Whassup: Big, Fat Holiday Months Edition

via laughingninja.com

We've reached October yet again, my Slopey friends, which means all the summer pressure of looking good outdoors is behind us: it is the holiday season, aka, the GET FAT BECAUSE SOCIETY DEMANDS IT season. First up, of course, is Halloween, with its massive plastic jack-o-lanterns full of Snickers and other candy that is not Snickers. Then, comes the full-on nose thumb at poor, starving countries known as Thanksgiving. Finally, December rolls around, and it's so cold and dark, you just straight up quit trying and kill your heart with egg nog. Hooray! Let the celebrations begin. Welcome to Whassup: Big, Fat Holiday Months Edition: 

* Friday, Oct. 4: Bathroom Secrets, Union Hall: A somewhat serious marketing question: does naming your comedy show something really long and weird attract an audience? Or just cause people to skip over it because they're busy? (Are people busy in New York?) Anyway, this show stars Dave Hill, Todd Barry and Brook Van Poppelen, among others, so that's all you really need to know. The show's full name is "Meet Me in the Bathroom and Tell Me All Your Secrets." Which is a funny name. But you're going to go because Todd Barry will be there, not because of the super-long, weird show title. But, what do I know? I did list it after all. Whatever. Go laugh at Todd Barry. 8pm, $10.

* Friday, Oct. 4-Sunday, Oct. 6: New Yorker Festival, Bell House: The New Yorker Festival will be hosting four days of events at the Bell House this year. Does this mean A) Hooray! Manhattan can't ignore us any longer! or B) Oh, shit. Brooklyn is officially Manhattan Part II now. Either way, you might as well take advantage of some of the doings. You can check out author conversations from the likes of Nathan Englander and Edwidge Danticat, a spirit-tasting, or a live edition of the magazine's famed caption contest. As an added bonus, absolutely everyone there will be wearing monocles. No worries: you'll merely be judged silently (though severely) for not having one. Times vary, FREE to $65.

* Saturday, Oct. 5: Total Immersion, Gowanus: The Immersions call it a year with a bar/food crawl through Gowanus, which has become a startlingly awesome place over the last few years. You can be totally autumn and suck back complimentary Post Road Pumpkin Ale and Oktoberfest from Brooklyn Brewery. Deals and drinks will happen at Littleneck, Canal Bar and more. The after-party features a free comedy show from Mat Koff, Brooke Van Poppelen and others. Pick up a free card day-of at Canal Bar, Halyards or Lavender Lake. 12pm-6pm, FREE. 

* Saturday, Oct. 5: '90s Hip-Hop Sing-Along, Union Hall: You and the rest of the crowd will sing along to hip-hop and R&B from the most Clintonist of decades. Who dat? Dat is Boz II Men, 2Pac, Blackstreet (!), Vanilla Ice (!!), House of Pain, R. Kelly (!!!) and more. It's gonna be so damn smooth, y'all. 10:30pm, $8.

* Sunday, Oct. 6: Natural Exploration, Prospect Park: Are you the rare Breeder who reads FiPS? If so, first of all, nice work on the whole impregnation thing. Your boys sure can swim (and/or your girls sure can, um, divide into a blastocyst following fertilization). Anyway, herein, the Prospect Park Alliance has created a "Natural Exploration" space for the chillins. From the Alliance's description: "Natural elements such as sand and water encourage unstructured free play, allowing children to exercise their minds as well as their muscles." Yep, that's a Park Slope thing all right. Come show your city kids that not everything is made of concrete or artisanal cheese. The space opens today.

* Tuesday, Oct. 8: Story Collider TV, Littlefield: The Story Collider, a Moth-esque storytelling show that uses science as a general theme, has expanded from stage storytelling, to a podcast, to a publication. Now, they're conquering that last, great frontier that has undone so many radio personalities before them: television. Drawn Out Storytelling, another storytelling show that pairs illustrations with narrative, will provide some neat things to look at. And then, the whole Big Bang goes on camera. Come be part of the live studio audience, and go "whooo" whenever something romantic happens. 8pm-10pm, $10. 

* Thursday, Oct. 10: Music Ecologies, Old Stone House: Take a break from the precious indie bands and desperate stand-up comedians, and see one of the unique, experimental takes on art that New York is supposed to offer. Poet Steve Dalachinsky and sound artist Carver Audain will merge their powers, creating word-sound hybrids with textures you will call "interesting" while stroking the immaculately trimmed facial hair that will have just sprouted from your chin. 8pm, $10 suggested contribution.