Singer-pianist Steven Lowenthal has been a highly-visible presence on the piano bar scene for over three-and-a-half decades, and yet has always been something of an enigma. Known not only for playing every song by ear but having a dazzlingly-vast repertoire of nearly any and every musical style and thousands of songs therein, Lowenthal as a musician has always displayed utter confidence and showmanship. But Lowenthal as a person has never, until now, been particularly forthcoming about his past, or what led him to the piano bars of New York.

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Q.: What is more foolish than a Gay man going on about Judy Garland?

A.: A Gay man going on about Ethel Merman.

At the beginning of each month, I generally peruse the upcoming celebrity birthday list to get ideas for my column. January runs the gamut from Adam Lambert (age 29) to Joan of Arc (599), with stops along the way for Elvis Presley (76), Richard Nixon (98), Cary Grant (107) and Mozart (255).

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I have been attempting to not write about The Human Centipede, written and directed by Tom Six of the Netherlands, since I saw it one fateful evening last spring, on the IFC pre-theatre release series.   A perverse buddy of mine, a horror aficionado, decided to treat me to a pay-per-view at 2am, something I would never do, as I austerely hold out till a pic is on Netflix.   I found  THC so grotesquely fascinating that I could not stop thinking or talking about it (to my repulsed audience) for weeks.   It took some time, but my compulsion abated until two things occurred.  The In-Demand release of the much touted Black Swan (Director - Darren Aronofsky/Mark HeymanAndres Heinz – screenwriters)  and the surprise appearance of THC On-Demand on IFC - not to mention the fact that it is streaming on Netflix in perpetuity.

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The Face Off Unlimited comedic improv troupe comes at you like a surreal tornado, in their East Village based Japanese game-show BATSU!

Joe Tex, a mordant comic genius, Eric Robinson, a galvanizing stage presence who is a consummate master of frenzied unpredictability, and Jay Painter, whose sly witticisms and atmospheric guitar playing skillfully escalate the madness, form the heart of the troupe.

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