ABOUT TOWN

PULLING SOME STRINGS

Puppets get no respect. When I gush about Labapalooza, an annual mini-festival of puppetry at St. Ann’s Warehouse in DUMBO, friends recoil and retort, “I’ve already seen Avenue Q,” or “Marionettes freak me out.” Busting past Sesame Street riffs, twee kiddie tales and the scary little guy from the Saw films, the Puppet Lab’s workshoppers brilliantly magnify the uncanny, discombobulating potential of their art. 

Players include traditional string-pullers as well as filmmakers, choreographers, sound designers and visual artists. Driven by experimentation, this seven year-old event dips into an ever-morphing arsenal of materials and sources—using film, shadows, overhead projections, intricately crafted objects (such as a toy, paper theater enclosed entirely in a suitcase) to reinterpret biographies, ancient myths and recent headlines. Past ‘paloozas have featured charcoal boys, porn-star tragedies, Trojan warriors, paranoid temps, singing used condoms and obscure anthropologists. This year’s installment of eight works-in-progress promises more epic, perverse, avant-garde fun, adding to the mix: Walt Whitman, ’50s suburbia, machine guns, ancient Welsh ritual and cooking shows. Take that, Howdy Doody. (Justin Ravitz)  

May 26-28. St. Ann’s Warehouse, 38 Water St., DUMBO, Brooklyn, 718-254-8779; Fri. & Sat. at 8, Sun. at 3, $20/$30.

Casino Royale Returns

Whether they admit it or not, most people who trek out to MOMA or the Guggenheim are out of their league, marveling at references to obscure movements and philosophies they know nothing about. Audiences keep going, though, just so we can tell our jealous friends we’ve also been to that same exhibit everybody else went to. Why kid yourself? If the closest you’ve ever come to really appreciating art is the posters in your dorm room, stick with what you know. The Posteritati Gallery is opening its exhibit of classic James Bond movie posters May 23. The pictures of spies, guns and not-quite-naked women are all stylized and cool-looking, and none of it is over your head. Best of all, not only are they vintage, but these posters are the rare, international kind, so that pretty much qualifies them as fine art. Plus, the show includes the old ad for “Casino Royale,” so when the remake comes out this November, you can still impress your dumb friends, and tell them the new poster’s OK, but you really like the original better. (Steven McCauley)

Through July 11. Posteritati Gallery, 239 Centre Street (betw. Broome & Grand Sts.), 212-226-2207.

FABULOUS L.E.S. FEST

Brush out that mullet and let your beard grow ’cause you don’t want to be seen in anything but the grungiest of gear for the L.E.S. Festival. But really, the event is all about the eclectic artistic diversity of the neighborhood with poetry, dancers and musicians all showing out. So drop the attitude and have fun. Just do the rest of us a favor, keep that cap on straight, the sideways thing—doesn’t work no more. (JP)

May 26-28. Theater for the New City, 155 1st Ave. (betw. E. 9th & 10th Sts.), 212-254-1109; free, Theaterforthenewcity.com.

FISHMAN DOES DYLAN

After wrapping up the 1966 tour that electrified some and outraged a whole lot more, Bob Dylan and the Band squirreled themselves away upstate for awhile and recorded over 50 songs, doodles and grand musical experiments that would become the most famous bootleg in history. A number of fans hold The Basement Tapes up as the greatest things he ever recorded. To celebrate Dylan’s 65th birthday, musical alchemist Howard Fishman and his various ensembles are going to hole themselves up in Joe’s Pub for three nights and perform their own takes on all those songs—including those bits not included on the official Basement Tapes release. It’ll be something to chew on for Dylan fans and skeptics alike. (Jim Knipfel)

May 26-28. Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette (betw. E. 4th & Astor Pl.), 212-239-6200; 7, $20-$45 all three nights.

CELEBRASIAN

Are you one of those people that are so PC they can’t stand it when someone says something a little off-color about someone of another race? Well, this is just gonna kill you. Following the example of, you-can’t-say-it-but-we-can (and will), Yellow Fever: Contagious Asian Comedy includes all the uncomfortable humor you can imagine. Slant is a sketch comedy pioneer (with a previous show titled “Big Dick Asian Men”), Thomas Teska hosts the longest running Asian stand up show, “Chopschtick,” Slanty Eyed Mama is a combo of hip-hop and comedy and The Notorious MSG (pictured below) are rap stars straight from MTV-Chi. Get the picture. You’re supposed to laugh at them, and it’s all a benefit for the Coalition for Asian Children and Families—so you’ll feel good about it, too. (Jerry Portwood)

May 25. Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St. (at 4th St.), 212-239-6200; 7, $18 + 2 drink minimum. 

FLIPPING GALS & FLYING GUYS

Women twirling and flipping from chandeliers. Men standing upright inside hoola hoops swirling their bodies around the stage. High flying couples tossing each other from swing to swing. You can’t possibly imagine the tricks and treats you’ll see at Cirque Du Soleil’s latest NYC incarnation, Corteo. Fifty-five artists from 16 different countries redefine the springboard and tightwire and allow the audience to feel like a kid again (if you’re into that sort of thing). Escape to Randall’s Island for two hours of ooohing and awwwing, and then resign yourself to the fact that since you haven’t yet performed a single acrobatic feat, you’ve completely wasted your life. (Jessica Koslow)

Through July 2. Grand Chapiteau at Randall’s Island, East & Harlem Rivers, 800-678-5440; $60-$95, Cirquedusoleil.com.