Sandra Bernhard Touches On Tech Topics
Provocateur Sandra Bernhard opens her electrifying one-woman show at the Washington, D.C. Jewish Community Center on Thursday evening and folks might be shocked to learn that the comic incorporates tech topics into the act. Early in her shtick, Bernhard riffs on the blogging phenomenon, revealing that she was asked to contribute to pundit Arianna Huffington's left-leaning Web 'zine for $200 a week. Bernhard declined, saying she prefers to vent on stage -- a kind of live-blogging where she can wear designer garb and interact with her audience.
Then, as she reflects on the good old 1980s, Bernhard explains "Rickrolling," an Internet meme involving the music video for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up". The meme is a bait and switch, she says, where an individual provides a Web link they claim is relevant to a topic at hand but the link actually leads to the Astley video. Later, she channels blues singer Nina Simone who carps about never receiving royalties for songs she recorded from George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess." "Where's my Porgy money?" she screeches. Have the performing rights organizations looked into this?
Much of the show is a revival of "Without You I'm Nothing," the performance that propelled her into the stratosphere 20 years ago. Bernhard's four-letter-word-filled cabaret is worth the money and tickets will go fast. One note for the politically sensitive and easily offended: Bernhard isn’t a fan of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain's vice-presidential running mate and she makes her viewpoint crystal clear.
The show runs through Sept. 28. Click here for information. (Apologies if this post was a bit far afield. I attended a special performance last night).
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