Harry Houdini

If Only Oz the Great and Powerful Had A Wizard

Sorry James Franco, this Oz is neither great nor powerful

Free Will Astrology: October 24-30, 2012

The Melvins, Globe-Trotting Men of Metal

Destined to be in the Guinness book of world records, or die trying

Who Should Star In The Broadway Musical Of Magic Mike?

There was talk of just such a project right before the male-disrobing epic opened, and since it had a boffo (or buff-o?) weekend at the box office, the musical will surely come. And I know who should star! It has to be the Broadway types I've pictured for you; these guys have truly got it and know ... More >>

Percy Sledge's "When A Man Loves A Woman" Gets A Little Too Close To "The Talk" For Comfort

This month, to celebrate the Internet's unbridled love for wallowing in nostalgia and even greater relishing of talking about why certain cultural artifacts are horrible, Sound of the City presents First Worsts, a series in which our writers remember the first time... they ever hated a song enough t ... More >>

Yankee From Bama David Robertson Could Be Team's Most Important Reliever

Check any sports page or web site today and you're bound to find some story to the tune of "The Biggest Question Marks For The Yankees." Sample: "Can Mariano continue to defy age?" and "How long can Derek Jeter continue to play shortstop?" and "Can A-Rod avoid injury and get back on track?" and "Can ... More >>

Download: Hunny's Bruising, Crashing "I'm History"

​Hunny is the turn-of-the-millenium "return of the rock" played out in real time; it formed when the members of YIMBY-approved Staten Island dance-pop crew Paragraph got bored with glossy beats and threw their drum machines in the trash. The bruising grunge-metal gnashers' debut I'm History w ... More >>

Michael Cirino Wanted to Butcher Himself Out of A Whole Steer for Meatopia

Mike Cirino, culinary madman. ​You might have heard of Michael Cirino, the culinary mastermind behind A Razor, A Shiny Knife, after his infamous L train luncheon landed on the pages of the New York Times. Now he's trying something equally as crazy: cooking an entire steer whole for the upcomin ... More >>

The Melvins' Power Disinfectant

How their sludgy 1992 album Lysol became the blueprint for the metal underground

Theater Bar Illusionist-Mixologist Jeff Grow Reveals the Tricks of His Trade

Jeff Grow, mixologist-illusionist.​ Jeff Grow has a title you don't come across very often. He's a 'bar illusionist' at Albert Trummer's recently opened-to-the-public Theater Bar (114 Franklin Street) in Tribeca. He discusses just how manages to mix drinks with magic and why the two are a grea ... More >>

Bronx Zoo Cobra Name Contest Disappointing So Far

​It's time for us to get serious about naming the Bronx Zoo cobra. The submissions are rolling in and they're terrible. The Houdini theme is popular (get it -- because she escaped out of her cage): "Bronxdini," "Zoodini," etc. Jesus -- Bronxdini? "Twitter" is also an early front-runner.

A McGovern Voter Absolves the Nixonian Majority

​Clip Job: an excerpt every day from the Voice archives. November 23, 1972, Vol. XVII, No. 47 Let George undo it by Joe Flaherty Well, with the election over and the inevitable results in, the inevitable has happened -- the pogrom has begun. Not, however, the one that was expected. In a perv ... More >>

Minnie, the McSorley's Cat, Dishes About Her Sex Life, Beer Preferences, and How She Feels About Bowery Gentrification (EXCLUSIVE!)

Courtesy Minnie McSorley, from her Facebook page​Yesterday we mentioned that Minnie, the McSorley's cat facing a lawsuit from a woman who claims she was "seriously injured" by the mid-sized feline, has a Facebook page. Curious to hear Minnie's perspective on her legal drama, we got in touch, a ... More >>

Cuffed Fugitive in Leg Irons Uses Knees to Drive Away in Police Car

Not as easy as it looks!​Let no one say that Jose Rodriguez, 27, is not good with his knees. After being apprehended by police this afternoon in a Fort Lee Holiday Inn parking lot for questioning in a nonfatal shooting, plus charges of DUI and parole violation, he managed a movie-esque escape, ... More >>

THE MAGIC MAN

Move over, David Blaine

Negative Plane Will Not 'Friend' You

Eerie Brooklyn metalheads dig deep and listen to the bells

Suggested Afternoon Listening: NYC Taper's Boot Of Friday Night's Melvins Show At Webster Hall

​As documented by our own Phil Freeman, deathless, matchless sludge-rockers the Melvins joined the farewell-tour-bound Isis for a Friday-night Webster Hall headbanging spectacular, and NYT Taper was there; though Isis are audio-taping-averse, the Melvins set alone is pretty stupendous, if only ... More >>

Ragtime and The Brother/Sister Plays Spin Black American History into Folk Tales

Crazy Yankee Chick: My Head Still Hurts

​I love Yankee fans. Depressed and devastated over Game 1's loss and being antagonized by pathetic assholes who have nothing in their life beyond taking joy in someone else's misery, I got my rejuvenation from other Yank fans. Who all agreed we're down, but not out. Not by a long shot. How ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: The First Cut is The Deepest: Yanks' postseason win streak ends

​I don't know if I should be writing this right now. I have a hair trigger temper when it comes to baseball, and an uncensored tongue when it comes to lashing out at, well, anyone who crosses my path after a loss. It may well be the most telling litmus test of my friends. The ones who try to ... More >>

Free Will Astrology: July 8 through 14

The Melvins

New Inaugural Balls Added to Tonight's Program

I-minus zero! Today, in addition to the swearing-in and speechifying, it is announced Obama will attend 10 inaugural balls: five for regions of the country, one apiece for the Obama and Biden home states, a Youth Ball, and the Commander-in-Chief's Ball with the military. But we are told there has ... More >>

Nixzmary Brown's Stepfather Guilty of Manslaughter

Goldfrapp's Seventh Tree

Seamless but faceless electro-pop for yawning arenas

True Crit

In two new compact volumes, Edmund Wilson still looms large

Whose Nostalgia?

No R.I.P. for the rock album just yet—Sonic Youth's seminal Daydream Nation lives again at McCarren Pool.

Love, the Magician

Rinne Groff's conjuring act pulls off a hell of a trick

From a Different Place

The notorious K.I.M. finally lets the sex boasts go and spits from her gut

Houdini and Holmes Creator Debate Fairies, Ghosts, Miracles

Impermanent Wave

Steel Magnolias gives women what they want, but not the quality they deserve.

Dance

Fringe NYC Gets All Het Up

Organ Harvesting, Leprechauns, Thoreau's Alien Abduction, and the HMS Donkeyballs

Swept Away

On Still Being Smitten With Matthew Barney

Listings

Only Angels Have Rings

Pick Up the Ball, Barry. Pick It Up.

Close Up On: Inwood

Into the Snow Zone

The Shape of Things to Come

The Man Who Wasn't There

Here’s to the Losers

Thanks for the Memories, You Yankee Role Players. Now Get Out of Here.

The Trouble With Harry

Parlez-Vous Français?

French Tries, by Romanian Eugene Ionesco, Come Alive

Horoscope

Opposing Forces

Techno Madness

The Escapist

Dead Dogs Roll Over

Burt Reynolds and Bobby Simone Pass in the Night

NY Mirror

When I asked Jane Horrocks if she's a gay man trapped in a woman's body, she said, 'No! If so, I haven't discovered it!'

Circus Minimus

Jennifer Miller Wows 'Em in the Nabes