CAST:
BILLY LOPES - Manny Liyes
GRACE LEE - Meg Cheng
JOHN BOY CASEY - Will Manning
EDDIE JOHNSON - David King
EARNEST BYNER - David King
NANCY LOPEZ - Elda Luisi
TOM RATHMAN - Sparks Grassly
TERRY LEACH - Johnny Ferro
About me: I am Choke City. I am a comedy written by Manny Liyes that will debut at this year's NYC International Fringe Festival. I'm about a stand up comic who dies onstage. His death seems like a suicide but it may not be.
Manny wanted to tell a story using Citizen Kane as a model, the ultimate American character study. But of the America that he knows that isn’t exposed or romanticized, that of the “pretender,” “the also-ran,” “the wannabe,” or, to put it plainly, the loser. And people have this perception of a loser as not American, as not being a person holding attributes of greatness. But America is a country of losers, their greatness usually defined by the size of the stage they’re on. And no performer can reach such heights with such little acclaim as the stand up comedian. Manny wanted to put on a play that showed this depressing fact in the most entertaining of ways. I am a series of flashbacks, interactions in the present and loads of stand up comedy. It could be called a “stand up comical,” because it’s stand up with a story.
This play has allowed Manny to explore some ideas about our society. First and foremost, it is a look into the meaning of a life and how much information it really takes to understand how someone lived and who they were. Was a particular life a success or a failure? What really happened to them? Certain events in the news inspired the specific questions behind me, Choke City. First was the frustrating collapse of the New York Mets. As a longtime fan, Manny was terribly disappointed to see his team lose a division in one of the largest late season collapses in baseball history. It made him wonder what a loser really is and how can people really tell one from just another competitor. The second and most unfortunate incident that occurred during the writing of the first draft was the untimely death of Heath Ledger. Manny had already adapted the idea of a performer dying on stage from the Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoon, “Showbiz Bugs.” Ledger’s death initially shocked and saddened Manny but he didn’t see the distinct relation between it and me until he saw the media’s response to it. Misinformation and speculation clouded their coverage making his death into some “event” instead of the tragedy it was and subsequent celebration of a man and a great career it should have become. And it seemed right for the media to continually talk and guess about Ledger’s feelings and intentions and experiences because he was a celebrity. Well, what if he wasn’t? That is one of the questions I pose for the audience. Manny thinks these issues plus the idea of a story told with and around stand up comedy provides something totally unique. Essentially taking two great styles of stage entertainment and joining them.
Last year, Manny's second play, Analog Friend, debuted with the NYC International Fringe Festival, and it was a wonderful experience. He found the audiences receptive and open to new ideas. Also, this festival gives him a chance to express himself in a capacity he has found difficult to do on his own. It is very hard to put on a show and promote it. This festival puts Manny's work in such wonderful company by placing him amongst the other wonderful participants, and gives Manny a forum to try new things.
As a lover of acting, writing and stand up comedy, I give Manny the opportunity, maybe the only one he’ll ever have in his lifetime, to explore these great expressions of the stage. Manny and I are excited to be here and perform, overwhelmed by the honor and hopeful that the audience will see what we see, if only for a moment.
"Choke City is where a stand up comic died on stage. Was it suicide? Or murder? Was it funny? It's a story about a brilliant loser and the lives that tried not to be touched by him. It's New York."
Who I'd like to meet: CHOKE CITY opens on August 8th!!
CVS Cultural & Educational Center - Milagro, 107 Suffolk St. (Rivington & Delancey St)
Subway:
F train to Delancey St.
J, M train to Essex St.
$15
For Tickets and Information:
866-468-7619
www.fringenyc.org
FRIDAY 8/8 @ 7PM
SUNDAY 8/10 @ 2PM
THURSDAY 8/14 @ 5PM
SUNDAY 8/17 @ 7PM
SATURDAY 8/23 @ 4:15PM
For industry comps, please send to liyes7@hotmail.com
our 3rd annual nyc binge festival, Binge Olympiad opens this weekend! come join the fun with us in the West Village. only $3 for Fringe Fest participants with BADGE! party starts nightly at 11pm. Beer, etc!~
