Personally, I think A Sucker Emcee was the best work of art that I saw in this class. Not only did it take an extreme amount of talent and memorization, but also it was all 100% true to his life’s story. Unlike the movies, the dances, or the opera, this was not just a performance telling a story with a meaning; it was a narrative tale of social standards and privilege. Unlike some of the movies, like Moonstruck and The Producers, A Sucker Emcee was not a comedy: it contained both humor and seriousness while still providing a valid message to the audience. This was my favorite thing we saw in the class because it’s message holds true for everyone without being too assuming or pretentious.

When muMs began speaking, I had no idea where this performance was going: on an empty stage with no more than a turntable and a microphone. Frankly speaking, I was not expecting much. Then as muMs and Richard began, I realized that the main focus of it was going to be privilege, or lack thereof. With topics ranging from drug use and racial inequality to cockroach hotels and Alzheimer’s disease, A Sucker Emcee left the audience with a smorgasbord of ideas to think about. What I’m saying is most of the other works of art we saw in this class, with the exception of a few, spoon-fed the audience about what the artist thinks about New York City. A Sucker Emcee, on the other hand, gives you the topics, while you think about them yourself so you can come to your own conclusion.

So why is this one of the best portrayals of NYC? Well, one of the struggles it shows seems to be the most relevant and important struggles happening right now: racial inequality and its effect on people. While never specifically stated, muMs hinted at the social injustice of racial inequality throughout his whole performance.

Throughout this semester, we’ve read plays, watched movies and performances, and attended world-renowned museum exhibits, yet a one-man performance at an independent theater company had the greatest impact on me. Most of the movies we watched were simply entertaining, but didn’t seem to have a great important message. I’m not saying that every movie needs one, but I don’t think the ones we saw did. Also, while I’m a nerd for museums and exhibits, there were only a few pieces of the Brooklyn Museum seemed to have social meaning. And let’s not forget Carmen and the unforgettably perfect performance of Birds With Sky Mirrors: while those were experiences unique to NYC, they themselves had no meaning.

So how do I wrap up the last blog post with a nice little farewell to the semester, this seminar, and a final “so long” to the performances we saw, ranging from A Sucker Emcee to The Muppets Take Manhattan? Needless to say, some works of art were just entertainment, while others had both entertaining qualities and real social messages.