PA Day 3 - Delaware Water Gaps, Dadaism, and Double Dipping in Comedy
Today I decided I needed to branch out a bit and see more of PA than just Philadelphia. But first I decided to stop at the closest non-chain coffee place near my Air BnB, Nina's Coffee Shop. I'll be honest, I wasn't hugely confident walking in, as it looked a bit more like a pawn shop than a cafe. Appearances proved to be deceiving though, as it was honestly one of the best tasting coffees I've had in in a while and there were also donuts for under $1 so I ended up being very happy with my stop.
From there I started driving north. My first stop was at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA to see a hidden sculpture garden created by art students from the University. Bethlehem was a beautiful town, and I really enjoyed hiking up to see the sculptures, but they were a little disappointing. I can't tell if the sculptures were actually less than impressive or if it was just that the garden aspect was so poorly maintained that it made the whole area a little underwhelming.
After the sculptures, I drove up to the Delaware Water Gap. It is not actually in Delaware, but it is a beautiful national park right where the Delaware river meets the Appalachian Mountains. Because of the way I had timed things, I didn't have much time to hike, but you could easily spend a full day there just taking in the scenery.
Heading back from park, I stopped at the nearby Village Farmer and Bakery for lunch. They have an incredible deal called the True Love Special where you can get a Hot Dog and a Slice of Fresh Baked Pie for $2.75. Both the Hot Dog and the Cherry Pie I got were delicious and the deal was truly unbeatable.
After lunch, I went back to Philadelphia. After 5 on Wednesdays, the Philadelphia Museum of Art is pay what you want. Because of traffic coming back from the Adirondacks, I didn't have a ton of time in the museum before the first open mic of the night so I just got to see the first floor.
The special exhibit was about Marcel Duchamp and the 100th Anniversary of the Fountain Scandal. In 1917, Duchamp anonymously submitted a regular urinal he had purchased and signed "R. Mutt" to an exhibition by the Society of Independent Artists. The Society was founded on a principal of total creative and artistic freedom, but the audacity of this work which exhibited essentially no actual "work" by the artist brought them to their own limits of artistic acceptance. Without revealing that he was "R. Mutt", Duchamp and a friend that had paid for part of the Urinal were vocal defendants of the work and threatened to leave the society if it was not in the exhibit. The whole story is so funny to me, and I love how it both embraces and subverts so many pretensions of the art world. The exhibit also had a number of Duchamp's paintings and other works highlighting that he was really talented in many ways besides being a prankster. His actual talent combined with his sense of humor made me fall in love with the exhibit, and I'm so glad I got a chance to see it. Side note: one of my favorite works from the Barnes Foundation was the piece by Miro entitled "Two Women Surrounded by Birds". If you go back two days and find that painting one of the "birds" is very clearly a walrus, and somehow I was the only person in the entire museum who laughed out loud of this. Just because something has "artistic merit" doesn't mean it can't also be hilarious.
After the museum, I went to Chinatown for my first open mic of the night at the Trocadero Theatre. I was a little early so I got some fried giant squid (as one does) at the nearby Cheers!! Cut. It was under $10, fried, and delicious.
The mic was fun, and again I got a good chance to talk to a couple Philly comics before the show which was really great. Also because it's a real theater, it was easily one of the nicest stages I've been to an open mic at.
Despite the nice stage and the fact that this mic only occurs once month, it wasn't particularly well attended. I think Wednesday is probably the busiest night in the Philadelphia comedy scene, as there were at least three open mics that night as well as a few showcases so all the comics were spreading themselves a little thin.
What I saw of this mic (I left a little early to get to the next one) I liked. I'd say material was a little raunchier that at previous mics, but besides one male comic's bit about rape fantasies most of the raunchy stuff landed. The host of the first night Hannah Harkness in particular did an extended riff on eating butt that was much cleverer than the potential gross out elements might have suggested.
My favorite comic I saw at that mic was a guy named Scott Armstrong. He had a couple really funny bits about how looks very young despite being 25 (I can relate). My favorite was "I've decided to try to seem older. So I started taking Lipitor"
My own set went pretty well, and everything but one small joke actually landed pretty strong despite the small crowd size and I got to try out some new jokes as well as some older ones I hadn't done in a while so I was very happy with the night.
From that mic, I went to a mic at Fergie's Pub. It was a showcase and then lotteried mic set up. I got to see most of the showcase which I thought was really funny, and a welcome break between mics. Within the showcase, a guy named Matt Haggerty was my personal favorite. He did a good bit about how his friend calls him a wuss for non gambling with him, but he thinks that's unfair because he got married in his 20s. "You bet $40 on red, try going all in on a girl you met in a pet store".
After the showcase, they did the drawing for the open mic lottery. I didn't get drawn, but somebody who did had to leave so they gave me her spot which I thought was pretty nice of them. Unfortunately the bar also had a deal where you could get a Naragansett and a shot of Irish Whiskey for just $5, and we all know where I stand on bargains. I went up fairly early so I was little more tipsy than I generally like to be when I perform. I think it went alright, and I definitely got laughs but I can't imagine it was the best I could have done.
My personal favorite comic of the night was a guy Zack Deckard (not sure on the spelling). He wasn't always laugh out loud funny, but he just did this weird extended character bit where he was trying to decided between buying a party sized sub or a dominatrix for his birthday party in January. But he discussed the pros and cons of each with complete innocence and earnestness. It was one of the strangest sets I've seen so far, but for some reason it just completely clicked with me and I really enjoyed it.
Favorite Joke of the Night:
From a guy who just went by Joe (not me though)- "My feet hurt from how much I am"
Favorite Random Sightings: A license plate that said "Mrdrcar" (not subtle); "Large Hardy Mums"; A T-shirt that said, "Jesus Thinks I'm to Die For"; A billboard that for some reason said "To the dump. To the dump. To the dump-dump-dump"; Drive Care-Philly; Blueballs Avenue.
Regional Observations: People paint the public trashcans in Philly to look like strange creatures and it's really cute
Albums Listened To: Fight Club Original Soundtrack (Just Where is My Mind by the Pixies); Filles De Kilimanjaro by Miles Davis; Finest by the Proclaimers (Just "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" a very Scottish Classic); Fire of Freedom by Black 47 (just Rockin the Bronx); Fire on the Bayou by the Meters: The First Album by Ani DiFranco (just Pale Purple and Fire Door); First EP by Sammy Kay and East Los Three; The First Six Years by the Allstonians
People's Favorite Jokes:
Nobody told me one today, but I read this one on a restaurant sign- What's a skeleton's favorite deal? Ribs $10.95 (something about it being a real ad is so funny to me)
Song of the day:
I am so excited to see New Orleans
