BJ: Hi, Larry I heard you might have a funny Hanukkah story to share with us.
LM: During Hanukkah we would light our menorah and leave it on the stovetop. It was a white 1962 stove and it stood more or less at the height of my 9-year-old sister. She backed into it and her hair caught on fire.
It just went boom.
My mom panicked and started running with her. My dad I’ll never forget, just came over and calmly pressed her head against his stomach to smother the flames. It was the best Hanukkah gift any of us have ever gotten. If you can imagine — a 9-year-old girl with curly blonde hair who had just had three-quarters of her hair burned off, though we weren’t concerned about that at the time.
I’m not sure she remembers it. She has children who have children now and you never know in life what you will remember.
I’m looking forward to Hannukah this year. Jewishness is all about memories — the astonishing memory, that’s what the Torah is about: read this and remember this; remember all the struggles.
Those stories are more dramatic than anything anyone every made in Hollywood. If we didn’t read it, if we didn’t remember it, how could we exist untethered? We wouldn’t be families. We wouldn’t be people. Without memories of our history as Americans and as Jews we would be untethered. We would be floating freely.

BJ: Wow, that just got deep. From a hilarious Hanukkah story to a really reflective thought.

 Comedy — when it’s good — is a deep thought. Comedy really makes us think. Everything that happens in comedy is rooted in drama and is rooted in storytelling. Comedy is just another way of looking at the same drama. And I love it for that reason. There are two ways to go through life: crying or laughing. Lord knows we cry enough. I’ve chosen to spend the rest of my time laughing.

—Larry Miller

BJ: Are you excited about your show “Cocktails with Larry Miller?”
LM: Yes, I’m very excited. I’m in “New Year’s Eve,” which just opened up. Tomorrow night I will be on the Christmas episode of NCIS and on Dec. 23 I will be on TNT in “Deck the Halls.” I’ve been very lucky and I work steadily. The reason I bring this up is because I am going to be as happy on that stage at the Walton Arts Center as driving through the gates of Paramount, which is very meaningful to me. That’s how much I love performing.

BJ: When did you start performing?
LM: In a way I started when I first listened to a Bill Cosby album. I recited the lines at the dinner table. I’m too thrilled about it to even know when it started. It’s even past loving it. I’m just made for it. I’m just made for the stage. There are thousands of beautiful stages across the country. I’m going to play all of them with “Cocktails with Larry Miller.” The rod that holds it all together is live performing.

BJ: Tell me, why cocktails?
LM: The metaphor is that life is a cocktail. Stir in a little sorrow. The chance to meet someone; add maturity and the blessings of life — that’s a cocktail.

BJ: What’s your favorite cocktail?
LM: I’m a martini drinker. That’s because there’s a real artfulness to it. When someone really knows how to do it with such ease — it’s like being a chef.

LM: It’s raining here. I have to go pick up the kids. It was nice talking to you. Come to the show if you get a chance.

No, not those kinds of fun bags. Please, people, show a little maturity. Though, the phunbags in question would never allow the opportunity for a sexual innuendo to pass unnoticed. Phunbags is the only comedic improvisational group in Northwest Arkansas, and they are also what Mark Landon Smith calls “the cheapest date in town.” (I mean, for five bucks! C’mon.)

Last week I crashed a practice to scope out their talent and get a sneak peek for the upcoming Christmas show. In NYC last year, I had the great opportunity to watch The Upright Citizens Brigade in action, so my hopes were high for this local act.

My behind-the-scenes look at the process of improvisational comedy gave me insight to the foundations of the act. The rules of improv, according to Smith are: “listening, accepting the presented reality, and making your partner look good.” Each routine incorporates a series of skeleton skits, which are like games. Each skit has certain rules that drive the direction of the skit.

However, the brilliant aspect of improvisational comedy is that the audience provides the material. This means, that all the jokes I heard in practice, like, “Mrs. Claus has a mistletoe instead of a camel toe,” were once-said, once-dead jokes that will only be resurrected if the right information aligns with the right skit.

In a room full of 10 funny people, there is barely room to breath between laughing. Even when not performing, the troupe is hilarious. My absolute favorite thing about The Phunbags improv group is the dynamic of the people involved.

Each comedian has a different look, and each brings a unique quality to the scene. Some members are polished and professional. Others are rougher around the edges and clumsy in anything choreographed; but then a gem of hilarity slips unexpectedly from their personas. Some are loud bundles of energy. Others are focused and witty, cracking jokes and puns so quickly, so unexpectedly, that I was gasping and laughing at the same time.
After an hour of watching the troupe sing, dance, mime, and act out scenes — I was selected from the studio audience (There actually was one other spectator, so I felt special.) to be serenaded by The Phunbags. Based on my name (Blair), my profession (Journalist), my relationship status (Dating) and my favorite hobby (Drinking) — They created a beautiful melody with the chorus “Blair’s dating Captain Morgan.”

Then they gave me the number to a local Alcoholics Anonymous Chapter, which I promptly threw away.

That last part was a lie.

Ok, so here’s the moral of this story. They’re friggin’ funny. They’re local. It costs five bucks to see them, and there’s a bar (maybe I should look into that AA thing), so really it’s an absolute guarantee for a good time. And I heard a rumor that they might wear tacky Christmas sweaters to their show Saturday. Don’t you dare quote me on that.

Tom Tiratto

Frank Sinatra fans will be in heaven this Saturday night when vocalist nationally known vocalist Tom Tiratto joins the 17-piece Fayetteville Jazz Collective for a 7:30 p.m. show at the Walton Arts Center.

Tiratto is well known for his resemblance to the smooth vocals of ‘Old Blue Eyes.’ He has appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and portrayed Sinatra with The Rat Pack in Las Vegas.

In addition to the Sinatra favorites, the Jazz Collective will also showcase music by Sammy Nestico, Thad Jones, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Chick Corea and Gordon Goodwin.

And, you can dance on the Walton Arts Center stage during the performance. The stage in the WAC’s big hall will be set with cabaret tables and a dance floor. All seating will be onstage, with no seating in the auditorium.

Cabaret seating is $25 and general admission is $15. Tickets are available at www.waltonartscenter.org or 443-5600.

Don’t miss your chance to say, ‘I danced onstage at the Walton Arts Center!’

Ozark Poets & Writers Collective will feature their first cousins, the Ozark slam team, Ozark Home Grown Poetry, at their July gathering on Tuesday night.

OHGP is made up of Houston, Thomas French, Jeremy Sparkman, Michelle Miesse and Chris Helms. The team has competed locally, regionally and nationally and at a national competition in Dallas, they placed fourth. OHGP will represent Arkansas at the National Poetry Slam Aug. 3-7 in St. Paul, Minn.

Marc Smith invented slam poetry in Chicago. Slam is the competitive art of performance poetry. By the late ‘80s Slam had spread beyond Chicago to San Francisco, Boston, New York and Ann Arbor. In 1989 the first National Poetry Slam took place in San Francisco. Bob Holman, a poetry activist and former slam master calls the slam movement “the democratization of verse.”

Arkansas slam poets like Lisa Martinovic and the late Brenda Moossy were instrumental in slam poetry’s early growth both locally and nationally. This year’s team stands on the shoulders of those women. Veteran slammers say that OHGP is possibly Ozark’s best slam team yet.

This Tuesday at Nightbird Books, OHGP will entertain and rock the audience with their “team pieces,” which they liken to something like a modern day Greek chorus. As usual beginning at 7 p.m., an open mic will precede and follow the feature.

Dante Schmitz of Dante & The Hawks.

There’s a truckload of not-to-miss shows this week, the biggest one may be the Benjamin Del Shreve CD release party Saturday night at George’s. Shreve and his band have walked away with almost every NAMA award they’ve been nominated for in the last few years, but it’s been awhile since they’ve done a heavy rotation on the local circuit. It will be interesting to see if the new CD, carries the same impact that has made the group one of NWA’s hottest.

George’s will also be hopping on Sunday night with the annual Pioneers of Rock show that brings together some of NWA earliest music veterans. You never know who’s going to show up for these shows and it only happens once a year, so get out for a special night.

Smoke & Barrel on Dickson Street has a nice lineup this week, starting with primitive folk rockers Spirit Family Reunion out of Brooklyn, N.Y., tonight. Friday night will be the Kris Lager Band of Omaha, Neb., who will be bringing their superiorly crafted rock and grooving originals to the bar. This is some well-honed music complete with Hammond organ, that ranges from sounding like Van Morrison to Gov’t Mule. On Saturday at Smoke & Barrel will be NWA’s own Cletus Got Shot who will be playing tunes from their new CD.

And don’t forget that tonight you can catch NAMA Hall of Fame singer songwriter Sarah Hughes and her band at the free Gulley Park concert. Take seating and a picnic or get

some Lucky Luke’s BBQ or other chow from some of the other restaurants that will be at the park.

If you want to take a little trip, head to Cherokee Casino in West Siloam Springs on Friday night for Califor-

nia’s Eve 6 — who can forget their hit “Inside Out” that had a healthy run as number one on the U.S. Modern Rock chart? Sharing the bill will be the impressive up-and-comers Dante & The Hawks — think John Mayer. And hey, these shows are free!

Elise Harvey as Dolly in The Village Players production of “Hello Dolly,” which opens Friday.

The ah-ha destination this week might be live theater. Summer is a good time to discover what a fine stable of thespians we have working in NWA and to get out and support live theater in air-conditioned comfort.

The Boar’s Head Players will open Justin Blasdel’s “Your Last Friend, Inc.” on Wednesday. It’s the story of two small-time con men who are selling fake assisted suicide insurance. But soon the two are pondering do they skip town or should they stay and convince their customers to embrace life? The play is directed by Roger Gross and stars Vincent Berrios, Justin Cunningham, Drew Bulock, Danielle McKnight, Catherine Witherspoon and Anna Haslett. Performance are at 8 p.m. July 21-24. Tickets are $10 by calling 575-4752.

The busy Boar’s Head Players will then open “Murder and the English Gentleman: A Comedy” on July 28 for a four-night run. The quirky comedy was adapted from “Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime” by Oscar Wilde. After Lord Savile receives a spot of bad news, a mysterious fortuneteller tells him that he is fated to commit murder. The play is a madcap comedy of manners with an eclectic cast of characters who scam, scheme and seduce in order to survive the prediction. The play is directed by Esteban Arevalo Ibanez and stars David Michael Seals, Caden Worley, Brandi Hoofnagle, Emily Tomlinson, Frances Wilson and Forrest Jessing. Performances are at 8 p.m. July 28-31. Tickets are $10 by calling 479-575-4752.

Meanwhile, The Village Players have embarked on the biggest production in their 27 year history, defining what community theater is all about, with more than 80 volunteer actors and crew.

The company will open “Hello, Dolly!” on Friday at the Arend Arts Center in Bentonville. The musical follows matchmaker Dolly Levi, a real firecracker who can be counted on for anything from ear piercing and corset re-boning to mandolin instruction and short distance hauling. “Hello, Dolly!” moves from a sweet love story to high comedy when Dolly sets her cap for the wealthy Horace Vandergelder.

Elise Harvey, who has been acting and directing in Atlanta for the past several years, will take the role of Dolly.

Carl Ballou will become Horace Vandegelder for the production. A resident of Rogers, by way of San Jose, Calif., Ballou is making his stage debut with The Village Players, but is no stranger to theater with more than 75 show credits ranging from acting, directing, tech and lighting design.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday. Tickets are $17 for adults and $8 for students and are available by calling 479-273-2556 or online at bvvillageplayer.org.

10 Years Of The X

Fayetteville radio station 104.9 The X will host a street party beginning at 5:30 p.m. today on Dickson Street between West Avenue and School Street to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the station. Local rockers A Good Fight will join touring bands Paper Tongues, Civil Twilight, Neon Trees and Me Talk Pretty. This will be one hard rockin’ show and it’s free!

Gulley Park Free Concerts

Fayetteville’s Gulley Park free summer concert series continues this week with a performance by reggae star and Fayetteville native Joseph Israel at 7 p.m. tonight. Next Thursday night, July 15, award-winning singer-songwriter Sarah Hughes, who currently calls Fayetteville home, will perform with her band. Hughes’ show was originally scheduled for June 24, but was moved to next week. That show will have a 7 p.m. start time, too. Bring seating and a picnic or buy food at the concert. The final show of the summer will be the Ben Miller Band at 7 p.m. July 29. The Joplin, Mo., trio features slide guitar, washboard and washtub bass.

Third Friday Twilight Walk

How long has it been since you’ve been to Rogers? We’re not talking about the new shopping destinations on I-540, but the beautiful historic downtown part of the town. If you haven’t been in awhile get out on Friday night for Third Friday Twilight Walk, an outdoor event, with food, drink, art exhibits, entertainment and fun for all ages. The theme for this month’s event is “Summer in the City” and many of the unique downtown businesses will be open. Downtown Rogers boasts art galleries, flea markets, vintage book stores, antique shops, restaurants, coffeehouses, an old-fashioned candy store and lots more small businesses. Activities take place between 5 and 9 p.m.

One of the featured artists is Joelle Storet, whose British Petroleum series expresses the devastation and grief of the oil disaster. Storet, a student at the University of Arkansas, was born in Belgium but has lived mostly in Austria and Fayetteville. She recently made a trip to Belgium to visit family and was struck by the heart-wrenching news about the Gulf oil disaster while there. When she returned to Fayetteville, she began expressing her feelings about the spill and the handling of the spill by the media through her art. She has an illustrative style and is influenced by Belgium comics like TinTin.

The country-punk-blues duo of David Kimbrough Jr. and Stacy Nicole Mackey will perform and there will also be an open mic. Kimbrough is the son of legendary bluesman Junior Kimbrough. The multi-instrumentalist has played in his dad’s band, with members of the Staple Singers in the Precise Band, in the Kimbrough Brothers and in the Juke Joint Brothers. Mackey, a Little Rock native who now calls Fayetteville home, has performed with Little Rock bands Uptown Prophets of Armageddon, Doom Patrol, Rebel Android, Fuyu, Tiny Little Hammers, 66Crush,The Chicklettes, Sex, Transmolecularization, Negative Nancy and Lovechild.

OMNI’s Climate Change Task Force is sponsoring this event. Art sales will benefit The Joy Center, an orphanage in Kenya, one of the nations impacted by climate change. In partnership with Environment America, donations will be accepted for families impacted by the Gulf oil spill.

“We want to get together enjoy art, good food, fine music and one another’s company,” said Joanna Pollock of the Climate Change Task Force, “Everyone is trying to process this disaster in the Gulf and it is overwhelming. This can also be a time to express those feelings and give what we can to help.”

The NWA Center for Equality is celebrating diversity in NWA with the month-long All Out June celebration. June is Pride month, which celebrates the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The signature event of All Out June, sponsored by NWA Pride, will be the Pride Parade at 10 a.m. Saturday on Dickson Street. Parade Grand Marshall will be 10-year-old West Fork student Will Phillips who stood up for gay rights by refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance because all people are not treated equally, since gay Americans can’t marry in most states, including Arkansas. Following the parade there will be a Block Party at Rogue on Dickson Street with live music by Spencer Hastings, Jorian Oxygen, a surprise guest band, live DJ and karaoke.

Other Pride events this weekend are a CD release party by Big Bad Gina at 8 p.m. Friday at Teatro Scarpino. A White Party at 8 p.m. Saturday at Gaylord’s on Mountain Street in Fayetteville with live DJ, (wear all white). A Pride service at 11 a.m. followed by a potluck and dance with music by Big Bad Gina at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 901 W. Cleveland Ave. in Fayetteville. A screening of the film “You Don’t Know Dick,” an award-winning documentary about Transmen and a talk by Raymond Sweet at 7 p.m. Sunday at the OMNI Center, 3274 N. Lee Ave. in Fayetteville.

For more information, go to http://alloutjune.com.

A Wild and Crazy Music Week

American Aquarium

This week is so packed with interesting music that the fireworks may pop before the holiday. Here’s a quick rundown on what powerhouses are headed to our little corner of the world.

The Fort Smith Riverfront Blues Festival at Riverfront Park in downtown Fort Smith is going to be a hot ticket this Friday and Saturday. Tickets are just $10 a day and the lineup is stellar. Headlining Friday night is Vermont’s Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (Rolling Stone’s best new band of 2010). Headlining Saturday night is Delbert McClinton. For a schedule and list of other performers, check out 8 Days a Week on page 5.

Friday night the sweet kicking sounds of the Kopecky Family Band, a seven-piece neo-classical indie band from Nashville, can be heard at the cool pub, Smoke & Barrel on Dickson Street. The band will release a new EP “The Disaster” in August. The single “Lucky” has been chosen by Roxy Clothing and Accessories as one of their summer campaign songs. The band is garnering quite a buzz after their performance at SXSW. Paste magazine compared them to Arcade Fire. The performance is a benefit for Spay Arkansas. So get out for a good time and doing good.

Saturday night the indefatigable Peter Read of Nightflying will be in town celebrating an anniversary show at George’s. The hot summer night will be even hotter thanks to The Cate Brothers, A Good Fight, Tiffany Christopher and Raleigh, N.C.’s alt-country outfit American Aquarium. AA released their album “Small Town Hymns” just last month and we hear they’re not to miss.

Sunday night you can workup a fever at Teatro Scarpino with the Cajun band Les Malfecteurs (translation: The Outlaws) from Arnaudville, La. It has been awhile since a good Cajun band has come through town, so grab it while you can.

And, thank you Ozark Blues Society. On Wednesday night, the organization is hosting a free show with two fabulous blues guitarists, Mato Nanji of the South Dakota band Indigenous and NWA’s own Kory Montgomery. The event is an appreciation night for OBS members and volunteers, but everyone is invited. OBS does some great work in NWA in bringing music to the schools and supporting the blues in general.

Next Thursday night Mike Rayborn who cuts it up on guitar and in the humor department will be at the Walton Arts Center. He’ll be embarking on an odyssey of masterful guitar and uproarious comedy bringing to the stage titles like “Bob Marley sings Garth Brooks,” “Led Zeppelin sings Dr. Seuss” and “Bruce Springsteen sings Green Acres.” Enjoy some good air-conditioned fun.

Nancy Cooper Maier wrote poetry, music and songs for decades. She was also the last editor of Fayetteville’s one-time alternative newspaper, the Grapevine. She died in February.

Maier finished a CD of children’s songs in 2008, but bouts with cancer prevented the CD’s official release. Her partner Marshall Carter, along with John Two Hawks and other area musicians will debut this CD, “Every Little Thing” at 7 p.m. Saturday at Fellowship Hall of the First United Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville.

Performances by Harmonia, Susan Shore, John Ray, Renee Janski, Two-Hawks and Maier’s Everyone Can Sing Community Choir will fill the evening with Maier’s original songs and diverse songs from around the world.

During her seven-year battle with cancer Maier increased her commitment to creativity and music. With Carter’s help she released her first CD, “ Love Again” in 2003, planted a peace garden, filled her home with bright acrylic paintings, added two more dogs to her existing three dog family and in 2006 began the Everyone Can Sing Choir.

Maier and Carter traveled to British Columbia where Maier graduated from the Getting Higher community choir leadership program. In subsequent years her work with both choir members and private individuals healed many an injured spirit with song.

Maier and her music were dedicated to the concept that it’s everyone’s right to sing. She believed that experiencing the harmony of voices creates an accord in the heart that can’t be duplicated. Her Everyone Can Sing Community Choir members will testify to that.

Continuing to sing and preparing for this concert after Maier’s death, provided a deep uplifting effect said choir members who are now led by one of their number, Sharon Donnelly.

Maier made a difference to Fayetteville. All who attend the concert are guaranteed to feel the beauty of her gifts, the songs that keep on singing. Proceeds from CD sales will benefit the Seven Hills Homeless Shelter and Spay Arkansas. Ginny Masullo

Celebrate Juneteenth

Celebrate the 145th anniversary of African American emancipation at a Juneteenth celebration from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at The Jones Center in Springdale.

On June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Tex., Union General Gordon Granger announced freedom for all slaves in the Southwest, the last major vestige of slavery in the U. S. After Granger’s reading of the order, former slaves celebrated jubilantly, establishing America’s second Independence Day celebration.

The NWA Juneteenth celebration will include a cookout, ice cream, guest speakers, music, games and inflatables for the kids, art displays and exhibits by local non-profit organizations. There will be a silent auction, which will benefit student scholarships at the University of Arkansas and Juneteenth T-shirts will be available for $10. This year’s keynote speaker is Paul Adams, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the UA. Free.

Party With The Dogs

Bring your dogs-or just yourself and your friends-to Dog Party USA on Saturday and howl at the summer sky in “Singing for Mutts & Meows.” Dog Party USA is hosting the benefit for Spay Arkansas, the local nonprofit organization that is working to establish a spay and neuter clinic in NWA.

This will be the first appearance by a new band, Shulertown (Shulertown, for you newbies, was the original name for the Dickson Street area). The band is made up of some veteran musicians-Jason Reddecliff, Charlie Platt, Owen McClung and Tom Lawson-who cut their chops in bands like Punkinhead, Ultra Suede, Jupiter Hollow and Mothership. Influences for the band’s original songs range from Johnny Cash to Dinosaur Jr. After showcasing some of their own songs, the band will lead a karaoke party. The fun begins at 5:30 p.m. A $15 cover (or $25 for two and younger than 12 free) gets you music, BBQ, hot dogs, libations and lots of fun. The event will end at dark. Dogs should be vaccinated and leashed.

New Music

This seems to be the week for new music, with a number of local bands rolling out new CDs and the premiere of a new musical.

Friday night, Strange Heroes will have a CD release party at George’s (see story on page 15). On Saturday night, the popular award-winning punker bluegrass band Cletus Got Shot will release their new CD “UnAmerican” at Smoke and Barrel. NAMA Band of the Year for 2009, 3 Penny Acre will have a CD release party at Greenhouse Grille on Sunday.

And, composer and musician Ryan Cockerham will rollout his musical, “Most Extreme Ocean Adventure” at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday at the University of Arkansas Fine Arts Concert Hall.

Cockerham, a prolific cutting edge composer whose music travels from sounds reminiscent of Phillip Glass to hip-hop, says he struggles with boredom, so he is continually re-inventing himself within the medium of sound. He recently released two CD’s, “Rapper’s Today Vol. 1″ by his hip-hop quartet The Strut and “Gypsy Dance.”

The new musical is based on Columbus’ voyage to America and uses Columbus’ ocean crossing as the subject of a popular reality show, in which the hero must battle sea monsters, storms and rescue famous historical figures from the unpredictable sea.

“I really want to push the bounds of this genre,” Cockerham said.

A trio of actors will fill the on-stage roles and Bob Mueller, professor of composition at the UA, will conduct the live orchestra. Admission is free.