Art Stars

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Art Stars are, among other things, a diverse community of experimental performers, comedians, poets, storytellers, musicians, and performance artists located in and around New York's Lower East Side. Coined by the Rev. Jen Miller in the mid 1990s, the term is used in the Art Star community in 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, and, more recently, The O'Debra Twins' Show and Tell- have been a mainstay of some of New York's better known alternative art and performance venues such as Collective: Unconscious, 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 ASS [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.

Art-Stardom has been described as the "Church of the Individual". For aspiring artists, it provides a place to present one's work, to concoct wild new identities, and to exist in a shared alternate universe with other artists. Ideally, an Art Star event will combine talent, scandal, debauchery and Budweiser, and everyone who attends will discuss the event for years to come.

One notable performer at Art Star events was Margaret Trigg (1964-2003), who starred in ABC's Aliens in the Family, a 1996 Jim Henson Studios production. A classic beauty, she played both to and against type, very much the beauty on television, but often all but unrecognizable in her Art Star performances. Her spontaneous performances at Faceboyz Open Mic, which frequently closed the show, hours past midnight, were notable for their improvisational daring and audience interplay. Her scripted pieces tended to be monologues in character, deeply nuanced pieces that often veered from comedy to tragedy, similar to the early work of Whoopi Goldberg, but drawing on the characters from her own Central Texas roots, male and female.

She was profiled in New York Magazine shortly after her death, focusing on her obsession with plastic surgery. Her death at 39 was attributed to the long-term effects of amphetamine use, connected to eating disorders.

Other notable members, past and present, of the Art Star community include founder Rev. Jen Miller; actors Bruce Smolanoff, Jim Melloan, Andrew J. Lederer, Michele Carlo, Bex Schwartz, Lloyd Flolyd, and Vid Hardt (David Lauren); comedians Christian Finnegan, Eric Kirchberger, Joey Gay, Bob Powers, Jeff Mac, Jessica Delfino, and Liam mceneaney; infamous "Soy Bomb" performance artist Michael Portnoy, equally infamous NYC mayoral candidate Christopher X. Brodeur, Jonny McGovern, filmmaker/author Nick Zedd, and authors Janice Erlbaum, Jennifer Blowdryer, Big Mike, and Erik Seims.

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

[edit] Classic Art Star Events

Reverend Jen's Anti-Slam - a weekly open mike reading/performance series developed in 1995 as a reaction against poetry slams and similar slam events were contestants are judged by a panel. At an Anti-Slam, all forms of expression are given a six-minute set, and a panel of judges gives everyone a perfect ten.
Mr. LES - an annual "beauty contest" crowning "Mr. Lower East Side."
The Lower East Side Price Is Wrong - Satire of a network game show. The event used to be known as the "Lower East Side Price is Right," but representatives of the actual The Price Is Right requested that the name be changed.
Faceboyz Open Mic - an open mic based on the Native American tradition of the talking stick. Produced weekly since 1994, it may well be New York City's longest running open mic.
True Story Tuesdays with Master Lee
SHOW & TELL - a wet and wild open mic hosted by The O’Debra Twins. Since its inception in June of 2003, it has been a staple in The Bowery Poetry Club's schedule as well as one of its longest running shows.
Talking Stick
It Came From New York
Semi-Pro Tool
The O'Debbie Awards - once a year, the Art Stars are rewarded for their bizarre behavior and unique art in a mock awards ceremony.