RETURN OF THE UKULELE CABARET

The ever righteous Uke-Piker Mary J. Martin-Schaefer and WOMR DJ Host of Mary's Ukulele Show got some press and props on THE NEW YORKER online



The Ukulele Cabaret is back, at a new venue: the Zipper Factory, at 336 West Thirty-seventh Street, which feels like New Jersey after the earlier venue (the back room at Jimmy’s 43, down the street from McSorley’s and Burp Castle, on East Seventh, closed down last May). At the season opener, in November, the hosts, Sonic Uke (a.k.a. Jason Tagg and Ted Gottfried), welcomed back many of the regulars, some twenty-four acts, itching to take the stage after a five-month hiatus. They’ll no doubt be back at the next installment of the Cabaret, on Saturday. There’s D’yan Forest, a seventy-four-year-old stand-up comedian, whose standard is “Thank Heaven for Senior Sex” (after Maurice Chevalier) and whose act sometimes includes penis puppets. Moose Karloff, a performing musicologist, continues his homage to pre-British-invasion American songwriters. Last month, Gio Gaynor did an awe-inspiring heavy-metal uke version of Jimi Hendrix’s electric-guitar version of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” in honor of the election. Of the many women who come out for the cabaret (Dana McCoy, Sweet Soubrette, and this weekend Mary J. Martin-Schaefer, a.k.a. the Uke Diva—she has played her ukulele for the Queen of England), one of the most anticipated is always Jamie Scandal, whose act owes a lot to Mae West. (Last month, she got a request from the balcony: “Could you hold your ukulele a little lower, please?”) Also on the bill this weekend is the excellent Patsy Monteleone, whom all the other players idolize. Last month, it was almost 2 A.M. before Jason and Ted took the stage and invited all the performers up for the finale, their ukulele anthem, “Four Strings or Fight.” This time, for variety, maybe they’ll finish with “Ukuleles of Love.”