Surf Reality
Encyclopedia
Surf Reality's House of Urban Savages, also known as Surf Reality, was a 65 seat performance venue on Manhattan
's Lower East Side
from 1993-2003. A laboratory for experimental performance of all kinds, Surf Reality was known for cutting edge comedy, performance art
, classic burlesque
, modern music, vaudeville
and experimental theater.
Surf Reality began as a video production company that produced a series called The Movie of the Month Club, including such works as Dick and Jane Drop Acid and Die and Manic A-Go-Go.
The theater also served as the home for Faceboy
z Open Mic, New York's longest-running weekly open stage. Other acts that passed through Surf include The Upright Citizens Brigade, Todd Barry
, Dave Chapelle, Maggie Estep
, and Jonathan Ames
. Surf Reality was noted as a venue for "alternative comedy, along with performance art and theater pieces" where "visitors have to be buzzed in through its scrap-metal door and climb up to a loftlike second-floor space" by The New York Times.
Robert Prichard, former proprietor of Surf Reality, produces various shows throughout Manhattan under the "Surf Reality Presents" brand. Most recently, Surf Reality produced 64 Paintings/64 Plays, a multimedia collaboration between playwright Timothy Braun
, painter Jennilie Brewster, sound artist Tom Tenney, and animator Ashleigh Nankivell. The live performances were directed by Faceboy
and were first workshopped at Bowery Poetry Club
in June, 2011. Subsequent performances will be presented at the annual RE/Mixed Media Festival in Brooklyn NYC in October, 2011.
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
from 1993-2003. A laboratory for experimental performance of all kinds, Surf Reality was known for cutting edge comedy, performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
, classic burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
, modern music, vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
and experimental theater.
Surf Reality began as a video production company that produced a series called The Movie of the Month Club, including such works as Dick and Jane Drop Acid and Die and Manic A-Go-Go.
The theater also served as the home for Faceboy
Faceboy
Francis "Faceboy" Hall is an actor, producer, and activist working in the New York City arts community. He has appeared in stage productions and several films, including Robert Downey Sr.'s Too Much Sun...
z Open Mic, New York's longest-running weekly open stage. Other acts that passed through Surf include The Upright Citizens Brigade, Todd Barry
Todd Barry
-Biography:Barry was born in The Bronx, New York, and grew up in Florida. In 1999, his Comedy Central Presents aired. He wrote, directed and starred in the short film Borrowing Saffron , which co-starred H. Jon Benjamin. He has made a variety of guest appearances on shows like Dr...
, Dave Chapelle, Maggie Estep
Maggie Estep
Maggie Estep is an American poet and writer. She has published six books and released two spoken word albums: Love is a Dog From Hell and No More Mr. Nice Girl.Estep was born in 1963 in Summit, New Jersey...
, and Jonathan Ames
Jonathan Ames
Jonathan Ames is an American author who has written a number of novels and comic memoirs. He was a columnist for the New York Press for several years, and became known for self-deprecating tales of his sexual misadventures. He also has a long-time envy of boxing, appearing occasionally in the ring...
. Surf Reality was noted as a venue for "alternative comedy, along with performance art and theater pieces" where "visitors have to be buzzed in through its scrap-metal door and climb up to a loftlike second-floor space" by The New York Times.
Robert Prichard, former proprietor of Surf Reality, produces various shows throughout Manhattan under the "Surf Reality Presents" brand. Most recently, Surf Reality produced 64 Paintings/64 Plays, a multimedia collaboration between playwright Timothy Braun
Timothy Braun
Timothy Braun Braun's has been a one time recipient of a Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation Award, a Dorothy Norton Clay fellowship from the Mary Anderson Center for the Arts, a Warhol Fellow at the Santa Fe Art Institute, and the John Anson Kittredge...
, painter Jennilie Brewster, sound artist Tom Tenney, and animator Ashleigh Nankivell. The live performances were directed by Faceboy
Faceboy
Francis "Faceboy" Hall is an actor, producer, and activist working in the New York City arts community. He has appeared in stage productions and several films, including Robert Downey Sr.'s Too Much Sun...
and were first workshopped at Bowery Poetry Club
Bowery Poetry Club
The Bowery Poetry Club is a New York City poetry performance space founded by Bob Holman in 2002. Located at 308 Bowery, between Bleecker and Houston Streets in Manhattan's East Village, the BPC provides a home base for established and upcoming artists...
in June, 2011. Subsequent performances will be presented at the annual RE/Mixed Media Festival in Brooklyn NYC in October, 2011.