August 12-18, 2004

artpicks

Dot Dot Dot Community

by M.J. Fine

CABARET/OPEN MIC

On any given second Friday, Ellipsis: All Access Cabaret might host a grinning teenage rapper, an intense spoken-word artist with cello accompaniment, joyously spastic dancers, a sweaty standup comic testing new jokes between club gigs, a laryngitic guitar slinger and a temperamental poet. "So far, people have been amazingly respectful of that freedom," says producer/emcee Julian O'Reilley, "but I wouldn't mind it if someone took off their clothes and did some performance art."

The all-access policy virtually guarantees they won't all be great. A little suckitude is part of O'Reilley's plan. After all, the best art inspires other work, but the worst makes you say, "I can do better than that." Even if an act is irredeemably bad — and usually they're really good or so bad they're good — it's only five to seven minutes out of your life.

The time limit is O'Reilley's only constraint. She doesn't audition or censor performers, and the boldest return. "How they do and whether people liked them doesn't determine whether they're allowed to sign up again," she says.

Some artists would crumble before a rowdier crowd, but Ellipsis' all-ages, smoke-free space attracts an open-minded and attentive audience.

This month's lineup is heavy on the jazz, with Heather Henderson and Ben Edwards, Michael Morgan and Harvey Hynson on the schedule. For variety, there'll be a couple of comics and dancers (including The Green Chair Dance Group, tuning up for the Fringe Festival), and the return of poet Bonnie MacAllister.

Think you can do better? Sign up for next month's show.

Ellipsis: All Access Cabaret, Fri., Aug. 13, 11 p.m., $3-$5, PlayGround Stage at the Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., 215-696-0607, cabaretjulian@yahoo.com.