#38. More Rioting, Regretfully Yours, A Lisbon Tale, Cam Time, TV Takes on the Moment
Throw these into the conversation.
If you’re receiving this missive for the first time, you may have come to one of my recent shows in CA. Welcome to my ‘widely read and highly acclaimed’ - at least in my mind - occasional newsletter of rantings / musings at the end of the world. I promise not to clutter up your Inbox but feel free to unsubscribe if you have no time for the unsolicited opinions of a hack comic / cabaret wannabe.
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1. RIOT ACT!
As I intimated above, I’m just back from a swing through the West Coast where I was thrilled to perform my solo stand-up cabaret in Palm Springs and San Francisco. It was great to take a break from the relentless churn of NYC and I enjoyed the easy-breezy vibe of CA. I got out before the more sinister darkness of the Left Coast- which I can also enjoy - fully emerged.
I was grateful that Steve Murray, who writes for Cabaret Scenes and Broadway World, came to the show and gave it such a rave review. Now, back in New York, I turn my attention to Red Eye in midtown where I’m bringing the show on Saturday, April 26 with a special appearance by downtown, performance art legend, Ms Penny Arcade who’s in top form. Smarter, looser and more wickedly funny than ever.
You’re invited, so get your tickets here.
2. Death in Suburbia
More than 100,000 New Yorkers leave the city each year, many in pursuit of buying their first home. But while life beyond the boroughs may offer the promise of driveways, front yards, and white picket fences, the banality of suburban life can leave ex-New Yorkers pining for the city they left behind.
I’m loving the latest hilarious ad campaign from Zillow’s NYC brand, StreetEasy.com, “Never Become a Former New Yorker,” which focuses on buyers contemplating a move out of the city and cautions them of the fate that could lie ahead. (Catch the video versions here.) Applying that snarky NYC sarcasm, the campaign depicts former New Yorkers out of their element in their new homes somewhere beyond the city limits. A reminder that the grass outside the city ain’t always so green, even though you’re more likely to find asphalt than a freshly mowed lawn in the Big Apple.
The ads suggest that leaving NYC isn’t a prerequisite for owning a home, and encourage New Yorkers to fulfill their dreams of homeownership in the city they know and love. Of course, that’s totally unrealistic and laughable but for a minute the amusing ads almost convince you it’s a possibility.
It’s so rare to see a witty advertising campaign these days, but StreetEasy has done two in a row over the past year. My new favorite brand - and I’ve never even used it.
Well done StreetEasy!
3. Our Man in Lisbon
It all started one drunken night in Lisbon sometime in the early 2000s. I was there with two friends from London and we were determined to drink the city dry in all its seediest gay venues. Like many a tourist we started way too early so by the time the locals came out to play we were pretty tipsy. I don’t recall the specifics but somehow we met the cheeky contemporary artist Mr Colin Ginks, recently returned from an extended stay in New York City and now making Lisbon his home. He shepherded us from bar, to nightclub, to after-party like a patient headmistress leading a field trip. Best of all he was sharp and funny and sexy, everything you want in a tour guide.
So began an acquaintance that’s carried on for over a decade primarily via social media. There was that one time he arranged for me to perform at a queer art festival in Lisbon and Porto. Of course I missed the flight and fucked up everything. Another time he dropped in on a stand-up set I was struggling through in London but was gracious over post-show drinks. And there’s been chatty, flirty online banter throughout.
Now, once again, I owe Colin an apology. I had promised to promote his recent exhibition “Je suis temporary”, at Casa do Comum, Lisbon but got all caught up and didn’t get this damn Substack up in time. Sorry, Colin!
So let me urge you follow his primary Instagram account and / or his ‘dirty little drawings’ account to get a sense of his kooky, sexy take on the world. While it’s informed by gay sex, it feels even more concerned with the fleeting, the accidental, and the banal but unknowable moments that typically go unnoticed yet somehow make our world so mysteriously unnerving.
As a British expat, Ginks’ outlook is global, his sense of humour off-kilter. He can’t help but take the piss. I wonder if that’s endeared him to the famously ‘tradition and family’-focused Portuguese. Nonetheless, he produces images, drawings, and videos that keep me guessing, amused and not infrequently strangely aroused. (His more florid gay imagery can be found here.) Check him out / give him a follow.
4. Cam Life
One way to escape our increasingly terrifying world is to travel deeper into the matrix of online content. Personally, I love an online cam. I’ve spent an embarrassingly long time navigating random cams via Explore.com, especially their collection of wildlife cams from around the world. The Jellyfish Cam from the Aquarium of the Pacific above is like a psychedelic acid trip. A reminder that the natural world is so much more fascinating than any technology our tech overlords try to push on us.
Are you a dog person but stuck in a tiny Manhattan apartment with barely enough room for your blow-up mattress much less a pet? Why not check out the Warrior Canine Connection puppy playroom cam? It’s as ridiculously adorable as it sounds.
Maybe you’re more of an exotic bird person. The Puffin Burrow is a fascinating look into the domestic world of the funny-looking weirdos of the bird world.
Or maybe animals bore you. Another suggestion is TV.garden, an easy-to-use website that lets you navigate the globe, click on any country and select a TV channel to see what happens to be streaming at that specific moment. The image below shows what was playing on Egypt’s Aghapy TV when I checked in. It looked like some sort of hearing from a Star Wars future world tribunal and was totally engrossing, for about 90 seconds. I soon switched to watch some sort of military operation happening live in Sri Lanka. I stuck with that for a moment or two then it was off to Poland, Guatemala and Taiwan.
If you’re looking to procrastinate, what better way than pressing your nose against the window of another exotic world? It’s certainly better than zoning out in front of reruns of How I Met Your Mother.
5. White Lotus / Adolescence
Here I was thinking ‘peak TV’had passed when along come two incredible series destined to be among the best and buzziest of 2025 and will no doubt be in the running when award season rolls around. Each one wrestled with critical aspects of the modern condition - alienation, despair, the impossibility of self-knowledge, and the seemingly universal feelings of dislocation in this era of late capitalism.
Mike White has built up a real head of steam with The White Lotus. The third instalment of this series felt deeper and even more considered than the last two. Instead of the more soapy topics of adultery and thievery, this season dove into the murky waters of spiritual sacrifice and the quest for fulfilment. At the root of each characters’ journey lay one key question: what must we give up to get what we want?
As usual, the story focused on the trials of mostly beautiful and wealthy people, but strip away the trappings of luxury and their experiences felt relatable. A dad whose greed threatens to undermine his whole family’s fragile sense of identity. Three middle-aged women learning to live with the choices they’ve made and the opportunities they’ve wasted. A broken man who can’t let go of his trauma and ultimately loses everything to pursue revenge. Others who must compromise their moral principles to secure earthly rewards.
My favourite moment came when the earnest college student realised that the spiritual nirvana she’d been sold, likely via TikTok videos, required a level of material sacrifice that she simply couldn’t bear. (‘The food’s not even organic!’) In a few hilarious lines of dialogue, White skewered the shallow performance of the spiritually pure - at least until they have to give up their 300 thread count bed sheets.
With a uniformly excellent yet quirky cast, there was much to enjoy in The White Lotus. I for one hope to see more of Tayme Thapthimthong, who played the conflicted security guard. His ability to communicate complex interior turmoil with minimal exterior drama put him at the head of the class in a show chock full of strong performances.
Adolescence, on the other hand, takes us to the all too familiar world of suburban family life rocked by tragedy. It’s the story of a 13 year old boy who’s internalised the extreme manhood rantings of sexist online charlatans and fatally lashed out at a classmate / bully. The killing throws the family into a the byzantine British criminal justice system where seeking justice means following an at-times bewildering process. More compellingly, the action reveals the terrifying and cruel world modern adolescents confront on their phones, in their schools and pretty much all around them every day. Is it any surprise their confidence is ground down, their resilience destroyed? Their minds are poisoned by the sexist Kool-aid of grievance. Is it any surprise they lash out - too often fatally - when they feel slighted or humiliated? It’s an incredibly dark take on the moment with stellar performances from the entire cast.
Notably, each episode is filmed as one shot leading to long moments where the characters simply sit with their emotions, the fistfight of conflicting thoughts raging in their heads. Every actor involved brought an authenticity and sensitivity to their roles that felt more like theatre than standard Netflix fare. No flash, no unnecessary histrionics, just the pain, confusion and despair that is too often the hallmark of contemporary life. Devastating.
What does it say that these two series have met with such critical and popular success in this moment? Both were technically brilliant in every aspect, even if The White Lotus could’ve been condensed an episode or two. Each one confronted major issues at the forefront of modern culture. The White Lotus took a fundamentally American approach — beautiful and entitled elites, playing out their spiritual struggles against a luxuriously exotic backdrop. Adolescence employed a gritty, British angle - a normal family at the fag-end of Empire, trying to avoid getting swallowed up by the rapacious, emptiness and violence of our modern world.
Without proposing answers each show raised important questions. Who are we today? How do we treat each other in these confusing times? How are we supposed to find hope in a world so devoid of enduring love, gentleness, and balance? What will save us from this bleak existence?
Answers on a postcard please.
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Final word from Squeeze.
parting shot
