Yesterday morning I looked down at my feet and noticed my big toes once again poking through holes in my socks. Honestly, I am amazed at how hard I am on socks. I would say that more than 70% of the pairs in my drawers have holes in the toes. I don't know how I manage it, but as I gazed down I thought, I have holes in my socks and hope in my heart. Cheesy and re-DUNK-ulous, yes, but I can't help what pops into my head.
Yesterday was a fun day. I got a little writing done, then had to dash to a meeting at The Hollywood Museum. We're holding a benefit there the night of the Oscars and it's the closest party to the actual Academy Awards. People can walk out the front door and be on the sidewalk where the arrivals happen. While we were there, they were rolling in costumes from some of the nominated films. At the end of the meeting I was allowed to sift through cool pieces like Mickey Rourke's wrestling outfit from The Wrestler, Meryl Streep's nun garb from Doubt and Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio's Revoluntionary Road stuff. Kinda cool.
I decided to take my chances in getting into press night via the standby line at the Kirk Douglas Theatre to see solo performer Danny Hoch. I had heard about him from my friend, bilingual storyteller and solo performer Antonio Sacre. I invited Antonio and his wife to attempt to get in with me and it was one of those nights where everything worked out perfectly. We found the perfect, free parking spot right behind the theater, there were only two people in line when we arrived, they decided to give out the numbers early, so we got to walk across the street and have some great Thai food, we all three won prizes when we got back in line, then we all were among a handful of people who actually got in.
Danny Hoch was pretty amazing. Reviewers say it better than I, so here's an idea of what I experienced: “The remarkable Danny Hoch lights up the stage like a dynamo, illuminating the entire Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg through nine impeccably drawn, vividly diverse characters (including himself) in an angry, funny, nuanced and provocative 100-minute look at the perils, complexities and injustices of gentrification." From a Dominican taxi dispatcher to a 67-year-old African-American woman to a French real estate developer to a hip, new-agey female wannabe grunge college grad selling t-shirts and jewelry made from electronics on the street, he expressed his frustration at the displacement of people in old neighborhoods by million dollar condos and pretentious new gourmet coffee shops with $4 croissants. Towards the end of the show he actually reads letters written by people who have seen his show, each one of them bringing up things that most of the audience members probably had streaming through their heads: Why are you so angry? Aren't you romanticizing the 80's and the crack-filled, crime-ridden neighborhoods that are now cleaned up and a safer place to be? Aren't you part of the problem, too? He's really quite brilliant.
Danny Hoch was pretty amazing. Reviewers say it better than I, so here's an idea of what I experienced: “The remarkable Danny Hoch lights up the stage like a dynamo, illuminating the entire Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg through nine impeccably drawn, vividly diverse characters (including himself) in an angry, funny, nuanced and provocative 100-minute look at the perils, complexities and injustices of gentrification." From a Dominican taxi dispatcher to a 67-year-old African-American woman to a French real estate developer to a hip, new-agey female wannabe grunge college grad selling t-shirts and jewelry made from electronics on the street, he expressed his frustration at the displacement of people in old neighborhoods by million dollar condos and pretentious new gourmet coffee shops with $4 croissants. Towards the end of the show he actually reads letters written by people who have seen his show, each one of them bringing up things that most of the audience members probably had streaming through their heads: Why are you so angry? Aren't you romanticizing the 80's and the crack-filled, crime-ridden neighborhoods that are now cleaned up and a safer place to be? Aren't you part of the problem, too? He's really quite brilliant.
Whatever you think his message is, he is a dynamic, hard-hitting performer who gives you something to think about. Go see it.
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1 comment:
i saw him a long time ago when he did his act with all these prison characters. he is AMAZING! i wouldhave loved to see him again!
holes in your socks. hope in your heart. nice.
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