The Séance Moon: Improvised by Matt Dennie

The Full Moon Show: A Tom Murrin/Alien Comic Invention Curated by Rani O’Brien

séance noun

sé·ance | \ ˈsā-ˌän(t)s ,  -ˌäⁿs , sā-ˈ \

(French: “sitting”) in occultism, meeting centered on a medium (q.v.), who seeks to communicate with spirits.

After a stint in Living Theatre, Matt Dennie joins Howl! to facilitate the October Full Moon Séance. While the manic comic Tom Murrin conjured the Goddess Luna Macaroona at each full moon, in this fully improvised séance, Matt Dennie utilizes the help of the audience to conjure the dead. Live people ignore the strange and unusual, but who knows what kind of spirit Matt will conjure: Gozer the Traveler? Mary Plunkett? Patrick Swayze? Stuff your pockets with something for Luna Macaroona, just in case.

“The early 20th century séances and mediums seems laughably naive compared to the works of Matt Dennie.” —Carolyn Mary Angela Tina Marie the VI of The New York Times

“If you’ve got the spine, Matt Dennie’s seance brings the tingle.” —Malcolm Turnbull in the opinion section of the Canberra Long Form Harold

“I felt something.” —Matt’s girlfriend.

“I told him it was a waste of time.” —Besser.

Matt is a comedian, actor and writer originally from Washington state. A performer and teacher at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre, he can be seen every Sunday night improvising in Higgins: The Instagram Show. He also produces the long-running alternative comedy showcase COOL SHIT/WEIRD SHIT. Matt has appeared on MTV, IFC, Comedy Central, Above Average, and was named a “Comic to Watch” by Time Out NY.  

About Tom Murrin and the Full Moon Show

Godfather of performance art, Tom popularized a hilarious show every full moon in honor of his moon goddess, Luna Macaroona. Inviting friends to join him on both stage and street, he pushed the careers of such groundbreaking performers as David Cale, David Sedaris, Amy Sedaris, Blue Man Group, Ethyl Eichelberger and Lisa Kron among many others. Transforming the atmosphere with madness and magic, Howl! Happening’s monthly series continues the Murrin tradition with pop-up performances in the gallery and on its sidewalk.

About The Tom Murrin Archive

Howl! Happening safeguards 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 he premiered four plays 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.

About Tom

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