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| American stand-up comedian Dan “Gonzo” Machanik returns to the Comedy Club tomorrow for his Comedy Raj Tour, featuring new material inspired by a recent trip to India. Machanik, who bases much of his material on fictionalized accounts of his travels, got his start as a stand-up comic two decades ago at comedy shows in Aspen, Colorado, and New York. A regular performer in Taiwan, Machanik had a few gigs in the US last year and is getting ready for a tour in Shanghai and Beijing later this month. Tonight’s show is in English and is not suitable for the easily offended. Also at the Comedy Club this weekend, guitarist Kester Jones and violinist Kaiven Chen play jazz and classical ballads tonight. Prior to Machanik’s show tomorrow, there’s an Evening of Magic (魔幻之夜): six Taiwanese magicians and host Yu Mao (羽毛). On the Net: english.comedy.com.tw ▲ Comedy Club, B1, 24 Taishun St, Taipei City (台北市泰順街24號B1). For reservations, call (02) 2369-3730
▲ Evening of Magic starts at 8:30pm tonight and 8pm tomorrow. Kester Jones and Kaiven Chen perform tonight at 10:30pm. Dan Machanik performs tomorrow at 10pm ▲ Tickets for Machanik’s show are NT$300 and include a coupon for slice of pizza and one drink. NT$80 beer specials all night. Tickets for the magic show are NT$350 both nights and NT$200 for tonight’s music show. |  Stand-up comedian Dan “Gonzo” Machanik performs at Taipei’s Comedy Club tomorrow as part of his Comedy Raj tour. PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL GEIER |
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| The 2008 Taiwan Women Theater Festival (肆無忌憚—第四屆女節) kicks off its fourth edition next week with theater, workshops, conferences and a film screening. The festival showcases five pieces staged by Taiwan-based theater companies, including Women With Suitcases (拎著提箱的女人), Bu Fen (不分), Between (可以不存在), The Enemy Within (我的敵人) and My Angel Friends (我的天使朋友). British playwright Helen Paris will perform her Family Hold Back and hold a weeklong theater workshop. The festival is accompanied by a conference on women’s theater. The film shows footage of live performances by UK-based women artists. On the Net: blog.roodo.com/womenfest2008. ▲ Guling Street Theater (牯嶺街小劇場), 2, Ln 5, Guling St, Taipei City (台北市牯嶺街5巷2號)
▲ May 15 to June 1
▲ Tickets are NT$500, available through NTCH ticketing
|  The Taiwan Women Theater Festival happens only once every four years. PHOTO COURTESY OF TAIWAN WOMEN THEATER FESTIVAL
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Theater
《收信快樂》by Off Performance Workshop (外表坊時驗團) tells the story of two people exchanging letters over a forty-year period, their experiences and loves.
▲ Huashan Cultural and Creative Industry Center (華山創意文化園區), 1, Bade Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市八德路一段1號)
▲ Today, tomorrow, Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 8pm
▲ Tickets are NT$500 and are available through NTCH ticketing
▲ The Bamboo Curtain Studio (竹簾工作室), 36, Ln 88, Zhongcheng E Rd Sec 2, Danshui, Taipei County (台北縣淡水鎮中正東路二段88巷36號)
▲ Today, tomorrow and Sunday at 8pm and Sunday at 9pm (Note: All performances except Sunday at 9pm are sold out)
▲ Tickets are NT$400 and are available through NTCH ticketing
▲ Guling Street Theater (牯嶺街小劇場), 2, Ln 5, Guling St, Taipei City (台北市牯嶺街5 巷2號)
▲ Tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$300 and are available through NTCH ticketing
Taiwan’s raucous legislature and zany television shows are some of the fodder for
▲ Kaohsiung City Cultural Center (高雄文化中心至善廳), 67 Wufu 1st Rd, Kaohsiung City (高雄市五福一路67號)
▲ Tomorrow at 7:30pm
▲ Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500 and are available through NTCH ticketing
我們 Women uses the American solo performance techniques of Verbatim Theater and Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints Method from New York to examine a full spectrum of issues: from university scandals to espionage, sex and power to giving birth in a chicken. This bilingual performance incorporates movement, sound, comedy, and drama in a melange of dramatic plots. Brought to you by American actress and director Miriam Mikiel Grill.
▲ Admission is NT$300. Call 093-534-3484 or 0989-760-032 for tickets. Leave a message with your name, number of tickets, phone number and the performance date
▲ Tonight, tomorrow, Sunday, May 16 and May 17 at 7:30pm
▲ The Zoo, 68 Daguan Rd, Taichung City (台中市大觀路68號)
Classical music
Passionate Strings — NSO Tchaikovsky Cycle 9 (NSO發現柴科夫斯基9 — 揮灑奔騰) sees Taiwan’s National Symphony Orchestra (國家交響樂團) performing under the baton of guest conductor Alexander Vedernikov. The program features solo violinist Ilya Grubert and includes Tchaikovsky’s Coronation March, Op. 50 and his Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, along with Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 in B-Flat Major, Op. 100. There will be a pre-concert lecture in the 1F lobby of the National Concert Hall given by Peng Kuang-lin (彭廣林).
▲ Sunday at 2:30pm
▲ National Concert Hall, Taipei City
▲ Tickets are NT$300 to NT$1,500 and are available through NTCH ticketing
The Man in His Image — NCO Music Doorway Series With Tsai Shih-ping (NCO音樂與蔡詩萍 — 男回歸線) follows on from a concept initiated in 2006 that involves cooperation between the National Chinese Orchestra (國家國樂團) and well-known authors. This year, the author is Tsai Shih-ping (蔡詩萍), whose work focuses on deconstructing stereotypical images of men and contemplates the results of breaking traditional boundaries.
▲ Tomorrow at 7:30pm
▲ National Recital Hall, Taipei City
▲ Tickets are NT$400 to NT$600 and are available through NTCH ticketing
Little Universe — Ars Trio Taipei (印象三重奏團 — 小宇宙) sees the local trio performing Bartok’s Romanian Dances and Ravel’s Five Greek Songs, both world premieres of a new arrangement for trio and piano, as well as Smetana’s Moldau and Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne.
▲ Tomorrow (Taichung) and Sunday (Taipei) at 2:30pm
▲ Taichung’s Shinmin Senior High School Art Center (新民高中藝術中心), 289, Sanmin Rd Sec 3, Taichung City (台中市三民路三段289號) and the National Recital Hall, Taipei City
▲ Tickets are NT$300 for the Taichung concert and NT$300 to NT$500 for the Taipei concert, available through NTCH ticketing
With E1002 — Night of Tchaikovsky (E1002打造柴可夫斯基), percussion group E1002 presents its interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Children’s Album as arranged by Anatoly Ivanov.
▲ Tuesday at 7:30pm
▲ National Recital Hall, Taipei City
▲ Tickets are NT$400 to NT$600 and are available through NTCH ticketing
Contemporary
Jazz Your Mind is tonight at Sappho de Base, the favorite late night hang-out for Taipei’s jazz musicians. But watch out tomorrow — the venue switches gears for the hard-rocking theatrics of Sky Burial (天空埋葬), which is currently working on a new album. On Tuesday night, it’s a set by the Grace Jazz Trio, with an open jam afterwards. On Wednesday, it’s The Soul Express, a “super-group” of Taipei-based session musicians playing blues, funk, rock, and reggae. DJ Zulu visits on Thursday, spinning what he calls “timeless and positive black sounds.”
▲ B1, 1, Ln 102, Anhe Rd Sec 1, Taipei City (台北市安和路一段102巷1號B1). Call (02) 2700-5411 (after 9pm) or visit www.sappho102.biz
▲ Performances begin at 10:30pm
▲ No entrance fee
No bands are listed for tonight at Underworld (地下社會). Maybe they’re getting ready for tomorrow evening’s appearance by Drumcorps, a one-man DJ show from Berlin. Drumcorps, the stage name of Aaron Spectre, mixes breakcore, which could be described as thrash metal, drill ’n’ bass and post-rock, driven by sampled breakbeats. For part of his show, Spectre plays electric guitar, shredding heavy metal riffs on top of rapid-fire beats. Drumcorps enjoys a widespread following and has received accolades from Pitchfork and BBC Radio 1, whose presenter said of his CD Grist: “This one scared me within an inch of my life.” The event is being presented by Back 2 the Future (B2TF), who brought you last week’s Night of the Living Metal.
▲ B1, 45 Shida Rd, Taipei City (台北市師大路45號B1). Call (02) 2369-0103 or visit www.upsaid.com/underworld for more information
▲ Bands start playing after 9pm. The bar is open from 8pm daily, closed Mondays
▲ Limited seating for tomorrow’s show; advance tickets NT$500, NT$700 at the door. Contact venue for details. Entrance for Wednesday shows is NT$100. Before midnight on Tuesdays and Thursdays, drinks are buy-one-get-one-free
May 18 to May 24 Pastor Yang Hsu’s (楊煦) congregation was shocked upon seeing the land he chose to build his orphanage. It was surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the only way to access it was to cross a river by foot. The soil was poor due to runoff, and large rocks strewn across the plot prevented much from growing. In addition, there was no running water or electricity. But it was all Yang could afford. He and his Indigenous Atayal wife Lin Feng-ying (林鳳英) had already been caring for 24 orphans in their home, and they were in
On May 2, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), at a meeting in support of Taipei city councilors at party headquarters, compared President William Lai (賴清德) to Hitler. Chu claimed that unlike any other democracy worldwide in history, no other leader was rooting out opposing parties like Lai and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). That his statements are wildly inaccurate was not the point. It was a rallying cry, not a history lesson. This was intentional to provoke the international diplomatic community into a response, which was promptly provided. Both the German and Israeli offices issued statements on Facebook
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday delivered an address marking the first anniversary of his presidency. In the speech, Lai affirmed Taiwan’s global role in technology, trade and security. He announced economic and national security initiatives, and emphasized democratic values and cross-party cooperation. The following is the full text of his speech: Yesterday, outside of Beida Elementary School in New Taipei City’s Sanxia District (三峽), there was a major traffic accident that, sadly, claimed several lives and resulted in multiple injuries. The Executive Yuan immediately formed a task force, and last night I personally visited the victims in hospital. Central government agencies and the
Australia’s ABC last week published a piece on the recall campaign. The article emphasized the divisions in Taiwanese society and blamed the recall for worsening them. It quotes a supporter of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) as saying “I’m 43 years old, born and raised here, and I’ve never seen the country this divided in my entire life.” Apparently, as an adult, she slept through the post-election violence in 2000 and 2004 by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the veiled coup threats by the military when Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) became president, the 2006 Red Shirt protests against him ginned up by
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