I believe that all people are innately good and they do evil things because they are hurting. My goal therefore is to try to heal myself and others. I'm so very grateful for the loving people in my life who help me in my goals and forgive my failures.
In addition to writing books and poetry (some of which I share on my blog here) I produce and/or perform in a variety of formats including stage, film and television.
For 678 weeks I ran Faceboyz Open Mike Night most of them at Surf Reality. Surf Reality was a performance space (best one ever!) run by my close friend Rob Prichard who will soon be opening the Queensbridge theater.
Many wonderful people, amazing art and astounding truths came into my life hosting this open mike. The reason though that I did this for 13 years is that I believe in the format. To not allow the audience to heckle the performer or the performers to attack the audience. Somehow amongst the madness and the mayhem, between the mundane and the insane, somewhere within the chasm of the famous and the nameless...even the quietest of voices can be heard.
There are links to articles on this and other projects here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faceboy
For many years the art star scene birthed through the open mikes produced and hosted by yours truly and Rev. Jen languished in relative obscurity. Despite my role in creating something that is now becoming a bit well known, I really don't know how to explain what or who the art stars are. Here's one of many prominent magazines take on it. In a full page feature
New York Magazine described the art stars...
THE ART STARS
Misfits, microphones, multimedia marvels
If Andys Warhol and Kaufman were just arriving in New York, chances are they would head straight for the Lower East Side open-mike scene, where performers have dubbed themselves, only semi-ironically, “art stars.” Budweiser tallboys in hand, they perform monologues, play music, read from their journals, or, more often, do something that defies categorization.
The proud parents of the scene are Faceboy and his elf-eared friend, troll-museum founder Reverend Jen Miller.
“Real, open, and often drunk, the art stars range in age from 18 to 88,” says Miller, who also calls herself Sex Symbol for the Insane. Among the cast of regulars are Master Lee, who often performs as Salvador Dali, and the artist and musician Michael Portnoy, who performs as the characters Professor Kiffy, “a choreographer of jokes,” and XAR (pronounced ksar), a solo “majestic-electro” band.
“We are like a giant dysfunctional family that anyone can be part of. You can be the biggest dork, freak, or outcast in the world, and at the Anti-Slam, we will love you for it.”
-New York Magazine-
I've been a bit lazy about adding more recent accomplishments and press stuff but here are a few quotes on me and some of my work.
"Consistently entertaining" Neil Strauss, The New York Times
"Just plain outrageous" James Hirsch, The Wall Street Journal
"Jeff Ross, Jim Gaffigan and performance artists like soybomb are all veterans of this stage"
New York Daily News
"A wildly satisfying variety show"
Paper Magazine
"Almost anything goes, and that's the fun of it"
New York Press, Best of Manhattan (best of awards 1997 and 2003)
"Fierce and fabulous!"
The Village Voice, Best of New York (best of awards, 2001 and 2005)
"Critically acclaimed success story" Amelia David, Backstage Magazine
I have also been selected as one of Paper Magazines 50 beautiful people and have been covered internationally from NBC to the BBC.
