This weekend, meet Jamie Oliver, plug in at the Brooklyn Podcast Festival, dance to David Bowie, get dramatic at BroadwayCon and more things to do in NYC.
Meet Jamie Oliver
Britain’s most affable celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is crossing the pond for the first time in a while with his new cookbook 5 Ingredients: Quick & Easy Food, with over 130 recipes. He’ll be signing copies (and if you like, snapping selfies) at Williams Sonoma inside the Shops at Columbus Circle — your ticket includes a copy of the book. Jan. 10, noon-1 p.m., 10 Columbus Circle, $38.11, eventbrite.com
Cross-examine the true crime attorneys
True crime fans can get their fix directly from the source this Friday at Gramercy Theatre, where attorneys David Rudolf and Jerry Butin will discuss their controversial cases that became the Netflix original series Making a Murderer and The Staircase and take your questions. Jan. 11, doors at 7 p.m., 127 E. 23rd St., $25 and up, mercuryeastpresents.com
Dance in the name of David Bowie
It’s been three years since David Bowie left us to be with the other star children, but he wouldn’t want us to cry. So Let’s Dance in his honor at Loving The Alien: A Bowie Dance Party put on by The Skint. DJ Steve Reynolds of Party Like It’s 1999 will spin both hits and deep cuts from Bowie’s 50-year career accompanied by screenings of his best videos and movies courtesy of Music Video Time Machine. Jan. 11, 10:30 p.m.-late, Littlefield, 635 Sackett St., Brooklyn, $5 advance, $8 door, theskint.com
Three weeks to work on your NYC bucket list
The city’s tourism agency NYC&Company decided to combine its three slow season promotions into three weeks of crazy savings. Winter Outing is your chance at 2-for-1 tickets to essential New York attractions like going to the top of the Empire State Building or seeing a Broadway show, plus prix-fixe menus at hundreds of restaurants. Reservations now open, Winter Outing goes from Jan. 21-Feb. 10
Get plugged into Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Podcast Festival celebrates the medium that’s grown into a pop culture phenomenon. Come to live tapings of some of your favorite shows like Pop Culture Happy Hour and The Bowery Boys with big-name guest stars including Julie Klausner and RuPaul’s Drag Race star Aja. Plus, learn more about how New York works a daylong Smart Cities series. Jan. 10-13, various locations, $10-$35, cityfarmpresents.com
Things to Do in NYC: Behind the scenes of Broadway
If seeing Broadway shows is just the beginning for you, then BroadwayCon is the place to preview the hottest upcoming projects, meet your favorite actors and become part of the amazing fan community at acting workshops, panels and sing-alongs. Jan. 11-13, Hilton Midtown, $80-$195, broadwaycon.com
Celebrate the Lunar New Year
In China, gifts are given in red envelopes at the Lunar New Year. At the Red Envelope Show curated by Grumpy Bert gallery at Flushing Town Hall, artists have turned the envelopes themselves into works of art. See them all weekend, as well as a traditional Chinese show theater show on Saturday ($14/$8) or make your own envelope art at a workshop on Sunday (free). Admission to the exhibit is $5, free for kids 18 and under, 137-35 Northern Blvd., Queens, flushingtownhall.org
See where movies are headed
Be the first to know about the filmmakers to watch at the Museum of Moving Image’s annual survey of the best alternative cinema from around the world. Full-festival passes are just $45 to see over a dozen narrative works, features and shorts from China, Israel, Pakistan and Taiwan, just to name a few, plus live performances and artist talks. Jan. 11-21, 36-01 35th Ave., Queens, $15-$45, movingimage.us
Last Chance: Holiday Train Show
The New York Botanical Garden’s annual Holiday Train Show winds down on Jan. 21, but this Saturday is your last chance for grown-up fun at its adults-only Bar Car Nights See the new Lower Manhattan landmarks including One World Trade and the Staten Island Ferry among 175 buildings, stations and more made bark, leaves and other natural materials. Jan. 12, 7-10:30 p.m., 2900 Southern Blvd., Bronx, $38, nybg.org
Brunch with the ultimate boy band
Back by popular demand, The Boy Band Project is bringing its booty-shaking brunch spectacular to The Green Room 42, pop-and-locking to all your favorite songs from the ‘90s and beyond, from Boyz II Men to *NSYNC to One Direction, played by the stars of Broadway shows including Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Rock of Ages and more. Jan. 13 & 27, 2 p.m., 570 Tenth Ave., fourth floor inside YOTEL, $22.50-$52.50, ovationtix.com
Things to Do in NYC: No Pants Subway Ride 2019
It’s the coldest month of the year, which means it’s time for another No Pants Subway Ride. Improv Everywhere’s annual ritual challenges commuters to take it mostly off in the name of fun having a little fun on a subway system that’s been anything but lately. Jan. 13, 3-5 p.m., improveverywhere.com
Cannabis gets the spotlight
Back for its fifth year, the NYC Cannabis Film Festival is a chance to watch movies chosen for being better experienced while high. You’ll have to source your own marijuana, but House of Yes will provide the rest, with four sessions featuring shorts and feature-length films. Jan. 13, noon-midnight, 2 Wyckoff Ave., Brooklyn, eventbrite.com
Hell’s Kitchen contestant hosts CBD brunch
Start the new year on a mellow note at a brunch laced with CBD, which is claimed to lower inflammation and anxiety. The five-course tasting menu by Hell’s Kitchen Season 18 contestant José DeJesus also comes with drink pairings at Come Back Daily, a self-described “wellness center and store” that educates people about CBD. Jan. 13, seatings at noon and 1 p.m., 381 Broadway, $75, ticketleap.com
Play an interactive magic show
David Kwong builds crossword puzzles for the New York Times by day, but by night he’s actually better known as a magician, who has consulted on projects from Now You See Me and NBC’s Blindspot. Now he’s appearing as The Enigmatist at the High Line Hotel, inside a mysterious room called the Riverbank Estate for a night of illusions, cracking riddles and solving puzzles. Fridays and Saturdays, Jan. 4-26, 180 10th Ave., $85, enigmatistshow.com
Get into the groove
If you want to know what’s trending in the dance world, the American Realness dance festival is where you’ll find subversive artists taking center stage. The week-long festival brings together 59 performances of 16 productions over the course of 10 days, most of them new works as well as encores by popular demand. The shows are paired with talkbacks, parties and art installations. Jan. 4-13, multiple venues and times, $5-$100, americanrealness.com
Thing to Do in NYC: Ongoing
The best of theater comes to NYC
Each January, the Public Theater pulls all the best performance art from around the world that premiered in the past year and collects it under one roof for its annual Under the Radar Festival. This year’s festival spans 11 days and several venues chosen to suit each production, which range from plays and concerts to musicals and genres we haven’t invented words for yet and often feature unconventional seating arrangements and staging. Through Jan. 13, $25 and up, publictheater.org
Jam to Winter Jazzfest
For nine nights, New York’s venues will ring with the sounds of saxophones and trumpets during Winter Jazzfest, the year’s largest survey of the jazz scene with over 100 acts playing from Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn, with its famous marathon sessions taking place both this Saturday and all next weekend. Through Jan. 12, $15-$105, winterjazzfest.com
Jewish life on screen
The New York Jewish Film Festival dedicates two weeks showcasing Jewish history, culture and spirit through movies curated by The Jewish Museum and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, through a mix of documentary, narrative and short works from both new and established filmmakers. In addition to screenings, the fest features talkbacks with directors, critics, professors and more. Through Jan. 22, Walter Reade Theater, 165 W. 65th St., free-$25, filmlinc.org
Last Chance: Harry Potter at the New-York Historical Society
J.K. Rowling didn’t invent everything in the wizarding world of Harry Potter. Many of the potion ingredients, customs and even people who appear in her books existed in the real world. Tour this fascinating exhibit of Muggle relics and see the magic all around us at the New York Historical Society’s History of Magic exhibit. Through Jan. 27, 170 Central Park W., $21 adults, $6 kids ages 5-13; nyhistory.org
Things to Do in NYC: The Big Apple Circus swings again
New look, new acts, new food — everything is new at the Big Apple Circus, which is under new management for its 41st season. A major makeover aimed to attract millennials has brought a glamorous spiegeltent to the grounds, serving cocktails by Pamela Wiznitzer and pre-show entertainment, while the ring now has some world-famous acts like Desire of Flight in addition to longtime favorites. It’s worth a trip even if you’ve been before. Through Jan. 27, Damrosch Park, 60 Lincoln Center Plaza, $29-$80, bigapplecircus.com
Hang like Spider-Man
The new movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is all about the many different people who have donned the spidey suit to save their cities, and you can be one of them at Sony Square NYC. The interactive exhibit includes an immersive haptic installation that lets you feel movements happening in a clip from the movie — plus the chance to crawl up a building a la Spidey and tons more Insta-made photo ops. Through Jan. 27, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., 25 Madison Ave., sony.com/square-nyc.html
Celebrate Mickey Mouse’s 90th birthday
Did you know Mickey got his big break in New York? After getting his start at the Broadway Theatre in 1928, Walt Disney’s most famous creation is back, this time in the Meatpacking District. The pop-up gallery — what else? — is called Mickey: The True Original and reveals relics from the Disney Vault among original artworks by modern artists both internationally known and local stars. Plenty of Insta-worthy moments, an ice cream booth by Ample Hills and other surprises await. Through Feb. 10, Tues-Sun from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., 60 10th Ave., $38, showclix.com
Get colorful
One of our favorite Instagram pop-ups of the year, Color Factory, just extended its SoHo run through Feb. 28. If you’ve got visitors in town, it’s a great bonding experience instead of just taking photos of each other. And who doesn’t love a ball pit? 251 Spring St., $38, colorfactory.co
Beyond the Campbell’s Soup cans
Who is Andy Warhol? The Whitney Museum goes on a vast journey to find out in its major winter exhibit Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again, opening Nov. 12. The show peels back his carefully crafted persona, the show looks at how Warhol changed the role of artists in society, including new materials discovered after his death in 1987. Nov. 12-March 31, 2019, 99 Gansevoort St., included with admission: $25 adults, free for kids 18 and under; whitney.org
The sexy side of punk rock
Punk culture protested pretty much everything about what it saw as the mass-produced, repressed lives we were leading, often by using sexuality to transgress and defy expectations. New York’s lusty playground the Museum of Sex just opened a new exhibit Punk Lust: Raw Provocation 1971-1985, an immersive gallery with over 300 artifacts spanning various archives and private collections. Though their clothing and songs, punks helped women shed the societal expectations they had been held to and picked up where glam rock left off to allow men to explore a more fluid side of their sexuality. Through Nov. 30, 2019, 233 Fifth Ave., $19.50, museumofsex.com
