Eric Fergus McKinzie Erickson
@ Dupont Circle
Q:If your dog was a celebrity, who would it be?
A:"Lindsay Lohan. My dog is popular for no good reason. "
MIKE DUGAN PULLS NO PUNCHES exploring the darker edges of the male psyche in his show "Men Fake Foreplay," now at Bethesda Theatre. The comedian and Emmy-winning writer wrote for Jay Leno and Dennis Miller before launching his 90-minute monologue filled with funny and philosophical insights. Whether he's trying to figure out why men really cheat or why they don't seem to understand complex communication, Dugan's take on the man-woman thing goes far beyond yuks about leaving the toilet seat up.
» EXPRESS: How did "Men Fake Foreplay" come to be?
» DUGAN: When I was writing for late night, I was making a lot of money, but I wanted to write for my own voice. I mean, how many ways can you call Monica Lewinsky a slut? The more I looked around, the more I realized the world is designed to help men do the right thing, not the easy thing.
» EXPRESS: What is the title saying?
» DUGAN: Yeah, it's not about sex. There are actually two definitions in the dictionary for foreplay: the one about sex, and then there's, "Actions or behaviors that precede an event." I set out to redefine foreplay as all the things a man does.
Continue Reading "Pulling No Punches, Faking Foreplay: Comedian Mike Dugan" »
FEB. 13 IS the best date night of the year. After all, the only other couples you'll run into are people having torrid affairs who have to reserve the 14th for their legit significant other. So, go out on the 13th and do something romantic, even if you're alone.
Remember that time you swore not to think about your ex-boyfriend, but then your dreams were so full of rage that you awoke to find yourself chewing on your pillow? That's what happens when you deny Valentine's Day too vehemently.
This doesn't mean that you have to go see romantic dreck such as "He's Just Not That Into You." The AFI Silver (8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring; 301-495-6720) is showing "Say Anything," which is not only one of the most romantic movies ever made that avoids cloying sweetness, but it's also a "Breakfast Club"-level '80s classic. If you have the Valentine's Day blues, take a bunch of friends and try not to think about how old you were when this movie came out.
Continue Reading "Night Out: Luckier Valentines Count on the 13th" »
MONDAY: Ah, the Purple Line. Have you still not decided what your stance is on the would-be Metro connector in the 'burbs? Well it's time to stop straddling the issues and asking for the insight of an unbiased third party: Your taste buds.
How? Take advantage of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Restaurant Week, which kicks off Monday and will tantalize your palate through Sunday, Feb. 1. Restaurants such as the oenophile-friendly Grapeseed to the tapas hot-spot Jaleo, will serve up two course-lunches ($12-15) and three-course dinners ($30). Then, just go with your gut instinct.
» Various locations, Mon., Jan. 26-Sun., Feb. 1.
Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post
THE SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR may be a Christian group from South Africa, but you need not be saved to enjoy its music.
"We don't only perform for Christians," said Shimmy Jiyane, assistant music director and choreographer. "You don't have to be a Christian to enjoy our show; you just have to come to our show and enjoy yourself."
After all, South Africans been forced to figure out ways to get along despite the many different ethnicities, religions and cultures that comprise the nation.
"In our country, we have 11 different official languages, and we have 20 to 40 cultures that are different," Jiyane said. "We mostly sing a capella, but we're open to any other kind of culture to bring their culture into our culture."
Continue Reading "Songs of Unity & Love: Soweto Gospel Choir" »
THIS FRIENDLY, folk art-style marmalade cat may appear larger on the page. That's because Natasha Beshenkovsky's sculpture and every other work in Strathmore's 75th Annual International Exhibition of Fine Art in Miniature is a tiny slice of heaven.
» The Mansion at Strathmore, 10701 Rockville Pike, Bethesda; through Jan. 3; 301-581-5200. (Grosvenor-Strathmore)
Photo courtesy The Mansion at Strathmore
PERHAPS IT WAS SAN FRANCISCO'S love of carb-heavy Rice-A-Roni products that did it in. Because in SELF Magazine's 9th Annual America's Best Places for Women survey — released today — the reigning champ was knocked to second place by Bethesda, Md. Features director Sara Austin wasn't surprised by the suburb's impressive showing. It's the first year the area was ranked separately from D.C. (which, along with Alexandria and Arlington, came in at a very respectable 15 out of 100 cities). "It's a combination of smart habits and good resources," she says, noting such factors as low rates of disease and access to health clubs.
Bethesda has the least unemployment and the most doctors per capita (it can't hurt to have the National Institutes of Health in its territory). Residents are also the second least stressed (after Cambridge, Mass.), and spend their days in the second-healthiest workplaces (after Seattle, Wash.). After all, a winner needs high marks across the board.
Not that all's perfect in Montgomery County. "We all have our health bugaboos to work on," Austin adds. Bethesda's rates of STDs were above average, and while it gets kudos in the magazine for being a commuter's heaven — thanks to Metro and the Capital Crescent Trail — the average round-trip work commute of one hour, 12 minutes represents a big chunk of the day. Better get working on that for next year to keep San Francisco in its place.
EATING A BANANA shouldn't be a philosophically complex question but Krapp's Last Tape manages to turn that small yellow fruit into something just a little bit more than an easy entendre.
Take advantage of Pay What You Can this week and catch a double offering of Beckett with Ohio Impromptu and starring Carter Jahncke at the Black Box Theatre.
» Black Box Theatre at Montgomery College, 7600 Takoma Ave., Fri., 8 p.m., Sat-Sun 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., pay what you can; 202-248-0647.
Photo by P. Schwartz
WHATEVER THE OUTCOME of Tuesday's election, the winner is bound to emphasize he'll bring change to Washington. Perhaps the candidates don't realize it's already here. But instead of taxes or rebates or regulations, Hyun Martin has her own techniques. "I came to Washington to change the world, and I'm doing it in a spa," says the owner of Bethesda's Be You Bi You Wellness Center and Spa (5602 Shields Drive, 301-493-4911, Beyouspa.com).
Her bipartisan suggestion: Get a jaw massage.
Whether you've been gabbing incessantly on cable news — or at the dinner table — or gritting your teeth as you listened with a forced smile, your jaws have taken a beating over the past few months. And that, my friends, could wear out the muscles that support your temporomandibular joint (TMJ). So, Martin, who hatched the idea to target beleaguered jaws after dating a dentist, designed a 30-minute massage ($80) that targets trigger points on your cranium, neck and mouth. She slips on gloves and dives into your oral cavity, fatiguing the jaw muscles with pressure. "I ask them to clench, and after awhile, they can't clench anymore, so the muscle has to release," she says.
Continue Reading "Take a Break, Talking Heads: Loosen Up Jaws" »
LABOR DAY WAS a few weeks ago, but the Eighth annual D.C. Labor FilmFest still seems timely. The AFI Silver is now billing the fest as "Real Films for Hard Times" to appeal to those moviegoers who aren't expecting a check from Secretary Paulson.
Assuming you've still got a bank and some money left in it, you've got lots of options. If your sense of humor needs a bailout, "Kabluey" features a schlub who's forced to support his in-laws by dressing as the pathetic foam-rubber mascot of a failing Internet company while his brother fights in Iraq. (No, it's not a documentary.)
For even purer physical humor, check out a restored print of 1936's silent classic "Modern Times" and watch Charlie Chaplin literally become a cog in the machine, as well as mistake cocaine for salt and accidentally lead a communist demonstration. (If anyone had the clout to flout the Production Code, it was Chaplin.)
BETWEEN GAMES OF pool, shuffleboard and Wii, enjoy a sandwich at Breadsoda. The newly opened Glover Park bar and deli serves a variety of sandwiches, a few salads and sides, but it will soon sell Boar's Head meats and cheeses and homemade sides for take-out. The Moroccan chicken salad sandwich is enhanced with a subtle, homemade harissa, and the vegetable sandwich on multigrain bread is enlivened with a homemade goat-cheese spread.
» Breadsoda, 2233 Wisconsin Ave. NW; 202-333-7445, breadsoda.com.
Written by Express contributor Stefanie Gans
Photo by Jay Premack
Addison Road