Our Hit Parade at Joe's Pub

Last night I met a friend for a drink at Vyne in the West Village and then he surprised me by taking me to a show at Joe's Pub. He wouldn't tell me what we were seeing and I just had no idea what to expect. Burlesque? Comedy? Music? Well it turned out it was kinda a little bit of everything. We went to see a show called Our Hit Parade where the cast takes songs from the week's number 1 charts and turns them into comical singing skits.

I still had no idea what to expect when this was explained to me but then the first performer got on stage and sang Billionaire by Travie McCoy in a sultry burlesque style. I almost fell out of my chair laughing, it was genius. I've always been a closet not so closet pop music fan and I realize I love it for the same reason that most people hate it; The really stupid lyrics. It's just dumb and that's why I like it. So taken out of it's original context, sung by certain pop stars who can say anything on a track and it would sell, it just makes the lyrics sound even more ridiculous. I had to laugh at myself when I realized I had just downloaded into my iTunes the first 3 songs they performed; Billionaire, Magic, and Cooler Than Me.

After the disappointing weekend I had this was exactly the pick me up that I needed. A random night at a random event to remind me just how much I love this city and all that it has to offer. And to top it off I ran into a few editors from Time Out including the managing editor who had first interviewed and hired me. And during the show the cast kept referencing the Scissor Sisters who I love and will always hold dear to me as that was the first photo shoot I worked on at my first job, after graduating college. Then later in the show another cast member performed a song by Ludacris who I also have memories of at a free concert at Rutgers and then later, again at a photo shoot, after I had produced the shoot I was asked to audition to be the bootilicious girl on the back of his motorcycle. (I didn't end up getting it because I didn't have the amount of junk they wanted in my trunk). But anyway, I don't know why this made me happy, seeing all of these little pieces of the starts of my career, it somehow reminded me that I am here for a reason and am going to fight for what I want. So thank you, my friend, random nights, Joe's Pub, stupid pop music, and a lot of wine, for giving me the pick me up that I needed to put this weekend behind me and continue to move forward.