The Against the Odds Rockstar of the Day - Marty Allen

by karen Krolak

Sock Puppet Manor's Bob Lollybottom

Even though Marty Allen has been mixed up in Monkeyhouse in multiple ways almost since we started, I still can't figure out how to describe him. I remember how Amelia O'Dowd (another Against the Odds Rockstar of the Day) used to rave about his student projects at Mass College of Art and yet struggle to categorize what exactly he was creating. Suddenly, I feel that I should not have teased her quite so much about this...karma is a kick in the pants.

Recently, Marty's genius has been focused on sock puppets. He has toured the nation with Uncle Monsterface, a band that will rock your socks off and transform them into future musicians. Frequently, you can find him hawking charming sock puppet portraits on New York street corners too. (They are quite an addictive way to build an art collection. I purchased a few when he started selling them at the Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center (yet another Against the Odds Rockstar of the Day) and they are proudly interspersed between my wedding photos in the entryway to our condo.) In less than 100 hours, he will unleash Sock Puppet Manor, an online sock soap starring Dr Vampire and Phineas Von Cliven. Bwa ha ha ha ha.

You might recognize him as the vainglorious voice reading my quirky text in Odds, one of the quartets we will be presenting tomorrow night at Against the Odds. Our show will also open with Caitlin Meehan and Nikki Sao Pedro performing Zizz, to Uncle Monsterface's Go! (Neither of these pieces were in last week's show and this week is your only chance to see Zizz during this festival. Curiosity is contagious you know.)

So seize a moment this weekend and seek out this marvelous mastermind.

 http://www.sockpuppetmanor.com/

Against the Odds: 

Stories of Adaptation, Translation & Survival

March 18th-April 15th

Springstep, 98 George P. Hassett Drive, Medford, MA

For more information and to purchase tickets please visit our website!

 

Against the Odds is supported in part by the Medford Arts Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Thank you to Springstep for its support of this event.