Hosted by Hapi Phace in Praise of Philly

When the moon hits your eye like a banana cream pie it’s…

The Full Moon Show: A Tom Murrin/Alien Comic Invention

Starting at 7.18 Sharp

Calling all dimensions! Join Hapi Phace for a moonrise non-linear performance pie-in-the-face ritual inspired by the memory of Philly Abe—his longtime art and life collaborator and neo-shamanistic a-go-go dance partner—to celebrate the Cream-Pie-In-The-Phace Full Moon, in conjunction with the exhibit Philly Abe: This Side of Heaven (April 4–May 6, 2018) at Howl! Happening: An Arturo Vega Project.

Hapi Phace is a performance personality and tapR-mâché™—his proprietary “dry papier-mâché” method that employs cardboard and duct tape—sculptor from Queens. (Well, actually, he is from normal parents.) Hapi and Philly co-wrote and performed together—and in—each other’s pieces, primarily during the 80s downtown nightclub scene. Later, Hapi ventured into Way-Off-Broadway theater, while Philly wove through multiple creative circles, most prolifically with experimental and independent filmmakers, especially The Kuchar brothers—George and Mike—and Todd Verow.

Philly Abe (1949-2018) was an iconic downtown personality, artist, tenants’ rights activist, and decades-long Ridge Street neighbor of Tom Murrin, the originator and omphalos of The Full Moon Show. Like Tom, Philly’s artistic energies and output found outlet in the discarded and unnoticed. Both artists imagined rags, remnants, and refuse into an art form that spanned a universe from the slapstick to the shamanistic.

Dress Code: spontaneously-combustible color combinations; fairy wings, demon horns and petroglyphic face paint; Tibetan skull anything; fun-fur ass-less leotards; black turtleneck sweater, skull-and-crossbones-print ski pants, and a Breton top; 80s 14th Street off-the-rack rubber chickens; non-binary mismatched socks and roadkill; come-as-you-are and leave-as-you-weren’t; rhinestones, bustier, and cat-eyed glasses.

About Tom Murrin and the Full Moon Show

Howl! Happening houses the archives of Tom Murrin. Murrin, aka the Alien Comic, is known as the Godfather of Performance Art. Every full moon, Tom performed the Full Moon Show in honor of his moon goddess, Luna Macaroona. When he had a club date that fell on the full moon, he’d wrangle his friends to perform as his guests—pushing the careers of such groundbreaking performers as David Cale, David Sedaris, Amy Sedaris, Blue Man Group, Ethyl Eichelberger, Lisa Kron and many others. If not, he performed on the street for passersby, transforming the pedestrian atmosphere with his madness and magic. Howl! Happening’s monthly series continues that tradition, with performances in the gallery and surprise pop up performances on the street.

About the Tom Murrin Archive

Howl! Happening is the repository of the Tom Murrin Archive comprising masks, costumes, scripts, correspondence, photographs, and tapes of performances going back to the early 70s. Murrin (February 8, 1939 – March 12, 2012) also known as The Alien Comic and Jack Bump, was a performance pioneer whose life and work inspired both artists and audiences for over 40 years. He was a member of the first generation of La MaMa playwrights. Tom wrote four plays performed through La MaMa and produced by John Vacarro’s Play-House of the Ridiculous, including the offbeat hit, Cock Strong, which toured with Ellen Stewart’s La MaMa Troupe to Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels.

Under the guidance of rock manager Jane Friedman, Tom began to perform under the name Alien Comic, opening for acclaimed punk bands in rock clubs such as CBGBs and Max’s Kansas City. As Alien Comic he performed in such venues as The Pyramid, 8BC, King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Performance Space 122, Dixon Place, La MaMa, and more. Since the mid 80s, he’s created, performed, and curated a series of variety nights at Performance Space 122, and La Mama Experimental Theatre Club and Dixon Place, called The Full Moon Show. His plays Sport-Fuckers and Butt-Crack Bingo were produced at Theater for the New City and La MaMa and directed by David Levine. Tom was the first performance artist to appear on stage at the original Dixon Place location at 37 East First Street in 1986.

The Full Moon Show is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement / Creative Learning, supported by New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. LMCC.net