I Sing Solo Dino Ukulele Songs at A Manhattan Comedy Show!

That’s right, kids and cadets, This Monday I’ll be performing none other than the famous Spot the Elusive Dinosaur’s Ukulele theme along with several other brand new dinosaur songs and short performance bits as part of

ROCKET TALK!
Monday, July 26 · 8:00pm – 11:30pm
8:00PM
A scientific comedy show
Hosted by Becky Ferreira
National Underground – 159 e. Houston
This month’s theme: DINOSAURS

Comedy by: Boris Khaykin | Amber Nelson | Dan Gurewitch
Musical guest: Marty Allen
And your house band: Cloud Chamber

Then stick around for….
ANNETTE FUNICELLO’S BEACH PARTY

TELL FACEBOOK EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO!

City Pushes Unconstitutional Rules Forward!

Sad News: The City of New York and its Parks department have denied the injunction against the new rules that will drastically limit the number of artists allowed to sell in New York’s Parks.

The good news: I WILL STILL BE SET UP THE FIRST DAY THE NEW RULES GO INTO EFFECT, ON MONDAY MORNING, JULY 19 IN PROTEST! PLEASE JOIN ME IN UNION SQUARE PARK TO FIGHT FOR THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND OUR CITY! t

(if you want to catch me before things get super-political, I will be out selling in Union Square Park on these last two days of “legal” sales, this Saturday and Sunday, July 17-18)

I also stronlgly encourage you to still mouth off to the city:
WHO DO I WRITE TO?
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
PHONE 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC)

FAX (212) 312-0700

E-MAIL:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html

Alessandro G. Olivieri, General Counsel, Department of Parks &
Recreation, The Arsenal, Central Park, 830 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10065, by April 23, 2010.
You may also send your letter to this email
address: alessandro.olivieri@parks.nyc.gov

and you should also send the same email to the
Parks Commissioner, Adrian Benepe.
His email address is:
Adrian.Benepe@parks.nyc.gov

JAWS: The Musical

Hi internet.  I once again won’t be out selling this weekend (last weekend I was on tour with Uncle Monsterface).

This weekend I star as QUINT in JAWS, The Musical!
FACEBOOK INVITE HERE!
**Performances are FREE!!
June 10, 11 @ 8pm
June 12 @ 7pm
at
The Creek & The Cave
1093 Jackson Ave
Long Island City, NY

THIS SHOW IS AMAZING!

who to write to, what to write

a lot of people have been asking what they can do to support the cause (if you don’t already know, NYC and the parks are trying to drastically limit the number of artists allowed on our parks, which would in its turn destroy my livelihood and pave the way for some of the final moves in transforming nyc into a giant theme park) and what they should write.  see below for both, please help us out if you disagree with the powers that be…

WHO DO I WRITE TO?
Alessandro G. Olivieri, General Counsel, Department of Parks &
Recreation, The Arsenal, Central Park, 830 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10065, by April 23, 2010.
You may also send your letter to this email
address: alessandro.olivieri@parks.nyc.gov

and you should also send the same email to the
Parks Commissioner, Adrian Benepe.
His email address is:
Adrian.Benepe@parks.nyc.gov

WHAT SHOULD I WRITE?
Here is a sample letter to use as a guide. Ideally, put it in your own words. If you can’t, just use this as your letter. These letters will all become evidence in any lawsuit we end up filing to stop these rules, so please use common sense. No cursing or insults. Just make it very clear that you oppose the new rules.

SAMPLE LETTER:
Dear Commissioner Benepe and Mr. Olivieri,
I am a [where you are from and what your relationship is to park artists - Example: "a resident New Yorker who often frequents Union Square and delights in the artists found in the park every day"].  I have read the proposed Park rules for artists and strongly object to them. No new laws or rules are needed. The existing NYC vending laws and the existing Parks Department rules are not being enforced. If there is a problem with vending in Parks, it makes sense to use the existing laws and rules. These proposed rules favor non-First Amendment vending concessions, Holiday Markets, corporate promotions and Greenmarkets over the rights of First Amendment protected artists. I ask you to stop harassing the street artists of NYC and to not pass these proposed rules.

Sincerely Yours,
(Your name and email or address)
———

You can also attend the public hearing, which will be held at 11AM on April 23, 2010 at the Chelsea Recreation Center on 430 West 25th Street.

The A.R.T.I.S.T. organization is organizing a protest before the
hearing, at 10AM. I will be there.

Thanks so much for your time and consideration.

Yours,
Marty

NYC Street Art in Parks is in Danger

Friends and supporters:

The City of New York and the Parks Department is currently trying to put a measure through that would drastically limit the number of artists allowed to set up in NYC’s public parks, effectively eliminating and marginalizing the livelihood of myself and that of hundreds of other independent working artists. While the Parks Department claims that these new rules are in the interest of alleviating congestion, the rules single out independent artists and are designed to create more room for private concessions in public parks.

Here is a recent article that examines many sides of the situation, please take a moment to look it over.

Scroll further to see links to actual proposals as well as more media coverage.

Take a moment and please judge for yourself.  If you feel passionately about this issue, I ask you to please take action.

Some suggestions:

* Submit testimony to the Parks Department’s legal counsel, Alessandro Olivieri, before April 23. His email is:
alessandro.olivieri@parks.nyc.gov

* Write to Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe
http://nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildpr.html
* Write to Mayor Bloomberg at City Hall

* Write to Deputy Commissioner Kevin Jeffrey, Parks Enforcement
kevin.jeffrey@parks.nyc.gov

*You can attend the public hearing, which will be held at 11AM on April
23, 2010 at the Chelsea Recreation Center on 430 West 25th Street.

*The A.R.T.I.S.T. organization (of which I am an active member) is organizing a protest before the hearing, at 10AM. I will be there.

Continue reading ‘NYC Street Art in Parks is in Danger’

Street Sales April 2-4

I will be out selling Sock Puppet Portraits in New York’s Union Square Park

Friday, April 2 – Sunday April 4, weather, inventory, and strength permitting.

Come, give me high fives and check out the New Series 3 Sock Puppet Portraits!

lovemarty

upcomin hoursz

Hello Citizens,
Awesome to meet so many new folks this past weekend (March 20)!  The new Series 3 Sock Puppet Portraits found many new homes (and they’re coming SOON to this web site with more crazy news…)

Alas, I won’t be selling this weekend (March 26) due to a previous engagement.  I’m going to make an effort to be around for Sunday, March 28, sales, though right now the report says rain.

After that, regular schedule should resume of as many Fridays-Sundays as possible, with as many sunny days where I can find a dog walker in between.

Dying for Sock Puppet Portrait stuff?  Listen to some songs on the Myspace!  Join the Society and Take the Quiz on the Facebook!  Listen to the multimedia sock puppet and human rock band!  Watch crazy videos!

lovemarty

I Will Be Out Selling This Weekend! With New Puppet Portraits!

My first day of sales will be:
FRIDAY, March 19 (weather permitting).
(and then I’ll hopefully be out all weekend)
I was originally intending to be out last weekend, but it got all gross out.  Blek.
I will have all 9 new puppet portraits as well as the new 2010 back-tags for all of the puppets.
Unfortunately, the following weekend of March 26 I’ll be out of town, though I’m going to try to be in town to sell on Sunday, March 28.
In general, my tentative hope and plan is to sell my work out in New York’s Union Square Park
Friday thru Sunday.
This is weather permitting, and whether or not I have enough stuff to sell and if there is a rock show that weekend. As ever, I’ll try to post my potential hours up on my blog at martystuff.com the Thursday prior to the weekend, and you can always write to me if you’re having trouble finding me, or if you just want to tell me that I’m handsome or smart…

And if it’s really nice out and I have someone to walk our dog, I could well be out on other weekdays, too…

Final Sock Puppet Songs! Herb Bloomquist sings about Earth Science!

It’s
A NEW SONG BY HERB BLOOMQUIST!
featuring guest-collaborator PERFECT JIMMY of Uncle Monsterface and Big Castle Productions!

Listen on the Myspace. We realize that Myspace is no longer the place to be for the humans, but it’s totally the in thing for the socks. Check out some of the comments they make on each other’s profiles while you’re there…

And just for added fun, and though he already had one, here’s ONE MORE UKULELE SONG by Spot the Elusive Dinosaur!

For the under-educated, Herb, Auntie Nanaface, and Spot are from 2008-9’s Series 2 Sock Puppet Portraits, all of whom have songs they wrote themselves.

The final three songs that have taken a bit longer have each been collaborations with artists who I adore (Sebastian’s was with Paradise Dan of Uncle Monsterface). This final song is a collaboration with Perfect Jimmy, and it’s ver appropriate that this should be so. You see, Perfect Jimmy and I have been successfully collaborating for well over a decade. Which is crazy (we even collaborate on taking care of our dog…). Jims went all out on this one, lending not only his vocal talents, but also creating the whole composition you hear. Above and beyond the call of greatness…

New Sock Puppet Song! Learn about Manners with Nanaface!

Greetings, beautiful humans,

I am busily working on a new series of puppets and other wonderments for your benefit and mine.  I won’t be returning to the streets o NY to peddle my wares until March, but while we all wait, here is

A NEW SONG BY AUNTIE NANAFACE!

featuring guest star (and heart-friend)  Jocelyn Mackenzie of the fabulous Brooklyn-based trio Pearl and the Beard!
Listen on Myspace…  We realize that Myspace is no longer the place to be for humans, but it’s totally the in thing for socks.  Check out some of the comments they make on each other’s profiles while you’re there…

For the under-educated, Auntie Nanaface is from 2008-9’s Series 2 Sock Puppet Portraits, all of whom have (or will have) songs they wrote themselves.  Auntie Nanaface is the second-to-last to be released – these final 3 all feature guest rock stars!

One more to go (Herb Bloomquist!), who will hopefully be done next week, and lots of new dudes to come.

So excitingggggg!

lovemarty