Jason Traeger Christian Ricketts Many comics argue in favor of stand-up being an art form; both Patton Oswalt and Kyle Kinane have said as much on their comedy albums. And there is a real case to be made on their behalf. Most long stand-up sets are arranged much like a symphony or a Broadway musical: […]
TBA
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Portland Stand-Up Comedy Photo Album: Live!
Jason Traeger Christian Ricketts Many comics argue in favor of stand-up being an art form; both Patton Oswalt and Kyle Kinane have said as much on their comedy albums. And there is a real case to be made on their behalf. Most long stand-up sets are arranged much like a symphony or a Broadway musical: […]
Posted inArtsy
TBA Highlights: GHOST PARTY, Music Makes Us Feel Things, & Gender Performances
A drag show inspired by (WHAT ELSE) Paris Is Burning, adult ghost dress-up time, and sounds that make us feel present in our bodies or just confused—if you haven’t been to PICA’s Time-Based Art Festival yet, here’s what you’ve been missing: Pat Moran Ghosting. Alison Hallet was a pink ghost in Not About Face, Luke […]
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Review: Tim Hecker @ PSU’s Lincoln Hall
PICA/Tracy Van Oosten I’d follow general blogging procedure and start this post with a picture from last night’s packed-past-capacity Tim Hecker set at PSU’s Lincoln Hall, but all you’d see is a black box hovering above this sentence. When the lights went down for the hour-long, no-stops musical experience, they didn’t come back on until […]
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The Triumphant Return of Critical Mascara: A Post-Realness Drag Ball
Pat Moran Host Pepper Pepper and her clipboard. Critical Mascara: A Post-Realness Drag Ball debuted last year at TBA, and was so well-received that it just might be a new festival tradition, filling the coveted Saturday night spot once occupied by Ten Tiny Dances. The Paris Is Burning-inspired drag contest features extravagant, glamorous, and occasionally […]
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Macho Dancer
It was a packed house Friday night for Eisa Jocson’s two-part performance of Death of a Pole Dancer and Macho Dancer. The first thing you notice about Eisa Jocson is that she’s an incredible performer—masterful and captivating with her control—even though the majority of her first piece, Death of a Pole Dancer, consisted of Jocson […]
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Chris Sutton Reads From His Tumblr
Pat Moran Before the main portion of his Re: Disc COVER lecture, Chris Sutton struck a Sarah Palin-like tone, letting it be known that when he writes about music on his blog Record Lections, he’s not concerned about facts, but rather how the songs and albums make him feel. The idea, I’m guessing, was to […]
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Not About Face: GHOST PARTY!
Pat Moran It’s a Rorschach test of sorts: Fifty adults in a room, all wearing sheets with eyeholes cut out. What do you see? Ghosts, decided most people at Luke George’s Sunday afternoon show, though I heard a few comments on the resemblance to a full-body hijab. The Klan connection is there too, though I […]
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BodyCartography Project’s Super Nature in Review
I waited for about an hour last Friday for my turn to see Super Nature. I waited at The Works, reading about the finer points of carving carousels to the sound of MSHR’s installation (which, after an hour, sounds like a jackhammer that has been auto-tuned) in the background. Super Nature is 15 minutes long. […]
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Performing Gender in Duet Love
Eugenie Frerich Portland choreographer Tahni Holt‘s Duet Love begins with iconic images of heterosexual couples, and breaks down those images over the course of the evening. The show opens with four dancers, two women and two men, striking and holding poses in the silent theater. These establishing shots let the audience know we’re dealing with […]
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Watching Tanya Tagaq Watch Nanook of the North
Pat Moran Every year at TBA, one or two performances leave an indelible mark. Gob Squad’s Andy Warhol-inspired Kitchen. Sam Green’s documentary The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller, live-soundtracked by Yo La Tengo. Rude Mechs’ Method Gun. Reggie Watts at the Someday (RIP). Tanya Tagaq in Concert with Nanook of the North is one […]
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TBA Opening Night: Flashlight Filmstrips & Glitter Glue
With so much hipness, drinking, and so many white balloons in one industrial space, opening night of PICA’s Timed-Based Art Festival gave me serious art school flashbacks. THEESatisfaction were on point, and Portland’s Portraitist Michael Horwitz was drawing people in exchange for $5 in front of a gently-scrawled sign warning that “Glitter glue takes a […]