Results tagged “thisamericanlife”

It was announced this week that two local legends will be joining forces for a concert in the name of Barack Obama. Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, neither a stranger to individually selling out multiple nights at stadiums around the country, will co-headline the relatively intimate Hammerstein Ballroom on October 16th. This will go down one night after the final presidential debate at Long Island's Hofstra University, kicking off the campaign’s home stretch leading up to Election Day. Tickets range from $500 for the nosebleeds to $10,000 premiere "lounge" seats, and are still available here, though it appears the, ahem, cheap seats have already sold out.

The following post is from our advertiser, This American Life on Showtime.

THEATER: Noah Diamond has worked as a licensed tour guide on all the major double decker bus lines in town, presenting his spoken word elucidation of New York in a near-continuous loop – ten hours a day for seven years. But when he finally quit the business, he found he could not stop guiding: “You wake up screaming, I'm not a tour guide! Then you do ten minutes on the General Slocum and go back to sleep.” He’s now found a way to recover, by performing a one man multimedia virtual tour of New York. 400 Years in Manhattan is a theatrical journey that takes not just one loop around town but rolls through four centuries of city history. - John Del Signore

Ira Glass is the brains, heart and larynx behind the wildly popular program This American Life; each show employs a theatrical, multiple-act structure to carve strange slices of life out of a unique thematic pie. The show began almost 12 years ago as a Chicago public radio program but has since mutated into an Emmy-nominated TV series on Showtime – a leap that prompted Glass and his team to relocate to New York City, bringing the radio version in tow. But Glass still keeps one foot in Chicago; he’s compiled a new book whose proceeds benefit 826CHI, the free writing program open to all students in Chicago. He’ll be appearing at Town Hall Monday night with Susan Orlean, Malcolm Gladwell and Chuck Klosterman, who have each contributed to the book, called The New Kings of Nonfiction. (Tickets cost $30; all proceeds benefit 826CHI.)

, humorously chronicled her pilgrimage to locales connected to three slain American presidents (Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley). Vowell will be appearing this Sunday as part of a fundraiser for 826NYC (tickets); she’ll be talking “with/to/about” comedian Eugene Mirman. (Demetri Martin hosts the event, which also features musicians Grizzly Bear, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and Feist, among others.) Gothamist recently spoke with Vowell about 826NYC, politics and gluten.

The Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is the quintessential tale of love lost, nearly regained and then agonizingly lost again. When Eurydice dies on their wedding day, her musician lover Orpheus, "father of song", journeys down to Hades to rescue her. The man shreds so hard on the lyre they let him escort Eurydice back to the land of the living, with the caveat that she walk behind him the whole way – if he so much as sneaks a peek at his beloved before they reach terra firma, she'll be lost forever. Of course all this happened way before D.A. Pennebaker's documentary Don't Look Back was released; had Orpheus been familiar with that particular title mankind might have been denied one of the most heartbreaking love stories ever conceived, not to mention a moment of 'D'oh!' unrivaled by Homer himself.

David Rakoff is the author of the hilarious and best selling essay anthologies Fraud and Don't Get Too Comfortable, countless articles that have appeared in publications such as Vogue, GQ, and Salon, and has contributed to NPR's This American Life. Gothamist sat down with the writer to discuss his genesis and his moments of doubt.

Grant Stoddard (pictured) saw little islands (also pictured) as his plane flew above New York, and from that a seed was planted for possibly the craziest idea we've heard, well, this week: he wanted to live on one of these islands for a few days to, you know, test his wilderness survival skills while still having a clear view of the Empire State Building. After running the idea by a friend, Duke (who coincidentally spent a night on each of these islands), he's off.

THEATER: HERE Artistic Director Kristin Marting concludes the OBIE-winning art center’s season by directing performer/dancer Alexandra Beller in us, “a highly athletic, sensual and dynamic blend of movement with song, text and a layered soundscape. Beller created this deeply personal commentary on the state of the union from the perspective of a woman who is at a crisis point in a love relationship.” As we haven’t seen it, we’ll defer to The New Yorker on this one: “The former Bill T. Jones standout dresses herself in the American flag, uses it as a jump rope, breast-feeds it. A sound score assaults her with conservative rhetoric, circa 2004, and she enlists the audience in pointing out contradictions in Leviticus.” Just another reason why we love New York. ENDS SUNDAY! – John Del Signore

"More important, however, is the sheer scope of the proposed store in comparison with Apple's two existing Manhattan-area retail presences -- if not the world. The space will easily outsize both the 21,577 square feet of Apple Store SoHo and the yet-larger 25,000 square feet of the subterranean Fifth Avenue location. Property allotted to the third store will be so large, in fact, that its showrooms alone should dwarf the total area given to either of the present-day Apple stores."

A look at some noteworthy television this week:

VINYL SALE: If you're looking for some rare vinyl, you might want to check out this monthly event: Shakey's Record Fair. A meatpacking district locale seems...a little off, but as FreeNYC points out, if you're "looking for that super rare old school funktified 7"...Shakey's Record Fair is probably the only place you'll find it."

Recently This American Life host, Ira Glass, paid a visit to Peter Roach and the Upper East Side building he's a super for. Peter has sole access to a large courtyard in this building, yet for complicated reasons - never, ever uses it. This is one of the many, many examples of the odd behavior of supers that Glass uncovers in three acts.

MUSIC: The Upper Crust are playing a proletarian downtown venue tonight! These four young nobleman will Rocque and Roll you with a polished AC/DC-esque sound. Do check them out, seriously. That is them to the right. We don't think we really need say anymore.

Gothamist’s family has never been the type to take to the yard after our Thanksgiving meal for a rousing game of touch football. That’s so Kennedy’s in Hyannisport, and so the opposite of everything our sedentary upbringing represents. Our family is less competitive, opting to sit quietly before getting what we lovingly refer to as our “second wind” where we continue our Pilgrim and Indian inspired binging. This week we’d like to suggest some shows that will remind you of all the competition, drama and dysfunction Thanksgiving can inspire, hopefully with less bloated regret.