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Features:
CULTURE, TRAVEL & HERITAGE

Being a Black Comedian in New York.
by Sherwin X.L.,
a Brooklyn based comedian, see www.myspace.com/sherwinxl

WHAT'S NEW?
Thursday, April 23, 2009 4:20 PM

Anyone can start doing stand up comedy. It could be part of a dare, an open mic night, being inspired by another comedian or enrolling themselves into a comedy school. Comedy School? Yes, this is where even after you learn the fundamentals of this unique art form. It's just a blueprint for you to follow, but you must keep on learning.

Many people are terrified to speak before a live audience, but after you get over the initial fear, you "open yourself up, get real and, start taking comedy seriously and there's no telling how far you'll go so don't be afraid to show people what you've got inside, that's where the best stuff is, the stuff that's buried way deep down". That's some advice Redd Foxx gave to Bernie Mac in Las Vegas, Nevada. It stuck with him and he kept on going for it and succeeded.

"This ain't easy!" Yet, I promised myself I'd never give up and one of my many golden rules aside from Redd's advice to Bernie comes directly from Richard Pryor who remarked, "Comedy has no rules."

There are so many ways you can go with comedy, so you have to pin point on what you're persona is going to be before performing to crowds. Lenny Bruce once stated that a live studio audience is like "A snake without a head." I believe that with the mic in your hand that you're the snake's head, you're the verbal viper spitting out that venom to make the crowd moved by your words. So, when I perform on stage, you'll never know what I am going to do, but it's gonna be something fun!

It's crazy, sometimes if you're a mean comic and get booked at a place where everyone is light hearted, you may modify your set. Or if you're a foul mouth comic and you are booked at a Church, what do you do? I dealt with that once and it helped mold me to be prepared for anything. Simple - you modify your set. Once, I was going to do a raunchy set on losing my virginity at a college, and to my shock there were little children in the audience, so I changed sets - it was lucky that I had option and could improvise.

After years in comedy, I have found that in any environment, be it with my own people or a melting pot of people, one simple thing I do as a performer is have fun performing. I asked Monteria Ivey, a comedian of "Uptown Comedy Club" fame, a 1992 show that I believe helped spawn "Def Jam Comedy", for advice about stand up comedy and he said to me: "If you're gonna do it, do it because you love it not for the money, the money will come, do it because you love it." I have kept those words close to my heart and soul.

Monty created "Snaps" The Ultimate Yo' Momma Battle book and series from 1995. Sound familiar? That's who MTV got their idea from. Monty also worked with Chris Rock, Flex Alexander, Macio, Jim Breur, Tracy Morgan, and Talent. I really appreciated the time he took to talk to me while he was working on a television show called "Brain Teasers." He, as well as a lot of other comedians I have met at some comedy clubs in and out of New York like Dave Chappelle, Drew Frasier, Wil Sylvince, Reggie McFadden, Sheryl Underwood, Mo'Nique, Hamburger, Sommore & Rasheed Thurmond, have had a tremendous effect on me.

Some days in comedy, you wonder to yourself why the hell am I doing this? The answer's crystal clear after each experience "When you're special, you're supposed to use your difference to help people." That's what singers, rappers, poets, actors do - so we as comedians are here to help people feel better and forget about their problems for little while and soften the hard blow that life gives us.

I have been bold enough to step on stage of "The Apollo Theater" and had the honor of working with The King of Pop's father Joe Jackson's Hip Hop Boot Camp as the pre-show host and announcer in 2006. Each experience is both about courage and risk. What I do know is that you will never know what can happen once you decide to take a journey of life but if you have an idea, aim high at the prize and go for it. This business pays well once get the right connection, and are directed towards the right corporations, colleges, music videos, fashion shows, radio, television, cruises and movies to perform. READ MORE.


 

COLUMNS


Patricia Spear Jones is an award winning poet, playwright and arts writer who lives in Bedford Stuyvesant. Her latest poetry collection is Femme du Monde from Tia Chucha Press. She can be reached at cosmo@ calabarmag.com

The Boat is Leaking

by Patricia Spear Jones, poet

Atim asked me to write about being unemployed and my job search. Well. It's hard. It's boring. It's, as of this writing, ineffective. It's not for sissies.

Unemployment is something I've gone through a few times before, but nothing like this. People keep talking about a PLAN B as if somehow all those chocolate cookies you wanted to bake while you're were working in a law firm will provide sufficient income to pay your bills and keep various beasts from your door.

In past recessions, you may have found customers and even got venture capital to READ MORE


Heloise Oton is a Brooklynite and co-owner of Calabar Imports which publishes Calabar Magazine. This excerpt is part of her upcoming memoir about her life in Nigeria. She can be reached at heloise@calabarmag.com

Lagos Revisted

by Heloise Oton, writer

Lagos life for me was fun and full of activity. In the evenings, we would go out clubbing with friends. The music of this time was High Life, Juju music and lots of Yoruba music as Lagos was a Yoruba town. Although it was the 60's, at that time, Lagos was the capital of Nigeria with lots of different ethnic groups and international people. In its heart and soul, and at the heart of the town, it was Yoruba city.

And like most of the country in those days, and until today, Nigerians are really friendly people and like to enjoy themselves. Lagos in 1962 was peaceful, not crowded as it is today. The money was still the British pound and shilling. Shortly, the pound gave way to the Naira, the Nigerian currency. READ MORE


Wendy Taylor is Calabar magazine’s food editor. Originally from England, she came to New York to enroll in the Food Studies master's program at NYU. She is a graduate of the California Culinary Academy and lives in Prospect Heights. She can be reached at food@calabarmag.com

Southeast Asian Food

by Wendy Taylor, food editor

Maybe it's the plethora of culinary shows on TV or the availability of well-researched authentic cookbooks, but whatever the reason once hard-to-find exotic ingredients from Southeast Asia have become standard pantry staples in many home kitchens.

The region's food, is popular because quite simply it's delicious and isn't difficult to make once you become familiar with techniques and ingredients.

I recently ran low on supplies and decided to visit Brooklyn's Chinatown to stock up. I took the N train to 8th Avenue and in about two minutes I arrived at the Hong Kong Supermarket at number 8023, and realized that was as far as I needed to go because everything was under one roof. READ MORE


Atim Annette Oton is the editor/publisher of Calabar Magazine. A South Slope resident, she is a co-owner of Calabar Imports, a retail shop in Prospect Heights and a business coach/ consultant to creative design businesses. She can be reached at editor@calabarmag.com

The African Brand will rise

by Atim Annette Oton, editor

I was hoping not to write another article or join the fray to discuss brands but time has evolved and a few key issues unveiled in Nigeria that made reassess. Two publications are beginning to re-examine the African brand - more precisely- the Nigerian brand.

ARISE magazine is one - an innovative new look at the intellectual Nigeria, through some of its best across the world, and more substantive than most have been. The other Timeout has a smart glossy on the places to be in Nigeria. Can I say it loud and clear? THANK HEAVEN ... for small mercies.READ MORE


Features: FASHION
Introducing Liz Kife
by Atim Annette Oton, editor/publisher, Calabar Magazine


Features: HOME DECOR
Top 10 Home Décor Trends for 2009
by Jackie Just, freelance writer


According to Parsons Fashion design student, liz kife is the concept of bridging the gap between culture and design. She believes that “we are all driven by people, places, and life experiences that continue to move and shake us at the core”. Liz Kife serves as her alter ego. Liz is her middle name. Kife is "Efik" spelled backwards, the African tribe of the Ibibio peoples who migrated through the Cross Rivers and Cameroon in the 1600s to settle in Nigeria. They are believed to be descendants of the African Jews of ancient Eygpt. READ MORE.

Americans today are looking at their homes as a place of refuge in a stressful world of challenges and economic instability. Instead of going out to dinner or social events, they're cocooning with their families. More than ever, Americans are looking for their homes to be restful and soothing, yet stylish at the same time.

Interior designers and industry experts across the country have noted this trend as outlined in the top 10 home decor trends for 2009:

1. Color Your World

Colors will literally be across the spectrum next year. On their web site, the Pantone Color Institute forecasts lively colors and sophisticated, grounded hues with Fuchsia Red, Salmon Rose, Palace Blue, Lavender, Rose Dust and Vibrant Green predicted to be popular. READ MORE.


Features: CULTURE, TRAVEL & HERITAGE
THE BLACKLIST
showing at the Brooklyn Museum

by staff, Calabar Magazine
Features: HOME DECOR
Calabar Imports’
Renovation

by Atim Annette Oton, editor/publisher, Calabar Magazine

The Black List Project: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Elvis Mitchell, Exhibition of Photographs of Prominent African Americans along with Filmed Interviews is currently on view at Brooklyn Museum until March 29, 2009

This exhibit has Serena Williams, Chris Rock, Colin Powell, Toni Morrison, Russell Simmons, Al Sharpton, Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, and Sean Combs among the many African Americans whose faces are seen and voices heard in The Black List Project: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Elvis Mitchell, a highly personal documentary that explores being Black in America.

Twenty-five portraits by internationally renowned photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, along with excerpts from a series of filmed interviews directed by Greenfield-Sanders and conducted by noted film critic Elvis Mitchell are the core of a collaboration between Greenfield-Sanders and Mitchell in an HBO documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 and coordinated by Judy Kim, Curator of Exhibitions.

Change is a good thing and planning it well is critical. At the end of the summer, Calabar Imports embarked on a small project - a renovation of its space and expansion within its walls to add on a second level. The challenge - doing it in less than 7 days with a small crew. And in August, the store closed.

After the first four years our business, we knew that this change will require patience, time and a new way of working. And when it comes to expanding and renovation, we executed a well-thought out plan and strategy that was about 2 years in the making.
The expansion focused on adding more space, lighting and organizing the floor.

The solution was simple: a second level with access was built and new lighting was added as well as a new jewelry display space. The results, we feel are better retail shopping experience, space to move around and more lights at display areas.

This change is only the second major one we have made since we arrived to the location in December 2004.


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