STORY TIME: Got the gift of gab? Starting tonight, Brooklyn blog F'ed in Brooklyn will launch their free "Tuesdays at Tea Lounge" series. StorySLAMs in the spirit of The Moth, like July's "I Like You, Maud," will see randomly drawn contestants spending five minutes spinning an entertaining yarn. The free form story-telling requires only that you know the story, with no paper notes permitted. The entertainment also includes improv/sketch comedy and a mid-show open forum for everyone's favorite pastimes: complaining.
Tuesday, July 19 // 7:30 p.m. // Tea Lounge [837 Union Street, Brooklyn] // Free
OPERA IN THE PARKS: In the not-so-distant past, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's summer concerts were confined to Manhattan. Fortunately for all the outer-borough folk, the inter-borough Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Series has returned for its third year, featuring stellar performances from three elegantly skilled operatic singers and pianist Bradley Moore. Shows have already been put on at Central Park's SummerStage and in the Brooklyn Bridge Park; upcoming shows will take place at Crotona Park in Queens, Jackie Robinson Park in Manhattan, Clove Lakes Park in Staten Island, and the Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens.
Tuesday, July 19 (through July 28) // Various locations, see website for details // Free
SUMMERSCREEN: Every week during the summer, The L Magazine's SummerScreen series brings you classic flicks, from Wayne's World to Jurassic Park. Tonight's featured film is the scathingly angsty Ghost World, in which Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson play mischievous, dour-faced best friends who decide to mess with a romantic loner played by Steve Buscemi. Happy hour and live music commence at 6 p.m., with the movie beginning at dusk. Note: this is not a dog-friendly event.
Wednesday, July 20 // 6 p.m. // Bedford and North 12th St, Brooklyn // Free
BURLESQUE: For the 4th year in a row, Revealed Burlesque brings audiences a raucous roster of entertainment with striptease performances from dames like Anita Cookie, Darlinda Just Darlinda, and Victoria Privates. Presented by Gigi LaFemme and the Horse Trade Theater Group, this has been hailed as one of the most satisfyingly risque shows in town.
Wednesday, July 20 // 10 p.m. // 85 E 4th St // $30
FREE TO BE YOU AND ME: On the heels of marriage equality becoming a reality in our fair city, The Stonewall Inn will host a screening of The Center, a documentary which addresses the reality of LGBTQ life through the lens of a community center in Manhattan. Cocktails and a panel discussion will follow, in order to open up dialogue about what it means to be queer, and how the conversation around civil rights, human rights, and equality must remain evolutionary and relevant despite political and social progress.
Thursday, July 21 // 6-9 p.m. // 53 Christopher St. // Free
LIT JEOPARDY: Alex Trebek can have his Animals, Sports, and Science categories. We'll take all literary trivia all the time. Thanks to Work in Progress' Nerd Jeopardy we can show off our literary prowess and renege on our regrets for majoring in 19th-Century Russian Poetry. There will be prizes, audience heckling, and free drinks to get your trivia juices flowing.
Thursday, July 21 // 7 p.m. // McNally Jackson [52 Prince St] // Free
HAITIAN CULTURE: Target Passport Fridays and the Queens Museum of Arts takes us beneath the wreckage of the earthquake and its aftermath in Haiti to explore dance, music, and film from the Afro-French-Caribbean island. With help from the Legros Cultural Arts dance project, folklore musician Jocelyne Dorismé, and a dose of realism via the poignant Children of Haiti alongside youngpeoples' shorts, it's time to bust out the blanket and book it over to Flushing Meadows Corona Park to get a dose of a part of Haiti that's overlooked all too often.
Friday, July 22 // 6:30 p.m. // Flushing Meadows Corona Park [Queens] // Free
DOUBLE THE SINGLES: WORD's lit-savvy singles group Between the Covers and The Brooklyn Kitchen's foodie singles group are joining forces to organize the singles mixer to end all singles mixers: the Approximation of Pi(e). Playing up the date (7/22), which approximates pi, lit-minded mingling attendees will share pie preferences while a testimonial success-story spins at the DJ booth.
Friday, July 22 // 7 p.m. // The Diamond Bar [43 Franklin St, Brooklyn] // Free
HOG WILD: Bushwick arts organization 3rd Ward's fourth annual Pig Roast promises fun and enough pork to satisfy any appetite. If you don't dig on swine, there will also be live music from Union Street Preservation Society and Northern Bells, as well as educational demos on bike repair and chocolate sculpture. If you want to pig out, just be sure to RSVP.
Saturday, July 23 // 2:00 p.m. // 3rd Ward [195 Morgan Ave, Brooklyn] // Free
PANTHEON: Celebrate the release of Pantheon: A history of art from the streets of NYC exhibition catalog. A hybrid of scholarly journal, popular magazine, and graff zine, 33 artists active in New York since the 1970s contributed to this exhaustive 450-page catalog. It contains over 400 images and more than 20 essays and interviews featuring renowned artists and galleries such as Factory Fresh, Brooklyn Street Art and Mighty Tanaka. The catalog will be available for purchase at the release event held at the restaurant Do or Dine, but so RSVP if you plan to attend.
Saturday, July 23 // 6:00 p.m. // Do or Dine [1108 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn] // Free
BLOCK PARTY: The New Museum sponsors a day of outdoor art activities and performances, led by artists and educators, all related to the museum's mission and current programs. Participants also get free access to the galleries on the day, where they can tour "Joints Array," a multimedia show by video artist Charles Atlas, among other exhibitions.
Saturday, July 23 // 12 p.m. // Sara D. Roosevelt Park [Houston and Forsyth Sts] // Free
MEATOPIA: Read no further, vegetarians and vegans, this edible event in Brooklyn Bridge Park is all about the meat. Dubbed the "Woodstock of Edible Animals," the fest will feature 45 chefs from all over the US, half a dozen farmers, live music, and "every form of meat cookery" imaginable. And, naturally, there will be beer: Amstel Light, to be exact, flowing freely throughout the park. Whole Foods will also be revealing the winner of their national butcher contest live on stage; and we're hoping for an edible crown made from Peking Duck and porchetta.
Saturday, July 23 // 5:30 p.m. // Brooklyn Bridge Park [Pier 5, Brooklyn] // tickets $85 - $195
BANANAGRAMS! Sure, Words With Friends is fun, but wouldn't it be more fun to play a word game in the company of your fellow human beings? WORD bookstore certainly thinks so, that's why they're hosting an evening of Bananagrams in the Basement. Never played? Think of it like a Scrabble free-for-all. Prizes will be awarded for the night's top scores!
Sunday, July 24 // 7 p.m. // WORD [126 Franklin St, Brooklyn] // Free
BLUE GRASS: The Union Street Preservation Society are releasing their debut EP “Spring to Rust” and are celebrating with a kickoff party and concert at the Jalopy Theatre in Red Hook. The Brooklyn-based quintet, joined by American Roots group The Third Will, promises a night of "electricity and a rip-roaring, foot-stomping good show." So bring your dancing shoes and enjoy some good old-fashioned jams.
Sunday, July 24 // 7:30 p.m. // Jalopy Theatre [315 Columbia St, Brooklyn] // $5
REAL SHORT STORIES: SMITH Magazine presents a live event for their popular Six-Word Memoir Project. To catch live readings of these funny, mysterious, tender (but above all, succinct) true-life stories, get down to the 92Y Tribeca, where writers and musicians will each deliver his/her own six-word story and then provide a six-minute explanation. This year's theme is "I'm Only Popular At Summer Camp," and come prepared with a six-word story of your own: audience members will get the opportunity to take the stage and share at the end of the night.
Monday, July 25th, 7 p.m. // 200 Hudson Street // $10
Contributions from Nell Casey, Elyssa Goldberg, Bethany O'Grady, Melanie Parker, Rachel Pincus and Eva Saviano
