Comedy
Every Tuesday in Williamsburg enjoy some free beer from 8-8:30pm as Ambush Comedy (hosted by Lucas Connolly and David Piccolomini) performs in the back of a Two Boots Pizza joint. Free. 558 Driggs Ave.
The Bell House hosts “Oh, Such a Huge Show, Oh!” The Comedy/Variety show returns July 6 for a benefit performance for The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, featuring material from Emmy Blotnick (The Late Show With Stephen Colbert) Josh Gondelman (Last Week Tonight), Anna Drezen (SNL) and more. 7 PM. GA $18 in advance, $23 day of show. 149 7th St, Brooklyn.
Jalopy Theater presents “Little Laffs: A Kid’s Variety Show” on July 7 at 11am. Elementary and pre-school kids can enjoy balloon art and juggling at the Carroll Gardens theater. GA for families $25; $5 for children. 315 Columbia St.
In Boerum Hill, Ben Asher hosts “DoublePlusGood” on July 10 at 7:30pm at Pacific Standard. Seating for the free event is first-come-first-served. 82 4th Avenue.
Union Hall presents a taping of comedian Yedoye Travis’ podcast “Dark Tank” on July 12. In every episode, a white person pitches solutions to America’s many pressing racial issues to an all-black panel of judges. Who doesn’t love well-meaning white people? Don’t answer that. 7:30 PM. $10 in advance, $15 day of show. 702 Union St.
Dance
Local salsa staple Willie Villegas performs at Industry City every Sunday through the end of Aug. Expect discounted drinks, lessons for the clueless, and lots of outdoor salsa dancing. Free. 12-6pm. 238 36th St.
July is the perfect month for a trip to Central Park. SummerStage celebrates the 100th anniversary of legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham. Melissa Toogood leads a workshop of Cunningham’s most iconic moves. Free. Doors at 7pm. 8-10pm.
Tom Gold Dance premieres a new contemporary ballet piece, “Traveling West” at the Cooper Hewitt in Manhattan on Thursday, July 11, as part of the “Cocktails at Cooper Hewitt” performance series. 6pm. Tickets $14 online; $16 at the door. 2 E 91st St
Kids who want to bust a move should check out a free Hip Hop dance class at Pier 3 Plaza in Brooklyn Bridge Park on July 14. It’s part of the Parks Department’s Moving together series. 1:00-2:00 PM. Free. All ages welcome.
Film
BAM celebrates the 30th anniversary of Spike Lee’s breakout film “Do the Right Thing” with screenings running from June 28 through July 4. The tale of simmering (and eventually exploding) tension between neighbors is just as relevant as it was in 1989. Switch around some of the demographic changes in the movie’s BedStuy setting and swap Sal’s Pizza for a juice bar, and suddenly it’s not hard to place the story in today’s Brooklyn. It’s an unmissable piece of New York movie history. $15. BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Ave.
Nitehawk Cinema presents “Keanu: The Works,” a film series that looks back at 30 years of everyone’s favorite cyber messiah/ rocker dude/ strangely-difficult-to-classify actor. Screenings cover everything from “Bill and Ted,” to “My Own Private Idaho,” to “The Matrix” and everything in between. Screenings start July 12 at Nitehawk’s Williamsburg and Prospect Park Locations. Check nitehawkcinema.com for showtimes. $13.
“Midsommar,” the latest creepfest from indie-horror auteur Ari Aster, opens July 3. It’s the tale of a young American couple who encounter a seemingly charming pagan countryside festival in Sweden. (Uh-oh.) It’s all sun-drenched hills and flower garlands at first, but things take a turn for the sinister. Midsommar gained early buzz thanks to the success of Aster’s previous film, last year’s unsettling “Hereditary.” Wide Release. Rated R.
Parklife, the Gowanus bar/ outdoor event space, hosts a series of outdoor film screenings throughout the summer, and whoever has picked the movies has excellent taste in fizzy summer fare. Nora Ephron’s unequaled rom-com “When Harry Met Sally” plays July 10th followed by underrated Tom Cruise Sci-Fi action flick “Edge of Tomorrow” on the 17th. Next up are two more indispensable comedies: “Waiting For Guffman,” Christopher Guest’s small-town theater mockumentary on July 24th, and Mel Brooks’ “Spaceballs” on the 31st. 636 DeGraw Street, Movies start at sundown, which is roughly 9:00 PM. Free!
Get a little suspense from your outdoor screening experience as the Narrows Botanical Gardens presents Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “Vertigo” on July 26th. Jimmy Stewart gets dizzy from exposure to high places and/or Kim Novak in one of the greatest American thrillers ever made. Enter on Shore Road between Bay Ridge Avenue and 72nd Street. Show starts at approx. 8:45 PM. Note: no restrooms, so go before you leave. Free.
At the Metrograph on the Lower East Side, catch back to back screenings of “Chulas Fronteras” and “Del Mero Corazon.” These two documentaries by Les Blank celebrate the Norteño and Conjunto music of the Texas/ Mexico border. Showings July 1-4, tickets $15. Check metrograph.com for showtimes.
Food
On July 13, take the Dead Distillers trolley tour through Greenwood Cemetery, meet some of the buried whiskey barons, then visit Kings County Distillery and sample some choice booze. $40, 5th Ave and 25th St. 2:00-5:00 PM Ages 21 and up only.
Want to learn how to make your own fermented foods at home? On July 15, 92Y in Manhattan will teach you everything you always wanted to know about sauerkraut but were afraid to ask in their Fermented Veggies class. 7:00 PM, tickets $60. Details at 92y.org.
The Red Hook Library is offering free lunches for kids and teens, Monday through Friday through August 30. No registration, documentation, or ID is required to receive a free lunch meal. 7 Wolcott Street. Note: No meals on July 4, and Aug 12.
The Columbia Street Farm’s Red Hook Farm Stand will be open every Saturday until November 24, selling fresh organic produce grown right here in Red Hook. Special prices available for NYCHA residents. Saturdays at 10:00 AM. 560 Columbia Street, across from IKEA.
On June 11, The Invisible Dog is offering fresh spring and summer produce, sauces, spices, honey, and more, courtesy of Treiber Farms in Peconic, NY. Chef Lucian Zayan will be cooking Treiber Farms products all day long to give you a taste. 57 Bergen St. 11am-7pm.
Celebrate Bastille Day at FI:AF in Manhattan on July 14th. Highlighted by champagne, cocktails, and jazz, this party contains live music, chocolates, macaroons and hors d’ oeuvres. Hosted at the FI:AF skyroom, this Bastille Day celebration contains French and American Music from the 20s to the 40s. $75, 22 East 60th St., 8th floor
Galleries & Museums
At Belli Gallery, Jonathan Belli showcases woodblock prints from the 20th century with a collaborative perspective from the furniture designer Will Kavesh. “Walking Bulbs of the Sōsaku-hanga” features seven artists who responded the strictures of traditional Japanese woodblocks with an emphasize on artistic freedom and self-expression. The show starts with Yamamoto Kanae who founded the movement in 1904. Of particular interest are the three female Sōsakue-hanga artists who were part of a 1957 group, the Joryu Hanga Kyokai. Through July 14. 481 Van Brunt, #9A. Weekends only.
The Brooklyn Museum hosts a First Saturday this month on July 6. From 5-10pm, visitors will be treated to curator-led tours of Garry Winogrand: Color and Egyptian maqam music. Later on sees performances by Dj InO, poetry readings by Raven Jackson, and Trace DePass, and Colombian cumbia music from NYC-based Cumbia River Band. GA is $16. Free for 19 & younger. $10 students & seniors. 200 Eastern Parkway.
For nine months, artists Emilio Martinez Poppe, Tuesday Smillie, Sasha Wortzel and American Artist have been developing independent projects and engaging closely with each other’s work. The artists share a similar concern for political dynamics that shape human relationships to virtual, natural, and built environments. The Abrons Arts Center hosts the artists work through August 22nd. Free. 466 Grand St.
Celebrate the 30th anniversary of Do The Right Thing by viewing exclusive photos by Brooklyn’s own David Lee. Through the lives of numerous characters, we journey through gentrification to police brutality, themes that are as culturally and politically relevant today as they were 30 years ago. MoCADA hosts the event through July 28th Free. 84 Hanson Place
Ground Floor Gallery is hosting Rhia Hurt’s “Seeing Through” through July 14. Hurt’s paintings feature repeated and irregular geometric shapes painted in a range of colors from subtle earth tones to acidic industrial color. Free. 343 5thSt
Two of the catchiest acronyms in Brooklyn art team up for a pop-up show, as artists from BWAC and ChaShaMa show their works at the BWAC Gallery from July 20- Aug 4. Show up on the opening day for a chance to meet the artists and enjoy a live, on-site painting and sound performance. 481 Van Brunt Street, 1-6pm.
Kentler International Drawing Space presents two shows running through July 28.
Science of the Word” features the Work of Mildred Beltré, a Dominican-American artist working in textiles and mixed media whose work explores social justice, racial identity, and the power of language. Also running is “When the Morning Gathers the Rainbow,” a multi-artist show with works pulled from Kentler’s flatfiles archives. 353 Van Brunt Street, Thursday- Sunday, 12-5pm.
Kustera Projects hosts “Ghosts of Our Future” a showcase of paintings by South African artist Kevin Connolly Gillespie that runs through July 27. The works confront the terrifying eradication of African wildlife by poachers and man’s changing relationship with the animal kingdom. 57 Wolcott Street. Wednesday- Saturday, 12pm-6pm.
Talks & Readings
Pioneer Works presents the latest in their “Scientific Controversies” series of talks with a look at animal consciousness on July 9. Are animals self-aware? Are they capable of empathy? How do consciousness and morality evolve in the Animal Kingdom? Columbia professor and physicist Janna Levin moderates with primatologist Frans de Waal and CUNY animal behaviorist Diana Reiss. Free admission. Doors at 7pm, talk begins at 8pm.
Andrea Dunlop and New York City-based writer and editor Jamie Blynn host a book signing of “We Came Here to Forget” at Strand Books on July 10. The book highlights the story of Katie Cleary, a teenager who leaves her home to live full time with her two best friends. The NYC Native Blynn covers novels, movies, music, and television, and has appeared in US Weekly, Today. Architectural Digest, Refinery 29, Mental Floss among others. $15-27. 828 Broadway at 12th St. Manhattan
Authors Katie Rawson and Elliott Shore discuss the history of restaurants at the 92nd St. Y, taking us from the world’s first restaurants in Kaifeng, China, to the latest high-end dining experiences. July 25th 7:00 pm $29. 1395 Lexington Ave. Manhattan
Theater
Pioneer Works is promoting “Decoder: The Ticket That Exploded” as an “intergalactic fever dream.” Based on the second novel of a trilogy by “Naked Lunch” author William S. Burroughs, it’s a Dadaist tale of alien mind-control and the nature of language. Really, even that description sells the weirdness of the source material short. This staged version, playing July 8, combines psychedelic audio and video designs with live performance. Doors at 8pm, Performance at 9pm. $10 in advance, $15 at the door.
If you’ve ever said to yourself “I enjoy the works of Herman Melville, but I wish I could experience them under an enormous fiberglass whale,” boy does the American Museum of Natural History have a treat for you. AMNH is hosting a dramatized, musical version of Moby-Dick in the Hall of Ocean Life. Featuring music by Dave Malloy (“Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812”) and direction by Tony Award-winner Rachel Chavkin (“Hadestown”). The show runs for two nights only, July 26 and 27. 830pm Tickets $120 at amnh.org
“The Secret Life of Bees” is hosted by Atlantic Theater Company through July 21. The musical is written by Lynn Nottage, with music by Grammy Award winner Duncan Sheik, lyrics by two-time Tony nominee Susan Birkenhead, direction by Tony winner Sam Gold. $75-125 336 West 20th St. Manhattan
At The Clemente on the Lower East Side, come check out the Drilling Company’s Shakespeare in the Parking Lot production of Romeo and Juliet, with the Montagues and Capulets portrayed as feuding Lower East Side families. The show runs from July 11-27, Thursdays through Saturdays. Check out our 25th-anniversary profile of Shakespeare in the Parking Lot in this very issue! La Plaza at the Clemente Parking lot, 114 Norfolk St, Manhattan. Free! Shakespeareintheparkinglot.com
