joe mazza 

                                                              

                                                                                                                                                       

                                                                                "Like a well-made cocktail, a skillful blend of various potent elements,

                                                                                                    this entertainment will slide down easily, refreshingly, but upon digestion,

                                                                                                    can deliver one hell of a kick. Frankly, amazing." 

                                                                                                                                                                         The Happiest Medium, NYC

 

             puppets  

                                                             pictures 

             playwrighting (Eugene O'Neill semi-finalist, 2008)

             films of live performances   

                          Or (feature length film -- in production)

                                                             click on the picture to go to the Or channel on vimeo

                                                            

 

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 The Hyperbolist 

          "One of the most inventive productions at this year's New York Fringe."     Jon Sobel, blogcritics.org, NYC

                                                                                                   

         "An archly conceived puppet show."     The Chicago Tribune

   

         "Mazza works his puppets with sublime subtlety."     The Chicago Reader

 

 

                                                         

         The Hyperbolist in the NY Times multimedia slideshow 

       September 2010 

       Thanks to Christopher at The Paper Machete for having me by to do an excerpt from The Hyperbolist.

       Thanks to Chad Brown, Jack Tamburri, and everybody at The Plagiarists for asking me to curate SIXTEEN A Plagiarists Salon.  Dr. Folderol was quite    

       content to lecture.

       Thanks to everybody who came out to both shows-- what a warm and awesome welcome.

       And-- a big thanks to Kelly Kleimen for the kind mention of my appearance at The Paper Machete on WBEZ's 848 during last Friday's show. 

 

       It's great to be back.

 

 

                       Some words about The Hyperbolist, HERE, Dorothy B. Williams Theatre, NY.  August 2010.

              Blogcritics, Jon Sobel 

              A Year of Plays, Anna Moore

 

            

 

 

                                              

 

                The Anatomy of the Flea -- SIXTEEN - A Plagiarists Salon, Chicago from Joe Mazza on Vimeo.

           

                The Hyperbolist -- excerpt -- HERE, Dorothy B. Williams Theatre, NY from Joe Mazza on Vimeo.

 

 

 

 

  Look out below for news about what's been happening lately (and long before lately)...      

 

         The Hyperbolist has been extended!  If you couldn't make it to the show at HERE,

      catch the show at HORSE TRADE this weekend. 

             7pm

            September 2 -- 5, 2010

             The Red Room 

             85 E 4th St. NY, NY 

 

              Thanks to everybody at FringeNYC and HERE Arts Center for all the kindness and hospitality!

The Hyperbolist is a grandiloquent farce of tiny proportion about one desperate human's search

for love in a world that offers mostly rakes to step on.  In what the Chicago Tribune called, "an archly conceived puppet show,"

Joe Mazza uses a gaggle of puppets, film, and interactive live performance to explore our collective definition of love.

 

The show is Leo Buscaglia meets David Lynch.  It's the Brothers Quay-- only live.  There's flea circus brutality, a puppet crucifixion,

and an assignment at the end to run into the streets to smile at strangers.  It's a fun and exhausting introduction into Joe Mazza's

phantasmagorically raucous world.

 

Greg Allen, Founding Director of The Neo-Futurists and creator of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind

called the show, "Beautiful and funny and tragic all simultaneously.  He had my eyes welling up within three minutes of the start; right after I chuckled."

 

      Written and performed by Joe Mazza.  Puppets, sets, and films also by Joe Mazza.

      Directed by Dan Kerr-Hobert, Joe Mazza, and Susan Ask

                    

         August 2010

                                  SAT 14 @ 2:30 -- SUN 15 @ 8:30 -- FRI 20 @ 8:45 -- SUN 22 @ 9:45 -- THUR 26 @ 6 -- FRI 27 @ 7

                                  VENUE #18: HERE Dorothy B. Williams Theater

                                   145 6th Ave, New York, NY

                                  Running Time: 60 minutes Tickets: $15-$18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     very old news...

 

      +   Phantasmagoric-- I was just invited to apply for a Jim Henson Grant!  The clay is moist, the sketches are on the board, 

          and my 1961 Singer Rocketeer is just back from the garage.

 

      +   Come and check out five of my new puppets in, "The Dolls of J" show at the Eyeporium Gallery 1543 N Milwaukee. 

           The opening is October 16 7pm-10.  The show runs until November 7. 

 

      +   November 7, I'll be doing a short piece, Fou-ha-ha!, at a benefit for the typhoon vittims of the Philippines, KAPWA, at The Rizal Center--

          along with egregiously talented folks like Taylor Bibat and Alex Balestrieri.  More details on the way.

 

      +   I'll be performing a new piece, Egad!  My Lips Are Moving!, at The Solarium-- a fantastic and intimate venue for new

          and edgy work-- on November 14. 

 

      +   Some of my short puppet films will be featured in the screening of "Short Sighted" which is part of the Heartland Exhibition

          at The Smart MuseumUniversity of Chicago, on December 3rd.  Admission is free and there will be live music-- and food!     

 

 

 

    + In Absurdum-- my new solo-show-- went up at the Building Stage's Summer Series for three weeks, August, 2009.

          Thanks to all who joined us and also to my special guests-- Allison Daniel and her One Flea Circus.        

 

 

 

               + The Walls  (Jeff Nominated)

 

           Come and see-- I created the puppets and choreographed the puppet sequences for

         Rivendell Theatre Ensemble's, The Walls, by Lisa Dillman which opened at the Steppenwolf Garage on May 13, 2009.

         I'm also performing the preshow which takes place in the lobby of the theatre.  And-- The Walls is Jeff Recommended.

                                          

           The Walls is about a scholarly young woman who must confront the issue of her mother's untimely death and

         the possible consequences of her own complicated inheritance in this time-bending play about the elusive nature

         of madness.  This is a world premiere of a collaborative, ensemble based work exploring women and madness

         and the link to creative genius. Commissioned by RTE in 2005, it has been developed through ongoing workshops

         and retreats over the past four years.

                                                                                                        

                                                                                          

          Chicago Sun Times                    Centerstage              The Reader

          "Stunning World Premiere"         "Must See Show"        "Full of compelling details conveyed with great nuance"

 

           Robertianish

           "sensational performances from a diverse and daring cast"

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 
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