Arts

Who said the days of old school bump’n’grind were over? It seems Columbus is becoming a center for a burlesque revival. This year we have two active organizations – the Columbus Burlesque Collective and the Ooh La La’s – and our city hosted the Fierce! International Gay Burlesque Festival this past May. If you yearn for an earlier era of tassels and semi-clad tush swaying, you need to embrace the lost art of burlesque. I attended a show called “It’s BOOB Thirty,” Friday October 18, an hour-long burlesque show that was free and held during Happy Hour at the Ace of Cups on north campus. The only thing missing was a vaudeville comedian as the opening act. The performers, each with their own unique theme and styles, recall the days when sex was titillating as opposed to in-your-face nasty. The mistress of ceremonies, Venom Vamp, encouraged strategic catcalls and wolf howls. The Free Press’ own Lady Monster took the stage twice, known as the Queen of Fire Tassels. She was taught by the “Living Legend of Burlesque” Satan's Angel, the creator of fire tassel twirling and has worked with Jello Biafra, Leonard Nimoy and Margaret Cho, to name an odd collection of celebrities.

The knuckle-headed nitwit who edits this publication snipped my final remarks from last week's missive, in which I was complaining about my printer, which is sucking the life out of me. I was going on about how it tries to get me to purchase products that it wants to consume. My final remark was something to the effect that I should just chuck the bloody thing and get a fax machine. But thanks to the ham-handed editor, those thoughts were left hanging in the ether. They have little impact now and I don't know with certainty why I return to the subject. Perhaps it is because I am still irked at both the editor and the printer. Printers in general are an annoying subject. Since last week (when I shared my unpleasant experience with a new printer), several readers have shared their own experiences with the confounded contraptions. One correspondent told me a woeful tale of running out of ink. That doesn't seem such a daunting task on the surface.

You always remember where you were the first time you saw Assassins. I was in the Riffe Center’s Studio One, which looked a lot different than it does today. For his 1993 Players Theatre production, director Steven Anderson forced viewers to stare at each other from either side of the central stage. The idea was to underline the fact that the Stephen Sondheim musical is about us—Americans—and our violent history. It was a brilliant concept, but a look at the viewers across the way suggested that many of them didn’t know what to make of this provocative and darkly comic history lesson. And some (myself included) had trouble with its surreal “explanation” of President Kennedy’s assassination, a crime that remained controversial 30 years after the fact. So now it’s 50 years after JFK’s death, and his murder has largely been replaced by 9/11 as the most shocking event of modern history. In fact, political assassinations have generally given way to terrorism and mass shootings as the major sources of national paranoia. It’s in this atmosphere that Red Herring Productions brings the Sondheim musical back to Studio One.

The 61st Columbus International Film & Video Festival opens tonight (November 7) with a French film shot in the Congo at the Gateway Film Center, at 1550 North High Street Columbus, Ohio, with a reception at 7 pm and film at 8:00 pm. Admission to both the reception and film is just $5. This screening is one night only and it is the Midwest premiere of the film. The film follows the story of an orphan bonobo, rescued by Claudine André, a conservationist who has dedicated her life to bonobos, our closest primate cousins. The event is co-sponsored by the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, who are bringing some animal friends to the opening reception. A percentage of ticket sales will be donated to Lola ya Bonobo (Bonobo Paradise), the bonobo sanctuary featured in the film. In addition, Congolese biologist Suzy Kwetuenda (who appears in the film) will be on hand to present the film and talk about Lola ya Bonobo and the bonobos featured in the film. The documentary was created to raise awareness for our endangered primate cousins. Bonobos (pronounced “buh-NO-bos”) are often confused with chimpanzees, and until 1933 they were not considered a different species.

Nostalgia. The word itself has the power to transform our thoughts for a moment. It's pleasant and familiar, which is also a good way to describe Wing's Restaurant, 2801 E. Main St in Columbus. For those who grew up in Bexley or on Columbus's east side, as owners Ken and Kim Yee did, a trip to Wing's will certainly be nostalgic. Both Eastmoor High School graduates, the Yees continue a family tradition that's gone on now for 44 years. If you have ever been to Wing's during that time span, rest assured it has not changed. It will be exactly as you remember it. Wing's has many regular customers and the Yees know most of them by name. And Ken, who mans the bar, remembers what they drink. And if what you like to drink is scotch, well, Ken has a surprise for you. Wing's maintains what is surely the widest selection of scotch in central Ohio. Any label you can think of and about twice that number in brands you've never heard of dot his extensive list. Back in the day, this reporter favored Pinch from Haig and Haig and was delighted to see it on Ken's menu, as it has not been available locally for years. Sure enough Mr. Yee was able to produce the distinctively shaped bottle.

The man on the phone was talking very fast. I thought perhaps he had a lot to say but a short time to say it. I was wrong. It turns out he had lots of time, scads of it, far more time than I would have preferred to allot him. But I am polite on the phone, I listened to the bastard ramble on. What the conversation concerned is unimportant, it was an admonishment at the end that starched my collar. The fellow wanted to foist some documents upon me. I did not want them, but he insisted. “I can fax them to you,” the cad announced. I explained that I did not have a fax machine and that he'd be better off emailing them to me. “Just send them as attachments,” I said. That's when things got interesting. “You should really have a fax machine,” the meddler mumbled. I didn't say anything, still being polite. “If you had a fax machine,” the obtruder continued. “I could just fax these over to you.” “Yes, but I don't,” I said, still holding my tongue. “You might want to think about getting one,” he went on. Still I remained mum.

For me one of the best things about going vegan was discovering Indian food. I had no idea what an amazing spectrum of satiety I was really missing for the first score of my life. Banana Leaf has been a most generous supporter of the Columbus vegan community, and they strive at empowering others. This month, they started a new program designed to help people eat vegan easily, simply, deliciously, healthfully and affordably. Monday through Friday after 4 pm, you can pick up some rice, lentils and curried vegetables (vegetable changes daily) for only $5. If you would like to know how to prepare Indian style food, they also offer cooking classes; their next one is Nov 24th. They are aware that socially just diners are concerned about making sure they get organic foods produced locally and are in the process of making those priorities part of their operations model. They do provide a variety of gluten free options in their breads and desserts as well. All food is made from scratch, fresh daily, and their regular customers know nothing goes to waste; any left overs are sent home with customers at the end of the day to share with their friends and family.

Get ready as the longest-running film festival in the US stretches out for two whole weeks this year in November. Starting on November 3rd with two workshops and sneak peak screening of a Silver Chris Award winner Chasing Water at the Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center of Worthington, the Festival officially opens on November 7th at the Gateway Film Center with a French film shot in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Co-sponsored by the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Beny: Back To The Wild tells the emotional story of Beny, an orphaned bonobo rescued by Claudine André, a conservationist who has dedicated her life to bonobos, our closest primate cousins. On Tuesday November 12th Animations 4 Adults will screen at Brothers Drake Meadery. Ages 21 and over please for these cartoons from the UK, Germany and the US. The Festival also travels to Studio 35 for LGBTFEST, the first of three nights of LGBT films at Studio 35, Wild Goose Creative and the Canzani Center at the Columbus College Of Art & Design.

Jim Azelvandre’s last name is pronounced “A-zel-van-der,” with the accent on that first, long “A.” You’ll need to know that in case you ever get in a conversation about Ohio’s up-and-coming playwrights. Anyone who’s been around the local theater scene for long knows Azelvandre can act, but The Air Loom proves he can write, too. The darkly comic mystery/political thriller rolls out its ingenious plot over the space of two consistently engrossing acts. Is the new play an instant classic? Hard to say, because the premiere production owes so much of its success to Azelvandre’s additional skill as a director. Under his leadership, the cast turns the characters into an intriguing and complementary group of eccentrics. The mystery revolves around Tilly (Travis Horseman), a formerly upstanding businessman who’s undergoing psychological evaluation after assassinating the prime minister of the unnamed country where the story takes place. State-appointed psychiatrist Dr. H (Julie Ferreri) hopes to save Tilly from execution by proving he’s insane, but Tilly insists he did what he did to prevent an unnecessary war. Is Tilly really insane?

I shall be so happy when Election Day has come and gone. Its passing will mark the end of the annoying television ads we are currently suffering through. The most galling of these are aimed at Columbus voters, urging them to vote for Issues 50 and 51, the school levy package asking for $515 million over the next 5 years – a 24 percent increase in school property taxes. One of the commercials features Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, who stares into the camera while dead panning the mantra issued by Columbus mayor Michael Coleman.