LISTINGS
THE DISCLAIMER for The Marijuana-Logues assures us that the production at the Actors' Playhouse "does not glorify drug use. It merely illustrates that cannibus culture can be a thing of substance, humor and creativity." Hey, you don't have to tell me. We're coming up on the 10th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death. Where would we be without the gateway drug? We'd be listening to Nirvana with Courtney Love on bass.
Actually, that'd be pretty funny. A lot of things strike me as funny while I still try to shake the contact high from the recent Jammy Awards-although film critics should note that most of us have gotten our zombie/Jesus jokes out of the way by eighth grade. I'm expecting The Marijuana-Logues to be a proper buzzkiller, but it turns out that Arj Barker, Doug Benson and Tony Camin do a fine job of goofing on oblivious potheads.
That's fairly brave, since the cast is typical white hipster comics with humor that relies on obliviousness. Consider when Benson asks, "Have you ever heard of anyone killing anyone in a pot-fueled rage?" Well, sure. There's Yetunde Price, Eric Lorenzo Dean, Angel Monroy and plenty of other people who've been murdered by pot dealers in a rage over business deals gone wrong.
White hipster comics, naturally, wouldn't be familiar with those names. As the cast explains at the beginning of the show, potheads have to "know a guy." That's so they never have to go into the neighborhoods where children are killed by random gunfire over marijuana deals. Most aren't old enough to appreciate the clever cartoons in High Times.
The Marijuana-Logues is educational, too. I had no idea that pot is selling for $60 a bag nowadays. The show also mostly avoids recycling stand-up routines with a quick prelude of "Once, I smoked pot and?" The Marijuana-Logues even has the decency to remain apolitical. That's probably due to the anticipated embarrassment of how the audience members who really get off on cheering marijuana are all over the age of 50-and there are plenty of those creeps in the crowd.
It's probably a good sign that most of the audience is in their thirties. Or maybe that simply means that New Yorkers in their twenties would rather spend $55 on primo weed. In any case, give the cast credit for ending the show on a chillingly nihilistic note that gets plenty of applause. It's a rare example of hipster comedy that truly gets the last laugh on the audience.
Meanwhile, marijuana culture attempts to maintain a grasp on the kiddies with Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. It's certainly no accident that the film's logo bears a stylistic debt to the Grateful Dead. Parents will also have to keep impressionable kids away from the aerosol cans. Fortunately, Warner Bros takes a token interest in the children with a "Doo Your Best Scooby" sound-alike competition at the Times Square Toys "R" Us.
Unlike The Marijuana-Logues, the Scooby-Doo franchise can draw a real Rainbow Coalition of little kids. Sadly, the competition quickly becomes meaningless when a future Meryl Streep starts the contest with an uncanny Velma imitation. In 10 years, some lucky guy will be dressing her up in a cowl-necked sweater and glasses. She easily trumps the long line of kids waiting to shout "Scooby Dooby Doo!"-but I'm relieved to see that the cliché of "Ruh-Roh" has seemingly been consigned to (again) film critics and thirtysomethings who've smoked too much pot to remember the lyrics to "Conjunction Junction."
I'd stay around to make sure Velma isn't robbed of the giant basket of Scooby-Doo product, but I can't stand watching some auxiliary douchebag from WPLJ's Z Morning Zoo harassing the little kids. This drives me to check out the new Toys "R" Us Scooby-Doo retail section-which, in a nice Scooby-Doo 2 tie-in, sports a statue of Captain Cutler's Ghost that's superior to anything in the Whitney.
The new Scooby-Doo car on the Toys "R" Us Ferris Wheel, incidentally, replaces the Pokémon car. Obviously, not enough stoners appreciated the surreal underwater sequences and hot female villains in last year's Pokémon Heroes. Parents shouldn't worry about the older audience for Doo 2, though. Any child who's been raised right will make his own deduction at how Shaggy can sniff out the members of his fan club. The kid should see at a glance that Shaggy's followers are dirty, smelly hippies.
APRIL 1-3
It's taken two decades, but SCOTS have finally returned to the sound that once made them the Cramps of community colleges. Mojo Box has the trio catching up on a wide range of influences that they neglected during the 90s. Now if they could just ditch the vocals-or at least the subject matter straight from the journals of a Chapel Hill freshman. The mix of surf, soul and rockabilly, however, sounds like a veteran band that's mastered the art of keeping things tight and trashy. The Greenhornes, meanwhile, ditched their brilliant frontman and tubby keyboard player, and are now excited about sounding like a crappy band vaguely influenced by the Greenhornes. At Maxwell's on Thursday, Mercury Lounge on Friday, Southpaw onSaturday.
APRIL 2 & 3
THE LOSER'S LOUNGE TRIBUTE TO JESUS
Remember when we just had to worry about them being respectful to Davy Jones? The Losers may finally be following their comic book namesakes in taking a bridge too far, with selections from Godspell and the Byrds up against theological legends such as Nirvana and Lou Reed. It's also the worst possible time to attempt Johnny Cash, since nothing can compete with the credits of Dawn of the Dead. Even money says that the Jesus Christ Superstar segment will play like s&m performance art, too. Fortunately, the typically diverse cast suggests that someone might remember that music is meant to be spiritual-or have we all forgotten that Tom Jones' favorite song is "The Old Rugged Cross?" Prayers, however, are answered with an attempt at a decent seating arrangement. At Fez.
APRIL 3
TRACHTENBURG FAMILY SLIDESHOW PLAYERS
No sooner do we get the White Stripes sorted out than we have to debate the Trachtenburg bloodline. Owning their CD makes as much sense as listening to a Sally Kellerman LP, too. The Trachtenburgs are a visual experience, still peddling their sharp pop and gospel tunes inspired by assorted old slides. The drummer girl will act adorable, and the doddering father will ramble on way too long between songs. Everyone will feel happy and hip-and that's what really matters, isn't it? At Southpaw. It's an all-ages matinee at 3 p.m.!
APRIL 3
STEW
Is there anyone that engenders more sympathy from rock writers than an overweight pop genius? Never mind why. The important thing is that everyone used to complain that the music industry neglected Stew because he was a large black man performing gorgeous orchestral pop. Well, I guess that little theory's been punctured by a man we like to call Mr. Ruben Studdard. The real problem is that Stew's so prolific in his solo career and with his band the Negro Problem that he keeps making albums-such as Something Deeper Than These Changes-that end up being great instead of brilliant. Plus, he's funny enough that nobody minds when he forgets to sing. At Joe's Pub.
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