THE MISSOULIAN
November 9, 2004

RARE MEDIA

By Joe Nickell of the Missoulian

Multi-media artist Andy Friedman's performances defy description.

Andy Friedman has an easy-in with journalists. In a world overrun by indistinguishable touring bands on the one hand, and soulless intellectual art on the other, Friedman's schtick - presenting multi-media spoken-word and visual-art shows at rock-n-roll bars - is a breath of fresh air for those who have to write about arts and entertainment.

It almost doesn't matter whether Friedman's performances are actually interesting; they're interesting to write about.

Yet some journalists have a hard time finding words to clearly explain what Friedman actually does. He's "a new something," abstracts New York Magazine; a guy who is "onto something," agrees the Philadelphia Weekly. He's "a Beat-renaissance-meets-Walt-Whitman ramblin' man romantic" (New Haven Advocate), "a man who puts Ingres and Thunderbird in the same breath" (The Hook), "elevating the interstitial ramblings of a wayward folk musician into an art form" (The New Yorker).

Huh?

Friedman himself apparently has a hard time communicating what he does. Just listen to this snippet, from a recent performance:

"I opened up an account at the Citibank in Brooklyn, where I live, and the clerk had me sit down and answer a few questions to go into the computer. I told him what I did best I could. Next time I went back, a different clerk now, I sit down, she brings up my file and says, 'Mr. Friedman, my computer tells me you're a homemaker.' "

Maybe it's impossible to say exactly what Friedman does, but here's a stab: Andy Friedman tours the country presenting slide shows of his Polaroid photographs and pen-and-ink artwork while reciting poetry and telling stories. A scruffy guy who often appears in a baggy muscle-T and baseball cap, Friedman avoids art galleries and prefers bars for his shows - a fact which should give a good indication of the character of his performances.

Both visually and verbally, his performances are down-to-earth, gritty, very personal affairs, peppered with fuzzy-focus imagery, curious asides, a good dose of humor, and a pall of darkness. When Friedman does sharpen his focus, he's as likely to zero in on a half-open window or a misspelled nightclub marquee as on the motives that stir under the surface of the mind. The result is by turns endearing, heartbreaking, and laugh-out-loud funny.

Sound intriguing? Check him out when he performs at 8 p.m., Saturday at Sean Kelly's in Missoula.