Thurs, May 28-Sat, May 30, 2015
Read about us in the NY Times, Time Out NY and The Wall Street Journal
NY Funny Songs Fest: NYC’s only comedy music festival
NY Funny Songs Fest Round Up by guest blogger Roberto C. Tobar
Thank you so much for a spectacular and memorable 2014! This year was the best yet, and the festival keeps growing and growing thanks to the support, music and involvement of people just like YOU.
Did you miss the festival? No need for tears. Read Roberto C. Tobar’s lovely and in depth break down of the festival right here.
One more special thanks to everyone involved with the festival, you know who you are. Stay tuned for our upcoming events, and follow us on Twitter @NYFunnySongs for updates and if you’re a comedic musician, join our performer’s only opportunity group on Facebook, the Comedy Musician’s Coalition, or our MeetUp group.
Want Comedy Music now? Check this out…
Dr. Demento on NYC’s only comedy, novelty and parody music festival
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Submissions for the 2014 NY Funny Songs Fest Now Closed
The submissions for the 2014 NY Funny Songs Fest are now officially closed, as you may’ve just read in the title of this post. However, here’s some great news — the festival is going to be here so fast! Please stay tuned for updates and news, it’s going to be coming rapidly and en masse over the course of the next few days. Check back soon! And if you’re not already a part of our community at @NYFunnySongs and on MeetUp, Facebook and Tumblr, please also do that now. We can’t wait to make sweet, hilarious music with you!
If you are a comedic musician or you work with the genre in some way, you may also be interested in joining our Comedy Musician’s Coalition. Membership is free, and it is a great resource for finding and sharing funny music.
Review of comedy musician Katie Goodman’s recent NYC show, by Ross Plotkin
Musical comedian Katie Goodman gave a spectacular, memorable solo show at Manhattan’s Stage 72 on Friday, March 21, 2014.
Playing for about an hour, and accompanying herself on piano, guitar, and atop prerecorded backing tracks, Katie consistently used her effervescent, near-operatic soprano to provide a wicked and apt contrast to her smart, often darkly sardonic punch lines.
Her songs, some of which were written with her husband Soren Kisiel, tackled issues of aging, sexual identity, gender politics, and modern urban living—but uniformly with a humanity and bubbliness that prevented these topics from becoming preachy or overbearing.
Katie calls her show “I Didn’t Fu— It Up,” and it was with this simple, crude, fairly universal sentiment that she began the evening: “I didn’t fuck it up / You probably didn’t fuck it up / But they, whoever they are, fucked it up / Now it’s fucked up.” Three chords and the truth.
In “These Are the Things I Can’t Fu—ing Remember,” Katie satirized middle-age fears in a funny, poignant way that was everything the oeuvre of cartoonist Cathy Guisewite tried (but always failed) to be. “The Midlife Crisis Song” was similarly life-affirming, but never didactic or puerile.
“Probably Gay (The Homophobia Song)” couldn’t have been more culturally relevant: “Homophobia is not that you’re afraid of gay people / But that you’re afraid that you might be gay.” It is probably the only song to ever cite The Journal of Abnormal Psychology—hysterically, natch.
In the final chorus of the cabaret song “Multitasking,” Katie “took” a phone call (in which she remotely coached a friend’s labor) and then proceeded to perform a snippet of a song (the hilarious “I’ll Be Jewish for Christmas”) she claimed to have written while she was performing this one.
There were raps about soccer moms and MILFs (including a name check for Maria Montessori). Despite their solidly middle American subject matter, and the presence of beat boxing, neither of these devolved into the isn’t-it-novel-for-a-white-fortysomething-to-rap awkwardness that has plagued hack comedians for thirty years—and is somehow still a problem.
Katie interacted with and dynamically engaged her audience throughout the evening, invoking her fans—which, in defiance of stereotypes, were at least 75% female—to clap and sing along in an organic, never-hokey way. The show was so homey that Katie herself checked me into the venue.
Katie’s delightful, clever parodies and vulnerable, likeable personality make her the equal of more renowned female musical humorists such as Christine Lavin and Cheryl Wheeler. And she is nothing if not versatile: Katie’s pre-show Facebook status mentioned that Pulitzer Prize–winning political cartoonist Tom Toles of The Washington Post would be in attendance while coyly withholding further details.
Editor’s Note: Do you perform funny songs? Interested in sharing a stage with artists of Katie’s caliber? The New York Funny Songs Festival is a landmark indie festival created by the comedy musicians of New York City for the comedy musicians of the world. Favorably reviewed in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time Out New York, and the Huffington Post, the 2014 fest will take place from Thursday, May 29 through Saturday, May 31. Submissions are being accepted through Thursday, April 10. Please go to www.nyfunnysongs.com to apply.
Funny Songs MeetUp.com Group!
Do you want to laugh with a group of people as musicians play highly entertaining comedic songs for / at you? If so, then you’re definitely going to want to join our MeetUp.com group. You can do that here:
http://www.meetup.com/Comedy-Musicians-Coalition-Comedy-Novelty-Musicians-Fans/
We have lots of fun events planned including comedy music panels, shows, events, salons and more. Looking forward to meeting you in person!
It’s time for the 2014 NY Funny Songs Fest!
(awesome logo by Polina Volfovich)
It’s that time again where we get together and make music, sweet, hilarious music, right here in good ol’ N to the Y to the C. If you are interested in performing in the NY Funny Songs Fest, please click here to fill out the submission form and send a $20 processing fee to nyfunnysongs at gmail dot com via www.paypal.com.
YOU: 20 bucks? WTF? Why do I have to pay $20? Do I get anything in return?
US: We ask for a $20 submission fee to help cover costs of processing your information and producing the festival. In exchange, we promise to give you a damn fun festival where we will offer you:
– an all access badge to all our events
– exposure to NY City comedy music audiences
– a gift bag
– assistance and consulting for your comedy music projects worldwide
– membership in the Comedy Musician’s Coalition (a community of comedy musicians who share opportunity and links)
– inclusion on the 2014 compilation to be sent to dozens of press outlets
– random perks
– tireless support of your work
We send out your music, we shill on your behalf and we bust our butts to make sure that you get the love you deserve. We’re like your mom, your manager and your therapist, all rolled into one. It’s actually a pretty bangin’ deal.
We are a small festival and we tremendously appreciate your support. It’s symbiotic, and stuff, (wo)man, but seriously. This festival couldn’t happen without your help.
Would you or a friend like to volunteer? Do you know a comedy musician who should be included? Do you have any questions? Please email us at nyfunnysongs@gmail.com.
