Book Talk: "We Started a Nightclub": The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived it

Book Talk: We Started a Nightclub: The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge

May 23, 2024

The Segal Theatre

7:00 pm                         

Free and open to the public. First come, first served.

Live stream on Howlround here

Directly following, after a short break, the 5:00 pm CLUB 57 presentation 

Join us to celebrate the publication of a new book on underground culture and performance at the infamous Pyramid. A panel discussion with John Jesurun, Kestutis Nakas, Peter Littlefield, Samoa Moriki, Julie Hair, and John Kelly. Moderated by Frank Hentschker. Followed by a book signing and and a reception with DJ Dany Johnson. Books will be available for purchase. 

Free. For tickets RSVP.

“We Started a Nightclub”, the Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It, is an insider’s look at the cultural history of the East Village in the early 1980s. Located at 101 Avenue A, the Pyramid’s varied offerings included groundbreaking, irreverent theater, theme nights, new music , bar dancers and “anti-drag” that challenged gender norms. It opened in 1981 when the East Village was considered a dangerous no man’s land, rents were cheap, AIDS was still unknown and a new generation of creators broke out to make art in an atmosphere of unbridled celebration. Artists like John Jesurun, Ann Magnuson, John Kelly, Lady Bunny and Hapi Phace rubbed elbows with They Might Be Giants, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and 3 Teens Kill 4. By offering a home to obscure, genre-defying and unpolished acts, the Pyramid played a crucial role in shaping the city’s underground cultural scene for decades to come.

The project, which began in 2006, represents the only in-depth exploration of the Pyramid’s origins. An oral history comprising more than 75 interviews, it covers the early years of the Pyramid from the time of its founding through its rise, near demise, and rebirth. The book includes previously unpublished photos, flyers, and other ephemera, as well as excerpts from more than 50 press releases written between 1983 and 1986.

“We Started a Nightclub”: The Birth of the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge as Told by Those Who Lived It by Brian Butterick, Susan Martin, and Kestutis Nakas is published by Damiani Books in association with Some Serious Business. Designed by Jeff Streeper of Modern Identity, the book is available in bookstores, online, and for sale in Europe through Damiani Books.

Image:  "Three Teens Kill 4", courtesy of Lynn M. Grabowski

Kestutis Nakas is a performer, writer, director and Emeritus Professor of Theatre at Roosevelt University in Chicago. He directed Titus Andronicus at the Pyramid in 1983. Other works include Remembrance of Things Pontiac, The Andrew Carnegie Story. His performance text about urban beekeeping, No Bees for Bridgeport, was published in Animal Acts, Performing Species Today, an anthology edited by Una Chaudhuri and Holly Hughes, University of Michigan Press. A bilingual edition of his critically acclaimed tragi-comic cycle: When Lithuania Ruled The World is published by Aukso Zuvys, Vilnius , in 2017. Also in 2017, he presented Channel D a new solo show at the MoMA in New York City in conjunction with MoMA’s acquisition of his video archive. His newest work, Revenge of the Dummy, explores ventriloquism.

John Jesurun is a writer, director and media artist based in New York. 1979 to 1982, assistant to the producer for The Dick Cavett Show producing interviews with Alberta Hunter, John Hammond Sr., Odetta, Tito Puente and John and Mackenzie Phillips. In 1982 (now in its 68th Episode) CHANG IN A VOID MOON at the Pyramid Club. Since 1984 he has written,directed and designed  over 35  pieces including: the media trilogy of DEEP SLEEP (1986 Obie Award, Best Play),WHITE WATER and  BLACK MARIA. Varied directing/design credits include Harry Partch’s opera “Delusion of the Fury” at the Japan Society and music video for Jeff Buckley. Numerous venues include La Mama, Berliner Festspielhaus, Walker Arts Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music,Wexner Center, National Theater of Mexico,Vienna Festival, Kyoto Performing Arts Center and Spoleto USA. He is the recipient of numerous grants including fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Macarthur Foundation, Rome Prize, Asian Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts and Foundation for Contemporary Arts. “Shatterhand Massacree and other Media Texts” published by Performing Arts Journal.  Episodes of “Shadowland” and “Chang in a Void Moon” on Vimeo.

Julie Hair is an artist and musician who has worked with a number of bands including 3 Teens Kill 4 (with Brian Butterick). Currently she is a member of  the bands Isolation Society and Female Genius. Julie played varied roles at the club- door person, booker of talent, planner of theme nights, as well musician. “I moved to New York at the beginning of maybe my favorite decade I have had here - 1980. I had been to 3 different art schools (Atlanta College of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art and Kansas City Art Institute). My plan was to go to the Art Institute of Chicago to get my MFA after deferring for a year…But I quickly spun on my heels and came back…By this time I was pretty dug into NY …I decided that I could get my own art education by staying in NY…I worked with Lucy Lippard, Gregory Sholette and Group Material…I had an all girl band called Noch Nichts (“Nothing Yet” in German)…I had met 2 of my future bandmates from 3 TEENS KILL 4 - David Wojnarowicz and Jesse Hultberg at the Peppermint Lounge where they worked as busboys. They mentioned that they needed to find a drummer for their new project that they had put together for the Staff Infection Show at Danceteria. I volunteered my services and subsequently rushed out and bought a KORG Rhythm Machine…”

John Kelly is a performance and visual artist. His performance works dramatize the lives of social outsiders and the cultural and political realities they navigate His most recent dance theatre work Underneath The Skin, was based on the life of the 20th century gay novelist and tattoo artist Samuel Steward. His visual art is based in self-portraiture, including drawing, painting, photography, and video. He recently completed his first Graphic Memoir – A Friend Gave Me a Book. This fall he will be a Baryshnikov Arts Fellow at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in Tivoli, NY.

Peter Littlefield is a stage director, playwright and dramaturg. He divides his time between experimental theater and film and opera. He  has always applied to theater what he learned downtown, where performers like John Kelly, Ethyl Eichelberger and Tanya Ransom were formative influences.

Samoa Moriki is an artist who relocated to NYC from Hiroshima, Japan. Since then, he co-founded The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black with Kembra Phaler. In addition, he also fronted The Lonely Samoan's, which was a departure from Rock-n-Roll into Country, although with a politically, transgressive slant that is not usually present in that genre. He is also a painter, performance artist, and clothing designer. “Samoa has never had a plan beyond what he felt he needed to do, and where his interest was being pulled. He did not agonize over developing a style or compare, judge or question his direction.” -Hope Moriki.