I get an awful lot of requests to plug/advertise/promote products and events here, many of them from strangers asking — or once in a while, ordering me — to write about what they're selling at the moment. I got one a couple weeks ago that did an artful job of phrasing what was basically "Hey, I know you never heard of me and you haven't read my book which isn't out yet but tell all your followers that it's sensational and they should advance-order it."
I also got one once from a fellow who "reminded me" I'd met him at DragonCon and promised him that when his new self-published comic was out, I'd give him a big plug on my blog. And I'd keep that promise if I'd ever been to DragonCon.
Here are three endeavors I am totally unhesitant to endorse and recommend…
My pal Jim Korkis has been working on his book about Disney's Peter Pan since Captain Hook had two good hands. I haven't read this yet but Korkis writing about Disney History is like John Steinbeck writing about migrant agricultural laborers…and yes, I know that's a lousy analogy but it's the best I can do this morning. Sorry. Anyway, Jim is very good and there is much to know about his subject and I'll bet he knows all there is to know and he's put it in this book.
Order a copy of Off to Never Land: 70 Years of Disney's Peter Pan here. If he doesn't send me a free one, I'm going to use that link myself and buy it.
Jim Henson's first TV show was Sam & Friends, which aired twice daily on WRC TV in Washington, D.C. from 1955 to 1961. No one has really done a deep dive into its history until my buddy Craig Shemin decided it had to be done. Craig, who years later worked for Mr. Henson's company, began finding info and interviewing people and unearthing old kinescopes and putting together this much-needed volume. This book, I have read and while I'm always cautious about applying the word "definitive" to anything, I find it hard to believe we'll ever see a more thorough, accurate work on the topic. He even got a foreword out of Frank Oz.
This one will be officially released on September 24th, which happens to be Jim Henson's birthday and there will be an event at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York on that day. If you're in New York, try to get to it. If you're not, here's a link to order your copy of a book which every Henson/Muppets fan must read.
And lastly but certainly not leastly: For years now, my friend Frank Ferrante has been appearing around the globe as Groucho Marx (the show is still playing on PBS stations) but also as Caesar, a flamboyant and self-loving host in various productions of Teatro Zinzanni, which is an immersive dinner/theatrical production that appears in selected cities in the United States. In this case, "immersive" means you dine with the show taking place all around your table, above your table and sometimes — literally — on your table. Some have called it a Cirque du Soleil for folks who want to eat gourmet food while they watch incredible performers.
In a maneuver I don't pretend to understand, Teatro Zinzanni has now split into two separate companies with the classic T.Z. soon to reopen in Seattle and San Francisco. Meanwhile, its performing space in Chicago is soon to be occupied by "Luminaire," the first production of the new company, Cabaret ZaZou. The first show opens September 7 with Frank breaking in a new character, Fortissimo, as its host. I'm not flying anywhere these days but when I do, I'm probably going to start by flying to Chicago to see this thing. Details are here.