Just a little update on the people we know that are weirdly creative and impressive.
Last Thursday, we had the distinct pleasure of checking out the album release party of our friend Ian Temple’s band, Sontag Shogun. Unsurprising to us (but maybe surprising to you, who may not know Ian) the guys of Sontag Shogun know how to create a mind blowing experience. The setting: a candlelit yoga studio in Bushwick. The ambience: popcorn machine, absinthe, and unnerving home videos projected on the wall. The entertainment: Songs from their new album, Tale, (which is awesome, btw. seriously beautiful music), a one-man string ensemble (yes.), and an EXPERIMENTAL PUPPET SHOW.
Yes, Al inspiration all over the place here. And check. out. that. gigantic. puppet. monster. And if you were wondering, the teeth were chimes that clinked as it ate its prey. Like we were saying, Ian knows what’s up.
Next on the list is the courageous and chiseled Christian Shaboo, who delivered what was essentially a 90 minute acrobatic monologue in New Haven Theater Company’s performance of Donald Margulies’ Shipwrecked! An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventure of Louis de Rougemont (As Told By Himself). Christian was completely awesome and we were all blown away by the show’s crazy imaginative staging. With very minimal sets and props, the company took us to 19th century London, an underwater octopus attack, a remote dessert island, and a aboriginal village.
It was a lesson in the power of restraint and imagination. Can’t wait to be able to point to put it to use.