Roy Zimmerman Brings His Satire to the Big Apple
Descending the stairs beneath this Greenwich Village restaurant, one finds a long, narrow room with a bar and dinner tables set up. The legendary performance space is just wide enough to fit a grand piano in what looks like a forgotten subway tunnel.
Zimmerman's humor was infectious throughout his set, and he really connected with the audience in the tight space. It felt like a private show. He began his set with "This Machine drives neocon, jingoistic, war-mongering, xenophobic crypto-fascists from the room!" Just in case any mistakenly stepped into the bar, he began with this manifesto-like declaration which set the liberal/comedic/intellectual vibe for the night. By the second song, people had their drinks, and some women in their 70s at the table across from me were nearly choking they were laughing so hard.
His set featured topical songs supporting gay marriage, such as I Want a Marriage Like They Had In the Bible and Defenders of Marriage.
What struck me during his performance wasn't just his polished delivery and enjoyable stage presence--because you can gather that from watching his many videos on YouTube. But what struck me seeing him live for the first time was the quality of his song writing. There were some real gems, like the line "I am the laptop Kerouac," in I Approve this Message. In Vote Republican, he uses irony in the literary sense--saying one thing but meaning the opposite--such as with the line "John Boehner doesn't use any tanning products."
He debuted his song about fracking: "The Faucet's on Fire". He addresses many issues around fracking in a comical way--referencing that the shower's really hot because the faucet's on fire. Zimmerman's observations are whimsical, but they have a cunning to them, similar to Stephen Colbert's 2006 White House Correspondent's dinner address, where Colbert began with what sounded to many Republicans as praising G.W. Bush, but it was only when they thought more deeply, that they realized these were in fact insults--similar to how F. Scott Fitzgerald called Princeton "the pleasantest country club in America." Zimmerman's lyrics sound like compliments to the Republican establishment on the surface. But drafted with his co-writer and wife Melanie Harby, Zimmerman's lyrics have multiple layers, and can be taken as knee-slapping jokes, or as more serious meditations on the American post-war psyche, such as with Thanks for the Support.
He broke up his performance by inviting two guests onstage, who each played lighthearted songs at the piano. British satirist Daniel Cainer performed Bad Rabbi, which is about a cocaine-dealing rabbi in the UK.
In the second part of his set, Zimmerman took requests from the audience, and many called out his songs about GW Bush. He played Hope, Struggle and Change, Dick Cheney, Psychedelic Relic, and ended with a rousing rendition of one of his most popular tracks: What if the Beatles Were Irish?
If you're left-leaning, a Democrat, or just like a good live acoustic set, Roy Zimmerman is definitely worth checking out live. He's currently touring the country and is even doing house shows in the red states. Check out his website and YouTube channel for information about his latest shows.
Click here for photos of Roy Zimmerman in NYC.
