| Surf Reality | |
|---|---|
| Address | 172 Allen Street, Lower East Side |
| City | New York City |
| Country | USA |
| Owned by | Robert Prichard |
| Capacity | 65 |
| Type | Performance Art Theater |
| Opened | 1993 |
| Closed | 2003 |
| Previous names | Surf Reality's House of Urban Savages |
| Current use | yoga studio |
| www.surfreality.com | |
Surf Reality's House of Urban Savages, also known as Surf Reality, was a 65 seat performance venue on Manhattan's Lower East Side from 1993-2003. A laboratory for experimental performance of all kinds, Surf Reality was known for cutting edge comedy, performance art, classic burlesque, modern music, vaudeville and experimental theater.
Surf Reality began as a video production company that produced a series called The Movie of the Month Club, including such works as Dick and Jane Drop Acid and Die and Manic A-Go-Go.
The theater also served as the home for Faceboyz Open Mic, New York's longest-running weekly open stage. Other acts that passed through Surf include The Upright Citizens Brigade, Todd Barry, Dave Chapelle, Maggie Estep, and Jonathan Ames. Surf Reality was noted as a venue for "alternative comedy, along with performance art and theater pieces" where "visitors have to be buzzed in through its scrap-metal door and climb up to a loftlike second-floor space" by The New York Times. [1]
Robert Prichard, former proprietor of Surf Reality, produces various shows throughout Manhattan under the "Surf Reality Presents" brand. Most recently, Surf Reality produced 64 Paintings/64 Plays, a multimedia collaboration between playwright Timothy Braun, painter Jennilie Brewster, sound artist Tom Tenney, and animator Ashleigh Nankivell. The live performances were directed by Faceboy and were first workshopped at Bowery Poetry Club in June, 2011. Subsequent performances will be presented at the annual RE/Mixed Media Festival in Brooklyn NYC in October, 2011.