Art Stars

Art Stars is a group of experimental performers, comedians, poets, storytellers, musicians, and performance artists located in and around New York's Lower East Side. Appropriated by the New York Lower East Side open mic performance scene, the term "Art Star" was first coined by Andy Warhol. As used by local performers like the Rev. Jen Miller in the mid 1990s, the term came to be used in that community as a tongue-in-cheek way to embody a non-competitive attitude (in which all artists/performers/participants are declared to be "Art Stars") shared among these performers in an otherwise competitive New York art and performance scene.

Long-running Art Star variety shows- such as Miller's Anti-Slam, Faceboyz Open Mic,The O'Debra Twins' Show and Tell, and, more recently, Sabelli's Underground Open Mic at Under St. Mark's Theater, have been a mainstay of some of New York's better known alternative art and performance venues such as , Downeast Arts Center (currently under renovation), the now-defunct Surf Reality, Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction, Cake Shop, and Bob Holman's Bowery Poetry Club. In addition to the self-published Art Star Scene Magazine and the Toxic Pop podcast, the scene has been profiled in The Village Voice, Time Out New York ("Geek Chorus," front cover, Issue 569: August 24–30, 2006) and The New York Press.

Many notable performers have collaborated with various Art Stars, including Janeane Garofalo, Marc Maron, Moby, Jonathan Ames, and Karen Finley.

Other notable members, past and present, of the Art Star community include hosts of the popular podcast Keith and The Girl, Keith Malley & Chemda Khalili; actors Bruce Smolanoff, Jim Melloan, John King the Lower East Side's Minister of Information, Abby Hertz, Amy Pacheco, Mike Raphone, Lori Mocha, Master Lee, Mike Amato, Walter Gambine, Legal Alien, Dave Ritz, George Courtney, Black Ops Bob, Sara Delphine, Ana Montana, Laruocco, Tom Nevin, Gerber, Q Man, David Leopold, Leonard Bin-Meyer, Joseph, Moonshine, Billy Idol Junior, Lopi LaRue, Noble Savage, Sarah Fisch, Leticia Veloria, Rick Patrick, Rob Shapiro, Tommy Nutsack, Andrew J. Lederer, Michele Carlo, Bex Schwartz, Lloyd Floyd, Finnegan the Poet and Vid Hardt (David Lauren); comedians Christian Finnegan, Eric Kirchberger, Joey Gay, Bob Powers, Jeff Mac, Amy Uzi, Valmonte Sprout, the Reverend Francis McNerdz, Katrin Hier, Archangel Michael Stuart, Jessica Delfino, Ivan Lenin; Mike Boner, Margaret Dodge, infamous "Soy Bomb" performance artist Michael Portnoy, equally infamous NYC mayoral candidate Christopher X. Brodeur, Jonny McGovern, Irene Carroll, Eric Kirchberger, Faux Maux, Diva Queen Kathleen, Barry Agida, Gecko, filmmaker/author Nick Zedd, Shauna Lane, and authors Janice Erlbaum, Jennifer Blowdryer, Big Mike, and Erik Seims.

External links

* [http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/features/n_8671/index4.html The Show Goes Downtown] from New York Magazine
* [http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/new_york_new_york/the_church_of_the_open_mic.php The Church of the Open Mic] from The Morning News
* [http://www.thevillager.com/villager_44/gekkomistress.html Gecko, Mistress of the Lower East Side Tesla Coils, 2004] From The Villager
* [http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_35/eastsidearts.html East Side Arts] from Downtown Express
* [http://www.villagevoice.com/theater/0609,sd,72337,11.html Slamming Back] from Village Voice
* [http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0310,sd,42315,1.html Exit, Stage Lower East Side] from Village Voice
* [http://www.villagevoice.com/nyclife/0201,regulars,31191,16.html Jan 2002, Reverend Jen's Anti-Slam] from the Village Voice
* [http://www.surfreality.com/press/1996--NYT_TakeTheNewComedy.pdf Take The New Comedy. Please.] PDF version of New York Times article by Neil Strauss
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE4DF163EF931A25752C1A9609C8B63 NY Times Letter to the Editor: Downtown Still Bohemian; City Section letter by Katrin Hier]
* [http://www.surfreality.com/press/1996--WSJ_AlternativeComedy.pdf Alternative Comedy: Laughs on the Edge] PDF version of Wall Street Journal article by James S. Hirsch