New York City Nightlife on Neighborbee: Week of 8/7/08 – 8/14/08

Julia Allison and Charles Forman at IGNITE at MI-5
More photos available via RandomNightOut.com

UPCOMING NIGHTLIFE ON NEIGHBORBEE:

Baskit Underwear Party
Thursday August 7th 2008
HK Lounge – 9th Ave @ 39th Street
6:30pm – 9:00pm

Boinkology One Year Anniversary Party
Thursday August 7th 2008
The Slipper Room
167 Orchard Street
7:00pm – 10:00pm

NY Web 2.0 Meetup
Thursday August 7th 2008
Touch – 240 West 52nd Street
7:00pm – 10:00pm

Indierotica Party at NC-17
Thursday August 7th 2008
Lit – 93 2nd Ave (Btwn. 5th & 6th St.)
Open Bar from 12:00am-12:30am

TRASH
Friday August 8th 2008
40 Avenue C @ 3rd Street
10:00pm
Free before 11:00pm

TisWas
Saturday August 9th 2008
The Annex – 152 Orchard St.
(btwn Stanton & Rivinton St)
11:00pm

Masquerade
Sunday August 10th 2008
The Delancey
168 Delancey (Btwn Clinton & Attorney)
9:00pm

New York City Restaurants – Dish Buzz: Bring on the Beans

Coffee beans that is. New Yorkers love their coffee, and the options rather than the typical Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts abound. I will admit to having traveled a bit in the name of coffee. Here are some of my favorites.

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Dating in New York City – Holding Hans with Brian Hansbury: Billyburg Guide to Date Spots or the Hipster Doucheocity Score

Some people may wonder how hipsters ever get married.  Is a union realized when two people discover their tattoos are complimentary or that they shop at the same lensless glasses store?  Or like with most things hipster, do they rely on their parents who, through a WASPier yet similarly cliquish coterie, arrange a union between the daughter who went to Rollins and the boy who went to Middlebury?  I don’t quite know the answer to the question but I fear for the mental and epidermal well being of the poor children these gnarly newlyweds will raise.

I live in Williamsburg and consistently hear people tell me they know it’s a cool neighborhood with lots to do, but they never really come here.  Invariably something is mentioned about the hipster as deterrent.  This saddens me as it smacks of a classism straight out of the civil rights ’60s.  “It’s a beautiful part of town and I’d certainly go there if it wasn’t for all those dirty hipsters lazing about, mucking up the lunch counters and leering at my daughter.”  For the brave (and tween-less), I have compiled a Billyburg Guide to Date Spots (mostly close to the first L stop), complete with an awareness of the level of hipster douche one might encounter.  The lower the score, the more tolerable the environment.
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New York City Comedy – Funny Voices: R.I.P. RiFiFi

This week’s column is a downbeat one. This week, downtown comedy epicenter RiFiFi closed its doors for good. RiFiFi was a dive bar with busted air conditioning whose crowd alternated between comedy nerds and sweaty hipsters waiting to throw up to the new DFA dance remix; in other words, a New York original.

It’s comedy roots started years ago when Eugene Mirman and Bobby Tisdale began hosting their weekly showcase, Invite Them Up, which grew to standing-room only crowds based on great word of mouth. It was from here that the second wave of downtown comedy emanated.

RiFiFi was the place attracted people from out-of-town to see shows due to the star wattage appearing on stage (it wasn’t odd to see Todd Barry, David Cross, Patton Oswalt, Zach Galafinakis, and others pop in to do a set) in a setting so intimate, the front row could literally reach out and grab the performer.

Sure the bathrooms were an abomination, and there was a perma-tear in the screen, but no one comes to the East Village for a squeaky clean experience. Well, maybe now they will; with the way real estate is skyrocketing in the area (the main point of contention for the bar closing), who knows how much longer before it becomes Midtown South?

Farewell, you filthy champion of comedy…you will be missed.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

The Final 13 Minutes of Comedy at RiFiFi (via The ComicsComic)

Want to see your show or video featured in this column? E-mail me and let me know!

New York City Restaurants – Dish Buzz: Wildwood

Can NYC do BBQ? Better yet, can they do a slight upscale version at that? I’d read much of Wildwood since their opening back in December 2007, but I dragged my feet to allow some time for the kinks to be worked out before checking it out.

It was restaurant week so Wildwood’s regular menu was only available on the weekends. It all looked good. One friend ordered their grilled chicken sandwich, the highlight seemed to be their homemade salt ‘n’ vinegar chips. Next time, I think I’ll add that to my must-have-sides list.

A friend and I split their pork spare ribs, which the menu describes as “dry dusted with Lou’s Sugar and Spice rub”. I’m not sure who Lou is, but they were very tasty. There was more than enough for two. And the table has multiple options for further dressing up your meat. There are two types of sauces, one a more standard BBQ sauce and the other a more spicy, chipotle sauce. I opted for spicy, which while quite tasty, I’ll own up to my nose twitching and stinging a bit for a couple of hours following. Read more »