NYC Premiere of David’s Friend by Nora Burns. Directed by Adrienne Truscott, featuring Billy Hough, and Filmed by David Ebersole and Todd Hughes.

Performance by Kevin Aviance to follow the screening.

A feisty and funny one-woman show…..her odyssey will bring alive the period and its pleasures (and poisons) with pungent animation… —Charles Isherwood, New York Times

Howl! Happening is pleased to present the hometown premiere screening of Nora Burns’ David’s Friend, The story of a crazy friendship in 1980s New York City—a restless city during a reckless time, the film began as a solo show by Burns that opened at La MaMa in 2017 and toured for the next 3 years. It is a comic odyssey about cruising, disco, drag queens, strippers, sex, love, loss, and AIDS, told with music, videos, costumes, characters, tall tales and torrid truths. 

Filmed In March 2020 at Casita del Campo in Los Angeles, it played at a few film festivals, which were mostly virtual, and due to the pandemic, it never got to have its hometown premier. 

Burns is a founding member of the comedy groups Unitard and the Nellie Olesons. She has performed across the country in various venues including PS122, La MaMa, and Joe’s Pub in New York City, Highways, Cavern Club and The HBO Workspace in Los Angeles and appeared in the comedy festivals Just for Laughs in Montreal and We’re Funny That Way in Toronto, and at the Aspen Comedy Festival (now HBO Comedy Festival). Her first solo show, “Honey, I’m Home,” premiered at Dixon Place in NYC, and toured to Los Angeles, Provincetown and Hudson, NY.

Since 2014 Nora has curated and hosted a series called New York Stories at the historic Stonewall Inn where celebrated New Yorkers like Michael Musto, Anthony Haden-Guest and Brenda Bergman tell entertaining and sordid stories about their lives in the city of yore. 

Her show “David’s Friend,” opened at La MaMa in January 2017 after premiering at Dixon Place and the Provincetown Afterglow festival and touring Los Angeles, Toronto and Seattle.

In addition to stage work, Nora has appeared in the films “Broken Hearts,” “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” “Club,” “Boys Life 3” and the documentary “Florent: Queen of the Meat Market.” Her TV appearances include Logo’s “Wisecrack” comedy show and “The Sandra Bernhard Experience.” noraburns.net

Photo by Christopher Makos