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The independent theatre scene has received a real gift this year with the emergence of the Frigid New York Festival: a selection of 30 plays in the East Village in the month of March. These plays are alternative, under represented and finally getting some attention.

“We Call Her Benny” is certainly a stand out play in this innaugural year. The hour long play explores a woman’s relationship with her own identity and her own sexuality. The primary information we have about Anna is that she was adopted as a baby and suffers from bipolar disorder. Told through short, powerful scenes, we learn just enough to care about Anna, and to stand behind her in her difficult journey. As a teenaged girl, Anna (played by Anna Bridgeforth) is taken advantage of by an older man and rebels against her psychiatrist. As a married woman, Anna (now played by Anna Cody) confronts her inability to orgasm, her husband’s desire to engage in a group orgy, and her birth mother. All these scenes are beautifully written and superbly acted. With simple set and very little technical showiness, “We Call Her Benny” proves once and for all that a great script and talented actors are the ultimate recipe for excellent theatre.

All the actors are exceptional, shining in the light and dark moments of the script. Bridgeforth and Cody are both fully alive on stage, and are seamless in their portrayal of the lead character. The rest of the cast is vibrant as well, without a single weak link. Candice Owens is particuarly engaging as Anna’s quirky, disturbing birth mother. Scenes between Owens and Cody are the strongest in the show, balancing humor and tragedy with rare skill.

Every theme in “We Call Her Benny” is handled with delicacy, wit, and depth. Hopefully, Frigid New York Festival will act as a springboard for this piece and its cast and crew. With so much new material constantly arriving in the Manhattan scene, it can be hard to weed through all the options. “We Call Her Benny” is an easy choice, an honest, lovely piece that most certainly will win any audience member’s heart.

I have never had a bad time at any Upright Citizen’s Brigade event and last night was no exception. Comedian Aziz Ansari hosts an amazing night of fresh comedy. Though other comedians perform sets. Ansari is the star of the show, showing clips of his upcoming MTV sitcom, “Human Giants”, reading from unproduced terrible sitcom scripts that he must have found in Los Angeles trash cans, and performing comedy in an unscripted, off the cuff way that is rarely scene in NYC’s comedy scene. Ansari is smart and provocative, bravely using comedy to comment on the most taboo topics. He succeeds across the board, somehow walking the line between offensive and funny with grace and wit.

Ansari is relaxed and confident on stage, enjoying himself as much as the audience enjoys him, and telling stories from his life that are funny because of Ansari’s talent as a story teller, not necessarily because the stories are funny in and of themselves. But this is a relief. There is nothing staged, no corny punch lines, no stale stand up routines. Ansari and his guests are simply being themselves; self deprecating, sarcastic and fun loving. The result is one of the most enjoyable comedy shows I’ve seen, and best of all its completely free! The only downside was a late start to an already late (11pm) show, but this was quickly forgiven when the hilarity finally began.

The place is packed with alternative comedy lovers and UCB groupies. There is definitely an “insider” feel to everything; the same people clearly come to Ansari’s show week after week. But instead of being intimidating or uncomfortable, the community feel is comforting, and random UCB-ers were introducing themselves to me all night long, so that I, too, could feel part of the club. Add to all this the fact that you can drink beer or wine throughout the whole show, and its clear there is no reason at all to not attend “Crashtest” every single week. Ansari is growing in popularity and is probably close to beoming a mainstream, well known comedian, so catch this fantastic event now, before his show airs and he becomes a household name!

I braved the snow this morning and made my way out to Chelsea’s Mixed Greens Gallery to check out A. A. Rucci’s newest exibit, “Don’t Take All Night, To Show Me You Love Me”. I often forget to take the time to browse through Chelsea’s many tiny and lovely galleries. It is always oddly satisfying: the clean white walls, empty rooms of exciting new work, quietness save for the clicking of heels walking slowly around the space.

Today was no different. The gallery was empty, and I was free to wander in total silence. The collection was small and sparse but enjoyable none the less. Rucci’s work uses brilliant color and texture, and thus pops off the smooth white walls. The brightness of each painting burns your eyes a little, but the effect is unusual and exciting. Some of his work is dedicated solely to this examination of color, often through thin bright stripes and circular canvases. Other paintings in the collection are slightly more narrative , featuring bodies with no heads and colorful birds.

The highlights of the collection are the few sculptures Rucci has included this time around. The sculptures involve gold birds perched in diverse spaces. They are unexpected and beautifully frivolous. Also be sure to seek out the titles of each painting which are hidden in the corner of the gallery on tiny white slips of paper, and not next to the painting. The titles are long, enchanting sentences that add volumes to each work of art.

Though I wouldn’t necessarily say this particular exhibit is a must see, it is an excellent example of what you are missing out on if you forget to take the occasional (and completely free!!) tour of the many Chelsea galleries.

Dry comedy at its best, How to Kick People is a fantastic event at Mo Pitkin’s. Todd Levin and Bob Powers, the evening’s power duo hosts have created an event that allows comedy writers a venue to showcase their work, without having to given in to the more conventional forms of stand up or improv. Instead, How To Kick People is a night of writers performing longer, more concentrated work to a supportive, laid back audience. From the moment it began I felt that How to Kick People is what NPR would be if it were a comedy radio station. This is meant as a huge compliment to Levin and Powers whose humor is pointed, understated and dead-on. The show has a liberal, intellectual tone and best of all no one that goes on stage is trying too hard.

The night’s theme was “I Coulda Been Someone” and each writer addressed this idea in a different but equally hilarious way. to open the show, Levin and Powers showed a slide show of people who had not fulfilled their dreams. This, for me, was the highlight of the night. Each slide was of an individual, a description of their dream, and the reason their dream was de-railed. Levin and Powers delivered each ridiculous dream and de-railment with straight faces and level voices, and the effect was unique and satisfying. I was impressed and inspried by the duo’s creativity and ease with the audience. Though none of their guests quite lived up to this killer opening, it set the tone for an excellent evening of comedy for the literate, intellectual (dare I say hipster?) crowd.

The stand out guest performer was the sole female, Ellie Kemper. She read fake diary entires from her would-be life as a nun– a dream she had nursed when she was younger. The entries addressed all that was disappointing about being a nun, and how unlike the reality of the lifestyle was to the movie “The Sound of Music”. Kemper was charming in her delivery, cheery and naive, with a dark hidden edge. She is an excellent performer and writer and held her ground in the male-heavy line up.

I highly recommend this event, which is celebrating its three year anniversary in the New York scene. Its a little off the beaten path, very East Village, and you feel lucky to have been there when you leave.

I wanted very badly to have an awesome time at The Painted Ladies, a burlesque style, sexually provocative dance show at the East Village’s Mo Pitkin’s. The venue is perfect for the rowdy, risque women, and the potential was there, but the end result was a surprising dull night, nursing a very strong margarita, waiting for something truly thrilling to happen.

To be fair, the women have talent, energy, and are all excellent performers. The director, Jenny Rocha, particuarly stands out from the very first number. The dancers are fearless and brazen and their faces are just as expressive as their bodies. They are all strikingly beautiful, their costumes are fun and creative, the music they chose was memorable. How then, did I find the time to be bored, you ask? Easy. In between each of the seven dance numbers there is a long break– just as long as the numbers themselves. Each time the break arrived, I found myself checking my phone, looking around the room at other bored customers, and wishing I could be somewhere else. The dances were also at times repetitive and unfocussed. I wasn’t always sure what I was watching or why. And instead of feeling excited about interpretting the night on my own, I felt confused by the overt and awkward sexuality, and uncomfortable with the luke warm response of the audience.

Somehow, The Painted Ladies get lost in the strange place in between legitimate dance performance and Coyote Ugly style dancing bartenders. Since they commit to neither, they stay trapped in a kind of purgatory of almost-ness. They have the talent, courage, spirit, and direction to achieve greatness, so I felt a real sadness at their inability to utilize their strengths. Even my very strong (and let’s face it, overpriced) margarita wasn’t enough to liven my night at this oddly unsatisfying event.

Last night I went to The Bitter End in the West Village to attend the Moth StorySLAM. I have never attended a story slam before, but the concept lies somewhere in between a poetry slam and stand up comedy. Contestants each tell a five minute story (the time limit is strictly enforced) and then three judging teams score the story on a scale of one to ten. At the end of the night a story slam winner is picked.

The basic concept is simple but the product is rather amazing. The crowd is supportive, the contestants are refreshingly diverse, and the night is full of energry, reflection and laughter. Each story slam has a theme and last night’s theme was “Meltdowns”. Each contestant interpretted this theme in a comepletely different way, and the night was therefore surprising and thrilling. One man told of his high school principal committing suicide years after his graduation. Another man described the worst imaginable blind date, and the clear highlight of the night was a middle aged attractive Jewish woman telling of her breakdown in Paris and the kindness of a stranger saving her life. Somehow, each of these stories were told comically, the audience laughing along with the story tellers. No one bombed, no one was judged too harshly and everyone gained insight and compassion.

The Moth Story Slam is a night that gives you hope for New Yorkers connecting to each other on an intimate level, and I personally walked away feeling fantastic and excited for the next slam. I went alone to the event and would recommend the same for anyone who is bored with no one to hang out with on a Monday night. The Bitter End is a great location with good drinks and friendly waitstaff. I was content people watching, (the audience had a huge age range and a low key vibe) listening to stories, and becoming part of an impromptu community for a few hours.