PRESS RELEASE: THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED "AN EVENING WITH JOHNNY VALIANT" RETURNS TO NEW YORK ON JANUARY 15 8PM AFTER A ONE YEAR ABSENCE AT RENOWNED BOWERY POETRY CLUB
January 15, 2005 8PM sharp
The Bowery Poetry Club 308 Bowery NYC
212-614-0505
All tickets $10. General admission.
Contact: Evan Ginzburg (Manager Johnny Valiant)
A pro wrestler at a "poetry club?"
Yes, it makes sense if it's WWF Hall of Famer and critically acclaimed performance artist/actor Johnny Valiant.
Having an extended run of "An Evening with Johnny Valiant" at New York's Theater for the New City last year, "Luscious Johnny" has honed his 1 man show in Boston and throughout the country over the past year. And now he's back in his home town of NYC for a one night only show at the renowned Bowery Poetry Club on 1/15 at 8 pm.
A question and answer session and meet and greet will follow the performance.
"He hugs his microphone, peers into the intimately situated crowd and sets sail on a one-man show that slices and dices his days as a professional wrestler with animated humor and unexpected sensitivity: fall-out-of-your-seat funny."
(Kenny Herzog- Long Island Press)
"Stuns like a side piledriver"
(The Village Voice)
"He is funny, prowling the stage and using his graying, 240-pound frame as a comic prop. It's as if Spalding Gray had, at least for a few minutes, entered the body of Jonathan Winters."
(Microsoft's Slate)
"The one-man show serves as a confessional of sorts, an exorcism of the demons one accumulates on the sleeper-hold circuit."
(Time Out New York)
"Johnny Valiant adds excitement to anything he performs in...he brings so much...he is awesome."
(Billy Merritt of Piledriver-- Upright Citizens Brigade Troop)
Autographs and merchandise available.
Bowery Poetry Club: foot of First Street, between Houston & Bleecker
across the street from CBGBs
F train to Second Ave, or 6 train to Bleecker
Food @ this club? Sandwiches, soup, salads -- fresh, homemade. delicious pastries and desserts. Truly excellent coffee! Unusual soft drinks. Juice, beer, wine, booze at the bar. Plenty of upscale restaurants nearby, if your heart desires more. Driving directions at the Bowery Poetry Club's website at:
www.bowerypoetry.com
Evan Ginzburg handling bookings for Ms. Nicole Bass and Johnny Valiant: evan_ginzburg@yahoo.com
Bring Johnny or Nicole to your next office party, birthday party, PPV party, family or office function, bar event, indie wrestling show, etc.
Johnny Valiant adds excitement to anything he performs in. The other actors in the show can't help but smile when he steps on stage; he brings so much. He is a valuable teacher as well. He is awesome.--Billy Merritt of hit improv show "Piledriver"- Upright Citizens Brigade Theater
Extremely interesting. A very captivating and realistic performance that has its own way of educating and entertaining the audience about the realities of the wrestling and show business worlds. A memorable time and I strongly recommend everyone see John Valiant doing his routine whenever he comes to town. A real fine time was had by everyone.--Scott Wilson. Columnist "Wrestling- Then & Now" magazine
A success.--Mike Johnson 1wrestling.com
Funny, heartwarming, and very, very interesting. You had to be there. I did not see anyone leave the place for even one of those 55 minutes. Riveting--glad I was there.--Gary Heiderich WTFO Hotline
Wow! What a great night at Niagara in NYC's East Village. It was packed. Johnny performed his one-man show and he was on fire! Funny, sad--even poetic at times. He was always known for his mike skills and nothing has changed!--Mark Ezovsky, Picture Business
The people loved Johnny. Congratulations on a memorable evening.--Nick Oddo, Documentary Filmmaker We had a great time with Johnny Valiant. We had over 300 people attend the function. At times it was quite crowded. We had three TV live feeds from the Hall as well as two more TV stations that covered us later in the evening. The next day Johnny was on a radio station for about an hour. He is a great ambassador for the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and we will certainly use him again in the near future.--Tony Vellano of The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
Johnny Valiant is hilarious and entertaining.--Nelson Torres, WTF TV NYC
The legend still has it. Johnny was always one of the most outrageous characters as a wrestler, a manager, and a commentator. Now in stand-up, you don?t want to mess with Johnny.--Fred Geobold, host of WBAI-FM's Light Show NYC (Pacifica Radio) 99.5 FM
Best of Johnny Valiant wrestling tape. - $20
Featuring classic 70s action/interviews (2 hours)
Luscious Johnny The Wrestler - $20
Acclaimed 53 min. documentary featuring interviews
with Johnny plus tons of classic 70s/80s wrestling
footage. Directed by Nick Oddo.
Wrestling- Then & Now Video #1 - $20
Featuring a piece of Johnny Valiant's set from An
Evening with Johnny Valiant, WBAI-FM Light
Show host Fred Geobold's surreal musical set
(including his poignant rendition of Pencil Neck Geek),
guest indie wrestlers on the mike, MC Evan Ginzburg.
Autographed program- An Evening With Johnny Valiant - $4
Phone call from Johnny Valiant - $30 US/$50 OS
A great gift- have Johnny call you, a friend or relative on your birthday, anniversary, holiday, etc. Specify needed date/time. Use Eastern Standard Time (i.e. NYC) to avoid any confusion. Provide two alternate times on same date (i.e. morning/afternoon/evening) in case Johnny
is on a set and unavailable at first time specified. Paid in advance only. (10 mins. maximum per call)
Johnny Valiant is available for your office party, corporate function, independent wrestling shows (manager/guest ref/commentator), play by play man, stand-up comedy, movie roles, PPV parties, TV commercials and shows, motivational speaking etc. You'll be amazed at just how reasonable it is to have this legendary athlete, actor, comedian and commentator at YOUR next function. Contact through Manager Evan Ginzburg at evan_ginzburg@yahoo.com.
Check out www.wrestlingthenandnow.com and www.johnnyvaliant.net for all of Johnny's tour dates and merchandise.