At 8:13 p.m. an 11-piece Balkan brass band kicked off the night.
By 8:34, a human rights lawyer had been turned into a living ventriloquist dummy.
It wasn’t even nine o’clock yet when a naked woman popped out of an enormous balloon. (We didn’t see that one coming).
After that, things started to get a little crazy.
Last night, Reasons to be Cheerful’s second annual variety show, Amazing Humans Doing Amazing Things, once again earned its title. A head-spinning parade of comedians, magicians, burlesque performers, gospel singers, world-champion beatboxers and avant-garde absurdists had the sold-out New York City theater laughing, cheering and — more than once — gasping. Inspirational, RTBC-produced films showed young people building boats in the Bronx and asylum seekers putting down roots in the U.S. At the close of the night, the crowd was on its feet for a 1,500-person sing-along to the Talking Heads classic “Slippery People,” performed by David Byrne, Annie and The Caldwells, and the rest of the evening’s stellar lineup.
If you were in the audience, thank you so much for supporting Reasons to be Cheerful. This annual show takes months of planning and its success as a fundraiser is a big reason we can produce stories of solutions all year long. If you couldn’t make it, we hope to see you there next year. In the meantime, here are some photos from an unforgettable night.
Photos by Emilio Herce
