonator whisks you away to an abandoned pirate ship in the back of the store filled with real, genuine cannons. Fire a cannon and hit one of the targets and receive $5.00 off your next purchase of Talking Hannah Montana dolls! Don't worry: the cannons are only filled with Jonas-Brothers-shaped balls of fluff.

As you make your way out, don't forget to mention to your parents that you're "excited for Christmas." Tim Allen, dressed as Santa Claus from The Santa Clause 2, appears in pixelated fragments on a giant screen, ready to field your Christmas Wishes. Your Wishes will then be emailed to your personal Disney email account (received when you enter) by Lilo from Lilo & Stitch! Or not! If you'd prefer, one of the Snow Dogs can also e-mail you. Don't forget to buy a shitload of stuff, though! Otherwise this will be a total waste of billions of dollars.

No words

2009-10-12T19:14:00.001-04:00

The Oklahoma News as Seen Through the Eyes of a PCP Addict from Derek Doublin on Vimeo.

Thanks to Sam for this.

Art is pain

2009-10-11T16:32:00.003-04:00

I cut my own arm off for an extremely fun-to-shoot College Humor short. Thanks to the effects guy Anthony for taking this. He told me I could come pick up my fake arm from his studio in Queens. He said I could attach it to my wall and use it to hold my remotes. I don't have any remotes, but I do like his thinking...

2009-10-09T22:38:00.002-04:00

McSweeney's published a Short Imagined Monologue of mine today. Here it is. It first appeared right here on this very website. The one you're looking at now. Here's proof in case you're a skeptic. Proof.

2009-10-08T00:18:00.004-04:00

Michael Moore: “Do you love your enemy?”

Sean Hannity: “Yes, I do.”

Michael Moore: “So you love Al-Qaeda, then.”

Sean Hannity: “I don’t love them, I love them in the sense that I want to destroy them.”

- From Michael Moore's appearance on Hannity.

Only in Dreams

2009-10-07T10:18:00.009-04:00

In case you were wondering, Rivers Cuomo is now so far off the deep end that he cannot even consider coming back to shore. Fresh off the new Weezer album, 'Raditude,' another wacko Pitchfork interview. An excerpt:

Rivers: I just went to the hobby shop and got an electricity kit and a chemistry kit and I'm really excited to do experiments like squeezing an egg into a bottle and growing crystals. I'm really getting into hobbies.

Pitchfork: Like what hobbies?

Rivers: Crocheting-- it's extremely difficult. I'm also whittling and making clay heads.

Pitchfork: Do the heads look like specific people?

Rivers: No, I just start messing around with the clay and a head starts to appear; it's always a male head. I also whittle heads. And I have three heads made of my daughter's Play Doh.

2009-10-06T09:52:00.003-04:00

I don't know what's more remarkable - that Thom Yorke started a new band with Flea (not pictured here, but see them perform here and here,) that everybody in the entire concert seems to be filming it, or that the song itself seems so damn gorgeous. Welcome to the new age of "secret" shows, everyone.

Jobs are for chumps

2009-10-05T13:43:00.005-04:00

"Todd Palin, the husband of polarizing former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, has quit his job working in an oil field."

Boxing Metropolis has the transcript of how it happened:

SARAH PALIN: Hey, my book's getting published! And we're getting millions of dollars!

TODD PALIN: Kick-ass!

SARAH PALIN: Also, we have millions of other dollars from all my speaking

engagements.

TODD PALIN: That's a lot of money we have.

SARAH PALIN: Sure is! I'm gonna quit my job.

TODD PALIN: Awesome. And then, a few months after that, I'll quit mine.

SARAH PALIN: Yeyyyyy!

TODD PALIN: Yeyyyyyy!

(Gunshots. The sound of a moose crying.)

END