Four Strings or Fight!-The Ukulele Cabaret

Last night I joined my friend Scott at Jimmy's 43 in the East Village to see a friend of his play in the Ukelele Cabaret. The show started at 7, but I arrived late, at 10:30, just in time for the Extreme Uke segment of the show, which turned out to be one of the most entertaining 3 hours in recent memory. The rules are-you gotta play the uke, you can play up to three songs, and there is a theme to each evening, this one was "back to School"
There were uke versions of Britney Spears, New Order (complete with beats from a boombox) The Kinks, Beach Boys, Queen. . A woman in her seventies sang one about how she loves boys AND girls, and a young band of hipsters sang one called Vagina ala mode.

My favorite, though, was Jamie Scandal (pictured), who performed a song about her enfatuation with Dirty Jobs (reality TV) Host Mike Rowe. She brought pink vinyl curtains to hang behind her, and buckets filled with tomatoes, green slime, and plastic containers filled with dirt, which she handed out to the audeince. She carefully instructed us to wait until the end of the song when she sings "I want to get dirty", and then pelt her first with tomatoes, then with slime, then dirt. The song was actually brilliant, and she had the nights coolest uke, made out of a cigar box. We did as instructed, Scott with Tomatoes and me with dirt, both on target.


The show ended with a 15 uke jam on their theme song "4 Strings or Fight", and I left inspired to buy a box of cigars and smoke them quickly.

I've attached one of my favorites from the night, a duo who performs 1920's French songs. This one translates "He Saw me Nude", about a woman bathing by moonlight who discovers a figure on the banks. I love most that the original French text includes the phrase "Super Nude".


Il Ma Vu Nue (He Saw Me Nude)