UPCOMING AROUND BOSTON! The Magic Room (run by our own patron Tori), the Brattle is public, and PARTY AROUND A PIANO with Lance this Tuesday!! (Patreon)

Hello loves!!

Quick Boston-area event housekeeping while I’m work work working away on alllll the music!!

First up: The Brattle Theatre show on Dec 4th is NOW ON SALE TO THE PUBLIC. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/amie-mcnee-at-the-brattle-theatre-tickets-1963603539044?aff=oddtdtcreator

Reminder that there’s gonna be a big afterparty at around 7:30 even if you don’t manage to get to the event itself!

Next up, the Fall of Freedom show on Nov 21st is WICKED SOLD OUT!! Shepard Fairey made this poster for the country-wide events…

….it’s gorgeous, ain’t it. And thank you all so much for selling it out (it’s tiny!!) and if you are anywhere else in the states (have a venue? A library?? GET INVOLVED!!) go to falloffreedom.com to add your info.

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High tier patrons, you’ve got a message about post-show brunch coming your way (gimme a day!!)

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ALL, NEXT WEEK:

I polled, I promised….we are DOING IT!

This Tues, Nov 25th in DOWNTOWN BOSTON! PARTY AROUND A PIANO, FREE, ALL AGES!!

If you have EVER been to see Lance @ Mondays at Club Cumming, or you witnessed the glory of Party Around a Piano when I was living in my Woodstock Cave at Graveside Variety, you KNOW HOW GOOD THIS IS!! TELL US HOW GOOD IT IS!!

In Lance’s words:

“Boston!! We bring our spontaneous cabaret to you for your pleasure and participation. Next Tuesday, Nov 25, from 7-10pm, we ride! A SING-easy. Theme: Gratitude. Bring songs, sing songs, singalong songs. Free, no cover, no minimum. Just joy, community, and self-expression. Lance on keys, YOU on vocals, Amanda F Palmer holding court and delicious food and drink at hand. If we pull it off together, we could make this a monthly mirthfest.

Who's coming to the inaugural?

Show up at 48 Temple Place, Boston and ask to go downstairs. We'll see you there for shenanigans!”

Special guests Hector Lionel, Lauren Elder, and Lance Himself!!!

DEFINITELY COMMENT IF YOURE COMING SO WE CAN GET A HEADCOUNT!!!

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NEXT UP…..

I am here to tell you about the incredible magic of THE HOLIDAY PARTY I am putting together for patrons on December 19 @ The Magic Room, in Norwood, MA!!

There will be a ton of special guests, bespoke drinks (we are gonna try!!) and we are going to FILM IT FOR THE PATREON!!

It is Now on sale to paid patrons ONLY. There are fewer than 100 tickets left…but I wanted to tell this little story…..because it’s beautiful.

The host and new owner of the venue is one of our very own patrons, Tori Clay, who has been part of the community here for more than 20 years - she was actually in the SING music video (pre-transition) - which is a beautiful thing you can see here: https://youtu.be/4XUjIXX2j6Y?si=KdITtNXBH7ROYR9a

WORDS FROM TORI (in the middle here):

So, our fearless leader, Amanda, asked me for a few words about my relationship to my entertainment venue, Magic Room, the place where we will be honored to present her to you, along with some of her friends, for the very special and rare Holiday Music Party with Amanda Palmer and Friends on December 19th. She thought I should say what it means to me to have and run the place.

I could put it in one short sentence, but a reader would not get a true understanding. It's just like when I perform my own music; most songs have a bit of patter that goes along with them, because a literal interpretation of the lyric would not allow one to glean the abstract ideas it contains.

I will start by saying that I am Tori Clay, and I just recently acquired Magic Room.

Check us out at www.magicroomnorwood.com and our pages on Facebook and Instagram. I had never aspired to own a venue, nor had I any experience even working in one. It was just a unicorn of a deal that appeared out of nowhere while I was inquiring about the space, because I knew the owner, to rent it for my film festival that runs every year in Boston (or Cambridge, or Somerville, or Arlington, or Newton, or Whitinsville), The Screaming Ostrich International Film Festival. When I decided to make an offer, I was pretty sure that it would not be accepted. Obviously, I was wrong!

So, here I am, literally risking everything to try to make a go of this. It takes way more work and time than I thought it would, and expenses are so high that I can only hope for a low income. I sell beer and wine etc., and I practically don't even drink! It is a unicorn because it is so close to Boston proper, being just a few miles down the street from West Roxbury and a half-hour drive from downtown Boston, and it has plenty of free parking in our own lot at the front door. When you step inside, you see why we have been described as an adult, Chuck-E.-Cheese, acid dream, funhouse!

My background professionally for the last few decades has been in entertainment, but with me as the entertainer. Mostly by acting in films, tv, on stage, and commercials, etc. Although in the area of film, I have done virtually everything one can do, above and below the line. In the theater, there is only a single play that I produced and directed. I was starting to get somewhere fairly soon into my acting career, and I was working with real A-List stars, and I don't mean as background. I even got pranked by them, and I pranked them back. I had a hit commercial on ESPN, and I won awards and was nominated for others I didn't win. My resume is 2 pages. I performed pretty much every way a performer can perform. I got paid for coaching actors. But I naively thought my career was secure enough to come out as a transgender woman, and I was wrong.

My agent dumped me for it, and it was pretty much the death knell for that career. I have done much less acting as a woman, although I did get another Best Acting nomination a couple of years ago.

In the short time that I have been the proprietress of Magic Room, I have already realized some of my goals, i.e., the reasons for me to do this.

The number one reason is literally doing it to give myself a reason to live. While one might think that spending so much time professionally as an entertainer would automatically lead to a full social life, that was not the case for me. Pathetically, and stupidly, I have lived at least 95% of my life alone. (long story, but mostly criminally inept parenting) That kind of loneliness, coupled with chronic depression, plus depression from being profoundly hearing impaired to the point where I need 2 powerful hearing aids, which engenders intense isolation, along with no family and few friends, resulted in my being locked up twice for trying to end it all. Ironically, even with all that crap in my life, I never felt like, "I am sad so I have to get high", or, "I am alone so I have to get drunk".  I just was not wired that way. Slim chance that I would be here now if I were wired that way. I never abused any substance. I often wish that I did because it seems the people who did that were usually well socialized. Anyway, I considered myself cured of that kind of ideation until the country started to disintegrate due to its inept leadership, to use the word "leadership", very loosely. I was ready to give up. Then I decided to fight. I became a delegate to last month's Democratic convention so I could try to make a difference. I had to renege, though, due to obligations related to Magic Room.

Another reason for doing it is to try to help local Boston and South Shore area bands and talent. I have already presented 4 local acts.

The remaining motivation for me is charity and altruistic, and philanthropic activities. I'm in talks about doing something for folks on the autistic spectrum. And I have just recently become aware of a pregnant woman, Marisol, from the town of Norwood, where we are, who is unhoused and living out of her car with a 14 yr old son and 6 yr old daughter. Nov 22 is an open house here, is the complex where Magic Room is called the Space Center.

All the businesses will be open, and there will be food trucks and kids' activities, and I will have a gorgeous antique Caddy parked here, and 4 musicians just jamming on my stage. I will have a table set up to accept donations of food and clothes, and money for them. They have a gofundme at:  https://gofundme/c42357721

-Tori

so….

I mean. I CANNOT WAIT TO PLAY THIS ROOM and see what it feels like to be in a patron-owned and operated space!!! How incredibly….hometeam. And special.

CLUB. HOUSE. COME!!

XA