Greg Barris’s Heart of Darkness Residency Coming to Union Hall!

If there’s one show in the NYC comedy underworld that I’ve heard about and have always wanted to see (but never have), it’d have to be Greg Barris’s Heart of Darkness. For those of us who only vaguely know what to experience at a Heart of Darkness show, there is a really great article in the Village Voice that sums it up rather succinctly.

“It is an incorporative show,” explains the project’s charismatic creator, 28-year-old comedian Greg Barris, who will also take the stage. “The band and the comics will all be performing together, the audience will be involved, special guests will be involved—the whole way through. And people’s sins will be forgiven.”

I am pants-shittingly happy to report that Heart of Darkness will have a monthly residency at Union Hall that will occur on Friday May 20, Friday June 17, Saturday July 16, Saturday August 20, and Saturday September 10. The May 20 show is ON SALE NOW and will feature Kurt Braunohler, Dave Hill, futurist and filmmaker Jeremy Morris-Burke and some pretty special guests. Remember; it’s not a stand-up show, where you have a host bringing up comedian after comedian. It’s a collaboration where Greg, guests, and a band, The Forgiveness Choir, share the stage. The band has tunes of their own, tunes they have worked out in advance with the comedians, and tunes which are totally improvised when the need arises. Each performer becomes a part of the group sound when they join the band on stage. The 6-piece band backs each comedian up to add color to their stories with original music, thus making HoD one big, seamless, collaborative party that leaves the freedom for inspired instances of improv as the artists involved weave their work together. Greg has a strong focus on scientific and theoretical thinking regarding time, human consciousness, and things of that nature. He has also been meeting and talking to interesting people like Douglas Rushkoff and Alexandre Tannous who are preeminant figures in their respective fields and who you shouldn’t be surprised to find at these shows at some point. This show will not only make you laugh, it’ll also split your skull open, toss your brains against a wall, and put them back in.