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Flavorwire

Art

True Stories of Awful Studio Assistant Experiences

By Reid Singer on

In a recent post on the positive experiences people have had while working as artists’ studio assistants, I speculated that the reason the job may have a bad reputation is because you only hear about the negative ones. Consistency bias is a powerful thing, and the reading public is drawn to stories that confirm its worst prejudices about well-heeled art stars. Young people, in particular, cringe when they hear about famous creatives mistreating their staff, but we also kind of love it. I stand by this argument, even though I also believe that a lot of the really, really bad stories about life as a studio assistant are true. … Read More

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Web

Letterman Gets His Old Man Leer On, Bieber in Space, and Faux Superman Ads: Links You Need to See

By Lillian Ruiz on

Whatever you do, do not talk about pee sheets around Al Madrigal’s children. In fact, if you’re ever around any young people, you should just steer them to this epic list of phenomenally curated comics everyone should read. But only do that for the good ones — the bad ones get… Read More

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Theatre

‘Night of a Thousand Judys’ Host Justin Sayre on the Legacy of Gay Icon Judy Garland

By Tyler Coates on

It’s National Gay Pride month, which is why you may be noticing a few more rainbows and equal signs than usual. But celebrating gay culture is a year-round gig for Justin Sayre, who as host of The Meeting* of the International Order of Sodomites dedicates a monthly variety show to the propagation of non-heterosexual contributions. Having just wrapped up the fourth season in the cabaret space at the  West Village bar The Duplex, Sayre is set to host his annual celebration of perhaps the most widely loved gay icon: Judy Garland. Night of a Thousand Judys brings together a variety of performers, singers, musicians, and actors to pay tribute to the venerable performer in a show that benefits the Ali Forney Center, a non-profit organization that supports the needs of homeless LGBT youth in New York City. This year’s show, which takes place June 17 at the Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Center, includes Justin Vivian Bond, Carolee Carmello, Martha Wash, Molly Pope, Rachel Shukert, and Madeleine Peyroux, among others. I spoke with Sayre last week to learn about the inception of both The Meeting* and Night of a Thousand Judys, as well Garland’s enduring legacy and impact on the LGBT community. … Read More

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Partner Buzz

Master of the Mix: Meet the Winner, DJ Jayceeoh

By Leah Taylor on

Presented by Smirnoff

Shows like The Voice have long been guilty pleasures for us and plenty of other music fans (we won’t tell if you won’t), but there hasn’t been a real equivalent for the DJ talent we know abounds around the country. Enter VH1′s Master of the Mix, a DJ competition show which just crowned its winner, DJ Jayceeoh. We had a quick chat with the newly named mix master. … Read More

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Music

The 10 Most Overhyped Albums of 2013 So Far

By Tom Hawking on

It’s getting toward the middle of the year, which means it’s the time when music bloggers start looking back at the year so far. It’s been an excellent year for music thus far, and we’ll be getting to the best of 2013 in due course, but given that the last week has been given over to a mystifying wave of hype over hitherto largely unheralded UK siblings Disclosure, it seems a good time to survey the fact that 2013 has also been a year in which people have gotten very, very excited over certain albums, so much so that I suspect we may find ourselves looking back in due course and asking ourselves quite what we were thinking. With this in mind, here are the most overhyped albums of the year to date. To clarify: these albums aren’t necessarily bad, although some definitely are. They’re just a study in the way that Internet hype can snowball. … Read More

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Pop Culture

Pop Culture’s Most Complex Cat Characters

By Sarah Fonder on

The Internet loves nothing more than cats, but it’s rare that we look beyond the cute photos and memes to more seriously consider their place in our world. Flavorwire’s Highbrow Cat Week is an attempt to remedy that, with a series of pieces devoted to analyzing their impact on the cultural realm.

Despite their endless dumbing-down at the hands of everyone with a wifi signal and a copy of Photoshop, cats have been rich symbols for thousands of years, commonly associated with intelligence, femininity, evil (more on that later this week), sin, and class. Themes like these prove that there’s a lot behind the surface of our culture’s most ubiquitous animal, and cats continue to be incredibly stimulating subjects in books, movies, and the like. The creators of the following feline characters expanded upon those themes, subverted them, or ignored them completely to create some of culture’s most interesting cats. … Read More

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Comedy

Flavorwire Exclusive: Marc Maron Weighs in on the Rape Jokes Controversy

By Jason Bailey on

The comedy community is in the midst of one of its periodic conversations about the appropriateness and responsibility of rape jokes — a fascinating and thorny discussion that encompasses both intellectual discussion and, ugh, death threats. Marc Maron is in a unique position to comment on it, as both a comedic performer (on stage and on IFC’s Maron) and a chronicler of the comedy scene (via his consistently wonderful WTF podcast). I had the opportunity to talk to him today, mostly concerning a far less controversial topic (spoiler: CATS), and we’ll have that full interview tomorrow, but in the meantime, here’s his thoughtful and measured response to this ongoing issue. … Read More

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Television

An Amazingly Detailed Replica of the ‘Friends’ Apartment Made Entirely Out of Paper

By Tyler Coates on

Brazil-based artist Bruna Salvador Conforto has meticulously recreated the famous set from Friends — the apartment first shared by Monica and Rachel, and later Monica and Chandler — using only paper, and the results are quite amazing. The replica nails it down to the tiniest details, including the tins in the kitchen cabinets, the Guinness poster, and even Monica and Chandler’s wedding photos. It’s enough to make me want to climb in there, toss some banana slices to Marcel, and keep an eye out for the ugly naked guy in the apartment next door. Check out the amazing collection of images after the jump.  … Read More

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Film

Why Do Villains Always Have Cats?

By Jason Bailey on

The Internet loves nothing more than cats, but it’s rare that we look beyond the cute photos and memes to more seriously consider their place in our world. Flavorwire’s Highbrow Cat Week is an attempt to remedy that, with a series of pieces devoted to analyzing their impact on the cultural realm.

The list of dogs in film and television is long and distinguished: Lassie, Benji, Air Bud, Fang, Rin Tin Tin, and Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood. (Just me? Okay then.) But more noticeably, they’re almost all heroes: saving damsels, rescuing kids, alerting townfolk to people trapped in wells, dunking basketballs, etc. Even the troublemakers — your Beethovens and Hooches — are ultimately lovable rascals who may do some minor property damage, but remain fiercely loyal, admirable creatures. Movie cats, on the other hand, are less heroic; in fact, they are usually the accessory of choice for evil masterminds, gangsters, and other villainous types. Why the split? What’s the explanation for pop culture’s deeply ingrained cat-ism? … Read More

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Pop Culture

12 Awesome Photos of Cultural Icons at Camp

By Emily Temple on

Now that school is out, kids everywhere are gearing up for one of the most delightful-but-sometimes-harrowing American summer pastimes: going to camp. Whether you have good or bad memories of scrapping through the forest and singing in a log cabin, you might appreciate the fact that some of your favorite cultural icons, from Bob Dylan to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, went through it too. Click through for a selection of charming photographs that might just make you nostalgic for camp — or glad you’re too grown up for it… Read More

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